8. Danny #3
I held her hand all the way back to the hotel until we arrived at her floor. When the elevator door opened, she kissed me on the cheek again. As she walked away, she flashed that crooked grin at me. All the while Sebastian’s words echoed in my head.
Tell her, you idiot.
I was so lost in my thoughts I missed my floor and had to go to the top of the building before I could get back down.
Walking to my door, I got two more texts. The first was from Jess.
Thank you again! xoxo
The other text puzzled me a little. It was from Alfie, my favorite director at Minutes and the one directing my fan trailer.
Looking forward to tomorrow night buddy! You’re going to be fantastic! No hard feelings about Paige?
I opened the door to our suite to hear Faye and Paige bickering with each other.
“Mom!” Faye stood in front of the couch, pouting at Paige with her arms crossed.
Paige didn’t even pull her attention away from her phone, tapping away, her thumbs going a mile a minute. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Nothing is going to happen!” Faye pleaded.
“Nothing is going to happen, because I said no,” Paige said in a flat tone, not even looking up from her phone.
Faye let out a huff. “I know these people! I may never get the chance to meet them again.”
Paige shook her head. “You don’t know who these people are from the internet. They’re probably all guys with gross beards pretending to be teenage girls.”
I shut the door, and they both turned to look at me.
Paige pulled her attention away from her phone and smiled. “Hey! How did it go with Sebastian and Jessica?”
“Uh. Fine. Why is Alfie texting me about you and saying no hard feelings?”
Faye and Paige froze in place, their eyes wide in shock.
“This can’t be good.” I took a seat on the chair opposite them, a knot forming in my stomach.
Paige threw her phone on the couch. “Shit.”
“Tell him,” Faye whispered.
“You tell him,” Paige whispered back.
“He’s your brother.”
“Yeah, but he likes you!”
I let out a sharp whistle, and their faces snapped back to look at me. “What’s going on?” I demanded.
Paige sighed. “He wasn’t supposed to say anything until he filmed the trailer. Dumbass,” she grumbled.
I started to clench my fist, my impatience getting the better of me. “Say anything about what?”
Faye rolled her eyes, already fed up. “Mom got a new job. She’s going to work for Alfie as a producer.”
It felt like a gut punch. I couldn’t move. My brain felt numb, and Paige was unnaturally quiet, not able to meet my gaze.
Faye observed the back and forth between us and sighed. “Alfie is executive producing a new series for Primary at the end of the season. He’s been trying to recruit Mom for months.”
Paige looked away from me, her chin dropping to her chest.
I took a deep breath as it all sank in. As the shock wore off, a surge of pride replaced the anxiety, and a smile came over my face. “This is amazing.”
Paige spun back towards me, her jaw falling open. “What?”
I got up and pulled her into a hug. “It’s amazing!” I shouted. “You’re made for this!”
Paige pushed me away, her hands trembling. “I’m not taking it. I’ll call him and tell him no.”
“Oh, no you will not!”
“I am,” she said, reaching for her phone.
I dove past her and grabbed it before she could, holding it out of reach. My height was the only advantage I’ve had in the history of our brother-sister relationship.
Paige shoved me, trying to pull my arm down. “Give me my phone so I can quit the job I don’t have!”
“You can’t quit the job you don’t have because I’ll fire you if you don’t take it!”
She punched me in the shoulder. Hard. “Give me my phone!”
I smacked her shoulder. Much lighter than she hit me. “No!”
She pulled back in shock, holding her shoulder. “You hit me!”
“Yes! I’m smacking some sense into you!” I shouted.
“You don’t hit me! I hit you!” she shouted back. “This is how our relationship works!”
“Well, you’re being an idiot!” I informed her. Loudly.
“You’re the idiot!” she snapped back.
Faye glared at both of us. “Am I the only adult here?”
That seemed to knock some sense into Paige. She stopped shouting and covered her mouth with her hands. “I- I don’t know. I shouldn’t take the job. You need me.”
