The next couple months came and went pretty fast.
Amidst it, [The Token of Fate] had entered production at Feyre Publications and was on track to hit shelves come the first week of April, next year.
At the same time, [The Promised Queen] was simultaneously set to hit cinemas a month after, though the Premiere of the movie was to be held in the last week of March and equally the first week of April.
As a result, marketing for the movie had reached a fever high.
Three trailers of the movie had been dropped, each one met with extremely positive reception.
In addition to that, Emily, David, Gareth and on rare occasions, Ivelia, had been going around promoting the movie, involving themselves in as many podcasts, talk and variety shows as they could.
Interestingly though, after going through the entire movie, the marketing team had pitched to have Niall involved in some of the promotions.
However, after contacting his agent a couple times, each one met with one unfavorable reply after the other, the team had given up.
Unfortunately for them, they remained unaware that none of their efforts to get the young man onboard had actually been relayed to him.
Callow, hell bent on putting the young actor through his paces, failed to inform him of it.
Unfortunately for the bitter agent, the young actor would’ve probably thanked him for doing so if not for the fact that they were on bad terms.
Afterall, given all he had been up to, the lack of distractions had been very welcome.
Amidst attending a couple meetings, alongside reviewing several things regarding the production of [The Token of Fate], Niall had also been keeping in touch with Mark.
With the script of [A Maddened Wonderland] slowly taking shape, the film student had gradually made it a habit to send his scripts for Niall to review and give his insights.
In turn, the young actor would often assess it with his Gift of Discernment and suggest a couple interesting ideas to improve upon the plot, or call his attention to parts that required refinement.
This back and forth between them, had eventually slipped both youths into a steady workflow that only served to improve upon the script.
That said, more than all that, Niall had spent most of his time investing in himself as an artist.
With the realization that he was only just scratching the surface of what he was truly capable of, a pretty interesting idea had taken root in his mind the very night he’d gotten a new icon added to his catalogue.
As a result, he’d taken to consuming every little thing he could about the basics of singing and songwriting.
Added to that, he had begun listening to different genres of music, hoping to glean something, anything from it that could serve to improve his own skills.
In the process, he’d ended up stumbling upon a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), hence leading him down the rabbit hole of making, sampling and mixing tunes.
As one would expect, it didn’t take long before the young artist began creating his own tracks.
Granted they hadn’t been anything to write home about, Niall hadn’t been the least bit bothered by it.
Afterall, only through failure and repetition could someone hope to even become relatively good at or proficient with a skill.
And for Niall whom was blessed with the ability to learn and improve at a frightening rate, it was even all the more necessary.
Expectedly, the results spoke for themselves.
By the third month, his microphone icon had already evolved from bronze to a striking shade of silver, indicating his transition from an okay singer to a good one.
Once Niall had hit that threshold, he immediately shifted towards the idea that had spiraled him down that path in the very first place.
One that eventually led him down a deeper rabbit hole of watching and consuming musicals.
Alongside it, Niall immersed himself in learning the basics of screenwriting and gradually built up his knowledge and skill from there.
Becoming proficient at it was even faster, one the young artist could only attribute to his solid foundation in writing and acting.
Still, all of that had taking him a month.
But what had really ended up consuming his time? Now that was the very first movie script he had penned in his entire life.
It had also been the culmination of the idea that had crossed his mind the very night he’d peered into the limitless potential he had.
One he’d believed would drive him to use all three of his current skills in tandem.
And now, four months later, he sat before his typewriter, smiling to himself as he typed the very last word.
Once again, a familiar tingle washed over him, prompting him to summon his icons.
Staring at the hovering fountain pen in his palms, the young man watched as it completely saturated from a beautiful half-gold, half-silver, to a gleaming gold.
Just like that, Niall Parker had evolved from simply having good writing skills, to having great writing skills.
Dismissing the icons and propping his chin on his interlocked, half-curled fists, Niall beamed with the joy of a kid in a candy store as he stared at the title of his script; [Silver Comets].
Assessing it with his Gift of Discernment, he watched as it effused a beautiful glimmer of gold.
"Now it’s only a matter of writing the best songs to go along with it," he thoughtfully muttered to himself.
At that very moment, his phone began to vibrate, the ringing tone muted and muffled.
Glancing over to the device which had sunk into the gap between one of the sofa couches, one of its edges barely peeking out, Niall leaned over and grabbed the device.
Casually picking up the call from Bob, Niall responded;
"Hey Bob. What’s up?"
"Niall," the editor-in-chief’s voice sounded noticeably excited.
"They’re here," he simply said after a brief pause.
"Really!? I’ll be there in there in a jiffy! Thanks, Bob!" Niall responded in kind without needing further expatiation.
