Ch-174

"Everyone!" DJ Caruso called out as filming was about to begin. "I want to apologize to you all for making the first few days of shooting so difficult. Most of all, I want to apologize to Troy for speaking ill of his acting style. He didn't deserve that at all." He then turned to face me. "Please forgive me, Troy."

Evan had given me a heads-up about the move he had pulled with Caruso. I didn't like what he did, but I understood why it was necessary. If stories about on-set drama leaked to the media and Caruso said anything bad about me, it would reflect poorly on me. As a celebrity, I always had to be the bigger person. Caruso had nothing to lose if we started fighting publicly—I, on the other hand, could lose a lot.

"Let bygones be bygones," I said with a smile. "I had even forgotten about it."

The moment I spoke, the invisible tension that had been slowly mounting on the set disappeared instantly. Over the past few days, I had noticed people treating me like a glass cannon, as if I might explode at any moment—especially whenever DJ and I had to discuss a scene.

"Come on, everyone," DJ called out loudly. "We have a film to make. Let's get to it."

With that, everyone got back to their respective jobs. I still wasn't happy with Caruso, but as long as he directed the film quietly and let Evan edit our version, I didn't care.

"So, you ready for today's shoot?" Caruso asked excitedly as if his apology had erased everything between us.

"Yeah, I am," I said curtly, then turned to my on-screen love interest, who stood a few feet away in a bathrobe. She was an exceptionally beautiful girl who, in a few years, would become one of the highest-paid actresses in the world—thanks to her role as Black Widow.

In this timeline, the female lead opposite me was being played by Scarlett Johansson.

"Hi!" Scarlett greeted me enthusiastically. "We meet again."

"We do," I said with a grin. "I heard someone else was originally cast in your role and they replaced her last moment. Are you by any chance stalking me?"

"You wish," Scarlett grinned back. "I was up for another film shooting at the same time, which is why I declined [Disturbia] initially. But that film's funding fell through, so I was suddenly available. My agent reached out to the producers, and they were more than happy to have me on board."

"Hmm." I rubbed my nonexistent beard deliberately. "Suspicious. You only accepted the role after they announced my involvement in the project."

Scarlett chuckled but didn't bother to respond. She didn't need to—I knew I was right. My involvement in any film attracted industry attention like moths to a flame, especially after the trifecta of films I had released last year. Ever since then, Tobias had been receiving hundreds of emails weekly from talent agents and managers inquiring about upcoming projects they could get their clients into.

Even some of my past co-stars had contacted me directly, asking for a future role. It was a bizarre feeling—to know I was in such high demand that people were willing to work at SAG rates just to be in a film produced by me.

Scarlett seemed to be in the same camp since she joined the cast as soon as I did. In fact, if I had been in charge of casting, I wouldn't have chosen her—she was five years older than me. I didn't mind the age gap that much, but audiences were used to seeing her in more mature roles, while I was still a teenager in their eyes.

At almost 22, Scarlett wasn't too old for the role. And considering how many bikini scenes they had written into the script for her character, it was probably better for her to be on the older side. Still, it unsettled me that, like so many others, she had agreed to take on such an average role just to star opposite me.

"So," I said conversationally after a few moments, "nervous for today's shoot?"

"Not really," she shrugged. "I've done much worse scenes than this one. Although I appreciate you calling for a closed set, I wouldn't have minded even if you hadn't."

I inclined my head. The first scene we had to shoot today was a little on the perverted side—my character, Kale, along with his best friend, Ronnie, would be peeking at Scarlett's character, Ashley, while she enjoyed a swim in her backyard pool. I didn't like the premise, but it made sense. Any straight teenage boy, especially one who had been locked up in his house for months, would probably do something like that. So I hadn't protested its inclusion in the movie.

"Yo, guys, how we doing today!?"

An Asian guy walked up to Scarlett and me, throwing an arm around my shoulder as if we'd known each other for years.

"I'm so excited to finally get this show on the road," he said excitedly.

I chuckled at his antics. "Calm down, Steven. You're embodying your character a little too much."

The guy playing my best friend, Ronnie, was none other than Steven Yeun—the same Steven Yeun who would gain major recognition in the future for his work in [The Walking Dead] and a plethora of other roles.

This was his first role ever, but despite that, he wasn't nervous at all. He was a year older than Scarlett, but he looked so young he could easily pass for sixteen. I had no idea why this small change had happened in this timeline—Steven Yeun definitely hadn't been in this film originally.

"Nah," Steven waved off my concern. "It's a good thing if I'm embodying my character, isn't it?"

