After the shooting of [Black Saints] concluded, Aiden spent two more days in Chicago, touring the city. He wanted to take a small break before focusing on getting the next gig.
When he told Wade that he felt like taking a break, the latter had agreed, saying he should not get overcooked as he needed to do a lot of work to stay relevant in the industry.
Because of that, even after returning to New York, Aiden just stayed in his room, occasionally going to Uncle Sam's restaurant to eat and then spending his nights in Rabbit hole, not as a singer but as a customer.
He really felt more relaxed throughout his break and got more and more ideas for his music and acting.
All in all, it was a necessary break for him.
At the same time, [Shadows of War] was almost at the end of its theatre run, amassing more than 270 million dollars at the box office.
The movie was soon going to go on Zetflix, and there were already whispers that Zero International was pushing it hard for the Oscars.
An article by Dark Cinema, a magazine, aptly summarised the reason for the movie's success and how it could sweep the Oscars this year.
The article, which was termed 'Season of Awards and a war movie.' got many views on the magazine's website.
[War may be hell, but [Shadows of War] is having a heavenly go at the box office and might as well sweep the Oscars clean this year.
The film, a World War I tale, is already a nominee in the Producers Choice Awards for Best Picture and Aaron Hart, the lead, is contending for the Best Actor in a leading role award.
Besides that, Golden Globes nomination already awaited the movie, which is basically confirmed as the nominations are due in the first week of December.
Its director, Lincoln Bradley, dedicated the movie to all World War I veterans whose stories helped inspire the film.
And the film's producer, Franklin, drew a line directly from the movie to the current climate of global tension around the world in an interview he gave to Hollywood Times, "In these times of disunity and conflict around the world, I really hope that it's a reminder never to take for granted the peace and do everything not to go back to the times of war," he said.
The movie is already said to be one of the best earners from Zero International in recent times and has even gotten a multi-million dollar deal for the streaming rights. The company wants nothing more than to push the movie for the Oscar nominations as well.
If that happens, the movie could be a big contender to win the Academy Award.
After all, everyone in Hollywood knows that the Oscars love war dramas more than anything. The liking had only grown in recent times.
While talking to one of the executives in Zero International, we learned that they are planning to do another movie with Linchon Bradley, a director who has been nowhere to be seen for the last few years.
His career has clearly been revived with [Shadows of War].
Although the competition will be one of the toughest in the Oscars, many film critics believe that the war drama could edge over the others due to the realism and the sense of danger it presented throughout its running minutes.
Everything will most likely depend on how the movie performs in other award shows, as the Oscar jury will probably keep an eye on them.
Aaron Hart, hoping to get a nomination in the best actor category, said, "I'm just happy the movie did well as the cast performed their best. As for the awards, I'm not really thinking a lot about it, and it all depends on the Oscars jury."
The ironic thing was that 24 hours after saying this in an interview, he was recorded shouting at his agent that he wanted to win the Oscar at all costs in a cafe…]
'It seems like [Shadows of War] might get an Oscar.'
Aiden thought, scrolling down the article displayed on his phone. Though the movie was doing really well, his name had more or less been forgotten.
As his role was too short even to get a nomination and Lincoln and Aaron had more or less occupied the focus, Aiden had become a fleeting memory in people's minds.
He wasn't upset by it, already anticipating this outcome.
It had been a week since he had returned to New York, and his break had ended yesterday.
He was currently in The Rabbit hole, as Wade had called him here, saying he had something to talk to him about.
But he hadn't appeared yet.
"Kid, I didn't expect to see you here."
Suddenly, a familiar voice resounded in his surroundings. Turning around, he saw Abraham walking in.
"Boss, how are you? It's been a long time." Aiden said as Abraham sat down in front of him to talk.
As he was in Chicago for more than a month and had already stopped working in the bar, he rarely got to meet Abraham these days. However, the old man helped him a lot when he struggled, so he always felt grateful.
"You are moving up in your career, so it's hard to see you these days," Abraham said before a conflicted expression appeared on his face. "By the way, I'm sorry about Amy. I heard she was rude to you."
"Ah, it's been a long time since then. I have already forgotten about it."
Aiden said, suddenly remembering Amy. He hadn't forgotten her as their meeting was still in his mind.
He would just like it if he never met her again.
"Anyway, I heard you just finished shooting for a movie. Do you have any other projects lined up?"
Abraham asked, tilting his head. He was very interested in Aiden as he was the first singer from the bar who seemed to have been on the path to becoming a star.
"Not yet. Wade said he's looking for new acting projects, but I will mostly be making new songs for the next two months and get back to acting after the new year."
Aiden explained his plans. He had shot two projects one after another, and it was not exactly easy to find acting projects in Hollywood, so he won't be surprised if he was out of any acting job for the next two months.
At that time, he wanted to focus more on his music career and try to increase his MeTube channel numbers.
"That's a fine plan. If you want a recording studio, I can rent you mine." Aiden cocked his head at that. "I own it and rent it out to bands, so I will even give a discount to you. Recording software is good, but a studio with all the equipment will improve quality."
"That's true. It would be a huge help if I could rent your studio."
After that, they talked a bit more about just singing and the state of Hollywood and the music industry as a whole.
Abraham knew many people in Hollywood, so he had a lot of interesting stories to tell Aiden, who just listened calmly.
Suddenly, Abraham remembered something important.
"I just remembered, but the Indie Music awards will be held soon. Have you heard anything about a nomination?"
"For what?"
"There are a lot of categories. Best single of the year or Rising star of the year. I think you will at least get a nomination in the latter."
Indie Music awards is a big event that happens at the end of the year in December. It was not as prestigious as the Grammy, but it was significant for new indie musicians.
They take it very seriously, and many bands dream of starting their career by playing on the stage at the awards.
'The season of awards is truly coming.'
Aiden thought, thinking back to the article. He hadn't heard of any nomination for even one of his songs yet.
"I have not heard anything from the awards yet," Aiden said, taking a deep breath. "I think they will release the list of nominations in two weeks, so I can only hope for now."
"Yeah, keep an eye on it. These awards give an artist a certain prestige, which will be very good in the future."
Abraham said, thinking about 'Hold onto me'.
That was Aiden's only song to have crossed over 60 million views on MeTube. So if he was going to get an award for any song, it would be that song.
Although the awards were known to favour popularity over anything else and in that, Aiden still lacked a bit as he hadn't performed on any big stages yet.
"I will leave you now. I have some work on the back. Need to check up on the supplies."
After a bit of talking, Abraham said and left. It was close to evening, and the bar started filling up with people.
But sitting in the corner, Aiden just waited for Wade, who was too late. Finally, when it was close to 5:40 in the evening, Wade appeared.
He was panting like he was running his whole way, and as soon as he sat down in front of Aiden, he said.
"I think I might have an amazing opportunity for you."
...
