Ch-97

Evan grunted with great effort as he lifted the heavy barbell placed above him. His arms felt like wet noodles that could bend limply any damn time. The burn was real and he was ready to just give up.

"One more rep, you shithead!" Troy yelled at him from above while spotting him. "Come on! You can do it!"

That gave Evan just enough confidence to finish the rep. When he was finally done, Troy helped him rerack the weight before grinning widely.

"That was great man!" Troy clasped his hand in a brotherly fashion. "You are improving rapidly."

"I'm miles behind you," Evan complained. "But still, this is much better than when we started."

Troy had literally dragged Evan into his work out and martial art sessions everyday when they were in London. Only a week, to be honest, but after that, Evan started liking those sessions. And now, even if they were in Los Angeles temporarily, they were still continuing their session in the hotel gym. The not-so-discreet glances from other gym goers in their direction were promptly ignored. It helped that they had come to the gym with two security guards.

"Hi!" A girl in her late teens greeted them enthusiastically after walking over to them. Troy and Evan turned to her in unison, and Evan had to say that the girl had one of the biggest rack he had seen in his life.

"Hey!" Troy greeted her enthusiastically after waving at his security to stay away discreetly. "How you doing?"

She blushed and looked down shyly. "It's a little embarrassing. I just wanted a hug, but now that I'm here, I realize that we're both so sweaty."

Smiling at that admission of hers, Troy offered her a hand which she shook. "I didn't get your name."

"Heather."

Troy beamed at her, "You're so cute, Heather, that I would hug you even if I am sweaty, but I really don't want to set a precedent if you know what I mean." He looked pointedly behind her where many people were still pretending to not look in their direction.

"That's fine," she waved it off. "I just wanted to say that I, like, totally love you. You are so good at everything you do. I'm so happy that vile woman who attacked you got sentenced to thirty years."

Troy's smile turned brittle at that reminder. Evan knew how much Troy hated any reminder to that day. But he also knew that he was too kind to tell a fan to not talk about that. That's where people like Evan come in.

"I think we have done enough for the day," He elbowed Troy pointedly. "Should we go back to our room."

"Oh yes," Troy nodded at Evan before turning back to Heather. "It was so nice to meet you, Heather."

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine," she said as the two brothers waved her goodbye.

Troy turned to Evan as soon as they were out of gym, "Did you know about this?" Evan immediately understood what Troy was referring to—the sentencing of his attacker. He could only shake his head because while they knew that the trial was going on, he didn't know that the jury was out. The duo quickly went to their room and turned on the TV, and as expected, it was the breaking news on an entertainment channel.

"In recent news, Gia Vlahos, the girl who attacked Troy Armitage in his LA home, has been sentenced to a total of 34 years in prison for multiple charges, including, breaking and entering, attempted murder, sexual assault of a minor, and a few more. It has been proven in the court that Troy Armitage had no prior communication with the girl, and her claim of insanity were also rejected," a female news reporter was announcing on TV. "Troy Armitage is meanwhile busy promoting his film, [Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban], which is a superhit, breaking multiple records worldwide."

"I'm glad this is finally over," Evan commented from beside his brother as they watched the damning news. "I was sick of all these speculations running wild about you."

"That's what I was gonna say," Troy said. "Do you know, the district attorney was offering that bitch a plea bargain under which she would be out in 10 years. Thankfully, Dad put his foot down and called some right people to make them drop the idea entirely."

"Our justice system is fucked up," Evan commented idly.

"It happens everywhere," Troy replied. "The UK is not any better."

"So what's next?" Evan asked, trying to change the topic. "Will we go back to London now? Because I know for sure that now the media will be ready to harass you again to know how you feel about her punishment."

"No," Troy said with certainty. "I can't keep running just because the media will behave strangely. And didn't you have your uncle's wedding to attend in a few days? We can't just abandon that."

"Steve and Kathy are coming here tomorrow, right?" Evan asked.

"Yes," Troy grimaced at that thought. "But only Dad will remain here with me for some time. Mum will fly back with you to London as soon as the wedding is over."

It made sense. Evan's uncle had divorced his wife last year and was now getting remarried. Evan couldn't be happier with that decision because he didn't like his ex-aunt at all. Because of this, Evan and Troy had come together to LA so that Evan could attend the wedding while Troy could begin work on his film. Work which would be difficult to achieve now that media has been involved.

"My parents don't like that I'm doing this film," Troy continued. "They still think that I'm some fragile china doll who would break easily if I'm away from home for extended period. Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond grateful for my parents, but sometime I get so tired of their nagging."

"I understand you, bro," Evan patted him on the back lightly. "Seriously though, you have nothing to worry about. It's just a few years before you're 18. You don't need to worry about your film either. You have such a loyal fanbase. I was on the internet yesterday, and all your fans are with you. They were calling her and her mother all sorts of nasty names, from delusional to pedophile to child molest—"

"Evan," Troy cut him off. "Let's just not talk about her anymore."

Evan nodded once before changing the topic. "Is the casting of [Brick] complete?"

"Yes," Troy smiled, finally finding something they could talk about without making the whole thing uncomfortable. "Rian Johnson is a very talented filmmaker, from what little I have seen of him. If you didn't have to go back to London for school, you'd learn a lot from him making this film."

"I can still try to convince Steve and Kathy to let me stay?" Evan asked hopefully.

"No," Troy shook his head. "You finally have some good friends apart from me. Just because I'm doing this film doesn't mean you have to do it as well."