"That's bullshit," Scarlett chimed in. "After you've done a film or two, you'll realize it doesn't matter at all—except for making the people around you uncomfortable."

"True," I agreed.

Before our conversation could continue, Caruso called out, "Let's start shooting, guys. I've cleared the set of anyone not needed, so you three can get comfortable now."

"You three?" Scarlett whispered so only Steven and I could hear. "Why would you two need to get comfortable? Don't tell me you're coming to the pool half-naked too."

"Ignore him," I said, motioning toward the director with my head. "He doesn't think before speaking. You get ready while Steven and I head upstairs."

Scarlett gave me a small smile as the two of us left the pool area and walked up the stairs.

"Man, she's so hot," Steven said as we climbed. "Whoever her boyfriend is, he's a lucky guy."

"Hear, hear," I muttered under my breath as we reached the second-floor window. From here, Scarlett was visible to anyone looking down. She had shed her bathrobe and was now rocking a skimpy red bikini.

"Holy shit! Are they real?"

I bet you could get her to give you her phone number," Steven challenged.

I laughed. "Man, what are you, thirteen? I already have her number."

"Oh." He looked sheepish. "Then maybe you could share it with me?"

"No can do." I shook my head. "If you want it, ask her yourself. I get why you'd want it, though." I glanced back at Scarlett, who was stretching in her barely-there outfit, her massive bust that seemed to have gone under a blade recently was not something you could look away from easily. "If I weren't happily in a relationship with Rihanna, even I'd be tempted to ask her out."

Steven studied me for a moment before nodding reluctantly. "I'll ask her later, then."

"So, are you guys ready?" Caruso stepped closer to us. "We've got a lot of scenes to shoot today, so let's not waste time."

At my nod, everyone got into position, and soon, I heard the call: "Action!"

I pushed open the door, a grin spreading across my face. "Last stop of the tour. Come on."

I walked in, with Steven following dutifully. Stepping up to the window, I peered outside before calling him over. "Come here."

He stood beside me, both of us looking down at Scarlett as she enjoyed a swim in the pool.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed. "There is a God."

"Cut!" Caruso called out. "Steven, can you be a little more eager? Act like a teenager who's never seen a girl in a swimsuit before."

Steven nodded. We heard 'Action!' again.

"Oh my God!"

"Cut! Let's redo. Action!"

"Cut!" "Action!"

And so it went, take after take, until Caruso was finally satisfied enough to move on. Strangely, I hadn't caused a single retake.

"Action!"

I smiled as Scarlett walked out of the pool, adjusting her bikini bottoms—her curves on full display.

"Who is she?" Steven asked.

"I don't know," I murmured wistfully, pouring all my longing for Scarlett into the shot.

"What's stopping you?" Steven asked.

My mood instantly sombered as I looked down at my ankle, where the police monitor was strapped.

Steven said nothing—just placed a hand on my shoulder in silent support.

"Cut!" Caruso announced. "Perfect shot, everybody. Let's move on."

I gave him a skeptical look. "Are you sure? I could tone it down a bit if you want."

"Let's not," Caruso said in exasperation, shooting a glance at Steven—the real culprit behind most of today's retakes. Thankfully, Steven had the decency to look sheepish. Caruso turned back to me. "I'll tell you if you really need to reshoot something. Now, why don't you guys get changed for the next part?"

Steven and I nodded and rushed off to do exactly that. Since we were filming two scenes set on different days—both with the same premise of the boys spying on the girl in the pool—we were shooting them together.

Within minutes, we were in fresh outfits. Scarlett went through a similar routine, swapping into a different-colored swimsuit before diving back into the pool.

"Action!"

"This is new!" Steven noted the color change eagerly.

"We like new," I said, enjoying the view through my binoculars.

"Give them to me for a moment," Steven called out, snatching the binoculars from me. In his eagerness, he forgot to be quiet and banged them against the window—loudly.

"Oh shit!" I cursed as we both ducked under the sill to avoid being spotted. "You're a jackass. A genuine jackass." I whispered to Steven heatedly.

"I bet she didn't hear it," he defended.

"My deaf aunt in Omaha heard it," I shot back before cautiously peeking out. Scarlett was staring straight at me.

I ducked down again. "Oh no! She just saw me!"

"Maybe you got it wrong?" Steven said hopefully. He peeked for himself—then immediately ducked back down beside me. "Or maybe you're right and she did see you." After a moment, he peeked again. "And now she's gone."

Before we could start panicking, the doorbell rang. Steven and I turned toward the camera in unison, identical looks of worry plastered on our faces.

