"You will what!?" Samuel Hall says devastated. Surely this man had lost his mind. Seeing his uncle look at Samuel expectantly proved that he was the only one sane here.
His last TV Show had unpredictably become a super hit, making Samuel the number one trending actor in the whole of the country. This also meant that he was being dragged from place to place by his team for some or the other event or endorsement. It was exactly a day ago when he had fainted due to exhaustion and called his uncle to help him find a manager.
One of his requests to his uncle was that the manager had to be an independent manager, not associated with any of the production companies as he knew the life of those actors was worse than his.
When his uncle had told him to meet him the next day, Samuel had prepared a few resumes, mostly recommendations that came from the top. One look at the file and his uncle had driven him to this shady stingy place where a man more eccentric than his uncle was staying.
And Samuel usually had a thing for cute blokes, especially those who had longer shoulder-length hair, but what came out of the man's mouth was pure nonsense.
"He behaves like he is doing me a favour, uncle. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have even considered it." Zachariah Ford says as he flicks his eyes between the old man and Samuel.
Samuel does not like the attitude of the man who is sitting in front of him. "You are a manager - you cannot be asking for 30% of my profits!" Samuel Hall says, aghast. Truly, why this man behaved like he was more important than Samuel, was beyond Samuel's understanding.
"Let's call it- business partner then. We will open a company with your name. The best I can do is offer you a three day probation period. If you don't like my work then we both can be on our ways." Zachariah Ford says as he sits back in his chair waiting for Samuel to answer.
A company? Where had the man gotten that idea? He was to manage Samuel's schedule and not make profits out of them. Plus not to mention, he did not know anything about this man apart from the fact that he looked gorgeous, lived in a shady place and was sour as hell. Having said that, since his uncle insisted that this man was one of the best and only people who could help Samuel, Samuel felt obliged to opt for the three-day probation.
Zachariah observes the actor as several emotions cross his face. Shock, anger, helplessness. He had seen several such actors come into the industry and get crushed in a year or two. He wouldn't have even considered helping this man if it wasn't uncle requesting him. The actor in front of him, dressed in a grey t-shirt and black jeans, looked like he was having the crisis of his life. However Zachariah remembers reading about how the actor had fainted, and to be honest, looking at his lanky frame, it wasn't a surprise.
"Samuel, take it. Trust me, he is the best." His uncle says.
Samuel notices the printer fare to life next to him and almost jumps in his skin at the loud sound that it makes. Zachariah stands up from his seat, fetches the printout and places it in front of Samuel.
"Sign here please." He says and settles back down, already typing in his computer. He hadn't been actively involved in these things for a long time, however, he had his ears open and knew what was going on. It was time for Zachariah to get hands-on again and find out what was cooking online.
"Great. Let's get started. The first thing we need is to get you a lawyer and an accountant. It is a very bad deal you just cracked." Zachariah says with a smug smile when Samuel hands him the signed piece of paper. For some reason, he loved riling up this actor.
Samuel's mouth falls open and he wants to strangle this beautiful man but says nothing as he notices the other enjoys his distress way too much. He also feels uncertainty crawling up his food pipe and only hopes that this man knows what he is doing.
"Now let's go over the projects you have in the pipeline." Zachariah states.
"I don't have time now. I need to go to an award show." Samuel scowls and gets up from his chair. Surely this guy should know that the award ceremony is today, especially if he truly is as good as he claims to be.
"Oh yes, you are not going." Zachariah says with certainty as he looks at Samuel challengingly.
"What? Why?" Samuel asks in surprise. "I am going to win the best actor award. I must go!" Surely this man knew the basics of doing business! It was good publicity and critical appreciation which would definitely help him in the long run.
"Oh you aren't getting it. It's that other Youku drama that's taking it this time." Zachariah says and feels bad for hurting the little dog as hurt flashes across his face.
"But my sources-"
"Are wrong. Want me to prove it?" Zachariah types on his PC and then makes a call using the landline next to him.
"Oh, hi Maggie, this is Andy Debbs here. I am at the printers and wanted to recheck the spelling for best actor award."
"They messed up again?" The annoyed sound comes from the phone speaker.
Zachariah smiles smugly at Samuel before replying. "Tell me about it! This is like the fourth print which is happening."
"Uh. Ok it is W-A-N" the person from the other side continues speaking but Samuel feels his heart breaking as he sags back in his seat.