"You’re most welcome. Now hurry!"
No sooner had the editor-in-chief hung up the call immediately after, Niall jumped off the couch, beelining towards his room and straight into the bathroom.
A couple minutes later, he was dressed in a turquoise-blue shirt with cool geometric wave-like patterns, sleek black pants, a sports wristwatch and vintage-brown penny loafers.
Grabbing his phone, and his keys from the kitchenette counter, Niall briskly walked out the door.
Half an hour later, he’d arrived at Feyre Publications.
Now a familiar face at the publication company, Niall walked in with a reserved smile, reciprocating the greetings he kept getting from the notably excited employees as he made his way up to the second floor.
Soon he arrived at the editorial department.
Huddled around a table in the center of the office were a couple employees excitedly chatting amongst themselves.
Michael himself was present, Bob also standing next to him with his arms crossed over his chest.
From their side frames, Niall could infer they were smiling with pride as he greeted;
"I see I’m late to the party,"
"That you are," Michael grinned in response whilst gesturing over;
"Come on. Come see."
Walking over, both men parted aside to give Niall a clear view of the early copies of [The Token of Fate], some paperbacks, the others hardcover.
Printed on each of the book’s cover was Camille’s captivating art--a close-up of a firm, calloused palm grasping a glowing, circular token with runic etchings, lose threads extending from it in fractured gleams of gold.
Picking up one of the hardcovers, Niall’s cool-gray irises shimmered with passion as he gently brushed his fingers across it.
Finally, after eight months, he could hold a physical copy of his own book in his hands.
The road to get here hadn’t been easy, especially since it had required him going through regression.
Yet maybe that was why the surrealness of it all washed over him in strong, ecstatic waves.
Before he knew it, his eyes had gotten misty... though he did a good job of blinking it away.
"They’re marvelous, aren’t they?" Bob soon stated, the glint of anticipation in his dark-brown irises unmistakable.
"That, they most definitely are," Niall responded with a genuine smile.
"I have to say though, despite laydown being a month away, I can’t help but feel anxious," Michael quietly admitted to which Bob nodded in agreement.
Considering they’d only managed to get 5000+ preorders despite the work they’d put in, it was only natural they were.
Though that amount was pretty substantial by normal industry standards and indicated a clear sign that book was bound to sell, it wasn’t an indication it would be a bestseller or a juggernaut for that matter.
Afterall, most bestsellers and juggernauts typically tended to land about 10,000+ to 25,000+ preorders for their books.
As both CEO and editor-in-chief were worrying over it, Niall calmly remarked, a confident smile blooming on his lips;
"It’ll succeed,"
"You guys have done a phenomenal job with the book’s production," he continued.
"All that’s left, is for us to get in as many hands as possible." he concluded to which both the CEO and the editor-in-chief, looked to each other, firmed their resolve, and then nodded in agreement.
If the young actor was so confident, why could they not, especially since they’d come to realize how much of pragmatist he was these past couple months.
No sooner had all three shared that brief moment though, one of the employees came over, carrying a big carton in her arms.
"These..." she paused to catch her breath.
"...are the author’s copies." she placed the box on a table next to Niall.
Thankfully nodding, the young man watched as the lady immediately whipped out her own copy.
"And this..." she pushed it forward with both palms.
"... is mine. I’d like to have your autograph." she politely requested, her smile genuine.
A bit stunned by the gesture, Niall quickly recovered, requested a pen from Bob and then proceeded to sign the book whilst offering his genuine thanks and appreciation.
Eager to have theirs signed, some of the other employees in the office grabbed their copies and walked towards Niall.
As for Bob and Michael, they simply glanced over to each other, seemingly to tell themselves;
Let them have the moment. We’ll get ours later.
Half an hour later, Niall was done signing the books.
Picking up the box, he then said to Michael and Bob as he proceeded to leave;
"I may be inaccessible on the laydown date,"
"Why?" Bob and Michael curiously asked in sync.
"I have to attend the second Premiere of a movie I was in that very same day," Niall explained to which he then added whilst making his way down the stairs;
"So, if I don’t respond immediately, know that I’ll get to you as soon as I possibly can."
Bob and Michael looked to each other as they watched him go.
Given all the time the young man had been spending at Feyre Publications, they’d completely forgotten that ’tidbit’ about him.
But then again, who could blame them?
Afterall, to them, Niall seemed more fitting to be an author than he did an actor.
Besides, for an actor, his career didn’t seem like it was going anywhere, anytime soon.
Little did they know, that was all about to change in the coming months.
Advance Chapters are available on Patreon!
https://patreon.com/Caer07