Time To Celebrate (Akeem)

Akeem might not be as much a topic of conversation here. Before being an actor, he was the chef's son in this kitchen. Some might even argue that he didn't have the look to be a very popular star either, not like Casey. But Akeem didn't care about fame or star power. He loved acting, he loved creating characters, imagining scenes and play it or see it unfold before his eyes. He wanted to give the best performance he could, after that, if that made him famous or not, he didn't care too much.

Unlike him, Casey was popular and not just because of her acting prowess. She was a singer too, and a dancer. He heard her, he knew she could sing. While waiting on the food to be served, his father having answered her question as to what they would have since he was the cook after all and Akeem was not even sure himself, he figured they could talk. "Feel free not to answer if you want, but what got you into acting? And choosing to branch out on singing and dancing too?" Which one came first? He didn't look her up to find out if there was any website giving out that detail. It was not important to him, even when he ended up working with her. Her past was irrelevant and she didn't need to share it with him.

If Akeem may be interested in the type of food Casey liked, it would only be to offer her some, but he was not really thinking of that. He was certain she had fans asking her what got her into acting. She at least must have answered it once during an interview, it seemed to be the number one question you had to answer. Akeem was not looking for the answer that would inspire all the young women to follow their dreams with confidence, more the personal and perhaps selfish reason. It could truly be that she wanted to do like her father that he wouldn’t judge her. Neither would he if it turned out it was all she knew how to do because she started so young. This job was so unique that it seemed hard to do anything else or have the skills to.

He nodded. So the singing came first. He wondered if she would hold it against him then to prefer her for her acting skills. As for the dancing, he already figured she picked it up to create her own dance moves in her videos or for musicals.

He was not entirely surprised when she turned the question back at him. He finished his entree and placed his elbows on the table, resting his chin against one of his hands. “I started with the channel. I was the one with the most real filming experience so they named me the director. Turned out I like it a lot. I love watching the broad picture, you know? When you act, you play only your character’s point of view but when you’re directing, you’re seeing it all. It’s nice to get the set ready and say action and all of a sudden watch the scene you had in your head come to life before your eyes.”

As an actor, Akeem understood how lucky you were when you landed a recurrent role in a show. It meant a weekly paycheck, something you didn't always have the chance to get in this work. You could spend weeks, months even, without any gig, so a television show was really important. He didn't know how steady a job in the music industry was like. He supposed you may just end up doing back vocals if things didn't go too well. Maybe playing on both boards was a smart move so that when you didn't get too much work in one you could go to the other. But he also found them to be very demanding so the fact Casey intended to work both was commendable. And she was adding dancing to it too, although he figured it was more something she did for her videos.

He will have a lot of work on his plate too. He was excited. He was ready for every step of it, but he would start tomorrow. He laughed at what she replied when he explained why he loved directing so much. Considering he also wrote the thing, that made him quite the puppet master. "You make me sound like some sort of control freak ordering everyone around to do what I want," he said, still laughing a bit. He hoped his friends never thought he was a tyrant when directing. This just hit him that he might end up directing professional actors. How intimidating that would be? He nearly emptied his glass just thinking about it.

Once again, he felt like Casey was here mostly to be nice to him. after all, they didn't know each other very well. They worked together and chatted a few times, but he didn't think they made a tight enough bond for her to consider him a friend, or even mean joining him in this celebration. He did praise her for sticking to her words and coming over when he believed she said them only to be nice. He would have to relieve her from her obligations after the meal, the meal being simply a compensation for her time.

Truth be told, he found it weird sometimes, how she seemed to push herself on him. He could think she was trying to flirt, but if she was, she forgot how you were supposed to a while ago. She was being nice but was not really sharing anything. She was polite to him but not exactly inviting. Had he been the one pursuing her, he would understand she was pushing him into the friendzone, but she was the one coming on to him so he was confused. Maybe she was trying to flirt with a non-threatening guy... which meant he was in the friendzone. He tried not to think too much about it.

