Chapter 83: Chapter 83
Keyes Real Estate, Blvd, LA
In a big office on the twelfth floor of a thirty storey building, three people were sitting around a big table - two on one side and the third on the other.
Above the table was a big projector hanging through the ceiling. This projector was flashing a map on the wall behind the third person.
The map was of the LA city.
'Santa Monica.' Said the third person on the other side of the table. She was a shrewd looking middle-aged woman with pointy glasses right at the tip of her nose.
In her hand was a laser pointer, and as she sat on her seat, she used a laser dot to point at a spot on the map projected on the wall.
She then used her mouse to zoom the screen of her computer; this also zoomed in the map on the wall as it projected exactly what was going on in the monitor.
She hovered the lased dot over a location in the map while saying, 'This is Santa Monica. The best office location in the whole city of Los Angeles. It is home to the campuses of MovieCon Studios, Alpine, and Moon Entertainment—all drawn by its beachside location and innovative business scene. You can put your company right in action at this spot, taking advantage of our private offices and all-inclusive amenities to settle in quickly.'
While halfway through her words, she turned around and looked at the two people sitting on the other side of the table.
One was a middle-aged woman, and the other was a young man in his early twenties. And with how the middle-aged woman glanced at the young man for his reaction, it was clear to this woman who the boss among the two was.
She focused on the young man and added, 'This sprawling workspace, perfect for creative teams, offers open, brightly lit lounges and amenities including screening rooms, business classrooms, event spaces, and filming equipment. You can take advantage of these perks while building your team in a private office, complete with your own conference rooms and brainstorming areas.'
The young man nodded and asked, 'How does the renting process work? What I need are at least five floors worth of office space.'
'Five floors?' The woman nodded, 'No problem. You can get it here. But you haven't yet told me what you're planning to buy the whole space permanently, or do you wish to rent?'
The middle-aged woman sitting beside the young man replied this time, 'For now, we will be going for the rental way. At least for the next one year, this is the plan. Also, Alicia, we will be going for the lower floors if possible, and another thing is, we want the less crowded building.'
Alicia, the shrewd looking woman, nodded, and after zooming in and surfing through the map for a few minutes, she zoomed in a bit more and hovering the laser over it, she said, 'Well, this place is perfect. There are not many big companies in this building, and the one which already is, has declared bankruptcy, so they will be emptying the building within a month or so. You will have almost everything here, except there's one catch.'
'What?'
'Well, it has six floors.' Alicia replied, 'And the owner wants to rent out the whole building to only one company; that's also why there aren't many people going for this building because most businesses don't need more than one floor. Six floors are usually for billion-dollar companies, but they already have their own building.'
'Six floors…?' The middle-aged woman frowned lightly and glanced at the young man sitting beside her, 'What do you think, Will?'
Of course, the young man sitting beside her was Will Evans, the new hotshot in Hollywood.
And she was none other than Amand, his company's CEO.
Both of them had come over to look for a better and more spacious office building, especially since they would also add the Talent Agency.
With the influx of new staff and employees, the current office space wasn't going to be enough.
Therefore, they had come to one of Hollywood's best real estate agents to look for a better office space to rent.
'Six floors is alright.' Will nodded, 'What's the normal rent?'
'For this one, it's $2.5 per square feet per month.' Alicia replied, 'With the total space of 55000 SF per floor, and with six floors, it will be… almost a million, including all the taxes.'
'A million per month?' Amanda frowned, 'We will rent for a whole year, at $2 per SF.'
'$2?' Alicia shook her head, 'No one in the whole of LA will go that low; how about you look at the whole place first, and if it fits, I will arrange a meeting with the owner, and then you can negotiate with them.'
Will nodded, 'When will the meeting be?'
'Well, we can go to this building right now. And the meeting can also happen today itself if you like the building.'
Will thought for a moment and nodded, 'Alright, how far is this… Santa Monica?'
'A few miles west.' Alicia stood up while replying, 'Let's go?'
'Sure.' Will nodded and stood up as well, Amanda following him shortly after.
***
While Will was looking for a new location for the Dream Vision office, June was following her own story.
Right now, she had just stepped out of her car and was with her agent, John.
Standing in the parking lot, she was staring at the high-rise building in front of her.
As John locked the car, he walked up to her and opened his phone.
'Well, I have informed them. The Director will be there; let's go.' He said.
June nodded and gulped.
Looking at her reaction, John sighed and said, 'Don't worry, you got this. This is just a script reading session for now. You already passed the audition anyway.'
June nodded and stepped forward, heading towards the building in front of her.
John also took a deep breath, and crossing his fingers, he followed, hoping for the best outcome.
He has been trying his best to get a movie role for June in the last few days, but it hasn't been easy.
For one reason or another, the directors and producers have been rejecting June, not even bothering to give her a chance to show her skills properly.
But the indie movie industry was just like this.
And because of this, it had been really hard for John, especially since she was his only client, and her success and work was directly proportional to how much he would earn.
Another reason why he was worried was that in the last two big projects of June, he hadn't been the one who brought them, so he didn't get any share from those films - which were the Blair Witch Project and 17 Again - both of which were box office hits.
Both of the movies were brought to her by Will, and now, John wanted to prove himself too. He was, after all, her agent, not Will.
Although he didn't hold any ill intent towards Will, in fact he was even thankful since it was going to be easier for June to find roles in the future with her recent success, but now, even getting a single script reading session has become very difficult, getting role offers was a long shot.
After days of grinding and looking for work, he had finally managed to convince one of the independent movie directors to consider June for the role.
Although the latter was very hesitant for some reason, he relented in the end because bringing June into the project might help his project commercially, but this was just John's assumption. He didn't know the exact reason why the Director changed his mind.
The audition was also successful, and June got a role in a movie that might do really well in film festivals.
Walking a few steps ahead of him, June was about to step into the building.
Before the entrance, she lightly paused and took a deep breath.
'You will nail this role.'
She said to herself and pushed open the glass door of the building, with John following her in shortly after.
'Wait there. I will ask if everyone is here.' John gestured to her to sit on the sofas arranged for the visitors and went to the reception.
June slightly nodded, and following his words, she took a seat on the sofa.
A few moments later, John returned, and while sitting in front of her, he said, 'The director is in a meeting, he will be free in a few minutes, and then we will go.'
June nodded.
John stared at her and then looked around them to see if anyone was eavesdropping; he then leaned forward a bit and said, 'Hey, June, are you alright?'
June nodded, 'Yes.'
'You remember what I said on our way here?'
'Yes.'
'Alright, don't forget it. People might try to pick a fight with you but keep your calm. They want to rile you up and then paint you as the wrong one; that's why think before how you will react to whatever the others say.'
June nodded, 'I will.'
Just then, one of the building staff came over, 'June Roberts?'
'Yes,' June raised her head and nodded.
'Please follow me; the Director is ready to see you.'
...
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