Ben scrolls through the comments on his update. Most of the time the comments ease his anxiety but this time the comments are all over the place.
He sighs. He was about to switch off his phone when a notification popped up. It's a message from Luke. He asked Luke about Fred almost one hour ago. Luke replied.
Ben clicks on the notification with a panicked heart. His heart wants Luke to reply negatively even when his heart knows better.
He takes in a deep breath as the chat page opens in front of him. He asked "Did you request Fred to cast me in his drama ? Have you met Fred in office function?"
He reads Luke's reply "yes ! Who told you ? The director? That director is a son of bitch ! You .. please don't bother Fred with questions ! Don't embarass me anymore !"
Ben blinks. He left the house after a big fight. He didn't contact Luke for almost for eight hours. And this is the reply Luke gave ?
"I never asked you to recommend me. You embarrased yourself." Ben typed with red eyes.
"I was trying to help you. Shouldn't you say thank you to me ?"
"Have you helped me enough ?" Ben typed the last question before switching off his phone. He shouldn't have texted.
***
"What's the report ?" Alan asks as soon as his secretary knocks on his door.
"Mr. Fred was chief guest in an office function last month. And he met Mr. Luke Thomas who works in the office."
Alan frowns with a serious face "And ?"
"Mr. Ben Arnold auditioned for that role before the office function but he was selected after."
"On recommendation?"
"No ! There was no recommendations. All three judges confirmed it. But .."
"But ?"
"But the director asked to eliminate his scenes without watching the cuts. Also, about your request to release the cut scenes .. the director said that he has deleted extra files to save storage."
"So, the director didn't recommend him but freeze his works instead ?" Alan sneers.
The secretary nods without any words.
"You know what to do , right ?"
The secretary nods again with a little hesitation.
Alan who is really observant of other's facial expression, catches the hesitation "What ?"
The secretary frowns. He has an information which exactly not related to work but it's related to her boss's private matters. Mr. Fred is meeting Mr. Luke on a daily basis. Though it's not exactly wrong, she feels something is wrong. Should she ....
"Nothing sir !"
***
Ben wakes up early in the morning with loud banging on his door. He yawns "coming !"
Ben walks towards the door in slow steps. He doesn't have the habit of waking up this early. His eyes were still shut when he opened the door "who .... Juliette?"
Juliette hurriedly pushes Ben from the
door "where were you ? Haven't you seen the news ?"
Ben frowns as Juliette walks in his room without any invitation. She tries to turn on the TV. "What news ?"
"Entertainment news. The famous drama , I forgot the name .. that one in which Fredrick was the male lead.. the director of that drama is suspended by Zoom entertainment."
Ben's eyes go wide "What ? Why ?"
"Because of you !"
"W.. what ?"
Juliette grins "He eliminated your scenes from the drama , right ? Guess what .. he did it deliberately because he wanted to freeze your career."
Ben blinks. What the fuck ! Ben looks at the Tv as the entertainment news flashes.
Director Travis D. Jr. is replaced from his famous ongoing drama because of misbehaviour & nepotism. He deliberately bullied a newcomer and struggling artist in his shoot. After filming the actor for three days, he rejected to add his scenes on the show.
The newcomer is - Ben Arnold.
The assistant director Myra claimed that Ben Arnold was a hardworking and spectacular artist who was very polite to everyone on the set. There was no way he offended the director. Yet, the director was rude to him since since day 1 of his filming.
Director Travis hasn't responded to any of the claims yet. But his lawyer claimed that the director was asked to freeze Ben Arnold by one of the main cast of the drama. And to keep the drama going , he had to make the harsh decision.
The identity of the main cast isn't revealed yet but the CEO of Zoom entertainment confirmed to look into the matter carefully.
Juliette turns off the Tv. "Now open your social media."
Ben who was still in a daze opens his Instagram "f..five hundred? 500k followers?"
Juliette grins. "Everybody is talking about you. People are sharing clips from your old drama. You got a nickname .. the dead boy."
"The .. dead ..boy ?"
"Owh, you have died in your every drama so..."
Ben chuckles in disbelief. He isn't dreaming ? Is he ? "You .. think these are real followers?"
"Oh dear ! Not all of them , of course . But atleast 50 to 60 % of them you gained for life." Juliette smiles warmly. "Now hurry up ! Alina mam , wants to release the participant list and show posters today. I bet, she will give you the front position."
"Ah ... You mean photoshoot ?"
"Yes , hurry up !"
