On the big screen in front of Aiden, a handsome man was crying, holding his chest. He was sitting on the floor of a room that was burning.
His eyes kept looking at the portrait of a woman in front of him.
Pain and agony could clearly be visible in his eyes as he awaited his death.
The fire engulfed the man slowly as he smiled, not hating the death that was slowly embracing him. Clearly, he had given up on living and accepted his death, but in his eyes, it was worth it for his love.
As the man burned to death, the screen turned black as it revealed the movie's title.
[Blood Valentine]
[A movie by Vincent Mongrel]
The credits rolled after that as some people in the audience clapped. Many of them liked the movie, and Aiden, sitting in the audience, had to say that the performances and the plot were pretty good.
‘Aaron Hart does have great talent. Only if he was mentally normal in his head.'
He thought in his mind as he accompanied the audience on their way out. Besides him, Leo, who was watching the movie with him, was sighing.
"What happened to you? You didn't like the movie?"
Aiden asked, noticing Leo's sour mood.
"It's not that. The movie is good. That's the reason why I'm even like this. I am pretty sure it will be the movie to win the People's choice award. See the number of people here. It's too much. Every press is talking about the movie. Even Aaron Hart's negative publicity is helping it."
Leo took a look around the theatre. It was jam-packed with people.
[Blood Valentine] premiered just yesterday with the press already writing a lot of good articles on it. So the publicity it was getting before the release was already a lot, but now, the public reaction was also out, and it was very positive.
"Well, the media is one thing, Leo," Aiden said as they left the theatre. "The People's Choice award doesn't really have a jury, so media and connections won't help. It's all about people's reaction towards the movie."
"I know that. But I heard more than 90 percent of the people loved the movie. That's a lot. I don't even know if we will get our seats filled. We are not getting a lot of good press to make people aware of our movie."
"I think you are just paranoid. Katie is already doing a lot of interviews. Even I did a lot of them yesterday. We know the movie is good, so after the premiere, many people would probably come to watch it."
"I don't know."
Leo still frowned even after Aiden tried to console him. His paranoia was at its peak since [30 days of Happiness] was going to be released tomorrow.
There will be two screenings, one with the press and then with the audience who had visited the film festival. Both of them were very important to them, especially the screening with the press.
A good review from the press will go a long way.
"Let's hope it all goes good," Leo said, taking a deep breath. "Anyway, you have another interview today, right?"
"Three of them."
Aiden frowned. He thought he would have time to check out every movie getting a premiere here. But after getting to his hotel, he discovered that many interviews were scheduled for him.
It was to get some attention from the media before the movie. Though it wasn't as much as top stars or acclaimed directors' movies, [30 days of Happiness] was still getting a bit of attention thanks to the soundtrack.
He had consoled himself by saying his situation was much better than Katie's.
Apparently, Katie's agency pushed her to do every interview possible, so she could be in the limelight. That was maybe the bad side of being from a big agency.
"I know it's hard, but I'm also doing a lot of interviews. You even look calm, like you have been roaming around film festivals for years. Heck, why do you look so calm?"
Leo suddenly asked, staring at him while Aiden just scratched his cheek.
"I'm nervous too. It's my first movie as a lead. You know they say it's all about showing. I do feel nervous but I'm trying not to show it."
That was the absolute truth.
Aiden was almost as nervous as Leo, if not more. But he was not showing it, so he appeared very calm.
"If you say so. Anyway, get done with the interviews and prepare for tomorrow. It's going to be a big day."
Leo said, and Aiden nodded.
***
As the premier of [30 days of Happiness] was one day ahead, Aiden's fan group was buzzing with people who were excited about the film's release. This was mainly because of how good the soundtrack was.
Their expectations and faith in Aiden were sky high due to that.
The fan group also has a lot to do with the fact that ‘Lost in the Sky' and Aiden had trended on social media as they have promoted it hard, so seeing it do so well on music charts was something great to see for them.
[I am the driver who murdered: Is anyone in Toronto going to the premier of [30 days of Happiness]? Their social media team posted that the premier is tomorrow.]
[Jumping Octopus: I'm in Canada but in Vancouver. Sadly, I will miss the movie premiere but praying it does well at the festival.]
[Young Fruit smiley: I will probably watch it as I will be visiting Toronto in a few days. Hopefully, they are screening the movie then. Really hoping it will be as good as the soundtrack.]
[GTA 6 releasing in 2099: I won't have a lot of expectations. The soundtrack is great, but I feel like the movie would be mediocre. Kai affected me so much that I might be anticipating when Aiden would kill the person next to him, even if I know, he is playing a different character.]
[Do a horror movie: I will be waiting for the premiere. I really hope they have a huge release, at least in North America.]
[Hollywood Insider: They will have for sure. The title and songs make it easy to say that the movie is straight in the middle of what is commercial. It would interest the distributors, but they could opt for an OTT release, considering the movie could tank at the box office due to no box office pull. #Business minded.]
[Hakuna Matata: I don't really care about a theater or streaming release until I can watch the movie. I'm really craving some good rom-com.]
[The IT girl: I will watch it in Toronto. Low-key hoping at the end of the movie, Aiden said fuck it to the girl and turned to the path of a gangster due to feeling betrayed by love, eventually becoming what we know as Kai.]
[Chad JpNovel Reader 34: Sadly, it's not called ‘I was rejected by my crush, so I became a gangster'.]
***
Aiden finished up his interviews quickly after parting ways with Leo. In the interviews, most of the questions were pretty dull, and almost every interviewer focused purely on the soundtrack of the movie.
It was like they treated Aiden as a singer rather than an actor despite him being the lead.
This was something that Wade had warned him about. Despite his acclaimed role in [Black Saints], the media didn't take Aiden as much of an actor, mainly because he did not have a lot of work to show for himself.
This was an issue that would only disappear with time as more and more movies of Aiden would come out, and people would see him equally as an actor and not just a singer, trying his hand out in acting.
The next day, Aiden woke up early to prepare himself for the premiere. The press premier was scheduled at 9 AM, and the audience premier in the afternoon.
He didn't know why it was so early, but he had to comply with it.
Early in the morning, he wore a suit and got ready. Wade had already hired a makeup artist and stylist to take care of his look.
Aiden wore a black suit that looked neat and proper. Alongside it, he got glasses, which Wade gave him, saying it makes him look a bit cooler alongside the suit.
Then, he got into a car in which Katie was already sitting.
"Are you nervous?" Katie asked, looking at him.
"A bit. What about you?" Aiden said, turning his eyes from outside the window to her. It seemed like they were pretty close to the venue.
"I'm a lot, but I have attended many red carpet events before, so I'm a bit better. This time, the focus will be on me as I'm the lead, so I guess it's a bit different."
"Don't worry. It will be fine. At least, the Canadian reporters would be a bit polite."
"That's true."
Katie chuckled, and at that moment, Wade, sitting in the front, opened his mouth.
"We are close to the venue. Many reporters and critics are there, so we will do a small press conference with them before the release. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, it is."
"My agent told me to prepare for it, so I'm fine."
Both of them said, and Wade nodded.
"Okay, let's hope everything goes damn right."
….
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