“Are you going to direct [500 days of Summer] yourself?”

Jeffrey asked Will. Earlier, Jeffrey believed that Will would direct most of his movies, but that impression changed when Will asked him to look for other directors for the [1917] movie. So Jeffrey was unsure whether Will would direct the movie himself or get other directors to direct it.

“Well, my earlier plan was to direct it myself. But seeing as to how my current circumstances are, I don’t feel like directing it. I’ll ask Alexia to send a few invitations to some of the directors that I think can direct the movie. I hope that the movie comes out well, as the storyline is something I like very much.”

Of course, there was no such thing as Will being moody about directing a movie or not. It was solely because of the system’s sudden quest to create his own original movie. He needed time to think about a plot and write it down as a script. Then there was also the matter of composing his own original soundtrack and such thing, which was just an extra amount of effort that Will had to put in.

With such a task baring its claws at Will, he just couldn’t focus on directing other movies. He was going to be the producer, and these weren’t movies that won’t do well without his directing. This world didn’t lack good directors, so Will was just thinking of focusing on something else instead of these movies.

“It’s fine either way, I guess.”

Jeffrey said as he had promised himself never to question Will’s decisions.

After a while, Jeffrey left the office, and Will called in Alexia.

“Here is a list of directors that I think would be good for directing [500 days of Summer]. Please get in touch with them and send them a formal invitation.”

Will said as he handed over a tablet device to Alexia. Alexia took a look at it, scrolled through it, and then asked.

“Anything else?”

“Actually, yes. Contact Spencer Miller’s secretary and ask him to arrange a meeting with Spencer for me.”

“Okay, I will do so. As a reminder, today is the day that you planned to go and meet Marcus Brown.”

Alexia reminded, and Will just smiled. He didn’t need a reminder as he already remembered that he had to meet with Marcus today.

***

Will and June were driving towards a rehab centre located in the east of LA. It was where Marcus was brought to after he was caught taking drugs.

Getting found out while taking drugs, Marcus’s career as an actor was practically over. Especially when he was just a young seedling and not someone who was established in the industry. He didn’t have any sort of backing, and nor did he have a godfather looking after him.

Thinking about this, Will frowned inwardly. Will remembered the innocent face of the guy who was so excited about getting a lead role and immediately asked first to inform his family and sign the contract later. He was a cheerful and humble guy, unlike Zach, who had an arrogant and playboy like attitude.

*Sigh*

“Hey, look here.”

June, who looked at Will deep in thought, asked him to look towards her.

“It’s not your fault, okay? Just like it wasn’t your fault when I was self-deprecating myself. You can’t control everything in the world in the way you want. And remember, we will get Marcus out of all this. So don’t blame yourself. Promise me you won’t.”

They had already arrived in front of the rehab centre, and Will had stopped the car. Looking at June, who was trying to comfort him, he just smiled weakly.

“Yeah, I know it’s not my fault. But I can’t help but feel bad about it anyways, as you said. We will get Marcus out of here, even if it’s just for a selfish reason like clearing away my guilt.”

June beamed a smile at him as they walked out of the car after Will had parked it.

***

“Hello, how can I help you today?”

A receptionist with formal dressing asked as soon as Will and June entered the Rehab centre.

“Uh, we are here to visit one of the patients here. His name is Marcus Brown.”

Will replied as he looked at the receptionist. The receptionist’s gaze finally shifted from June, who was in front of Will, who spoke from the back.

“W-Will Evans??? I m-mean, welcome Mr Evans. Are you looking for Marcus Brown? I will lead you to his ward.”

The receptionist kept stuttering in front of Will. Will was the man of her dreams; although he was younger, he had made a name for himself solely based on his own capabilities. Not to mention he was fucking handsome.

“No need for you to bother. We have a prior appointment set with Mr Evans and Marcus. Sorry for making you wait; please follow me.”

A senior doctor who had come out asked formally and led the way for Will and June towards the ward where Marcus was kept at.

Soon, they reached a room where the doctor stood outside and said.

“You can go meet him in there. Please notify us if you need something.”

“Thank you. Let’s go, June.”

Will thanked the doctor and entered the room with June. The only person inside the room was Marcus, who looked as if life had been sucked out of him. The man with a healthy physique and handsome face was nowhere to be seen as a person without many muscles backing his bones was all that was left of Marcus Brown.

“...Marcus?”

June unconsciously said, her eyes in a state of disbelief. After all, Marcus was someone who had worked with her, and she herself knew how kind and enthusiastic Marcus was. Seeing him reduced to this state made her feel unsettled, and her heart ached.

Marcus, who was seated on a bed looking down with his lifeless eyes, slowly raised his head when he heard his name. And as soon as he saw the two people standing in front of him, his eyes first went wide with shock, and then they showed all kinds of emotions as they gradually dimmed and droplets of tears formed, soon falling right on his face.

Will moved forward and hugged him a bit, causing him to cry even more. After a while, Will and June were sitting on a chair as they waited for Marcus to calm down.

“I never thought that you would come to see me.”

After finally calming down a bit, Marcus said in a low voice. What he said was true. For him, Will and he had the same starting point, but Will rode so high on the waves of success that Marcus thought he would never look back at the people he worked with when he wasn’t anything much.

“Why do you think that?”

Will asked him, and Marcus looked up at him, his eyes red from crying.

“You got everything one could ever wish for in Hollywood. Why would you look back at someone like me? Or at least that’s what I thought until now.”

Marcus chuckled bitterly at the end of his sentence.

“Why are you in this condition? Just…why?”

June asked this time, in a voice that carried sympathy and anger towards Marcus for not taking care of himself.

“Uh. I am not smart like Zach, and he was quick enough to sign up with ICM and managed to secure his future for a certain period of time. On the other hand, I wanted to do some indie movies to hone my skills. And then, the director and producer kept shouting at me and harassing me for no reason. I was getting stressed day by day.”

At this point, Will had somewhat guessed the overall story. Still, he waited for Marcus to continue.

“One day, one of my co-workers, who was acting in the same movie with me, gave me a pill. He said it’s a medicine to relieve stress. And my mind was already clouded, I had somewhat guessed back then that it was drugs, but I still took it. One time led to another, and then without even realising it, I was in a drug cycle that I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to. At some point, even my family gave up on me and reported my drug habits to the narcotics department.”

Marcus slapped his forehead with his hand as he looked down and regretted his life decisions.

*Sigh*

Will and June sighed together. Will could say that he should have taken better care of them, but life didn’t work like that. All he could do was provide a map for others and make their way easier; he couldn’t guide them step by step into every alley and corner himself. After all, he had his own life to live, with his own goals and worries to care about.

“How is it now? Your situation.”

Will asked in simple words. After all, Marcus’s career was over the moment he took drugs for the second time. Because once someone takes it, they wouldn’t even realise until they have lost everything. But Marcus was still young. Although life was hard, it gave second chances to many people. And according to Will, Marcus deserved a second chance. After all, Will couldn’t forget the moment when Marcus said he would first inform his family and then sign the contract. Such a guy can never be wrong, only circumstances can bring him into such an adversary.