Chapter 120: MHS – Chapter 120

Heading over to The Plaza's conference room, Will couldn't keep the excitement from showing on his face. The scene he had curated for Leo was a two-person scene, and he was going to act out the part of the second man in it. The scene was a conversation between Mario Di Mauro and an old retired gangster inside a coffee shop. Mario had been sent there to kill the gangster but chose to have a chat with him first.

Entering the conference room, Will could see that Leo was concentrating on the lines written in the script and trying to set a character persona in his head.

"Alright, Leo, you have gone through the script; it's time for us to act out the part. I will play the old gangster; you are Mario, Capeesh? I want to see what you make of him and how refined your dialogue delivery is. I want to feel like I am talking to an up-and-coming mob boss. So, let's begin." Will didn't give Leo much time. After he entered the room, he wanted to see if the latter would be able to assume character at a moment's notice.

Taking his seat at the conference table, Will saw Leo instead walk right by the room entrance.

"Hey! Are you Wilson Manfredi?" Leo asked in a loud voice with an Italian lilt to his accent.

Taking a few seconds, Will sighed and said, "I am. Who's asking?"

"My name is Mario; I want to talk." 

“Take a seat, mio figlio. Want some fries?"

Leo took the opposite seat to Will on the conference table, declining his offer of fries. Will could see that he'd added a slight swagger to his steps, but his shoulders were hunched like he was making a big decision at the moment. Will said his dialogue next.

"So, ol' Vercetti finally sent someone to do me in, huh? This your first hit, kid?" This dialogue was meant to signify that the Manfredi knew exactly what Mario was here for but didn't care and didn't want to beat around the bush. Will noticed that Leo's shoulder tensed. His eyes darted toward Will's hands and the exit looking for weapons and the possible exit point. That was good attention to detail from Leo, and he internally applauded him for taking up the character almost flawlessly.

Leo finally looked Will in the eye and said, "I've been in a fair few fights."

"But none, where people died. And you and I both know that a fight and a hit is a totally different ball game. Trust me, kid, you don't want to be a part of this life; you're still young, walk away. It's all fun in the beginning; there's all kinds of amazing things, drugs, sex, money, you name it. But slowly, it all starts blinding you to what's happening around you, and then your brothers start dying or turning on you, and you're left as a paranoid broken shell of a man. Turn around kid, you don't want that, I would know, I have been there." Will finished.

"I know, but I can't turn around. I promised my mom that one day, I'd make it big here, in Liberty City, and I know I am no genius. I can't do it legit; if I could, I would've. But I can't; I don't know how to run a legit business here or work a normal job, shit; if I could, I still wouldn't. The Maggia families here want protection money from every legit business either way. All I know is how to survive a barrage of bullets, lie to the cops and print more cash. I can shoot a gun too, I know it's no good, and I don't like it, but I am good at what I do." Leo explained, finally relaxing in front of Will.

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Will looked at where the gun was supposed to be with Leo and said, "I see, Mario, coraggioso, mio figlio, I just want you to know, after this, there is no turning around. You will have a mark that will follow you no matter how hard you try to clean it." 

Leo looked at Will and assumed an apologetic "I know, and I am sorry, you deserve to die with your family by your side." Leo had a single tear running down his face, and he pulled out a stapler that he was using as a gun for the scene; the stapler was shaking in his grip.

"Don't be sorry about that; my family is already where I am headed," Will replied somberly. 

'Click' Leo pressed the stapler, signifying that he'd shot the gun, and the scene ended.

Will and Leo just sat at the conference table, looking at each other, for a couple of seconds. Leo could feel the tension rising in the air; he was searching Will's face for any emotion or sign of how he felt about his acting. Will finally broke the tension and smiled, "Leo, you have a lot of talent. It's a little rough around the edges, sure, that tear was a little overkill, but hey, you're learning. Would you regret it terribly if you quit your job? I want to take you to Los Angeles."

***

Director Carlson Duckstein had begun the shooting of [500 days of Summer] right alongside Director Lucas Amspoker had begun the shooting for [1917]. As neither movie used little to no CGI, the shooting for [500 days of Summer] was much simpler, relying heavily on the actors' capabilities and range of emotions instead of the mastery of the Camera by Jeffery's cinematography department. While Jeffery himself was more focused on [1917], his team had taken it upon themselves to still give their best for [500 days of Summer].

As the movie was a romantic comedy, Will wanted its shooting to be complete as soon as possible so that the camera crew of that film could back up the monumental workload taken up by Jeffery in England. Will had followed through on his promise to Leo and had brought him alongside him back to Los Angeles after he had quit his job. He had set him up in a room, right inside Dream Vision's office, for now, as he didn't know anyone in Hollywood, and Will worked on arranging a living space for him somewhere in the city. 

Leo didn't complain about the arrangement as he got a lot of time working on the script of [Liberty City], and he also got to meet a lot of famous faces in Hollywood that frequented the building to meet their agents. He considered it better than what he had in New York City, as he didn't have to work, and he got free food from the building's pantry and café. He was offered a role in [Liberty City] by Will, and he was ready to live in the office till the entire shooting was complete, if he had to. He did not want to let this chance go from his hands.

While the shootings of [1917] and [500 days of Summer] were ongoing, Ewan Rees' [Birdman] had started screening on the big screen, and the reactions from the audience were mixed. While the movie was really well-made, and the critics were looking forward to its standings both at the box office and at the Oscars, it was a big change of pace from Ewan Rees' previous film [Sherlock Holmes], with the movie being shot mostly indoors. Either way, it was expected to do really well at the box office and at the Oscars.

At the same time, Michael 'Robert' Elrod's latest movie [A Bullet to Kill] had hit the cinemas. The people had been anticipating the next movie Robert would star in after his success due to [Sherlock Holmes], and they were not disappointed. Robert had again delivered and showed the world his fantastic acting prowess in [A Bullet to Kill], which had already amassed 80 million dollars at the box office, easily matching Kron Studio's investment, in under two weeks. Krown Studios had even sent invites to Will for their Success party. While Will didn't generally like attending parties in Hollywood, he would attend this one as he had a few days free before New Year's rolled around, and he had heard rumours that Spencer Miller's son, Colt Miller, would be present at the event. So naturally, he wanted to meet the man, and in the past few months, all they'd gotten from Foxtstar was silence, both to him and to Hollywood in general, and he wanted to find out the reason behind the sudden silence from the most likely source itself.

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