“I can’t believe Keanu Reeves—a new actor is the one who’s leading John Wick. I mean, they could’ve gone with many great actors for it, you know. Someone maybe who’s more on top of the industry, instead of someone who did just one movie before some extreme action movie?”

In a studio, a director talked to his friends. The coworkers said nothing but laughed loudly.

“What are you saying?” one person asked.

“Are you kidding me?”

“What?” the director questioned with much curiosity.

The people around him would normally laugh with him, because he was the director, and the unsaid rule of laughing even if the joke is not funny was prominent among them. But right now, it was something the others couldn’t let sink in, even if they wanted to, considering how his talk shows that he knew nothing about Ian or Keanu.

“Sir, haven’t you watched the movie?” another person asked with much curiosity.

“Not really. No. I didn’t watch it because I thought it was better to watch Karma with the family instead of some movie with some new directors and new actors. I don’t honestly even understand why people give it so much hype and make it something it doesn’t deserve!”

[...] A few hours later, the entire team and the director were at the theatre of the office, getting prepared to watch the movie.

Although the coworkers said that they wanted to go watch the movie in the theatre, the director implied that they shouldn’t waste money or time in all the hassle of travelling but just to pirate the movie from one of those sites which had the director’s copy, and watch it in the theatre.

The movie started in no time.

-

On the screen, the movie started to play. The lights of the theatre dimmed, and in the seats, the team and the director had their jaws dropped when the movie began.

“This feels like watching the movie for the first time, no kidding,” one person said while the others agreed without making a noise.

[.... John unceremoniously tosses the newspaper onto the table, opens a cupboard, and measures out a couple of tablespoons of Folgers Coffee into an old percolator.

As it begins to bubble, John opens the fridge, studies its contents for a moment or two, and then close it, abandoning the thought of breakfast.

He pours himself a cup of coffee and sits at the table. The newspaper is ignored. He drinks in silence for a long, dark, brooding moment, the loneliness almost unsettling.

Suddenly, the phone on the wall RINGS.

John lowers his cup, staring at the device, his eyes tired.

A beat... and he stands, walking slowly to answer it …]

In no time, the director was so focused on the movie that he forgot there were other people in the room with him.

The movie kept playing and his eyes were solely plastered on the screen.

“Do you think he likes it?” one of the teammates whispered to the other.

The person next to him, instead of the person for whom the question was thrown, giggled.

“What do we think when he just keeps looking at the movie like how he looks at his wife? No offences!”

The man said but apologised as quickly as the words left his mouth.

[... After hours of the movie playing, The screen turned black and the words THE END written on the screen]

“Oh wow!”

“Told ya! Time to get back to work! Let’s?”

The four of the other members stood up and got ready to walk off so that they could get back to their jobs quickly. But after everything, the director stood straight and shook his head.

“You know what?” Everyone looked confused at his question. “I’m going to take the day off. Hold all of my meetings for tomorrow. After twelve, I’ll be free, so put in the meetings including the meetings of the scriptwriters.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to meet Ian, and take my family to watch John Wick. I shouldn’t have doubted it- ah!”

The regret-face of the director made the workers feel guilty, but truly, they were enjoying it. Their director wasn’t someone who agreed to his fellow worker’s demands or even thoughts easily. But the opportunity was perfect, and the four of them enjoyed every second of it.

-

Not just in the theatres but also online, the hype for John was high and up in the air. Among the reasons, the main reason was how poorly Karma and Death Realism were doing compared to John Wick.

“What are you doing?!” Will asked the team as they were looking face to face.

Behind Will, there was a screen of statistics. It wasn’t just the profits, but also the screenings of the movie have been decreasing with a pattern—a decreasing one.

The people in front of him said nothing but shook their heads. Will was devastated.

This was his only opportunity to stay in the studio, as the production board was already considering having Will out of the studio considering his poor choice of words during meetings and noticing his behaviour for the past couple of months.

“Can anyone not hear me?! Huh? Why do I see this arrow going down? Is this how it is supposed to be? Me staying right in front of you… Yelling at the top of my lungs, and meanwhile, my job is at stake?! I’d end up--”

“Alright, the meeting was dismissed!” Gar jumped in and dismissed everyone.

Will sighed loudly and looked left to right in the studio. Gar didn’t utter a word until the crowd was gone.

It was supposed to be a simple meeting between the employees where they discuss the progress of the newly released movie and then talk about the upcoming projects.

Lincoln studio wasn’t a small studio, but a studio that had to climb the hardest battles of Hollywood and earn the place that they were enjoying currently.

“What is going on, Will? You know you can lose this job right?” Gar asked silently as everyone walked out of the room.

He couldn’t say anymore as Will already looked devastated by his actions.

Will sighed loudly. “I’m already going to lose my job. I know it, so what difference would it even make? I have no idea! This is all because of Ian!”

Gar shook his head from side to side. For one, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. His friend used to be someone who always thought rationally and acted along his words without being inside his head too much.

But lately, with his movies flopping and feedback coming all negatively, his mental health had taken a turn which showed by his actions quite often.

“That’s not right, Will. That is not quite right. I can’t believe even after everything you still keep saying that it’s all Ian’s fault. And you do remember right how he made it quite clear during the party that… Nothing that's going on in our studio has to do with him?” Gar spoke in a gentle tone while Will shook his head again.

“I’m not delusional, you know it. It’s almost like, right when Ian started going higher and higher in Hollywood, my career just degraded like it’s nothing.”

Gar rolled his eyes and stood up. His hands fell onto the table with a loud thud and he looked away from Will. He was angry. He was angry for so many reasons.

“Will. Will, look at me!” he said and turned his head so they looked into each other’s eyes. “Dude, I’m not going to say this again and again. The movie flops have nothing to do with Ian. That little man is also trying his best to get his creativity some fame. Hollywood is fucking competitive and you know it. But the real competition is…” Gar pointed to Will’s head. “Here. It’s here.”

“W-what?” Gar asked back.

He was a well-known director, but with high anger issues. He always thought that his way was the only way that things could go, and sometimes he was right. His thoughts and the way he acted brought the studio so far, that Gar never thought they'd achieve something this big, together. But luckily, they did.

“You are your competition. You are your biggest enemy. I might sound like some U-tube motivator, but Will, look at you. You’re furious just because he’s getting more screen time in theatres. We haven’t even launched our plan B yet, you’re angry… That’s absurd, man! Get a fucking grip and call me when you’re ready. And know that, this shit is time sensitive. Either you get your shit together, or just walk out of the studio as a loser. Your choice.”

Gar put Will in his place just like every time. He walked out of the room, closed the door behind him, and left the angry director to be with himself for a while.

‘What good do I even get with all this anger?’ he thought to himself and shook his head. His friend was right, and he knew it.

What’s their next move?