I shook my head, setting my jaw in determination. “Absolutely not. I’ll be fine. You’ve been my assistant for thirteen years. You deserve better.”
“You can’t even find your shoes without me,” Paige argued. “I have to bring extra pairs of socks for you whenever we travel because you’re an idiot.”
“You can’t take care of me forever. This is an amazing opportunity. I won’t allow you to pass this up.”
Paige let out a long sigh of frustration. “I don’t know… with the thing going on at the end of the season and-”
I put my hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You’re going to be great. You have to do this.”
She paused, trying to speak. Her eyes were red, and she sniffled. “Yeah?”
“Absolutely. I’m so proud of you.”
Faye smiled. Something I hadn’t seen in a long time. “Mom told Alfie she wouldn’t do it unless he filmed your fan trailer.”
My stomach dropped, and my jaw went slack. “Really?”
Paige winced. “Oh, God. Don’t get mushy on me.”
“Shut up. I’m hugging you,” She resisted at first, but relented. I laid her head on my shoulder. I motioned to Faye. “You too. Get in here.”
Faye grunted, but didn’t seem to mind when she slipped into our group hug.
“You know I love you both, right?” I said, knowing what their reactions would be and not caring.
Faye groaned and tried to pull away. “Ugh. Gross.”
“Don’t make it weird, Danny,” Paige said, trying to pull out of my arms, “you know I’m not a hugger.”
I held both of them firmly in my arms, not letting them go. “Say it. You know you want to.”
“Nope.” Faye squirmed and broke away.
“Moment’s over.” Paige pulled out of my grip, but only took a few steps before turning back to face me. “Are you sure?”
I beamed at her. “It’s fantastic! You can’t pass this up. Besides, we’ll see each other all the time.”
Paige’s gaze dropped to the floor.
“What?”
Paige said nothing, and I realized there had to be more to the story. Once again, Faye broke the silence.
“It’s in Toronto.”
My heart sank. Toronto? I tried to keep a smile on my face. “Oh. Well. That’s not too far away.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “It’s in another country and on the opposite side of the continent! You’re thinking of Vancouver!”
I refused to budge on this position. “It’s just a hop on a plane. You’re doing this.”
For the first time in years, I watched my sister burst into tears. And then she willingly hugged me. I put my arms around her and rocked back and forth.
“Don’t get mushy on me,” I whispered to her.
She punched me in the shoulder. But she didn’t put any strength into it this time. “Shut up.”
I eventually made my way back to my room, claiming I needed to keep reading. At least I tried to . I kept going over the same sentence again and again.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Faye and Paige. I had seen Faye every day of her life since she was one year old. And at the end of the season, she would be gone.
Paige was moving on. After thirteen years, she deserved it. I couldn’t deny that, but I had taken it for granted that she would at least be close by.
I closed the book, and my thoughts spiraled. I went after the role of Tyrst’an because of Faye and her love for the series. I thought this would be an experience we would share together. If she wasn’t a part of this, what was I even doing it for?
“Hey.”
Paige stood in the doorway, holding an envelope. “With all the dramatic reveals when you got back, I forgot about this.” She tossed the envelope in my lap.
I opened it and found a ticket to a small theater not far from the convention center for this evening. “What’s this?”
“Tickets to an event tonight. That Brayonna girl reached out to Stella. She thought it would be good for you to spend time out there with the nerds, rubbing elbows,” Paige explained.
“It’s a Dungeons and Dragons thing. You should go and stop pretending the whole Toronto thing isn’t messing with your head. ”
“That obvious?” I said, exhaling hard.
Paige ran her hands through her hair and grimaced. “I love you, Danny. I-”
She stopped, clenched her fist and knocked it against the door frame. I hadn’t heard her say that to me in years, and I could see how awkward it made her feel.
“I know Paige. I love you too,” I said, enjoying her discomfort. “Sorry, I had to make you say that out loud.”
The tension left her shoulders, and she pulled herself upright. She flipped me off with a smirk before marching away. I returned to my reading.