CHAPTER 13

Hope sat cross legged in chair in his office and spoke. "why is there a rumor saying that the Leo is bullying the juniors when its clearly done by Erick?"

"It's Erick's agency's strategy to reduce Leo's fan base. As they know that Leo never responds to rumours, they used this strategy."

"So, you know about this still let it happen. How can I trust you and invest billions in this project? Give me one reason"

"madam please forgive me. I came to know about this only recently. Please don't pull out the funds. A lot of people will be affected. I will do whatever you do demand."

"Who is the man that complained to you about Erick just now?"

"He is Adrian. Just an extra actor."

'not bad. He is quite courageous to offend an popular figure being just an extra' she thought.

"Okay. Remove Erick from the project" she said nonchalantly.

"But president we have already filmed almost 40% of his scenes. Removing him will lead to more loses" the director tried to persuade Hope.

"I don't need you to remind me about how to run my company. Just remove him" she said in a domineering manner.

The director was scared of offending her still he tried his luck to convince her. "But president, how can we get someone to accept the role suddenly. If we don't get someone immediately, we cannot release the movie this year."

"Get him to act in that role" she said pointing her hands towards Adrian.

"But he is just an extra….." before he could finish his sentence, he realized that Hope was giving him an skin piercing look. He abruptly stopped and nodded his head indicating that he agreed to whatever she says.

"But madam, Erick has a huge fan base. They will boycott our project."

"You don't have to worry about that. I will take care of the other things. And also, don't tell Adrian about the offer now. Notify him after after a week or two when the commotion dies down."

"Okay madam."

After discussing everything they both went back to Erick room and Adrian was still waiting there as he promised.

The director asked Erick to take the day off and he will let him know about the schedule later. Erick didn't smell anything suspicious and thought that the director is just trying to help him get out of the problem. So he just agreed and left the set.

Then the director asked Adrian to take care of Hope as she is a bit flustered because of the happenings as he have also completed his work as instructed by Hope.

Hope messaged Liam to leave first and she will call later. Then Adrian and Hope came out of the filming set silently. Neither of them spoke anything for a while.

Then Adrian took the initiative and introduced himself. "Hi I'm Adrian"

"Hi. I'm Hope."

"I have never seen you before in the set. Are you new here?"

"uhmm… yeah I just came with my friend"

"Are you an actress? Did you come here to ask for any role?"

"No. No. I'm not. I just came to meet the actors."

"oh… With your looks if you try acting you will definitely become successful."

"Thanks. But I don't know anything about acting. By the way what are doing here? Are you an actor?"

"I don't know if I can say I'm an actor. I'm trying to be an actor. So far I have done a lot of roles which doesn't even have names."

"Aren't you afraid of offending Erick" she asked.

"I am already just an extra, the maximum he can do is to remove me and not let me take any other roles here after" he said casually.

"You don't even know me. Shouldn't you be worried about your career instead of helping me" she again asked him to know why he helped her.

"Its not like these extra roles would make me any more successful. Its just barely helps me with my expenses. I don't have anything to lose so it doesn't matter" he explained with a smile on his face.

Unknowingly she was more and more attracted towards him and she wanted to know more about him. She also felt sad for him as she noticed the change in his expression when he talked about his career. she can sense his sorrow. Thus she encouraged him "You will definitely get your chance soon. Wait for it."

"I didn't know you could read fortunes" he smiled very brightly.

"You never know what tomorrow brings. Who knows you may even suddenly get an opportunity tomorrow," she tried encouraging him. She doesn't know why but she just wants to know more about him.

"If it happens like you said, I will be happiest person in the world. You don't know how long I have been waiting for such an opportunity."

"Your happiness is not far away. When you get the opportunity don't forget to treat me."

"Sure. You are exactly like your name. hearing you say these things give me a lot of hope"

They have walked for a very long without realizing and reached the subway station. Then Adrian asked Hope about where she was headed and she just made random excuses and asked him to leave first.