Evan had finally made some friends at his school in London who weren't assholes in disguise. It helped that Evan had shot up a lot in height over the last year, standing an inch taller than Troy. His new physical habits had done wonders for his body as well. Initially, he was sore as hell for days, but gradually he improved, and now after months of practice, he could hold his own against Troy. It showed the terrible side of human nature that Evan was accepted by others only when he was tall, buff, and the foster brother of the world-famous Troy Armitage.

"Alright," Evan conceded before getting up from the couch. "I'm hitting the showers. Wanna go out and grab something to eat afterwards?"

Troy grinned at that. "Like you even have to ask."

(Break)

Rian Johnson was skeptical about the prospects of his film [Brick]. He finished the first draft of the film right out of USC film school in 1997. He had spent so long pitching the film to each and every producer out there that anyone else may have even lost hope. But he didn't. At this point, he didn't care how the film was made; he just wanted to get it done. It was just his luck that he met one Troy Armitage. It is yet to be seen if their meeting will create history or not. When the film was postponed a little, Rian understood the need for it. Troy must have not been in a good headspace to make the film after that ordeal. Especially given how Troy was a producer on the film as well.

The major responsibility of casting remained with Rian, with little inputs from Tobias and Troy. While Tobias was in LA in person, Troy was kept in loop through e-mails and their was just one condition for casting at which Troy had put his foot down.

"No one playing a teenager can be older than 20-21 at most," He said with utmost seriousness over the phone.

Rian was a little hesitant to agree with that demand because of several reasons. The biggest of them being that older actors are generally better with more experience. Also, if the actors are still in school that would inflate the costs of their tutors unnecessarily.

"Seriously, Rian," Troy reiterated when he didn't reply. "I hate those films where 25-year-olds act as if they are 16."

"But I had already selected the actors for the role of Laura Dannon and Brad Bramish," Rian defended weakly. While the actress for Laura was only 23, the actor for Brad was 28 already.

"Then recast them," Troy said seriously. "You couldn't have signed their contracts without talking to me first, so I know we are not legally bound with them. Wait, let me open the email you sent me with all the photos resumes of prospective actors."

Troy was silent for a few moments before saying, "Michael B. Jordan, and Anna Kendrick. Arrange another audition for them both. I have a feeling that they'd be more than good enough for these roles."

How the hell did he deduce all that within less than a minute? Rian looked up at an equally bewildered Tobias to see if this was normal Troy behavior, who could only shrug.

"Okay," Rian agreed after noting down the two names. "While we are at it, you don't mind me casting Lukas Haas in the role of the Pin, do you?"

"Lukas Haas…" Troy tested the name out loud as he thought back to the actor. "Isn't he the small kid in that old Harrison Ford movie, [Witness]?"

Rian was impressed that Troy knew of that movie.

"Yes," He agreed. "He's the correct age to play the Pin."

"Fine with me," Troy agreed easily.

And that was where Troy's involvement had ended in the casting process. They were yet to finish with the pre-production entirely, which would continue even during the rehearsals, but he had finalized all the actors for the movie. The best part in all of this was that they weren't paying the actors anything extra for the rehearsals. Under SAG rules, they should have, but there are always exceptions for small-budget films. It helped that all the actors Rian had selected (except for three) were non-union actors. The rehearsal studio they had booked, along with refreshments, was covered by the production funds that Tobias had released to Rian the last time they met.

So, with great anticipation, Rian reached the place he had booked. He wasn't the first one there, either. Lukas Haas was already there. It was so strange seeing an actor you have seen as a kid, all grown up.

"'Sup, Rian," Lukas said, giving him a high five, which Rian reciprocated.

"As good as I could be," Rian replied jovially. "I'm so pumped up for this film."

Lukas gave him a weird look before asking, "Are you high?"

"High on life, maybe," Rian joked.

Before Lukas could retort, they were joined by none other than Troy himself, followed closely by Tobias.

"Hey guys," Troy greeted both of them warmly before turning to Lukas. "I'm so glad you could be a part of this film, Lukas."

"No, the pleasure is all mine," Lukas smiled genially. "I have seen your work, and you're very good."

Within moments, Lukas and Troy were talking and laughing casually as if they were old friends. Rian was a little surprised initially seeing their unusual camaraderie, but then chalked it up to Troy's charm. He was too good at influencing others with his words. There's a reason almost everyone considered him to be a superstar when they didn't use the same words for his other co-stars of [Harry Potter]. One by one, other actors started coming in, and Troy greeted everyone as if they had known each other for years. It was a little humbling to see Troy being so warm with everyone. 

The last actor to walk in with a chaperone was none other than Emily Stone, Troy's friend, who had bagged the role of Emily Kostich in the film. Her mother had accompanied her because she was still a minor. Initially, Rian thought the girl wouldn't be a good actress, but during her audition, she left him speechless with her acting prowess.

"Emily!" Troy greeted her equally warmly, but instead of the usual handshake, he hugged her.

"Hi, Troy," she squeaked in surprise. "Congrats on your film. It was so good."

"Thanks, Em," Troy beamed at her. "Let's talk more about it later. If I waste any time, Rian might replace me with Frankie Muniz or Shia LaBeouf," Troy joked, making everyone laugh.

"Yes, well, shall we begin?" Rian asked when the laughter died down a bit, seeking Troy's permission to begin the introductions.

At Troy's nod, Rian took control of the meeting again, starting with his own introduction.

_____________________________________

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