Behind The Limelight

01: Comebacks And Compromises

Over Two Years Later

Ashton took a deep breath in before diving into the water. He counted the seconds in his head, his eyes closed shut as he tried to clear his mind, focusing on nothing but the numbers. Once he couldn't hold his breath anymore, he rose above the water, gasping for oxygen.

Ashton swam to the edge of his pool, where his staff had already placed a few towels. He propped himself up with his elbows, lifting his upper body so that he could get out and sit. His legs were still dangling in the water as he picked up a towel to start drying his hair.

He didn't bother to glance back when he heard footsteps, after all his house was always full of people. The person behind him cleared their throat, making Ashton sigh as he realized who it was.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for your interview?" Malcolm, Ashton's agent, asked.

"It's on the radio," Ashton said. "Who the fuck even listens to the radio anymore?"

"Many people."

"Couldn't you have at least gotten me like, I don't know, a podcast or something? Something people actually give a shit about?" Ashton questioned, and he didn't need to look back to guess the frustrated expression that Malcolm was surely wearing.

"Well, I do have something that might cheer you up," Malcolm stated, though he looked worried, not excited.

"What?"

"You got the role," Malcolm answered.

"I'm afraid you'll need to be a bit more specific here, Mal," Ashton replied, his tone irritated.

"The role, Ash. The Erick Tate role."

Ashton's eyes widened as he finally turned around, staring at Malcolm in shock. Erick Tate was one of the biggest directors in the world, a huge name that Ashton had been dying to work with ever since he acted in his first commercial at the age of seven.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" Ashton asked, still in disbelief.

Malcolm nodded, still looking a bit uneasy but it went unnoticed by the young actor. Ashton stood up, taking a few long strides towards his agent before engulfing him in a tight hug. The middle-aged man cringed slightly, his five thousand dollar suit was now damp, but he patted Ashton's back nonetheless.

Ashton pulled back, a wide grin on his face as he stared at Malcolm. Ashton's smile slowly started fading when he noticed that Malcolm didn't look nearly as excited as him. A lead role in an Erick Tate film was massive for both their careers, Malcolm should be crying tears of joy right now. Instead, he looked as if he was about to head to a funeral.

"What's wrong?" Ashton asked. "Don't tell me there's a catch."

"I suppose you can call it that," Malcolm muttered.

"Tell me." Ashton urged, growing more and more worried with each passing second. He could not let this role get away, no matter what the catch was, he would just have to deal with it.

"The, uh, the other lead role will be played by Ryker."

Ashton blinked. His expression was blank as his hand fell from Malcolm's shoulder to his side. He stared at his agent, not knowing how to respond to the news. Out of everything— this was definitely not something that he was expecting. Not at all.

"I thought...didn't he leave to go meditate in Asia or something?" Ashton asked.

He had assumed that Ryker had left his acting career behind him for good, and so had everyone else. The industry and his fans included. The man had gone radio silent on social media too, and nobody had heard from him in a long while.