"Hey, I need more lightning here."
"Put that camera over there. Don't mess it up."
"Hey, do we have more extras? The office needs to look like a real company. There need to be more people."
The next day, the set was bustling with a lot of noise as usual. People were moving around here and there. Assistant directors argued with others who weren't doing their work fast enough, and a lot of people were stressed, wondering if it was good enough.
In a word, it was a pretty stressful environment.
But he had gotten used to it after a month.
'I love just being here. I am glad I got this job.'
Tom thought, looking around, drinking his coffee and letting out a breath. There was a constant smile on his face as he glanced at Aiden, who was currently in the middle of his makeup.
He recalled the last couple of months of his life and how things had changed for him.
When three months ago, Jody had told him about this job, Tom had been skeptical.
He still remembered each word of that conversation.
'Hey, Tom. I got a job offer. They are looking for a whole team, including an assistant, so I think we should go for it.'
'The whole team? Who's it from? Some agent?'
'No, it's from Aiden Silvereye. You have heard of him, right? I know his agent well, and it seems to be a good offer. Don't you always want to work with an actor anyway?'
That was something that everyone who knew Tom would know.
He loved movies, actors, their life and all the drama around them. It was his dream to work in an environment like that.
That's why he became an assistant to celebrities.
Before Aiden, Tom had worked with a social media influencer and a few singers, but it was nothing extraordinary.
So, when he got this offer, he immediately took it.
Like that, Tom, who was 24 years old, became the assistant of Aiden, a rising star in the world of Hollywood. Before getting the job, Tom had researched a lot about Aiden and his instincts were telling him one thing.
'He's going to become a big star. I need to get the first seat in his life which is bound to be filled with different sorts of dramas.'
As a fan of Hollywood reality TV shows like [Star Wives] and [Famous for being Famous], Tom was sure that it was going to be an exciting journey.
In his first meeting with Aiden, he witnessed it himself.
'I want to reach the top of Hollywood.'
Just that statement from Aiden was enough to reassure Tom that he had not made a bad decision. From that day, he followed Aiden's career very closely and noticed a few things.
Unlike the celebrities he had seen on reality TV shows, Aiden was very calm, composed and hardworking. Wade had informed him that he had a habit of jumping from one project after another like he was going to die before 30.
He was too serious about his career.
Tom saw it himself when Aiden decided to do a movie and work on his album at the same time. The surprising thing was that he had just released a book a while back.
It was then that Tom understood one thing.
'He's a bit crazy in the head in a good way. I guess all geniuses are.'
For the first month, Tom felt that everything was pretty peaceful. There was a lot of work as Aiden had interviews, singing gigs, ad shoots and auditions, but there was no drama.
Something that Tom craved for.
He got it when Aiden was rejected for the role of Mark Knight in [Disconnected] just because SGA, the main investors, wanted their actor in it. Tom felt that it was unfair, but he was also looking forward to what Aiden would do.
Would he get angry and just leave the movie? Would he try to give out an interview against Seth? Or would he do nothing?
In all this, Aiden had decided not to go for any underhanded methods and beat Seth into one thing that mattered — Acting.
It was a very interesting development for Tom, who had already proclaimed himself the only viewer of the reality TV show 'Aiden's Rise in Hollywood'.
When Tom had asked Aiden about it, an interesting conversation had taken place.
'Are you sure of beating Seth Douglas in acting? I have seen his work. He's pretty good.'
'I have seen them too, and I know he's really good.'
'Then, how will you beat him?'
'I don't know actually as I have not met him or seen his acting personally. I could only guess his level for now. Well, you could say that I'm confident because of one thing.'
'If Seth were really that good, Jesse would have never considered me in the first place.'
A solid answer.
Tom had prayed that Aiden would actually defeat Seth in acting after that, and the same had happened when the shooting had begun.
One thing Tom had to accept was that Seth wasn't bad at acting. He was good and experienced.
But Aiden was way more naturally gifted in the eyes of those watching them.
In every scene he would appear in, a certain charm would reflect, and he would own the scene. Everyone on the set thought the same, and Tom knew that because he had asked every staff member, he talked to.
'Can I ask you a question?'
'Yeah?'
'Do you also think that Aiden is way better at acting than Seth?'
'Ah, yes. His screen presence and acting really shine through. I'm pretty sure critics would praise him a lot when the movie is released. Even the director seems to appreciate him a lot.'
He had gotten similar answers from a lot of people, and Tom couldn't wait till the movie was released.
As the shooting went on, the fight between Jesse and Seth happened. Personally, Tom enjoyed it, but he wasn't too invested in it.
Aiden was just a side character in it, and it was just something that made the production team dislike Seth more and more. Of course, one could argue that Jesse was also responsible, but directors were often like that.
Even after the fight had settled, the production team's attitude towards Seth didn't change, and they treated him coldly.
Though, Seth didn't seem to care about it and just focused on finishing up the movie. It was understandable as Tom had heard rumours that SGA had warned him not to do something like that again.
Oh yes, one more thing that had happened over the months and something that Tom was very interested in was Aiden's love life.
Tom wasn't someone who liked to stare at other people's relationships, but as an assistant, he was bound to know about his employer's relationship, especially in a line like showbiz where things were hard to hide.
Even before taking the job, Tom had wondered if Aiden was a genius playboy — The kind that the media loved, but it turned out to be completely false.
Contrary to that, Aiden stayed away from having anything more than a professional relationship with a girl because he was scared that he would get cursed.
Once, Tom had decided to bring it up when Aiden was trying to know more about him.
'So, do you have a girlfriend? Is Katie Brooks really in a relationship with you?'
'No, not really. That was just marketing for the movie. I'm not seeing anyone currently.'
'Must be hard. When you are a celebrity, you get all sorts of attention. Particularly the female one.'
To that, Aiden nodded.
'Yeah, that's true, but the thing is, even if I like someone currently and get into a relationship, it's going to be extremely hard to keep it up. It would mostly be a long-distance one as I would move around a lot due to work. I don't want something that I might regret later on.'
That was a good enough answer that satisfied Tom. He once again reminded himself that Aiden was pretty mature and sensible as a person.
Though, his thoughts did shake when Rachel was working on a song with Aiden.
Tom was sure that there was something between them. Some sort of past conflict, or maybe they were even in a relationship before? There were indeed hints of that.
But on another look, his thoughts changed.
'Rachel is too cold towards Aiden even if I see her being conflicted from time to time. Rather than Aiden, she had a way better chemistry with her manager, Linda. Wait! Is she a lesbian? Could be…'
Those were his thoughts after observing Rachel for a while.
In the end, Tom had just turned to one conclusion after realising something.
'Ah, yes! Aiden is Indian. Half, but it still counts. Must be going for an arranged marriage. The stereotypes are not always wrong, huh.'
Thinking of all this, Tom finished his coffee and smiled as if he was in a good mood.
There was a reason behind it.
Just yesterday, he had heard Aiden's discussion with the director Jesse. Although he wasn't able to hear the whole thing, one thing that his ears picked up was something special.
'Jesse, just let me do it my way. I'm going to give a performance that would stun everyone in the scene.'
Tom glanced at Aiden, who had just finished up his makeup.
With anticipation evident on his face, he wished.
'I really hope I see something special today.'
...
