Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Aiden spent these Three days doing various things with Ivan. In the evening they would go to a nearby ground to meet with their friends and play football. On the fourth day Ivan left and shortly after that Aiden got a message from Ashiq. He had sent the final draft for the movie. There were some changes and additions. 2 or 3 of them were major changes and others were minor changes. These changes took the story to another level. Aiden replied to it with a thumbs up along with an audio saying that he would like to invest in the movie and his maximum limit is 30 lakh.
Ivan's reply came immediately saying it is not an issue, as the producer themself may ask him to bring some contribution for a security as his previous film has failed at the box office and the movies genre is a little different from the already established genres.
From the fourth day onwards Aiden concentrated on more serious affairs. Information from his past life memories were not limited to movies. The memory with most clarity was related to baking as he helped his mother who worked as a homebaker. Aiden noticed that some items he knew to prepare are not present in the domestic market. So he planned to use these items to establish his brand in the market.
He decided that his first product would be a cake and what is the best time to enter the market with a cake, it's Christmas. He had two cake recipes which he couldn't find in the market and he decided to introduce one of them for this year's Christmas and keep the other for next year's. He went to the market and bought all the necessary items including equipment like a beater and an oven.
The main problem he faced when preparing the cake is that he clearly knew the ingredients for the cake but was unsure about the quantity. So he had to prepare it many times. The ones he prepared were good but not as good as its original taste. Each day he selected different people to dispose of the cake. His friends on the 1st day and neighbors on the remaining days. Finally on the 13th day he made the perfect version. The second cake was easier than the first so he completed it on the 8th day.
One day he got a call from Ashiq.
"How is the hunt for a producer going?"
"Hard as I expected it to be. Many didn't like the story, some wanted to buy the story and some were willing to invest only 4 crores butI finally found a decent offer. She is willing to invest upto 6.5 crore for both production and promotion but she wants us to bring in 40 lakh first. I will bring in 10 lakh and you bring the remaining. What do you think."
" I will bring 30 lakh and about the rest, I have no idea. You are the director, if you think the budget is enough then go with it."
" My estimated budget is 6-7 crores. But if we accept this then there is a chance that only a little money will be available for promotion, that is if we choose not to go with a star actor and forgo our fees."
" I don't think our story needs a star actor. Choosing an actor already familiar to the audience and with physical features similar to the ones I mentioned before would suffice and don't worry about promotion expense, I know the ways to do promotion with least investment. Ask her to provide our fees when the movie does well in the box office, if she doesn't agree with that then we will make money from our investment."
"Ok, then I am going to go with this. We will be creating a new bank account for the movie. I will send you its details and you can send money to it."
"Ok."
Three days later he received the account details and after transferring the money to it everything on his part was done.
Aiden was not free even after this. He shifted his focus on increasing the money with him. Compared to investment in shares, trading was riskier and more time consuming. That was why he had not tried trading before even though Issac(Tigris motors founder) had taught him. He currently has more than 50 lakh in his account. After waking up he checked his finances and found that his investments had gone as he expected, earning him 42 lakhs but the surprising thing was that his bank account balance was 43 lakhs. He looked into it and found that some had engaged in trading using his demat account* and bank balance. Finding the culprit was an easy task to him.
"So, my memories aren't a mistake but intentional. Solarius wants me to be a businessman. Why me? Wouldn't it be better for him to directly help Athena. Aaaaa… I am not getting why he is doing this." Aiden felt hopeless adding another one to the list of unansered questions.
While Aiden was fully focused on the tasks he was doing, things on Athena's side were the complete opposite. The final assignment she had planned to complete 4 days ago was still far from over. She was lucky that one more week is still left till the last date for submission. All day she found herself thinking about Aiden or recalling their conversation over the phone or imagining about working in Aiden's business and having an office romance. Sometimes she felt insecure thinking about Aiden not reciprocating her feelings or finding someone else. She regretted not talking about her feelings before he left even though she was not confident about her feelings.
It was the night of one such day. Athena and Aiden were talking on the phone like usual, when Rachel grabbed the phone.
"When are you coming back?" She asked.
"Hi Rachel, I will be there within 2 weeks."
"Hey, give it back." Athena tried to get the phone back but Fidha tackled her with a hug.
"That's really troublesome, you know after her glow up a lot of guys are coming at her and one of them is really persistent especially now as they are about to finish college. We even showed your photo saying you are her boyfriend but no result. Anyway we will look for other ways to get rid of him. Bye." Rachel said and hung up the phone.
By this time Athena got rid of Fidha but was too late.
"Why did you say that to him? I can take care of Liam myself. Why disturb Aiden?" She said in a worried tone.
"Babe, you are clueless about men's psychology."
Athena looked at Fidha and saw her nodding that she agrees with Rachel.
"You don't know how possessive guys are about the woman they like. He is going to be here within 2 days, that is only if he likes you."
Athena stayed silent for some time.
"Are you sure he won't find it as a nuisance?" she asked.
"That means he is not into you."
Hearing this a terrified expression appeared on Athena's face. Both Rachel and Fidha were sure that she is not going to get any sleep until she sees Aiden again.
"O God, why does this girl become an idiot when it comes to Aiden." Rachel thought.
While on the other side.
"Mom, I am going back tomorrow morning."
Maya could only stand there looking at her son going to his room, thinking why is he going back earlier than planned.
_____________
NOTES:
Demat account: an account made to buy and sell shares and other securities.
Notice: Glimpse of antagonist in the next chapter.