"Holy shit!" I whispered. "What do we do now?"

"Cut!" Caruso announced. "Perfect shot, you guys. Take five before we shoot the next one where Scarlett comes in through the door."

Steven and I got up from the floor where we'd been hiding.

"Man, you make it seem so effortless," Steven said, clearly frustrated. "Meanwhile, I keep messing up every little thing."

Despite the scene being fairly simple, we'd had to redo it several times because of Steven. I didn't mind too much, though.

"It's okay," I assured him. "It happens when you're new to the industry. Give it some time—you'll get used to it."

He nodded as we got ready for the next scene.

That day felt endless. I may have reassured Steven, but by the time we wrapped, his constant retakes had gotten a little irritating. Still, I never once complained. It helped that he was genuinely apologetic about wasting our time. Plus, he was a likable guy. Funny, too.

"Hey, guys," I called out to Steven and Scarlett as we wrapped up for the day. "Got any plans this weekend?"

I was thrilled to be working on a mid-budget film like [Disturbia]. Unlike [Harry Potter], where we shot six days a week on a packed schedule, this one only filmed on weekdays—leaving my Saturdays and Sundays free.

"Nothing much," Steven said. "I was thinking of sightseeing. First time in LA, after all."

Nodding, I turned to Scarlett.

"I had a date night planned with my boyfriend, Josh," Scarlett said. "We don't get to see each other often because of our busy schedules, so we try to make the most of it whenever we can."

"Oh," I said, a little disappointed. "Well, enjoy your time with him." Then I turned to Steven. "If you were free, you could have come to my concert."

"Wait," Scarlett interrupted, her tone sharp with surprise. "You mean to tell me you're doing your first-ever concert? Here? In LA?"

"Yeah," I nodded casually. "Rihanna's been bugging me to take my music career more seriously, so I'm doing weekend concerts in LA, starting this Saturday. Nothing huge—I don't know how many people will show up on short notice, and I haven't had much time to prepare. Keeping it simple and lowkey. But if you guys are free, you should come."

"Fuck, yes!" Scarlett said excitedly. "Josh and I are both huge fans of your music."

"Me too!" Steven jumped in. "I don't have a girlfriend to bring, but I've got a few friends who'd love to go."

"The more, the merrier," I grinned. "It starts at 7 this Saturday. I'll send you the tickets."

"This already sounds amazing," Scarlett said. "But I don't think you realize how many people are going to want to see your concert—even on short notice. When do tickets go on sale?"

I glanced at my watch before smirking. "If my guess is right, they've already dropped the announcement video by now."

(Break)

Patty was casually surfing the internet when she decided to visit her favorite website. Lately, whenever she had free time, she found herself on YouTube—watching funny videos, celebrity gossip, or the latest movie trailers and song releases. And if nothing caught her interest, she always had one go-to option: rewatching one of Troy Armitage's songs.

In an unprecedented move, Troy had started releasing his entire catalog of music videos on YouTube two months ago. Every week, a new song from Echoes of You was uploaded, and the moment it began, international media picked up the news. Fans were thrilled to watch his music for free—even if it meant sitting through a short ad.

For those too impatient to wait, there was always the newly launched option to pay a small monthly fee for YouTube Premium and remove the ads entirely.

When Troy uploaded his live Oscar performance, the internet went crazy. The video racked up millions of views overnight, cementing his album as the most-watched on the platform. Unsurprisingly, his album sales soared alongside it—not that they were lacking to begin with, but the YouTube release was strongly credited for [Echoes of You] remaining number one album even after so long. Seeing his success, other singers started following suit, uploading their music videos directly to YouTube in hopes of replicating his strategy.

As soon as Patty landed on YouTube's homepage, her eyes widened.

A brand-new video had just dropped on Troy's channel, uploaded mere minutes ago. The title was quite an intriguing one.

"Announcement."

Since she was subscribed to him, his videos always appeared at the top of her feed. Heart pounding with curiosity, she clicked.

Seconds later, before the video even finished, she scrambled to open the website listed in the description: Troy(dot)com.

The page took a moment to load… then another. Impatient, she refreshed it.

Instead of the homepage, a message appeared:

"Sorry, the website is temporarily down due to excessive traffic. Please try again in a few minutes."

Patty stared at the screen, stunned.

"What the fuck!?"

______________________________________________

AN: Don't try to open the website mentioned here. I don't own it, so I take no responsibility if it turned out to be a bad one.

Visit my Pat reon to read ahead, or check out my second Hollywood story set in the 80s.

Link: www(dot)pat reon(dot)com/fableweaver