Chapter 177: Billion Dollar Film
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Alexander's face shifted, not into fear - but into sincerity. "I am sorry, it's just one of my favorite books, I got a little excited seeing it out in the open."
Ross stared at him for a second longer, eyes hard to read, then, unexpectedly, he asked. "Why?"
?...?The question caught both men off guard.
But Alexander, after a beat, let out a quiet breath and answered.
"I think it's because I see myself in the protagonist." He said, this time more measured, less casual. "He is born ordinary, he doesn't stand out, he is not brilliant, powerful, or famous. He has no claim to anything, but then he falls in love - with someone so far above his reach that the very idea seems absurd. A woman who lives in a world he doesn't belong to, a world made of clouds and sky, but even knowing that, even with the whole world telling him he is not enough, he doesn't give up. He keeps trying."
Alexander smiled and continued. "For me, it wasn't exactly a woman, it was the cinema as a whole. This craft - the atmosphere in sets - I fell in love with that I have no real claim over, something I can't touch, and maybe I will never really grasp it. Surely, not the way Regal does, and not the way people like you do. Just a love so ridiculous that I keep chasing it even when it doesn't love me back."
Ross stared at him, and then, like a blade slipping cleanly into its sheath, he said flatly. "Then you should give up."
Alex didn't flinch at the straightforwardness but Stephen Jr. definitely felt the harshness.
Still, Alexander simply smiled a little - more awkwardly this time as he admitted.
"I probably should." He admitted, his voice quiet but clear. "Honestly, that would be the sensible thing to do. But I guess I came to the conclusion that... even if I never reach the clouds, I would still be happy building something down here. The ground, the land - it stretches far, it's just as big, just as endless, just like the sky, it's vast. If I can't fly, then I will walk. If I can't walk, I will crawl. But I will keep building something here that stands."
He paused for a beat, then added with a sheepish breath. "So maybe, if I can't be ruler of the sky... I will be king of the land."