At two PM they were meeting with three people in a conference room. The one on the lead presented himself as a producer for the movie as the other two were just assistants. Seeing him, Maggie smiles brightly.
"Hello Mike, long time no see."
"Maggie, pleasure to meet you again." He responded with a twisted expression.
"I'm sure it is." She commented with a smug smile.
She knew exactly how much he was not glad to see her. They had worked in the same industry for ten years and fought hard for the same amount of time. The less he was paying an actor, the much he would get and for her, the more her actor was paid, the more she would get. No need to be precise that their job puts them at odds with each other. The negotiation would then turn rather ugly and nobody was better to fight nails and teeth than Maggie. Hence why he was really not happy to see her.
"And you are Nathaniel Lyndon, I presume." He said, extending a hand.
"You presume correctly, glad to meet you Mike." Nathaniel said good naturally, shaking his hand.
Hearing that, the producer appears to want to say something but decide against it. The fact that his name was in fact Michael and he hated it when people were calling him 'Mike'. That was why Maggie always called him like that but seeing the innocent way Nathaniel was doing it, he appears to not know that so he let it slide.
He asks his people to look into that Nathaniel Lyndon and to dig out everything about him. He liked to know who is dealing with beforehand. He had to admit that what they found surprised him a little bit. Sixteen years old who came out of a four years coma 6 month ago. Only grandson of the tycoon of the music industry Robert Lyndon. He started music young and did his first music with the pop star Taylor Swift. He even appeared on the Ellen show two days ago. Mika watches it to know that young man better.
He starts to understand why important people like Jillian, Maggie and even Ellen start paying attention to that kid. He had a magnetism around him that made you feel like he is someone worth knowing and had a unique charisma.
"I heard what happened to your family two days ago, I hope everyone home is all well." He asked pleasantly.
"Yes, my family is alright, thanks for asking. I see that you did your homework or you task someone to do it for you." Nathaniel said in the same tone, his flickering to the two people behind him before going back to him.
Nathaniel wasn't a fool for even a second, he knew that the man in front of him was not someone good as he could see the color of his soul. He was faking care for his family in hope to have an emotional attachment with him and so lower the amount of money he would have to pay to get him on board.
The producer's expression flickers for a moment before getting back to pleasant. Maggie on the other hand did not try to hide her laughter and the smirk present on her face. Seeing that the producer wanted to talk business right away and wanted to use his family's leverage, Nathaniel did not bother being nice anymore.
"Well, seeing you all three here, it seems that you are ready to talk business. Alas, I'm still quite young so I'm not familiar with that but I will let you in the capable hands of my agent. Maggie, I trust that you will handle it without my presence needed?"
Looking at the three men in front of her with an almost predatory grin, they shudder visibly under that stare.
"Yes, I will handle it easily, you can go at peace. Gentlemen, please sit."
Nathaniel, smiling, left the room. He knew he was not needed here. As Maggie got a cut on each deal that she broke, the more she got for him, the more she would get and she needed to send her daughter to college in a few years. They were nothing more terrifying than a woman seeing each deal that she made as her child's future. He was leaving the room when he heard Mike asking a question.
"What did I do wrong?"
"You try to use his parents as leverage to get a better deal and he saw you come ten miles away."
"I thought he was a dumb good looking kid, I had to try."
"Well, you made two graves mistakes in that case. Let's sit gentlemen, we have work in front of us." She finished in an ominous voice.
Hearing their conversation, Nathaniel chuckle before leaving. The producer had made his bed and now he would need to sleep in it. Nathaniel didn't need to walk far when he was ambushed by five people who seemed to wait for him. He recognized them easily as he knew they were here for some time already.
"Hi guys, fancy meeting you here." Nathaniel joked making them smile.
"Surprised that you left them to talk about your future contract and pay without you there" Jesse remarked.
"Well the producer thought I was a dumb kid and try to use my family in order to pay me less. I decided he was not worth it so I let him alone go against Maggie. Thinking about it, I was maybe too harsh. I should go check out if he's still alive in ten minutes." Nathaniel adds with dark humor.
"Well it's Hollywood, they do that with all the new actors so don't take it personally. You should be lucky, Mike is far from the worst I have seen." Woody added.
"Well, i'm glad that you are here. I know that you fight for me even if you had no reason to do so. I wanted to say thanks for what you did for me, I would never forget it." He said with a smile.
"Not for no reason. We all think that you can contribute greatly to the movie, this is why we wanted you on it." Mark says.
"That will not come free. Your acting skills are almost nonexistent. The movie is going to start next week, that leaves us 8 days to turn you into a somewhat decent actor. We are going to take turns and teach you as much knowledge as you can absorb." Morgan said sternly.
"If you think you can't handle it, I urge you to leave now and never return. If in that period we judge that you do not give your all, we will sack you. What are you saying?" Ass Jesse.
Making eye contact with all five of them, he realized they were serious. If they could not make him an actor in five days with their teaching they would judge he had no talent and would be thrown out. At that point, it would not matter who he met and who is his agent, he could not be an actor here. Nathaniel starts smiling brightly, he sure loves a challenge.
"Bring it on."