"That it is," he agreed, running out of things to say on the subject. She was not teasing him about being a tyrant who enforced his vision so he figured she was not in the mood to jest. Or maybe it was not her thing, it wasn't as though he knew her very well. "Will you pick music back too? You said it was your passion, so I assumed you were aching for it," he explained. It was a passion yet she chose to head back to acting first? Well, she did say she ended up loving it too, maybe the opportunity just presented itself first.

His father came with the fish he cooked for the two of them and Akeem tried to ignore whatever glance he may stare at him. This was not a date but he was still glad his father was not asking Casey about details.

Akeem might be young, and more famous through his YouTube channel, he worked in the industry for many years already. He knew about the ups and downs of this life, even if he couldn’t say he had a horde of paparazzi chasing him like some of the celebrities dealt with. He knew about the pressure however having experienced it too, albeit at a lower level than some. He could understand Casey for being guarded. He didn’t think he had that much of a harder, humbler childhood than hers. His parents may not be as famous, but his father was a renowned chef, with occasional television appearances and all that came with it. But his parents also never wanted for their children to just have everything served to them on a silver platter. Akeem was used to work for what he wanted. It explained maybe why he was content with what he had and did not spend his time lamenting over his lack of fame. He was doing what he wanted and loved without as much of the downside as others like Casey. He considered it a good thing, even if his paycheck was not to her level.

Akeem thought about his show he would have to produce. While he planned on casting himself as the leading man, he knew he needed to find someone to play the leading woman. The main reason why he submitted this project was precisely because the actress playing it on his channel was moving out. He looked at Casey.

He was not exactly sure what she meant by steady. He assumed it was because she had roles right now whereas she would have to pause a little if she wanted to record music, meaning a long time without much money coming in until she released her music and went touring. “Well, if you’re into acting right now, would you be interesting in a brand new and interesting show about the ups and downs of a new relationship?” Akeem didn’t notice his father’s amused expression, nor how it made him think of back when he was flirting with Helen, proposing to cook with her and all that. Akeem was just taking a chance here. After all, you got nothing from life if you weren’t a bit bold every now and then. And what was the worse she could do, refuse? He could live with that. He might as well try his luck now, when she was trying to make a comeback. When she’ll get back to her previous fame, and pick up singing too, she’ll no doubt be too expensive for him.

Akeem may like singing on occasion but he knew he had no talent in it. He thought his way of revealing himself was through his roles and videos. He loved exploring every aspect of it and was not afraid to delve into a role, no matter how terrible the character was, and make it his own. He didn't think he was a monster because he played a believable psychopath, he thought playing a psychopath helped him explore a different path of life, and found certain traits that he could relate to. Because if he couldn't do that, no matter how different from him a role could be, how could he make the audience relate?

A new challenged awaited him now. He will have a chance to show yet another side of him, of his creativity, by making his show. In truth, even if the channel ultimately chose to pull teh plug after one season, before the end of the season even, he'd be happy to have been given this opportunity. It wouldn't stop him from trying again. You learn more from your mistakes than your successes.

He was not sure she would agree. Anyway, it was not as simple as asking her if she wanted to star in it, there were so many other things to do before getting her in front of the camera. She'll ahve to do an audition, there would be negotiations with her agent, with the channel and the producers, a contract needed to be made... "The leading role of course. She's the reason why I tried my luck to turn it into a tv show, because she left and we couldn't do the next seasons we had in mind for it," he explained. This time, he could swear he caught his father's smile. The man knew Akeem was playing the leading man in that show, having played his father in some of the scenes. He preferred to ignore it for now.

He shrugged after taking a bite of his meal. "Mind you, I don't even know what my budget will be exactly, so I might not be able to cast you, but wouldn't that be great?" He preferred not to add that it might get him more money too, since having a famous actress in the show meant her fans were likely to watch and views were all that mattered to those corportate guys. But he was thinking of that only for what it could bring to his show, and frankly he would love working with her again. "I don't know if you've seen it before on the channel. Their families clash, because of the difference of culture and religion, they deal with some crazy friends and situations, all this to prove it can work. A rom com, in other words. Lately, it's been more popular as sitcoms than movies."