***
Ben blushes as everybody steals glances at him since the moment he came out of his room. If it was a random place, nobody would've cared. But this is entertainment circle. Everybody knows the news. So, everybody is curious to know more.
He noticed it in Juliette's face too. She wanted to asks about the main cast who wants his downfall. She didn't put it in words but she tilted her face at him at that time. Like asking, you know who is it, right ?
In truth. He knows. He has no interaction with any of the main casts except Fred. So, if anybody is bothered by his presence or absence then it is Fred.
Fred has had an animosity towards him since their school days. Fred always wanted to prove that He is better and he succeeded too because Ben just didn't bother.
Maybe, that was also the reason he felt useless when Fred credited himself for Ben's little successes. But, now it looks like Fred never helped him. He tried to sabotage him instead.
If not Mr. Scott's appeared that day, they have been succeeded till now. Mr. Scott literally became his gardian angel that day.
Ben bites his lips remembering his last conversation with Mr. Scott. He was angry with Fred. But he vented it on Mr. Scott. Shit ! He was so rude. How to apologise?
"Ben stop biting your lips and introduce yourself to the camera!" Came a voice from the director.
Ben looks up with a nod.
"Hello , I am Ben Arnold. And I am here to showcase my cooking skills to my fans ! Please stay tuned for the delicious meals, I have planned to prepare in this platform !!"
"Perfect !" The director claps and calls for the next participants. Ben steps aside.
"You didn't even hesitate. I was thinking about my introduction all the way. 15 seconds are really short time." A male participant whispers beside Ben.
Ben smiles thinly. Of course, they were thinking. They have so many achievements to add, so many roles to brag but Ben .. he has nothing.
He looks down at his phone screen. 673k followers. Will they really stay ? Maybe they just followed in the heat of the moment.
He sighs before opening his secret account. There are so many questions and so many suggestions that he didn't read. So many comments asking for updates.
He starts typing....
Update was my cheating boyfriend helping me ?
My boyfriend didn't help me. Even if he tried to , he was the reason behind my cancellation.
I don't know if my recent competition is scripted or not, yet. I may ask my boss who gave me the invitation late. I am not thinking about my boyfriend's cheating , right now.
Last time I misbehaved with my boss because of my bad mood. Right now, I am focusing on how to apologise for my behaviour!
***
Alina looks at Alan smiling at his phone. "You are having an affair ?"
Alan stops smiling "what are you taking about ?"
Alina tries to look into Alan's phone screen but Alan moves away. "Oh my god , you are really having an affair ?"
"Shut up ! What are you doing here?"
"I published the participant's list. My show is trending right now." Alina smiles in satisfaction.
Alan rolls his eyes.
Alina grins. She palaces her hands in the air and starts chanting the hastags
"Dead boy is in Celebrity chef."
"First time dead boy willn't die."
"Dead chef."
Alan looks at his sister in disbelieve "what is this ?"
"Hastags, trending in entertainment circle. Your Ben got the title of dead boy. You know, He has died in every drama."
"I know."
"How do you know ?"
Alan shrugs. He has seen some of Ben's dramas this week. He was just curious why Ben didn't succeed even after two years of struggling. At first he guessed, it was because Ben can't act but the truth is , Ben never got a good chance to act.
"Allaaaan !"
Alan comes out of this thoughts "what ?"
"I said, let's celebrate tonight. You , me and David. Not Fred."
"Ok !"
"Fine then I will inform David. Bye !" Alina jumps out of the office excited.
Alan sighs. He was about to lock his phone when he sees a comment. He clicks on it.
"Not thinking about cheating ? Why do I feel like it's a made up story ?"
"I was thinking the same. Like if my bf cheats on me , I wouldn't rest until I uncover the whole thing."
"Boy you do not love your boyfriend. I know why he cheated on you."
"Do you have pstd ?"
"I follow you personally and read your post whenever you update. I can see that you fell out of love. You don't love your boyfriend the way you claim. Not anymore."
"This is funny."
"Update me next time."
Alan reads all the comments carefully. He doesn't understand why this much hate suddenly. People really want him to leave his work and follow his boyfriend ? Wow."
Alan clicks on the comment section.
"Focus on your work. Your success is the best answer to all of your problems. "
Alan shakes his head. He was about to lock his phone again when he remembers something.
He clicks on the comment section with a chuckle.
"Next time don't judge your boss without any evidence. As for an apology a good italian treat would do."
ㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁ
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