5. Jess #3
For a brief second, I remembered his hands on my face and in my hair as he leaned down to kiss me.
I forced my eyes open and took a deep breath, trying to keep my hormones in check.
When I saw him standing there, it wasn’t Daniel Finnegan or Marlin Sinbad.
It was Tyrst’an of Glen Orrin forming the Alliance of the Cauldron.
“Well, I say: no more! If we band together, not only will we be stronger, but Oderan will know we’ve come for him. He will know fear and flail like a child as we take away what is rightfully ours. Tonight… we kill a tyrant.”
The entire audience rose to their feet, screaming, and applauding.
I found myself on my feet as well, trying to find a way to control my breathing, my hands clapping together like everyone else.
He bowed to the crowd and returned to the chair, picking up the mic but not sitting. He smiled at me. “How did I do?”
“That was incredible.” I said it without thinking. I regretted it as soon as the words exited my mouth. I cringed internally, becoming flustered and tongue tied.
“Thank you,” he said earnestly, and the audience roared in approval as we both sat down.
He smiled at me. “Any other questions?”
I took a deep breath and cleared my head. “Um. Yes. A few. As you know, the series cut out a lot of scenes from the original books. What’s your opinion on how they handled Roderick Galfast?”
I watched as his face went blank. “I’m sorry, who?”
A soft groan of disappointment ran through the crowd. His eyes darted around and then back to me. Whatever warmth and memories of last night that I still had evaporated. My heart pounded, and I realized I was clenching my teeth.
Fucking. Actors.
I straightened my posture, narrowing my eyes at him. “You haven’t read the books, have you?” I asked, bluntly.
He hesitated. Behind him, I saw the blonde woman fuming.
“No,” he replied.
The crowd turned. You could hear it in their groans.
“That’s okay. I don’t think anyone from MaxFlick has either,” I quipped.
And that would be my second viral moment of the week.
I stopped interviewing Daniel after that.
I threw it open to the fans who asked various questions, but I could tell my one jab took the spirit out of him.
When our time was up, he took a bow to mixed applause.
I went off stage right, and he went to stage left where the blonde woman waited for him.
I took a seat, trying to keep my mind from reeling.
As soon as I was offstage, I scratched furiously at my shoulder until it burned.
I replayed everything from last night in my head. How I fell and he caught me. Our flirtation in the elevator and–
My thoughts were quickly interrupted by shouts from the other side of the backstage.
I watched the blonde woman beating Daniel repeatedly in the arm with the tablet. Despite the situation, I cracked a smile.
I pushed my amusement aside and went back to my thoughts from the previous evening.
Was this all a scam? My broken heel and twisted ankle weren’t his fault…
but he was there, right at that moment. Did he take advantage of the opportunity for all of this to happen?
No, I pulled him into my room and… fuck.
And the interview. Everything went well for him until I brought up the books. I felt the guilt gnaw at me for some ridiculous reason. Why did I feel bad for his stupidity? In the end, he was just another fucking actor.
I don’t know how long I was in that fugue state until I heard my name called out.
Daniel stood in front of me. “I don’t suppose we could have a moment to talk now?” he asked politely.
I crossed my arms and fixed him with my most pointed glare. The pounding in my ears was giving me a headache. I gritted my teeth, saying nothing.
He inhaled deeply, having trouble keeping eye contact with me. “I want to clear the air. I had no idea who you were last night. If I did, I wouldn’t have-”
“Railed me in my hotel room like there was no tomorrow?” I spat out.
“Well, that’s certainly one way of putting it,” he said, frowning. “Honestly, I didn’t even know I had an interview this morning until I got back to my room. I didn’t have my phone with me all day.”
True. I gave him my number this morning, because he didn’t have his phone on him. One of the shortcomings of tight leather pants is that there’s not much room for anything, let alone a smartphone, I supposed.
He put his hands in his pockets, grimacing. “If you want, my assistant can tell you-”
“It’s fine. I believe you,” I said, flatly. “There’s no way you made my boot heel break or twisted my ankle. I could have left you in the elevator or at the door. I initiated it, not you. You were-”
I grimaced. I hated to say it. But even today when I panicked on stage, he showed me who he was. Somewhat. “-a gentleman.”
