Of all the places that AJ Entertainment could have taken them, it had to be Slough. It wasn’t hard for Gary to guess the reason, as it would be strange to have a program in a town with no connection to any of them.
He would be surprised to learn that any of his co-stars came from a Tier-3 town like them. Judging by the way they behaved, they had to have grown up in either a Tier-2 city, if not Tier-1.
'If Kai knew anything about this, he should have informed me, so our visit will definitely be a surprise to him and the others. I wonder if that’s a good or a bad thing.’ Gary thought. Honestly, there’s not that many people who know what I look like... Ideally, I just won’t run into anyone I know, and perhaps Kai might make sure that I won’t.'
While travelling in the car, a single guard accompanied them, an older bold gentleman, stood up to lay some ground rules for everyone.
"Now, I know a lot of you have never been to a Tier-3 town before, so there could be a lot of things that you aren't used to seeing." The guard stated.
"Prepare to meet scum who roams about in the streets, like teenagers that will purposely try to cause trouble with you just to fight and prove something. Unless you’re looking for a beating, it’s in your own interest to NOT stray from the group, and stick with me."
Some of the others seemed to be in shock to hear this, the picture that the guard was painting wasn't a pretty one.
"I can't believe you managed to survive and live in such a dangerous place." Tyson commented. "I don't think I could ever do such a thing."
Gary had no clue what Tyson was imagining, but more than likely he failed to understand just how bad it had really been. Gary’s family had been in the lower bracket of a Tier-3 household. With a single mother supporting both her children, they had been only one rent increase away from having to move into Tier-4.
"Hey, think before you speak, this is Gary's hometown we are talking about!" Rachel stated.
Gary was of a mind to defend his hometown, after all, he was technically the one in charge of it, but right now he was here as Gary Dem, rookie from the AFA, not Gary Dem, boss of the Howlers. He also
couldn't deny that there was a truth to what the guard told them. Everything had been during the reign of the Underdogs.
Now, however, there was hardly anyone who would dare to start trouble out on the streets. Yes there were still gang members roaming around the place, but those were members of the Howlers making sure that the few troublemakers would quickly be subdued. There would be a scuffle once in a while but that was true for any city or town.
While travelling, Gary continued to be amazed by the car they were in, and was playing on the large touchscreen display that was in front of him where he could select any entertainment he liked. Once in a while he would make audible noises, showing he was impressed. Elanor, the manager seeing this couldn't help but smile at his innocence.
"I'm guessing you've never travelled in style like this before."
Once again, Gary didn’t know what to say. The truth was the limo Tyler used to drive them around also had amazing features, the green haired teenager just never had had the time to use the features or displays in the car because whenever he would be travelling he would be concerned with other thoughts.
"That makes me wonder, why did you agree to join our program?" Elanor asked. "I saw something change in your eye when you saw the contract."
Gary answered almost immediately.
"It was the money." Gary admitted, which had shocked nearly all the others. "Where else would I be able to earn 200,000 for a week's worth of work"
"200,000!" Clem nearly jumped out of her seat but it was hard to move since they were in a car. When she looked towards her manager though, she could see that there was an awkward look on her face.
"Gary... I’m sorry to correct you, but you seem to have misread the contract. The budget for this program was 200,000, in other words, that’s how much we have to pay all of you. In your case, you might get around 20,000 at the end of it all. " Elanor corrected him.
His heart sank at that moment. It wasn't that he thought it was a small amount, it was just because he had been expecting a certain payout, number and to realise that it was a fraction of that cost.
"HAHA, this idiot!" Tyson laughed. "Did you really think, someone who has next to no following at all, would get 200,000 just for a TV appearance? Do you think AJ Entertainment has unlimited amounts of wealth to pay starter rookies like us that kind of money?”
"It's okay, 20,000 is still a lot for just a week's worth of work, so I’m grateful for the opportunity." Gary retorted, a tinge of sadness in his tone. He didn’t like his tone, but what Tyson said did make sense to him.
"This is a one-off." Spring stated. "These types of programmes don't come around a lot, and usually to lure you in there is a large upfront payment. They think of it as investment money. Based on your future jobs, the company takes a percentage to go back towards paying back this debt, and once this debt is paid then you start earning money.
"Did you not have your agent read the contract properly? Well, I guess you don’t have one, figures this is what happens to those that are money hungry, they just end up poor. No wonder you were stuck in a Tier-3 town for most of your life."
"SPRING!" Clem shouted at her co-star. "You can't say that! You and I were lucky enough to be born into a household with a lot of money, but all of that is due to our parents' hard work! You should be grateful that we have never had to struggle, so how can you say something to him when you have no idea how hard it is to get out of that rut?!"
"Haven't worked for this? Hmph, do you think I didn't work hard for this? Don’t you know how many people try to become an actor, how many people go to university and compete against each other? I never used my mother’s name and did everything through my own effort!`
"That might be the case...but that's where you're wrong." Gary spoke up. "Everything you just said is a privilege that most like me will never have. You competed at a TOP university, while I never even got the chance to go to a university in the first place.
"And let me guess you worked really hard in your acting lessons, right? Well, whose money did you use to pay for it all, huh? While you were working hard, do you know what me and my family were doing? Trying to do EVERYTHING we could to put food on the table. I had no time to worry about how good my grades were because I was more worried about whether my mother would have to skip out on dinner AGAIN after coming home from her MULTIPLE JOBS, just so me and my sister wouldn’t starve."
It was clear, the comment had rubbed Gary the wrong way, and everyone had gotten an insight to what his life had been was like.
"And this is why, I think it's best if we all experience what life is like for others, so we can connect and understand the struggles of everyone." Elanor said with a smile, trying to change the atmosphere.
Fortunately, they were about to enter Slough.
*****
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