Natalia got a call shortly which made her visit shorter than usual and she went away. Oz stayed in the office and looked over the table while thinking about something else. HE then picked up his phone and dialed a number and waited for the person to pick up the call.
"Are you awake?" He said when the person on the other side spoke in a sleepy voice.
" I wasn't but thanks to you I am now," he said.
"Well, then it's great that you are awake. I wanted to tell you that I want to invest in an upcoming movie but tell the director that I want Natalia to have the leading role." He said in a deep tone.
Lucas, one of his college friends who had made his career in the entertainment world was close to the directors of different movies and due to his family background, he was well aware of how these things worked So he was the best candidate for this work.
Lucas chuckled and said in a teasing tone.
"You just publicized your relationship with Natalia, are you trying to rush the wedding by doing this?" he said.
"Why do you have to think of life as some romantic film? Can't you just be serious for once?" He said annoyedly.
"Who said life isn't a romantic film? I believe it is and in this case, I think I am the side character in your love story." He scoffed.
"Stop talking nonsense and do as I told you to do." He said.
"Alright, alright send me the information on it. I will try slipping in your funds along with your request," said Lucas as he yawned.
"Okay, Caser will send you all the details." Said Oz and ended the call. Caser was Oz's assistant who was having a tough time dealing with Oz's busy timetable. Oz sent him a message and placed the phone on the table and started working again. The door to his office opened without any knocking causing Oz to look up with a frown. His eyes met with a pair of eyes that seemed to be ten times more tired than his. This was his assistant Chase who had not slept in the past three days just because his boss had made him do nonstop work. When he had applied for the job with such a high salary he was tempted and applied to it and got accepted by the company while the hundreds of other applicants were rejected. He felt quite good for himself not knowing he had signed the contract with the devil himself that would suck out the lie out of him by making him work like an animal.
"Boss…" He said in a soar voice. His face was pale and looked anemic. No one could talk to Oz like that but he has had enough and came to complain for the nth time this week. "I am tired! Every inch of my body hurts, I am incapable of doing anything. I don't care if you fire me but I am going to fall asleep here and I am not going to wake up until I have had my complete twenty-four hours of sleep." HE said in a pained tone and fell on the couch like a dead body. Oz didn't get a chance to say anything to him because Chase fell asleep right when his head met the cushion. Oz rolled his tongue around in his mouth as he looked at his sorry state. He decided not to scold him and picked up the phone to send the information to Lucas on his own.
He walked around the room and stood before the window, after he had sent out the message he looked up out of the window with a blank look on his face. The city appeared to be made of tiny miniature sculptures with tiny people rushing around.
"I should stop worrying so much, Everything will go as planned." He reassured himself while his hand tightened around the phone in his hand. Only one month was left for their company's launch event. Their newest smartphone was currently the most awaited tech in the country. The first batch of the product was already prepared and the next investment from the partners was awaited to start the production of the next batch. Everything was going on fine and the graph of success was skyrocketing but Oz had a gut feeling that something was going to happen and that uneasy feeling kept him awake for nights. He continued to review the design of the product and tried to confirm that it was all okay but the feeling wasn't going away. While he was deep in his thoughts he received a call back from Lucas. He frowned and picked it up.
"What is it?" HE asked.
"Are you sure you sent me the right information?" HE asked with confusion.
"Why? Is there a problem with it?" He questioned while turning away from the window.
"He is William Knox! You can't just tell William Knox to cast someone into his movie just because you have money!" HE said in a loud voice.
"They pay him double, Make it triple if needed but make sure Natalia gets the role she wants." His voice grew hostile and stern, unlike the time with Natalia where he sounded too lenient.
"I am telling you bud, I might try if you are asking me but I can't guarantee you that it would work." He said.
....................................…
Natalia paced around her room as she was awaiting the message from the crew of "Love Under the Moonlight,". Today the final cast was getting selected and Natalia was sure she would get the main role because all other actresses who had applied for the lead role were not that great in her view and being the youngest actress holding numerous awards made her confident that she would receive the role without any problem. She was only waiting for the notification on her phone that would allow her to celebrate her success.
Just then her phone rang and she excitedly looked at the caller's ID to see who it was and it turned out it was her mother. She picked up the call and answered it.
"Honey? How are you?" It was a deep alluring voice, one could tell that she was a lady with great looks just by hearing her voice.
"I am good but currently I am kind of nervous. Today the results are going to be announced and I have still not received a text from the company." She said worriedly.
"Oh, my poor cookie! DOn't panic… It will only bring wrinkles on your pretty little face. Just wait and you will receive good news." Said the woman.
"I hope so…" she tapped her foot on the floor as she waited and while the call was ongoing it was interrupted by a notification causing Natalia to jump.
"Mom, I think I have received the message, '' Stay on the line, I will tell you the results." She said and took the phone away from her ear to see what was written in the text.
'Dear Applicant, We are sorry to inform you that you have not been selected…
The letters in the bold print broke her confidence and she lost the strength in her legs and fell onto the couch beside her.
"What happened sweety?" Said her mother when she didn't receive any response from Natalia's side for a while.
"I… I got rejected!" SHe said in a shattered voice.