The expression on his face was somewhere between confused and disappointed. “But you’re still angry with me.”
“What I’m angry with is that every time I think I’m going to see a decent rendition of the books I love, something comes around to fuck it up,” I said sharply. Sharp enough that he took a small step back from me.
I stood up, jabbing him in the chest with my index finger.
“Oh, sure. You’ve got the look down. You can say the words, but you don’t know.
You have no respect for the source and lore of this show, which millions of people have read and loved.
You’re just playing games. You might as well have no soul. ”
He stepped back further, his eyes blinking rapidly and his mouth hanging open. “Well, you see I-”
Somebody cleared their throat. We both turned our heads to see the blonde woman glaring at Daniel. He immediately deflated.
“I fucked up,” he admitted quickly. “Honestly, I fucked up, and I know you feel let down, but there’s others I care about who will probably murder me in my sleep, because I didn’t do what I was told.”
“That would be me,” the woman added. “I’m the one who’s going to kill him.”
He winced. “Paige-”
She didn’t let him finish and punched him in the shoulder. “You had a lesson plan. Did you do it?” She punched him in the shoulder again. “No. You had my notes. Did you read them?” She walloped him again on the shoulder. “No!”
Each time she hit him, Daniel would wince. He did nothing to stop her, he just took it. And she was not holding back.
I felt a lot of kinship with this woman. “I’m sorry, but I would really love to know who you are.”
Daniel tried to be polite as he rubbed his shoulder. “Jessica, this is my assistant, Paige.”
“I’m also his sister,” she said, shaking my hand. “And the one pounding the daylights out of him later. You want a video of that?”
“I’d love it.” I couldn’t help but smile at her.
“Are you two done planning my imminent demise?” he demanded.
“No!” we said simultaneously. He took another step back from us.
He held up his hands in a conciliatory manner. “If I may, there's one thing I want to address. It’s the pictures of us.”
I pursed my lips in irritation. “So, you did get pictures of me.”
“And video of you on the floor,” Paige added. “However, those will never be shared with anyone. Danny laid down the law last night when he came back from your room.”
Something snapped inside of me. “You told her?”
“Oh, sweetheart, he can’t hide anything from me,” she said with a smirk, which partially mollified me.
“Hide anything from whom?”
I turned to see Brayonna and Bennet coming up to check on me. I groaned inwardly. As much as I loved them, this was not the place for a reunion.
“Brayonna Risengard! I thought I saw you in the front row!”
I glared at Daniel for being so polite to my friend. How dare he?
The greeting instantly disarmed Bray, but her voice held no warmth. “Daniel. I’m surprised you remember me.”
“Gina talks about you and that campaign you did with her all the time. You should call her! She’d love a chance to play with you again.
I watched all the episodes, and they were fantastic!
” He then turned to Bennet. “And you’re Bennet!
A pleasure to meet you. After we were done watching Debutantes and Dungeons, we watched Adventure High School on Megaverse20. That was brilliant!”
Bennet blinked in astonishment. “Oh. Thank you!”
“What brings you back here?” he asked.
“I came back here to support Jessica,” Bray said, leveling a glare at Daniel.
Daniel’s face fell, his smile evaporating. “Oh.”
An awkward silence fell over the backstage area, broken eventually by Bennet.
“Well. I have no idea what’s going on,” he declared, forcing a grin. “But a handsome man gave me a compliment, and I’m calling that a win.”
“I’ll tell you later,” Bray said quietly. “Just know we’re Team Jessica.”
“Got it. I’m on board,” Bennet said, nodding solemnly and dropping his voice lower. “Does anyone on Team Jessica want a turkey leg?”
Bray scowled. “Read the room, Bennet.”
“Actually, I think I’m done here,” I declared, grabbing my bag. “Let’s go, Bennet. I’m taking you up on that offer.”
“See? Turkey leg fixes everything,” Bennet said, cheerfully.
“I should have never doubted you,” Bray agreed, giving Daniel a sneer before she followed Bennet out of the room.
I turned to give Daniel one final glare. “Daniel? One more thing. My number? Burn it.”
I spun on my heel and marched out of the room.
It was a very satisfying exit.