Niall’s askance squint upon staring at his agent’s number hadn’t come unsolicited.
If memory served him right--which it in fact did--Callow had essentially ignored him for close to three months after he’d been done filming [The Promised Queen] in the past.
Instead, it had been the other way around, with him practically being on the agent’s neck.
Yet, as of the current timeline, it hadn’t even been up to a month before the agent contacted him.
Thus, the young actor couldn’t help but be suspicious when he’d picked up the call and Callow had informed him that he had secured a role for him in a popular series.
That said, walking out of the bathroom, a towel tied around his waist as he dried his hair with a smaller one, something flickered into the young man’s field of view from the corner of his eye.
Niall paused, his pupils dilating.
Then,
"When did this happen...?" he muttered as he gazed at himself through the mirror, a hint of awe evident in his voice.
Staring back at him was such a lean, well-toned body, one could’ve assumed he’d been hitting the gym for the past year.
Granted Niall had always been a bit jacked given he’d grown up on a farm, it still paled heavily in comparison to this sudden refinement of what seemed to be not just his core muscles, but every single one.
Niall didn’t have to think twice before attributing these changes to the Gift of Vitality.
Literally, it was the only explanation he could offer as the cause for this interesting but very well appreciated development.
What was funny though, was that because Niall had been so preoccupied with everything from the moment he’d regressed, he hadn’t realized that he’d grown into the physique three months ago... way before he’d began filming [The Promised Queen].
Changing into a more fitting attire though, a button-down navy-blue shirt with polka dots, sleek black jeans, a silver wristwatch and black sneakers, Niall grabbed his car keys and his manuscript and headed out.
A while later, he arrived at the agency.
Making his way into the building and getting on the elevator, Niall soon found himself before the door to Callow’s office.
Walking in, the first thing that caught young actor’s eye was the black-haired youth whose charcoal-black irises briefly flicked over to him and then haughtily dismissed as he remarked;
"Took you long enough,"
Niall simply ignored the brat and sat on the plush couch next to him, looking to Callow who was currently pouring himself a cup of wine as he gestured to Sarah, his assistant.
Some part of him remained a bit disappointed though, that at some point in his career, he’d been quite jealous of Adrian Manchester, one of the two talents that Callow had sidelined him for.
Afterall, despite the twenty-year old youth currently being a bit of a hot commodity in Hollywood, it wasn’t because he was particularly of good character or he was all that great at acting.
In fact, as a way to be certain, Niall scanned him from the corner of his eye... and lo and behold, his slate icon was a half mix of bronze and silver, with his hue being a silver shade with slight streaks of gold.
Essentially, he was an okay actor who occasionally put out good performances every once in a while. His talent though was quite middling by Tinseltown’s standards, all things considered.
Not that it would prevent people with the right connections and a disgustingly handsome face card from making it big in Hollywood... both of which Adrian was.
Simply put, the brat was a nepo baby. Son of a renowned businessman whom was a good friend to Callow.
Doing as she was told and placing the scripts before both talents, Sarah reassumed her spot next to Callow, her expression professional and a clipboard gripped in one of her palms.
"Wait?! Seriously?! [Holmes: Case Zero]!" Adrian’s excitement was palpable the moment he picked up the script to which Callow commented after taking a sip of the wine.
"Yeah. You’re to audition for young Moriarty. Give it your best shot," he acknowledged with a thin smile.
In response, Adrian beamed, and just to be the asshole that he was, proceeded to sneer in mockery at the man next to him.
Considering he hadn’t gotten over how he’d once lost a role he’d so much wanted but had instead, gone to the man next to him just because the director had liked his audition more, this to him, felt like a fitting retaliation.
Added to that, Adrian had seen the title on Niall’s script.
Given what he’d come to know about the goody two shoes, he was more or less expecting him to argue with Callow regarding the poor choice of roles he was being given.
Simultaneously, Callow glanced over to Niall, ready to hear what the ’problematic’ talent had to say.
"Not interested." Niall rose up from the couch whilst dropping the script on the table with a soft thud, his expression casual and relaxed.
"If another role comes along, inform me." he casually added whilst making his way out.
