"This place looks very big. I think we would need to get a bit of furniture, though."
Aiden said, looking around at the whole place in front of him. He was currently standing in the studio building that they had rented. It was a two-storey building that had cost them 5000 dollars for a month to rent.
The building also had a pretty big basement which could easily be renovated into a place where Aiden could work on his music — His own personal music studio.
The price for such a building would have been way higher if it had been in a more expensive area.
"Yeah, we need to make the living room more like a lounge area where everyone could just rest and then make the bedrooms into office space. I would call in some guys to get it done in a few days."
Wade said, closing the door behind him and sitting down on the sofa. He was pretty tired from all the real estate agent stuff and seeing different places before choosing one.
For the last week, he had been busy with that.
"We need to get equipment in the basement too. All that would take a lot of work."
"Yeah, but it's way better in the longer run."
"True." Aiden sat down in front of Wade. "Anyway, where are the guys you said would meet us here?"
Wade had called the people he said would be perfect for his team to the studio to have a meeting with Aiden. Not to mention, Aiden already had a bit of an idea about them from all the stuff Wade had told him.
"They should be here soon."
Ding!
The doorbell rang at that time, and Wade smirked before going toward the door to open it. Aiden stood up, and after half a minute, footsteps rang before five people revealed themselves.
"Nice to meet you."
A guy who was a head smaller than Aiden was the first one to introduce himself. He looked to be even older than Wade, as a few wrinkles could clearly be seen on his shaved face.
"My name is Jody Sharp, and I work as a business manager. I have heard a lot about you."
"Aiden Silvereye, it's nice to meet you too."
Aiden smiled, and after that, the whole team introduced themselves one by one. It seemed like he was the oldest here and also the one managing the whole team.
"I'm Sasha Levi, I work as a social media manager." She was the second most experienced out of all of them.
"George Potter, I'm from England but have worked in Hollywood for two decades. I have worked as a tour manager for artists like Robin Swift and Andrew Sheen."
"My name is Lia Garcia. I will be handling all the PR aspects related to you if you decide to hire me." Lia, a black woman, said.
"Tom Wake, I work as an assistant to celebrities."
After everyone had introduced each other, they sat down to talk about the possibility of working with each other. Wade had explained to him that all the five people had worked together with him before.
They were all people who had been part of different agencies and celebrities, so they had a lot of experience.
Except for Tom, who had only started working a few years ago. He was the youngest out of all of them.
Miranda, the stylist and makeup artist, wasn't here, and Aiden was going to meet her later. Anyway, she wasn't a fixed part of the team.
He was also going to have a meeting with the lawyer that Wade had told him about for all the legal matters involving him.
"So, first of all, I'm pretty sure Wade had already told you about me, and you all had looked into my career," Aiden said, starting off the conversation.
"Yeah, the career trajectory is currently going high," Jody said. "You probably decided to set up a team because your work is increasing day by day."
"True. So, I need people who can make it easy and efficient, and Wade told me that you all are one of the best teams in Hollywood."
Wade nodded at that remark, and Sasha, the social media manager, opened her mouth.
"Even if we are good at our job, it would ultimately revolve around you. So, before working together, we need to know what type of a team you are looking for and what type of a career you want."
"I told you all about it a little," Wade replied, looking at Sasha.
"Yeah, but it's better to ask him, and I'm curious about what he wants. He has already made a good mark in the entertainment industry, but without ambition and a good plan, he won't be able to reach beyond a point."
"Yeah, so, Aiden," Jody looked at him, "What are you exactly looking for? We can do all the basic things for you if you decide to go ahead and work with us. But it's better if you could tell us your goals, so we could make a systematic plan to reach them."
Hearing that, Aiden thought about it for a minute.
In the past, Wade had also asked the same question to him. At that time, he had just said that he wanted to act in movies, no matter what role. He wasn't a big actor or singer at that point, merely being talked about as a lucky viral sensation.
Things changed a lot after that.
Aiden had gotten popular, and after [30 days of Happiness], people were finally seeing him as a good actor who studios could rely on to give a good performance. In singing, he was now seen as one of the best new artists to come out.
It was to the point that people were waiting for him to do a tour in other countries and release a full-fledged album.
But the question was simple.
What did he want next? How ambitious was he? Things were going pretty well for him, but whether he was going to stay in this comfort zone or try to do something different. Many people have that point in their careers.
A lot of them would choose to stick to the things that were working for them due to a plethora of reasons, but Aiden was different.
'I have a system. I need to reach the peak of what it could do. Explore it a lot more and become way bigger than what I'm currently.'
He had always wondered what would happen if he reached the next level in singing or acting talent. Would the silver light change to golden? Would his immersion get even stronger?
Was he going to get new artistic abilities such as writing?
In the end, there was only one answer to his questions. He needed to look for them himself. He needed to increase his levels and try to delve into different things to get the necessary skills.
If he could do all that, then he was destined to be the person who would stand at the top of Hollywood.
"I have only one goal." He looked up at the people in front of them. "I want to reach the top of Hollywood."
"What?" Jody looked at him with shock on his face.
It was too unexpected and arrogant of an answer. No one in the room was expecting such an answer from him. Only Wade looked like he had expected it a little.
"I know it sounds arrogant. Trust me, it seems like that to me too." Aiden said. "But I do want that. I just wanted to be an actor when I came to America, but after getting to this point of my career, I feel like I could take those risks that would propel me to the place I want to be. It's not going to be easy, but I know I would regret it if I don't go for it."
His eyes were very serious as he said that. Jody and Sasha looked at each other, hearing that. There was a conflict in their eyes.
"Ah, I thought all of you wanted to be called the best team in Hollywood. Why are you acting like this when Aiden is saying he wants to be at the top?"
Wade asked, laughing at the five of them. It was not easy for them to act like this, so Aiden had surely surprised them.
"It's just that it's really surprising." Tom, the assistant, said and Lia, the marketing manager, also added.
"Yeah, he said it with a lot of conviction, so…."
"So what?" Wade raised an eyebrow. "From what I know of him, he's not the type to joke about his career. He's kind of a mad lad with a lot of unexpected things going on for him, so it would be a good ride if you decide to join him. What do you say, Jody?"
All the attention diverted to Jody when Wade said that. His team looked at him to make the decision. They had followed him so far and trusted him a lot.
"You seem to have a lot of ambition," Jody said, his eyes fixed on Aiden.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No, it's actually good." Jody smiled. "It's after a long time I have seen a person with so much confidence."
"So, what do you say?"
Aiden asked, and without batting an eye, Jody replied.
"We will work for you."
Actually, Jody and the others had already made their decision before coming here. After all, they all needed work, and Aiden was a pretty lucrative option, especially with Wade working with him.
But after meeting him, everyone truly felt that it would be a different kind of experience working for him.
"Welcome on board."
Like that, Aiden got his team.
...
