“You look stunning,” Ian told Scarlett who twirled with her long red dress.

“Thanks,” she blushed while replying, but she was able to manage a firm grasp on his hand.

In front of them, there were so many photographers, and reporters asking different sorts of questions. Ian nodded to some questions and politely ignored some other questions.

On the front line, there was a man with a long beard who always triggered different questions.

“...Are you both dating?” he asked once, which Ian politely ignored.

Other questions like,

“What are your experiences on Home Alone 2?”

“Why is it called Lost in New York?”

“Was the crew easier to work with or not?”

“What is your drive behind making movies?”

Ian nodded and got closer to a camera. It was a media unit that had made deals with Renner Studios. And as soon as he spotted the media company sign, he walked closer to it and smiled at the camera.

“Mr. Ian Renner, what a wonderful night?!” a beautiful lady who wore a silver short-cut dress asked as Ian nodded with a smile answering her.

“Yes, indeed. The camera lights almost blinded me, but if I think about it now, is it a sign of success?”

“Ahaha… We have lovely Scarlett Johnson here as your date for the evening. So, does this mean that you both are official?”

“Not really. But, she’s a wonderful actress who deserves the best in everything. There’s hope for the future.”

“Ian, this movie… made you come on a long journey in the industry, do you think you paved a fair share to the first movie?”

The lady asked and Ian’s eyes got distracted seeing Jeff Sanson get out of his SUV. in his hand, his wife was grinning from ear to ear

“Oh… Well, yes,” Ian cleared his throat. “Home Alone, the first movie was on my mind ever since I started to write the script itself. So, I hope that I did a good job,” he answered shortly and smiled while walking away, with Scarlett in his hand.

He met Adam and some of the actors on the way facing for pictures.

“You go, I’ll be fine here,” Scarlett said and let go of his hand.

Ian walked towards the actors and gave a flashy smile which made the photographers shout all over again.

“We have Ian here!!”

“Ian! Look at this side!”

Ian had to show his photogenic smile to the cameras although he couldn’t see almost anything with all the flashlights going off. He was only able to see cameras, and then his eyes would go blank for how flashy the lights were.

“I’m sorry to steal the spotlight, Adam,” he said looking down and noticing Adam who smiled from ear to ear.

“It’s all good. Not a fan of the media anyway,” Adam said and posed with Ian for a final picture before he walked off to the side, giving the entire focus to Ian.

“Thank you, thank you.”

After a while, even Ian walked away knowing that it was enough pictures.

“Can we get pictures with you and Scarlett?! Please!”

“Yes. Ian!”

“Scarlett and Ian, we need some moments!”

The photographers shouted and Ian waved to them. He walked closer to Scarlett without saying a word but she understood what he was about to say.

“Let’s give them some pictures,” she said and both of them walked up to the cameras together, once again.

-

The movie ended more quickly than Ian had expected and at the end of the movie, there was the director’s cut attached to the credit scene considering the last time, people loved the director’s cut of Marriage Story.

More than that, Home Alone was remarkably iconic and the director’s cut would add the necessary spice to the hype Home Alone exceeded.

“Ahaha! My gosh! Is that Will? What the hell!”

“Look at his eyes! How did Ian even get this scene without laughing his eyeballs out!”

“Oh shit!! Was that real? ….Fuckkk! He looks terrified! Man, how much Ian paid for these actors?!”

“I’d not do… That, even if I was paid.”

On the screen of which there were little videos of actors messing up shots, or Ian extremely pissed about shots shown back to back. There were a lot of scenes where Harry and Marv messed up their shots—which made everyone excluding no one laugh their literal hats off.

The screen turned black, and some were still laughing.

“May I grab your attention please?” Ian asked as he saw some were still struggling to get themselves together.

“Yes! After that movie—Yes yes yes!”

A lady among the crowd shouted—who was most possibly a celebrity.

Ian had sweaty palms considering there were also critics who participated in the movie premiere. And those critics can be… Brutally honest sometimes.

There’s this process where the critics release their honest opinions on the movie, and more than half of the people who watch them base their ‘move’ to watch the movie or not based on the opinions.

Ian chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.

He was looking exceptionally extravagant to the point where even his shoes shined brighter than the flashlights that made Ian squint his eyes.

“Yes, thank you. I felt like I proposed to someone there—” the crowd erupted into laughter. Ian took a breath in and continued, “I wanted to thank the producer and every single one who helped this movie be out today. Special mentions to Mason, Raelynn, Niko, Steffen, Roger, Liyana, Tara, and Adam in the cast.

Don’t get me wrong, all the actors were totally wonderful, but Adam ran the show, indeed. So, for the special announcement of the evening, as you all know, Renner Studios and Goofy have quite the history for some time. And, Jeff Sanson has been nothing but generous to our company,” Ian lied through white teeth.

“So, he had arranged an after-party combining a few more things to celebrate for. And, when I walked through the door for the movie, the first thing he said is, to invite everyone here, because the more the merrier right? And, yes… Hope to see everyone, thank you,” he said and walked down the stage while everyone clapped.

-

“What do you feel about the movie?” a reporter interrupted the way of J. Ufazz who was known to be one of the best critics when it comes to honesty.

“It was a good movie, not a great one.” He started right away. Ufazz was a tall, dark, and handsome man, but he had this undeniable neutral face, that a kid would start screaming if he talked for more than two words.

“What do you exactly mean?”

“I have a lot to tell about the movie. First of all, Mr. Ian, you have done a great job with the movie plot and all. But there’s more. I’m hoping to share everything in my newspaper article, so keep an eye on it. Thank you. Also, I’d love to see every word in the media from me. Is it possible to get this to the media without cutting even a single word?” Ufazz asked right away.

“Yes, sir. Of course. We’ll arrange it, thank you for giving us a word,” the reporter was somewhat taken aback by his words, but she had to maintain her posture to continue with the interviews.

“And for the night, we have Mr. Zac, who is the director of the well-known, award-nominated thriller movie, Darkness Engulfed. Hi there!”

“Hello, a wonderful evening, how are you doing?”

The lady chuckled and answered, “I’m fine, thank you for asking. How did you enjoy the movie? Was it worth the wait?”

“Absolutely. Absolutely. I loved the movie, the theme of the burglars and everything. It was definitely a fun movie and going to be the first suggestion on my Christmas movie list, no joking.”

“Thank you, that's it we wanted to know. It sure sounds good enough,” the lady said and the director walked away with the same smile he came in.

-

7.15 pm at Golden Journey Hotel

Outside the hotel, once again there were so many people carrying cameras and microphones with them.

The afterparty was supposed to happen for several reasons. The first one was, how the last movie that was released by Goofy, had reached beyond and above the critics and reviews of the public.

It was truly a blockbuster, and Jeff was someone who loved showing his success and oversharing things as such in front of the media.

The second reasoning according to Jeff was that they were celebrating Ian’s victory over the ‘trial’ of the baby. Who was he kidding? Totally not Ian.

Last but not least, although this decision was taken at the last moment, Jeff wanted to invite everyone as an after-party to the movie premiere of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Ian walked inside the hotel with Scarlett by his side, and almost all the pairs of eyes glanced at least once when they both walked in.

“I’m used to the stares now, although they make my neck hair rise in alert,” Ian whispered to Scarlett, making her tighten her lips in laughter.

“Well well well, guess who is not alone in that?” Scarlett asked as they both walked into a wonderful night— a wonderful night that might turn tables for Ian, or not.