"Originally, a media company was going to release these last month but they got wind of [Stars on the Ground], so they halted it. They probably wanted to release it at the time of its promotions, completely destroying any goodwill towards the movie. It's fortunate I got to it first otherwise"

Aiden didn't finish his sentence but everyone knew what he meant.

He had just saved a whole movie from being a box office disaster. Knowing the budget of [Stars on the Ground], it won't be a small loss either.

Ava looked at Aiden with grateful eyes while Florence stomped her feet while looking at Aiden's laptop.

"I will destroy the evidence right away."

"Are you not listening to me? Have you gone deaf?" Aiden sneered at her. "The media company already has it. Better pics. They are going to release it soon now that I have it."

"Tell me the name of the media company right now!"

Florence shouted but Aiden shook his head.

"I can't. I don't have a habit of betraying people unlike you."

She was almost ready to scream hearing that but Ava's voice silenced the whole room at the moment.

"Florence shut the fuck up! Don't shout at Aiden when you are the one who fucked up big time. You are making a movie, supposedly to empower women when you are not even someone who's moral. Has Hollywood really managed to make you such an awful person or where you liked that from before?"

Florence wasn't able to say anything hearing that. Ava's voice was deafening.

"Hey, Liam." Wade looked at the snarky guy, who was still silenced. He was too stupefied by the whole reveal, even a bit embarrassed.

When Wade called him out, he looked at him.

"What?"

"I think you are just wasting your time here. You are contracted with Intra Entertainment in London, right? Go and tell them what happened. The PR team might be able to stop this from circulating outside. Your female fan following is going to take a massive dive after this as you have got involved with a married woman."

Liam took a second to take his words before nodding furiously. He quickly left after that, not even looking at the others.

"Liam, wait for me!"

Florence also followed her boyfriend who apparently didn't even look at her before fleeing towards the parking lot.

Aiden was able to hear him talking on the phone from a distance. Something about calling his manager about it.

'He's fucked. There's no way any media company is going to let this get away from them. As for Florence, I hope her true face comes out to the public now.'

He thought and took a deep breath.

He had just dodged a bullet. If he thought about it clearly, the movie would not have suffered a lot if it was just an affair. In the west, these things don't have a huge impact on movies and people forget about it after a while.

But going to an orgy with the UK's most popular popstar, that was big.

"What a mess."

Ava muttered, frowning. She had not expected today to turn out like this but a day being ruined was much better than a couple of months being ruined.

Looking up at Aiden, she opened her mouth.

"Aiden, can I talk to you for a while? In private."

She glanced at both Tom and Wade who nodded. For some reason, Tom was muttering, 'This will be a whole arc in the reality show' while leaving.

After they were alone, Aiden sat down in front of her.

"You didn't know anything about it, I assume."

"Not even a clue." She sighed. "I was only producing a movie for Florence because she seemed to have a vision and I expected her to give her everything to it. I never knew she was such a time bomb."

"It was thanks to Hank Paige that I got a clue about it too. I was completely oblivious before that."

"What?"

Aiden explained what had happened and how his instincts made him feel like something was wrong. Hearing that, Ava widened her eyes.

It was only after a while that she took in the whole matter.

"What now then? I'm pretty sure this news will be out in a day or two. They won't wait now that I got my hands on the leaks."

"[Stars on the Ground] will be dumped," Ava said like it was a matter of fact. "I will pull out as the producer and Titan studios won't have anything to do with it. It would take a bit of PR as media reports are going to include our name in it for clout anyway."

She put a hand on her forehead, thinking about all the troubles she would need to go through.

Then, she glanced at Aiden and maybe for the first time today, she smiled.

"Thanks, you saved me this time."

"I just did what I needed to do. I didn't want to be associated with [Stars on the Ground] too."

Ava shook her head upon hearing that.

"No, I got you in this movie, telling you that it would be a big hit. I should have looked a bit more into Florence's background. You have done me a huge favour."

"If you say so." Aiden said then asked. "How are you going to return the favour?"

He wasn't a fool to let go of something like that.

He and Ava were friends but there was also a business relationship between them. Aiden was going to use their relationship to propel his career.

"Actually, I have something. Something pretty big actually."

Ava said, with a meaningful smile. Leaning against her chair, she kept her eyes on Aiden. A gaze that made him a bit uncomfortable as a pressure mounted upon him.

She finally opened her mouth.

"Do you know what type of movies are sure shot blockbusters at the box office?"

"Superhero movies. Generally anything to do with heavy VFX and big franchises."

Aiden said without thinking.

It was very simple, as the box office has changed a lot since the 2010s. It was the era of big budget studio movies that encompassed the entire franchise. It wasn't about the story but the experience now.

This has even engulfed niche genres like rom coms. Actually at the box office, Aiden's [30 days of Happiness] was the last rom com to be a box office success and that movie had a lot of goodwill due to how it had performed in film festivals.

Rom coms were only for streaming platforms now.

Of course, there were exceptions but they were few. The normal condition was pretty bad, especially with inflation rising.

"Yeah, and Titan studios is planning something like that. It will take a while obviously but if the project goes ahead, it would have the potential to become the next big blockbuster franchise."

"Are you saying"

"Yes and no. I will give you the main role in it but you would need to increase your filmography and make it so that the others don't object when I give your name for the movie."

Ava finished her words and Aiden felt shivers down his spine.

'A lead role in a big movie.'

That was like a dream come true for many actors. There were reservations as committing to a franchise meant going the commercial way and binding yourself for years.

But at the same time, it was a challenge.

A way for him to get his name across the globe. A way for him to become a direct A lister in Hollywood.

"I will do my best."

***

Splash! Splash!

Aiden splashed water on his face as he looked at the mirror in front of him. The conversation with Ava was going in his mind continuously, like a song on loop.

The chance to lead a movie and eventually a whole franchise.

It was something that seemed very far away but suddenly, it was a few steps away from him. Aiden couldn't help but feel excited about the prospect.

'I need to prove myself before it.'

Aiden thought in his mind.

It was a funny thing for him to prove himself every time but this time, it was necessary. After all, such a big role would attract every actor in America and the world.

He was without any agency too, so he understood where Ava was coming from.

He needed to do more movies before that, to make his name bigger so that the studio wouldn't hesitate for him to become the image of the franchise.

At the same time, there was an inherent scepticism about it.

There were many actors who got rich and famous through superhero roles but none of their other projects worked after that because people preferred them more as the character that they had been playing for years.

At the same time, these types of actors also wouldn't work well in art movies and hence, awards would be out of their range.

No actor in the world could perfectly balance the artsy and commercial space.

'I need to perfectly plan my next movies. Do roles that are larger than life but at the same time, I need to have a mix of the ground reality with movies that would stretch the art of filmmaking.'

He thought in his mind and left the bathroom.

He wouldn't be working in [Stars on the Ground] now but a whole new world was open to him suddenly. And he was going to make sure that all his hard work would be worth it.