Before Callow--and this time even Sarah and Adrian--knew what to think of it or do, the door had clicked shut behind him.
Yet, not even a minute had passed in silence before Callow’s face reddened and he banged his hands on his desk table in furious disbelief.
"That fucking idiot!" the agent raged.
"Who does he think he is?!" he fumed.
For a few minutes, the atmosphere in the room remained tense, talent and assistant unsure of what to do.
Niall Parker, from what they knew of him, wasn’t the type to so easily dismiss a role.
In fact, he’d always been more desperate for roles than anything else, thus making the way he’d behaved now all the more jarring.
Reeling in his anger through gritted teeth a couple seconds later, Callow breathed through his nose and then ordered;
"Adrian. Take the script and audition for the role. It’d be all the more in your favor,"
Adrian still wasn’t exactly sure what to make of what had transpired if he was being honest. However, he couldn’t have been gladder to have stumbled upon another boon.
’Sucks to be him,’ he inwardly made mockery of his colleague.
Sarah on the other hand, was more concerned about what Callow would do to the dirty blonde-haired talent.
And right she was, because the agent had in fact planned to punish the young actor, severely.
’It seems I’ve been too lenient with him,’ Callow leaned back into his chair, swirling the wine within his glass cup.
’I’m blacklisting him for a year. He won’t be getting any work for a while. I’ll make sure of it.’ he thought to himself, a sinister glint in his eyes.
Yet, those exact thoughts he had... that was what Niall was banking on.
Having made his way down the elevator and into the parking lot, he simply let out a resigned sigh as he slipped into the driver’s seat.
He hadn’t been particularly surprised that he was being shortchanged yet again.
In fact, from the moment he’d stepped into the office--what with Adrian’s haughtiness and Callow’s petty need to assert some form of dominance by playing stupid mind games--he’d expected it.
Though Adrian seemed to have arrived a couple minutes before him, it didn’t detract from the fact that the agent had waited for him to arrive before he gave both he and Adrian their scripts just to poke and prod at him.
Unluckily for the agent--who was a smart aleck, to say the least--his mind could only churn so far as to believe he was in control when in fact he was not.
Afterall, Niall had better things to do than entertain his wiseacre.
These coming months, he really needed as much free time as he could have.
Glancing over to his manuscript which he had placed on the passenger’s seat, a blissful smile bloomed onto his features.
He was evidently proud of himself, that much was certain.
Almost immediately though, the young man felt his phone buzz with a notification.
Retrieving the device, he casually swiped it open, only to have an expectant smile grace his features.
Lowkey appreciate u showing this much love for my work fr, esp since my views always kinda mid. I’m down to take u up on that offer tho.
That said, it’s really more of a passion thing for me... not tryna downplay myself, but you’d prob be better off putting that time & energy into something else tbh.
Smiling genuinely upon reading that, Niall constructed his own message and hit send;
Thank you for responding. Since you hadn’t replied in two weeks, I’d wondered if you’d gone cold turkey on me.
Also... Passion Project? Even Better. Trust me, it’d be an honor to work with you.
Niall had to wait about a minute before he got another text;
My bad, been hella swamped lately.
Fr?? If u rlly think so, that’d be amazing. I’d love to work w/ u too. But uh... I gotta see u irl first before I can fully commit tho.
The young actor replied immediately;
Sure, I understand. Just text me when and where’s most convenient for you and I’ll follow through as best and as soon as I can.
Having sent it a couple minutes ago with no response from the other end, Niall simply tucked the phone into his pocket.
He’d eventually get a reply soon... he hoped.
Igniting the car’s engine, Niall soon made his way out of the parking lot, the vehicle merging with the road that led into the city streets.
The next stop for him was Feyre’s Publications.
Normally, the proper etiquette was to have an agent book an appointment for him where he could meet with the publishing company and have his manuscript reviewed.
However, given the state of things in their company, Niall wasn’t of the belief that they wouldn’t accept unagented submissions.
Which was why, after battling with the busy traffic, he pulled up into their parking lot half an hour later.
Without wasting time, he casually strolled into the building like he’d booked an appointment beforehand.
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