Chapter 28
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
I get back to the Excelsior booth and within moments I’m confronted by Hank.
“Jesse!” Hank sounds slightly stern as he gently takes my arm. “We’re heading over now, Arran is meeting us at the panel room. Walk with me.”
Before I can make any kind of response, I’m forced into step with Hank, our pace putting us slightly ahead of everyone else walking over from the booth. I look over my shoulder to see Anna watching us, even as she talks with Rebecca Foreman, one of the book’s artists.
“Look, Jesse, I’ve tried beating around the bush, but I think it’s time I take a more upfront approach with you,” Hank says, looking straight ahead.
I swallow back any incredulous remarks about his ‘beating around the bush’, and just nod.
“I want you, Jesse. I think you’re an attractive guy, and I think you’re talented, and you’ve proven yourself very resourceful. I respect that. I respect you. But I’m too old for games, so I’m just saying, last chance.
“I’ll be in my hotel room at the Roxy by 10pm tonight. I want you to come around. With a pitch, if you have one, and we can talk about that first. But I hope we can do more than that too. I hope I can help you, as a writer and as a man.”
My insides cringe at how incredibly bad at this he is. Is this his idea of flirting? I start thinking on what Anna told me, and wonder how many young guys in this industry he’s done this with, and how many took him up on his offer. I wonder if any of them are still in the industry now.
But then, I also wonder where it could lead. As much as this way gives me the ick, it could be what gets me through the door. And once I’m in, maybe I can help Cal, like I did Arran. And for an older man, bad, morally bankrupt ‘flirting’ aside, Hank isn’t unattractive. I’ve gone further with other guys for less.
As dirty as it makes me feel inside, with any prospects with Cal out the window, I can’t help but think maybe…
“I’ll be there,” I say, and we walk the rest of the way in silence.
Behind a curtain that acts as a makeshift ‘backstage’ next to a small stage in the panel room, Arran greets me with a smile and a wave, his other hand holding a bottle of water. He throws his arms around me in a big hug.
“Jesse! Thanks so much for arranging that signing the other day! It went so well, I really am gobsmacked, I didn’t expect to have so many people turn up for me here in New York,” Arran laughs as he pulls back out of the hug.
“I’m glad to hear it,” I smile back. “You been enjoying the show so far? This is your first NYCC, right?”
“Yup. And I’m fuckin’ lovin’ it, butt!” Arran’s accent gets thicker towards the end of the sentence, and I inwardly squee at how adorable it is. Then he leans in like a school kid with a secret. “And how did it go with Callum, then?”
“Uh, it went. I…I don’t think it’s going to happen for us. I’ll tell you about it after the panel if you want.”
He looks at me with a frown, and nods.
“Well, look at you, thick as thieves,” Hank booms, as he marches over and takes Arran’s hand in his, jostling his arm in a strong shake. Arran looks off-balance, but there’s also a flash of wariness, and I wonder briefly what that’s about.
Hank explains how the panel will go: he’ll head up and introduce a few already announced projects and show stills on the slideshow, and then he’ll announce Excelsior Pride and bring Arran, Rebecca, Anna and Brian Forsythe, one of the other writers, up on stage to talk about the project. “Jesse, you’ll stay back here, and watch from the sidelines. Make sure everyone has a water and anything else they need before I call them up, then once everyone is on stage, monitor social media and share every post you find popping up about the book. Winona here is in the official accounts for Excelsior’s socials, so she’ll blast the official posts out, you back her up. The press team will have locked in an email blast to all our affiliate news partners for the end of the panel, but many of them will be in the audience live posting about it. So keep an eye on all of them.”
“Yes, Hank,” I nod, resisting the urge to salute.
With that, he takes a slight look between the curtains out at the audience. “Okay, it’s pretty much full out there. They just closed the door…okay, show time!” He marches up the steps and onto the stage, making his way over to the dais.
As we relax on a couch in our ‘backstage’, I pass out bottled water to anyone who hasn’t yet got one, and pull out my phone and load up my socials. I set some quick alerts for certain key phrases and hashtags and wait for the news to hit.
