26 The Man Of Charisma

"When are you going to arrive?" Jack was pacing around the room as if he had a bump on his butt which might hurt if he sat. He looked at his watch almost breaking in a sweat.

"Almost there." Ryan who had arrived at the parking lot of the company ended the call after saying a few words.

"When is he coming?" An old man in a hat and some loose clothes sitting on the sofa asked irritably. "We have been here for more than a hour…Is he trying to piss all of us?" He fanned himself using his hand.

All of them were waiting for him in the lounge of the office. Along with the old man there were few other people who seemed to be the people he chose. There was a table in the center that separated the two columns of sofas.

This place looked perfect for organizing meetings.

"He wo-ould be here any moment.." Jack wiped off his fore head with the back of his hand.

'I am his secretary not god damn manager…' Jack cried tears of blood in his heart waiting anxiously for Ryan. He sat on the end of a couch but immediately got up when he heard footsteps approaching the door.

The door opened and inside walked a man whose momentum could overthrow anything. Just by walking in he grabbed the attention of almost everyone in the room.

"I am here." Ryan directly went and walked towards the other side of the table facing the old man and the people.

"There you are finally.." Jack was almost on verge of tears by the moment Ryan arrived to the company.

"I had some work….You don't mind that I am late, do you?" Ryan made himself comfortable in the couch and spoke neither arrogantly nor humbly. There were no fluctuation of emotion as he looked at the people who had come for him.

Looking at the high and mighty man who sat on the couch as if it was his throne. He looked like the king himself. Wait he was the Movie Emperor after all.

Impressed and awed by his entrance and majestic appearance the people there were lost in their word as they stared at him wide eyed their jaw almost drooling.

"Ahemm.." Jack coughed so as to get everyone's attention.

Brought back to the reality by the cough the old man was the first to get back his sense. Feeling a little embarrassed he coughed slightly making others come back to their sense as well.

"Now that all of us are here let us talk about the project." Jack initiated the conversation.

The old man put forward a file on the table. "This is a new movie I am making." The old man spoke looking at Ryan seriously.

Ryan did not speak anything as he took the file and slowly went through all the details. He did not do anything useless as he skimped over the important parts. After round five minutes he placed the file on the table at its original location.

All of them waited for him to speak in silence.

"Mr. Xie." Ryan finally broke the silence in the room with his voice that sounded serious.

"Why are you back after all this time?" Ryan stared at his eyes without wavering. "You said you were never doing any movies. I thought you retired." Ryan spoke as if he wasn't asking questions but giving out answers.

"So the movie emperor still remembers me?" The old man looked at Ryan in surprise. "It's an honor to have you still know me." The old man laughed in a low voice amused.

"You are the best director the movie industry had ever seen..How wouln't I know you?" Ryan replied with respect. "Its an honor to have you here." Ryan gave a slight smile before returning back to his usual poker face.

"But my question still stands. Why are you back after disappearing for more than ten years?" Ryan was set on getting his answers.

"About that…" Mr. Xie took a deep breathe and let out a long sigh. "Things keep on changing.." His voice trailed off as he thought of something.

"I don't want to make things that do not make sense. Movie is an art for me and I worship it.." Mr. Xie looked at Ryan. "But until there is heart and soul poured in it, things would never turn out okay."

"Meaning?" Ryan raised his eyebrow hooking an arc.

"I needed inspiration, I lost my spirit somewhere along the line running after popularity and money." One could see the bitter look in his eyes.

"But I feel like I have redeemed myself. I want to make something before I finally retire." Mr. Xie spoke with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

"I have to make this as an example for the upcoming generation of the people who will join the film industry." He added in his old but determined voice.

"So I want to request you to be a part of this movie." He bowed down his head before Ryan.

"We can talk about it later." Ryan had his own things in his mind.

"But you are going to retire after this movie?" Ryan asked a little surprised.

"Yes…Then I am going to hand over everything to the youngsters. They are more capable than this old bamboo after all." He gave an amused laughter after completion of his sentence.

"Hmmm.." Ryan was a little taken aback with his answer. He had been expecting some other answers.

When he first got the information about the scheduled meeting with Mr. Xie he could not believe it was real. As a child he had always been a big admirer of his works that were filled with immense amount of devotion towards art and acting.

He respected him as a person as well who was always humble until he suddenly started to make flopped films, soulless movies. That was fine but on day he suddenly disappeared from the entertainment industry in the air.

NO word, nothing at all. He left behind the movie he was working on halfway. He not only did not say where he was going but he disappeared form the filming set in the middle of night.

"You remember the movie you left halfway?" Ryan asked him his voice a little sour.

"That one…." Mr. Xie looked down on the floor bowing down his head in guilt. "I know it was a dark satin on everyone who were a part of it but I am a shameless person. I am back here even if I know I will be hated and cursed for leaving them back then."

"But I am ready to accept all those. I just want a chance to redeem myself." Mr. Xie concluded with a sigh.

"You say that but Mr. Xie did you know this?" Ryan chuckled slightly as he asked this.

"What?" Mr. Xie looked at him with a confused expression. But the words that Ryan spoke next made him dumbstruck.

"That movie, the one that you deserted in between…." Ryan spoke slowly making each word clear as much as possible. "That movie was my first ever movie."