15 Return

Lucas went to Los Angeles International Airport. He already booked a flight to return to New York and spent at least 250 dollars.

In the airplane, Lucas sat at the passenger seat, covered his eyes with a sleep mask, and wanted relaxed himself to sleep.

Lucas was thinking about how to increase his money because he might not receive any projects for now. The Modern Family Pilot would only get released around September, and until then, whether the pilot would become successful and be picked up for a full season was unknown.

If the Modern Family pilot became a flop and couldn't be picked up for a full season, what would happen to those actors and actresses contracted for an entire season by the network? Well, they would be offered an alternative role by the network.

Anyway, Lucas was thinking about how to take advantage of the opportunities in 2009 and how he might be able to increase his pocket. Lucas was considering Bitcoin, contemplating the idea of investing his money in Bitcoin and accumulating it.

The idea wasn't bad—investing in Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that would become huge in the future. Lucas would probably be guaranteed to be rich after a few years. However, if that were the case, Lucas wouldn't be able to reap the profits after a few years, and that's not what Lucas truly wanted.

True, Lucas could just lay down and invest all his money and future earnings in Bitcoin. After a few years, he would probably be rich and wouldn't even need to work in his life anymore with the amount of money he might get from his investment in Bitcoin. However, that boring life was not something Lucas really wanted.

Besides achieving financial success, Lucas aspired to be a successful actor. Perhaps that's because it was his true passion, and it could be what the previous owner of Lucas's current body desired as well—to become an actor and prove his family wrong, including his father, stepmom, and half-siblings.

Returning to the topic, investing in Bitcoin wasn't a bad idea, but Lucas didn't want to rely entirely on it. He could explore other opportunities to achieve financial stability in this life.

If Lucas received a potential project later and truly became an actor, he could either continue relying on the money paid by film studios or networks. However, that might not be enough for what Lucas truly desired.

Regardless of Lucas's current plans, he still lacked the right amount of money, with only about $4,700 in his pocket. The additional $2,000 was borrowed from his manager just in case.

While lost in thought, Lucas lifted his sleep mask, retrieved his iPod from his pocket, and plugged in an earphone. After turning on the iPod, he inserted the earphone and selected a music track, filling his ears with the sounds of music.

As Lucas listened to the music, memories of his previous life surfaced. His favorites included music from "The Lumineers," "Oasis," "Coldplay," "Radiohead," "Nirvana," and more.

Those bands produce excellent songs, and Lucas considers some of their tracks among his favorites.

When Lucas recalls these songs, he searches his iPod to see if they are saved there. The iPod was a gift from Steven Levitan, a reward for Lucas's commendable performance. Despite his brief screentime, Lucas gave his best effort, hoping that even if he didn't secure another contract, other agencies might see potential in him.

Lucas needs to be patient. While searching for songs or bands like Nirvana and Oasis, he couldn't find them, discovering mostly tracks from the Backstreet Boys.

"It seems Steven Levitan isn't a fan of those bands or songs?" Lucas concluded. Honestly, he wasn't sure if the iPod was Steven Levitan's personal one or an unused device. Either way, Lucas plans to find those classic songs later.

After the airplane lands at LaGuardia Airport, Lucas disembarks and exits the airport. He then calls for a taxi to return to his apartment.

Upon returning to the building where Lucas's apartment was situated, he walked upstairs and through the hall until he reached his apartment door.

Upon opening it, Lucas found his roommate, Paul, inside, tapping away on his iPhone. Paul noticed Lucas entering, nodded with a smile, and said, "Look who's here. What's up?"

Lucas smiled faintly and walked over to Paul, replying, "I'm doing well."

"It seems like you got the role?" Paul said with a slight smile.

Lucas nodded, saying, "Yeah. Thanks for giving me this opportunity, though."

"No big deal, bro," Paul replied, tapping Lucas on the shoulder.

Lucas noticed the iPhone in Paul's hand, reminding him that iPhones seemed to be a common thing in this world now too, right?

Paul noticed Lucas eyeing his iPhone 3G and asked, "Interested in getting a phone like this, bro?"

Lucas nodded and replied, "Yeah, I think I'll buy one later."

"You should, bro. The flip phone you're using now is kinda old. With your money, you can easily get one," Paul suggested as he showed off his phone.

Lucas nodded and then remembered, saying, "Oh, right. I remember borrowing some money from you. I was going to give it back." He took his wallet and retrieved $300.

When Lucas handed the $300 to Paul, he shook his head, returning $100. "Dude, you only borrowed $200 from me. You don't need to give another $100."

Lucas insisted, saying, "Accept it, brother. Consider it interest."

After some back and forth, Paul finally accepted it, saying, "Alright."

Following that, Lucas and Paul engaged in a lengthy conversation. Eventually, Paul invited Lucas to meet the friends he had made as an actor.

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(Desperate for more chapters? Well, don't just stand there—hurl some literary pebbles at this novel and see if it coughs up another one!)