Chapter 384. A Change

Chapter 384. A Change

In an office on the top floor of a large building, a man was seething while reading the newspaper reports in front of him. All the newspaper articles in front of him were from major media houses.
They weren't the random tabloids that would write anything.
In these newspapers, it was clearly written that the American press association was under a lot of pressure from the public and the media and that Philips Fraser might need to resign from his place.
Reading those articles, he was obviously angry.
"That damn bastard! I never did anything to him but he really tried to destroy me like that."
Philips muttered as he slammed the table in front of him. His hands hurt but his anger was enough to not let him worry about it.
He still recalled meeting Aiden at the start of the ceremony. He looked a bit shy but still talked like just another talented actor. Philips was even planning to make a close bond with him as he was promising.
But what he did on the stage changed everything.
At first, he was enraged and felt like murdering him as he had publicly shamed his name but his emotions were still in his control.
A large chunk of the press association supported him as Aiden had not only shamed him but called the association corrupted.
The whole conduct was acceptable!
The association was going to blacklist Aiden for good and just give the media an internal investigation to silence them until they could find another thing to divert the public's attention.
But then, more and more people have come out against Philips Fraser.
In an instant, the situation had become something huge that they couldn't just silence it. After all, Philips had only assaulted guys but girls too.
A lot of human rights organisations were now demanding that he resign and strict action should take place with a thorough investigation by an external team.
It was so much pressure that even Philips knew that the organisation wasn't going to support him for long.
'What can I do? I need to prove my innocence somehow. Even my ex wife came forward to talk bad about me. She was probably just waiting for an opportunity.'
As he thought that, his secretary suddenly knocked on the door and opened it a bit. With shifty eyes like she was hiding from him, she opened her mouth.
"Sir, they are calling you for the meeting."
"Okay."
Philips frowned. It was probably the tenth meeting he was called to in two days. Before this, he used to organise these meetings but now, with all these allegations against him, his power was dwindling.
He left his office and took the lift to reach the conference room. Entering it, he saw that most of the major members of the press association were already there.
A few of them stopped whispering when they saw him while others just looked gravely like they were seeing the end of the organisation.
"Philips, you are here."
An old man said as he looked at him. He was even older than him and was one of the founding members of the association.
"Yeah."
"We have decided something and I hope you will accept it as there's no way around it."
"I have to resign, right?"
"Yes."
Philips frowned but he already knew it in his heart. There was no way the organisation would keep him currently. A resignation was pretty much something that he had become content with.
"I don't mind it. Not like my views are going to be heard here."
"You made a mistake." A female member said in a hissing tone. "Mistakes. The whole press association is suffering because of your actions. Resignation won't be a way out for you."
Philips glared at her.
"I was not only the one at fault here. All the allegations are not against me if you don't know."
He turned towards a few members who were also accused. They turned their heads away, not looking him in the eye.
"There are but the media is targeting you as the president. Your position gave you a lot of benefits but there were always consequences of your actions."
The old man said and a few people nodded.
"So, you are going to abandon me. Put all the blame on me."
"Yes."
The old man didn't talk in a roundabout manner and just put it straightforwardly towards him.
Philips started laughing hearing that. He felt like he was going crazy. His senses were getting blank and he didn't know what to do.
His world had truly come crashing down at the wrong instant.
It was a bad joke that he can't even laugh about.
'I guess this is the end.'
A part of him wanted to protest against the press association but he knew the power they hold despite all the scrutiny currently. He had used that power a lot in the past but now it was against him.
Another part of him that was hoping that they would save him and would side him was broken. Though, it was not like he hadn't expected it.
That day, sounds of laughter kept bursting out from the tall walls of the press association headquarters.
***




"It seems like they are letting me off the hook."
Aiden said as he looked at Wade and Dustin in front of him. Dustin was swallowing heaps of noodles down his throat.
It looked like he was really hungry. But his mannerism also hinted that he was coming back to his old self.
"They can't do anything now. They are too much in shit to care for you. Even if they did, they will just dig the grave a bit more deep, public support is really after you."
"Yeah… you are now a pop culture icon."
Dustin finished his noodles and said. Aiden's act of refusing to take the Golden Globes even after winning was gutsy and it inevitably attracted a lot of attention and became a part of the internet in a way that it was now rated as one of the most shocking celebrity moments of the last decade.
"People are going to be scared from calling you to award shows for sure in case you don't like something and just refuse to take the award."
Wade joked and started drinking the soup that he had ordered.
While Aiden suddenly recalled something.
"Hey, didn't the Oscars nominations come out yesterday?"
The Oscar nominations were pretty close to the Golden Globes ceremony and in all the chaos, they had forgotten that the nominations had come out.
At least Aiden had.
When he mentioned that, Wade stopped drinking and his face turned a bit sour.
"They came out last night."
"Aiden was nominated?"
Dustin asked. He was also busy giving so many interviews and other stuff that he hadn't thought about the Oscars.
"No, he actually lost by one vote to appear in the final category."
"That's sad."
Aiden said and held his chopsticks to eat noodles. He gulped down a few of them before Wade blinked towards him.
"You don't look sad."
"Well, because I'm not." He stopped eating and looked at him. "Golden Globes just made me realise awards are pretty useless. It kinda helped me get off the feeling that I need an award."
Aiden shrugged his shoulders.
Getting an award was good but he now doubted the credibility of a lot of them. He would still go to the ceremony to get it if he's nominated as it was a matter of pride, not only for him but for all the people who knew him.
But he isn't going to be sad If he doesn't get nominated.
He liked his current change in attitude. He now felt like if people liked and appreciated his movies, that would be way better than any awards.
Wade also noticed that and smiled. It seemed to him that Aiden had grown once again.
It was then that he recalled something.
"I forgot to tell you something."
"What?"
Aiden looked at him strangely and even Dustin glancing, noticing the seriousness in Wade's voice.
"Don't look at me like that. It's not anything bad." He shook his head, noticing the strange expression of Aiden. "Well, apparently, both Forbes and Time magazine want to feature you due to what you did against the American press association. They wants to have you on their covers."