James Thorne waited in the lavishly graced VIP meeting room. It was far from the norm that he waited for anyone. Always the last to arrive, always the one to have the final say.
However, this time he was in a tricky situation. One of his most prized assets, John de Voir - a multi-award winning top actor signed to Thorne Media, has informed James that he has no intention of renewing his contract. They had been working together for solid five years, but the actor was 'disillusioned' - according to his own word - and 'wanted a fresh challenge.'
One of the key credit to James, despite his immense self-confidence and zeal, was that he could make a detached objective assessment on business prospects. He took no offense in de Voir bluntly announcing he was disillusioned at his precious company. All his focus was on how to convince the man to keep him in his pool of talents. James had his men waiting at the underground VIP car park, ready to escort the precious actor to what just might be the final chance for the Emperor to change his mind.
Meanwhile, as James was patiently waiting and strategizing, John de Voir entered the building with no flair. No luxury cars, no designer suits. John casually walked through the entrance with worn out jeans and faded t-shirts. The only possible tell-tale sign of his stardom was the obligatory oversized sunglasses he wore to cover his face.
But of course, it was of no use when his path crossed with a certain young lady.
As John was waiting for the elevator door to close, which thankfully was empty, he saw a messy black-haired girl dash toward him. It wasn't the usual politely hurried jog of an office worker, but a full gallop of a puppy chasing its favorite toy.
In other circumstances the humble actor would have held the door for the lady, but everything about this woman rang alarm bells in his mind.
'A die-hard fan who recognized me from 30m away…? Sorry, I'll have to pass this time.'
So de Voir, with an apology in his heart, pressed on the close button.
Like pretty much everyone else in the building though, underestimating the running disaster was a mistake.
Just as the door was about to close, the manic woman stuck her head in - who does that?! - and the doors closed precisely around her neck. She let out a little yelp and a choke, and the door opened again.
"Thank you for waiting!" the girl straightened herself and beamed a smile as she walked in.
"No… no problem… are you alright?"
"Aw, thanks, but don't worry. This happens all the time."
'How could this happen all the time?!'
De Voir was not a man of vanity, but for such effort she deserved a recognition. He noticed that the nonchalant lady was carrying a notebook. He let out an internal sigh, smiled, and took out his pen.
"Autograph?"
The girl looked dumbfounded. Her eyes wandered around as if to make sure that he was talking to her although there were only two of them in the confined space. Seeing that it must be her, she coyly nodded.
"O… OK."
With that, the confused lady took the pen off John's hand, opened her notebook, signed an autograph, ripped the page out, and handed it over to him.
'Misha Seo'
The girl blushed as de Voir accepted her autograph, looking at the tip of her shoes that were less than pristine clean.
"Thank you…"
But as humble as he may be, his pride as a celebrity reared its head - a rare occurrence.
The A-List gentleman took off his sunglasses, looked straight into the girl's eyes and smiled.
"Wow, you must be John de Voir!"
'Gotcha.'
An inevitable victory for the famed man. He couldn't fathom why she thought anybody would ask her for an autograph, but at least now she knew who he was.
"Would you like me to sign here?" the actor asked.
"No thanks."
The humble actor was thoroughly humbled, stumbled back a little and mumbled.
"Are you sure?"
The girl's eyes widened as if she suddenly realized something, and spoke rapidly, shaking her head and hands in a mini panic attack.
"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to offend! I'm just not really your fan…"
Nobody ever said such a thing to the revered man before.
"OK… but… why?"
Even he himself was embarrassed as he became self-aware of how vain he must have sounded. 'Asking a lady why she's not your fan? What have you become, John?'
"No offense, it's just that your acting always feels a bit over the top."
John's heart skipped a beat.
'Me…? A bad actor…?'
"I would appreciate it if you could… be a little more specific."
"Hm…how do I put it…" the girl rubbed her jaw as she studied his face, then suddenly snapped her finger. It made the actor flinch.
"Right! Like when I look at you now, you look normal. Average. Ordinary."
Every word stabbed his thumping heart.
"But on the screen, you always have this aura of an actor no matter what role you play. Even in your last movie where you played a family man, you looked great in every scene. You totally missed that 'average man' vibe. Everything felt so…"
John swallowed. He had been so nervous before about someone's verdict on his acting. Not since his first ever audition.
"Vain."
"Ex… excuse me…?"
"V. A. I. N. As in VA-NI-TY."
Something stirred inside. It made him feel ashamed. Then it lit a fire in his heart. Memories started to flood back.
John de Voir grew up very poor. Broken family. Rough neighborhood. He found refugee in films. He fully immersed himself in them - just to get away from the reality he had to live with every day. And he started to dream, dream that one day, he would be an actor who could extend the same hand of comfort to others who were like him. To move their heart, to heal their soul in a way that he had experienced himself.
'Why did I become John de Voir…? What a pretentious stage name…'
"Oh, no! I'm so sorry!"
The strange girl - an angel in his eyes now - gently wiped the tears off his cheek.
"Thank you… thank you so much…"
John couldn't stop crying and the angel simply hugged him, pat on his back and whispered 'It's OK' into his ears.
Ten minutes later, the humble actor entered the VIP meeting room. James Thorne himself was there, standing up, extending his hand with the friendliest smile John had ever seen from him.
"Good morning, Mr. De Voir."
John did not return the greeting. He only blurted bluntly.
"I will renew the contract. But only under one condition."
James was startled, but he wasn't going to let this chance slip by dragging on.
"Of course. What would you like?"
"I want to use my real name from now on. Let's drop this John de Voir bullshit."
"But Mr de-"
"Please. Stop calling me that. From today onward, I will be who I was, and who I am, and who I should be. Either you accept it or I'm out. So from hereon, call me-"
James swallowed.
"Johnny Badcock."