'This is not really exciting. Damn my editor! Just because of him, I'm stuck here.'
One of the reporters who was present in the award ceremony thought as he stopped himself from yawning. He had no interest in books or the people receiving the award.
Actually, he was someone who hated reading.
But a job is a job.
When your editor wants you to do something, you need to do it even if you are not interested in it. That was the case with most jobs and it was the same with media companies.
The editor wanted a headline on Vikings publishing and how their contest is a good way for a new batch of authors to get a stage. At the same time, in the past, a lot of these books had become movies or series.
Whenever Hollywood runs out of movie ideas, they would look for books to adapt from. A lot of these books would often become very famous due to the movie.
'Just why is my life like that? When I was transferred to the entertainment department, I thought I would interview celebrities.'
The reporter sighed, thinking that and looked over at the host on the podium.
"You look pretty bored." The cameraman next to the reporter said and he nodded his head.
"Yeah, I am standing at a place where I don't even know who is attending. The editor said that it's good if I could interview famous writers who are attending to add to the article but I don't even know who is a writer and who is not."
"Didn't you do your research before coming here?" The cameraman raised an eyebrow.
"It was an impromptu job. The guy who was going to do it got admitted to the hospital. Apparently, he broke a bone or something."
"Tough luck then." The cameraman shook his head. "Just try to search up stuff online on famous writers and try to match up their faces with the guest here. Anyway, they are announcing the first place."
Both the cameraman and the reporter focused on the stage. Even if they weren't interested in writers, the first place winner did attract their curiosity.
"So, the book that won the award of 'Vikings New book of the year' is… <Behind the scenes> by Aiden Silver."
As the host announced the first winner, people started clapping. An old man in a grey suit even shouted out loud due to excitement, attracting a lot of varied gazes but people mostly ignored him thinking he was a fan.
Soon, a pretty charming guy who looked young got on the stage to receive the award with a smile on his face. Looking at him, the reporter could only think one thing.
'Haven't I seen him before?'
The cameraman was thinking the same stuff but both of them weren't able to point out where exactly they had seen him.
It was then that the host started a conversation with the winner.
"Congratulations on first place. Is this your book? And is 'Aiden Silver' your real name or just a pen name?"
"Yeah, this is my first book." He said. "Actually, my real name is Aiden Silvereye."
'Silvereye.'
When the reporter heard that name which seemed like the name of a character from a fantasy series about dragons, something struck him.
Other people in the hall had also started whispering among each other, slowly realising who he was.
"Isn't Aiden Silvereye the name of that actor whose movie is running in the theatres currently. He's a singer too, right?" The cameraman turned to him and asked.
"I think so. Let me check."
The reporter said and took out his phone to check up on Aiden and like he had thought, it was the same person. Suddenly, his hunched shoulders rose as excitement ran through him.
'This could be big news. There are not even a lot of other big media houses here. We could be the one to reveal it.'
The reporter could already imagine the headline.
The talented singer, songwriter and actor turned towards writing, bagging his first award. Something like this would surely make people click on the article, especially with his movie running in the theatres.
This could be his first big article.
Thinking of the article, the reporter didn't even focus on Zac when he went to take up his prize for second place with a sulking expression. He already wanted to get his laptop and start writing the article.
'No, maybe I could get an interview with him. Even a few lines would be pretty good. I should inform the editor about it.'
The reporter thought and quickly took out his phone to call the editor.
***
"Hey James, I'm sorry your son lost. I'm feeling very bad for him and you."
After Aiden won the award, Uncle Sam didn't waste a minute before approaching James who was frowning by himself. When he saw Uncle Sam with a smirk on his face, he felt a bad premonition.
"Yeah, it seems like he still has lots to learn. Contests are tricky." James said.
"Yeah, I mean he has a lot to learn if he's losing to a writer and his first work. Even then, Aiden isn't a writer in the first place."
The expression on James's face cracked a bit hearing that and he quickly tried to get a rebuttal.
"Well, I think he will do better in this career than acting. Anyway, he's not anywhere in it."
"Ah, who told you that?" Uncle Sam tilted his head. "My nephew's movie is still running in the theatre. People are saying that it might even earn over 100 million dollars. It hasn't been released in the UK yet, so I think you don't know about it."
"What?"
James looked surprised hearing that but the confidence on Uncle Sam's face told him that it wasn't a lie. When he shifted his attention to the reporters, he saw them clamoring to Aiden.
It was not only because he had won the first prize. It was because he was a celebrity.
"Uh, yeah, I certainly didn't know that."
"How about it? I could invite you to the theatre to watch his movie. I think you would like it. Aiden even made the soundtrack for it, so I could tell you a lot about him."
"Sure…"
James trailed off in his words, not knowing how to reply. He had been arrogant to Uncle Sam only because he was confident that his son would get the first prize but now he was sure that his old friend won't let him go easily.
As his expressions cracked, Uncle Sam laughed more inwardly.
'I'm going to take his revenge today, James. Unlike your son, my nephew had talents even I don't know about.'
Thinking that in his mind, he mused to himself.
***
'This feels great.'
Aiden thought when he was on the stage to take the award. He knew very well that he might win the award but thinking and actually achieving it were completely different things.
He felt like he hadn't let down Harley or Richard who had helped him out to make <Behind the scenes>.
As soon as he gave a short speech and came off the stage, the journalists and reporters present in the hall surrounded him to ask questions.
'What made you try out writing? Your movie is already being hailed as a winter hit. How do you feel about it?'
'What was the inspiration behind you writing the book? Could we expect you to write more books? Is writing your passion too? Please give a few details.'
'The story is about an actor from what is revealed. Is it inspired from your own life or is it an original story? How do you feel winning the award? What made you write the novel?'
'Do you see your book doing well after it's published? Don't you think being a celebrity the book would have an unfair advantage over others?'
Aiden patiently answered all the questions one by one as the flash of the camera kept haunting his face. It was only after 20 minutes that he managed to get out of the hoard of reporters to make way towards Uncle Sam and Lisa.
At the same time, standing in a corner, Zac was holding his second place trophy in his left hand while checking up on Aiden online.
The whispers about Aiden being a celebrity also reached him and when he saw that Aiden had so many followers on his social media, he couldn't help but feel a sense of defeat.
Compared to his measly 400k followers, Aiden had over 2 million on his social media.
When he checked up on his movies and songs, Zac realised where he had seen him. Just a month ago, his girlfriend asked to see a movie and showed him a poster.
It was the poster of [30 days of Happiness].
'Wait, if he's in Hollywood, then isn't he already at the place where I'm aiming?'
Zac's ultimate goal was to follow a certain children's fantasy author into becoming a celebrity writer with a lot of fans.
He wanted to see social media tags for his books.
But it seemed like he had a lot of work to do before reaching there. For a moment, Zac felt that Aiden only won because he was a celebrity and had enough followers to make the book work.
But he soon shook off that thought.
Vikings publishing was pretty thorough in those matters and anyway, Aiden had entered with a pen name. Though, the pen name looked lazy and the only reason he wasn't found out yet was because no one imagined that Aiden would be writing a book in between his song recordings and movie releases.
It was simply unexpected!
...