I sit next to Arran, my leg bouncing furiously. I chew on my lip so hard, I start to taste iron. Then Arran puts his hand on my knee, and he silently motions for me to breathe. I inhale, as he lifts his hands and counts off his fingers on one hand, then he motions for me to exhale, counting off on the other. He holds his thumb up and I nod, squeezing his knee back in thanks.
“…which brings me to the next announcement. This is something that Excelsior Comics is proud to finally bring out, something we should have done ages ago. We like to think of ourselves at the forefront of progress in the world of superhero comics, but we dropped the ball a little on this one. Well, it is my pleasure to say that we have picked it up and are running with it now, and we’re going to make a touchdown unlike any that the other publishers have managed yet. So, with no further ado, I bring up Brian Forsythe, Rebecca Foreman, sub-editor Anna Milton and our latest hire, Arran Wilson to announce… EXCELSIOR PRIDE !”
The room bursts into applause and some yells and hollers, as the creatives head out onto the stage.
I sneak a look through the curtain, and am amazed at what I see. I notice several people dotted throughout the crowd taking photos on their cellphones, or typing furiously onto laptops and tablets balanced precariously on their knees. A bunch of cosplayers, pretty much all in Excelsior character costumes have thrown their hands in the air or are clapping. I see one girl dressed as Firebrand with hands clasped around her mouth and actually crying. All are transfixed on the stage, and the screen behind, showing some of the covers we’re using for Excelsior Pride .
Turning back to my phone, I start looking for socials posts and start sharing and retweeting and reposting every single one I come across. There’s so many fans raving about how excited they are to see Excelsior Comics finally celebrating some of their small stable of queer characters and the queer creators. Quite a few are excited to hear about Arran’s debut with Excelsior and the form it’s taking.
The last half of the panel seems to rush by, and before I know it, I hear Hank declare a Q&A session to wrap things up. After a few perfunctory questions (far too many of which are about the Excelsior Cinematic Universe, no matter how many times they’re told Excelsior Comics knows nothing about future plans for the studio), Hank wraps it up. I wait for Arran to come down, but before he can meet me, he’s whisked up by Hank and guided out through the back exit opened to us by the convention staff. I follow behind, I guess I’ll have to catch up with Arran another time.
Anna sidles up next to me. “Everything okay with you, Jesse?” She asks me, but she doesn’t take her eyes off the back of Hank’s head.
I look from where she’s looking and back to her. “Everything’s fine, Anna. Seriously. I have it under control.”
I speed up my pace before she can follow up, and decide to break off from the group. I’m feeling exhausted. I’m not needed for the rest of the day, so I figure I’ll go back to Artists Alley and help out for a bit. What I really want is some sleep, the lack of it from the night before finally catching up to me, but I decide to stop off at one of the newsstands in the Javits concourse and grab an energy drink. Caffeine will keep me going, at least until I can catch up with Cal.
Back at the table, I fill Cal in on the panel and how well it seemed to be received. He fills me in on how the day’s gone at the table, and we fall into our usual routine.
It’s nice to get back to this. I start to feel better about deciding not to risk our friendship and changing anything between us, even though it feels like bandaids holding my heart together. But it’s for the best, I guess.
“Jesse wrote all the heartfelt, emotional melodrama, and the romance,” Cal says to a cosplayer dressed as a chunky dwarf and holding an oversized French baguette.
“And Cal wrote all the weird, gross body horror. What more could you want! Love, death and reanimated flower corpses!” I laugh as I finish off Cal’s set up. There, back as it should be.
It’s two hours before the end of the day, but I find myself struggling and failing to stifle a yawn.
“You good?”
“Yeah, just tired,” I say through cotton mouth.
“Head home, get some sleep. There’s another two days of this, and you’ve earned a little rest,” Cal pushes me off my chair, and I stumble to my feet.
“Are you guys sure?”
“It is okay, Jesse,” Manny pipes up. “Get some sleep, we will be here in the morning. The crowds will still be here too.”
“And there’ll be a lot more of them tomorrow too, so get that rest.
I yawn again, stretching the small of my back out.
“Well, if you’re sure. I’ll catch you later, guys,” I give Cal a quick hug and shake Manny’s hand, and then head out of the convention.
He’s right. I should get some sleep. I’ve earned it.