"It's not worth getting upset over." Zachariah lightly taps Samuel's arm to get his attention and also comfort him, not that he would ever admit to the latter. "Now just because you did not go, people will assume that the other person got the award because they were present at the show."
Samuel thinks about it and sits a little straight. Ok so Zachariah did have a few tricks up his sleeve.
"Ah Zachariah you little fox." His uncle says as he gets up from his chair. "I have you in good hands now." He pats Samuel's back before walking away.
Once his uncle leaves, Samuel looks at Zachariah and sighs. "Okay. That was cool." He admitted grudgingly. "Now what?"
"Your projects." Zachariah says dryly. He truly hates repeating himself.
"Diana, can you come upstairs on the third floor?" Samuel speaks on his phone while simultaneously watching Zachariah. "Yes, it's the shady building." He adds just to get back at the crazy man in front of him but Zachariah only smiles maniacally when he hears that, making the hair on Samuel's arm rise.
When Diana comes up, he asks her to give Zachariah the scripts.
"No, don't forward it to me. Just give me access to the mail account you guys use." He says. Diana looks at Samuel's for permission, who shakes his head. "No access to anything for three days. We have hard copies. Where are they?" He asks his assistant.
"At your home, Mr Hall."
--
Samuel shouldn't be surprised that this crazy man threw away more than 80% of his scripts.
The man, who for some reason looks like a model for a joggers brand, puts five scripts in front of his desk and asks him to select any three of them.
"Um, why have you thrown them?" Samuel is more interested in the discarded pile, not understanding the man's intentions.
At least this little dog knows to question things, Zachariah thinks. "The good ones are already closed, some are super low budget and other directors have a serious suit against them." He says dismissively. "Now, I want you to go through these five scripts and pick your top three. In the meantime, I need to see your calendar."
Samuel realises that the man is waiting for him to act on something. "What? Like, now?" He asks in surprise.
"I thought you were a very busy actor, if not now then when?" He asks with a look which screams 'how-dumb-can-you-be'.
Samuel hands Zachariah his tablet and gets up from the couch. "This might take some time, would you like a cup of tea?" He asks as he neatly starts piling up the discarded scripts in a trolley.
"Hmm." Zachariah replies, eyes flickering between Samuel and the iPad in his hand. Samuel nods and heads over to his kitchen to prepare some tea and snacks.
-
The next day Samuel finds his doorbell ringing at eight in the morning. He is already up and packing as he is due to leave for the airport in the next two hours.
"Uh- aren't you guys early?" Samuel says as he finds Zachariah and Diana at his doorstep.
Zachariah is dressed more properly today, in a pair of dark trousers and a white shirt. Samuel absolutely does not sneak a glance below his waist as Zachariah walks in.
"No, just in time, we have a shoot in the next hour. Should leave quickly." Zachariah says as he walks in like he owns the place and heads towards the kitchen. He opens a few cabinets till he finds the tea Samuel uses and takes it out.
"Aren't we headed for the airport for that shoot-" Samuel says as he follows the man and closes the open cabinets left by Zachariah.
Zachariah stops fiddling with the kettle when he feels Samuel's hands over his, seeking his attention. He tries not to pull his hand away at the sudden touch and turns to look at Samuel.
"Sorry about-" Samuel mumbles as he removes his hand and looks away to hide his embarrassment.
Zachariah cannot help but want to pet this man. Ah, he has never seen such cuteness in real life. He smiles at the man before saying, "I spoke to them, the brand is coming here in the evening, we have another shoot right now."
"What? Why wasn't I told about this and why wasn't my calendar updated?" He glares at Zachariah, who is about to pour himself some tea.
"Are you always so particular?" He asks Samuel, who in turn just glares harder. "Ok, ok, I will update your calendar. Now let's go before we are late." Zachariah says as he lightly pats the man's back to calm him down.
Once they are seated inside the SUV, with Diana in the passenger seat and Zachariah and Samuel in the backseat, Zachariah gives Samuel his tablet.
Samuel looks at the CVs and frowns in confusion at Zachariah. "We need a lawyer and an accountant. These are a few of the good ones who will do us justice."
Samuel feels both his brows rise in wonder, wow this man was fast. He also hears Zachariah speak to Diana from the backseat.
"Diana, call them and tell them we will be early."
"But Mr Ford we will reach on time only." She says.
"Yes but then they will move slowly. This ensures they don't waste even a precious minute of our superstar." Zachariah teases as he risks a glance at Samuel.
Samuel tries his best to hide his smile as he swats the other man lightly for his jab.
