Marley fell asleep almost immediately, and had easily the best night’s sleep since her surgery.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Nikhil
Nikhil was sweaty and completely out of breath on Tuesday after rehearsal. Every muscle in his body was hurting. If this pain was anywhere close to what Marley was dealing with, he totally understood why she kept erupting into tears since her surgery.
Reggie and Caroline had increased his training yet again. And they’d had the dietician come see him in the gym today. He was now officially only allowed to eat what she told him to eat. No more takeout with Marley. No more of his own cooking. He hadn’t even had the chance to make Marley daal makhani yet.
This was the price he had to pay for the role, he supposed. He was still in the gym changing when his phone buzzed with a call—Lydia. He braced himself before answering—he was totally not in the mood for her.
“Meeting at the studio in ten. Kaelyn’s office” was all she said when he answered.
“Ten minutes?”
“That’s what I said.”
“How do you even know I can make it to the studio in ten? I could be across town. Or at home.”
He could get to the studio in ten minutes from Marley’s place—if traffic was accommodating. But Lydia thought he lived in Markham with his parents, not in the spare room of the stylist she’d hired for him.
“Seriously, Nik, I know where you areall the time. You just finished up training with Reggie, so you should be at the gym either toweling off, or maybe even blow-drying those shiny locks of yours. The gym is literally across the street from the studio—you could be here in three minutes if you wanted to. Giving you ten is being generous. Now, put some pants on and get here.” She disconnected the call.
Nikhil looked down at his bare legs and sighed. If Lydia’s purpose was to prevent actors from getting a big head, she wasexcellentat her job.
In eight and a half minutes, Nikhil was walking into Kaelyn’s office. Lydia; the other publicist, Carmen; and an executive were there.
“Nice, Nik,” Lydia said, looking at her watch. “Sit.” She pointed to the empty seat next to hers. She was smiling, weirdly.
Kaelyn was also smiling. Did that mean he wasn’t in trouble? “We wanted to all talk together about what you can expect when you’re in LA next week. We need to do some more publicity damage control.”
More damage control? He’d thought things were better since that lip-licking video. He was being called a sex symbol and style icon now, wasn’t he? “I think I need to get my agent on the phone.”
Lydia looked a little irritated for a split second, then dialed a number on the phone on the desk. Esther answered it. “Esther, Lydia here. You’re on speakerphone. I’m with Nik, along with Kaelyn, Carmen, and Harlan Green.”
“Nicky, darling,” Esther drawled. “How’s my superstar doing?”
“Great,” Nikhil said. Even though he wasn’t. “Not sure why they called me to the principal’s office, though.”
“Let’s cut to the chase,” Harlan said. “We have concerns about Nik’s reputation.”
Nikhil frowned. “I thought fans liked me now.”
Harlan nodded. “There is a definite contingent of fans who love you. More than we expected, actually. But at the same time, your detractors are becoming more vocal that you are nottheirSimon DeSouza. Maybe because your fans are so outspoken. You must have seen it on social media.”
“I’ve been ordered to stay off social media,” Nikhil said.
“I monitor the accounts for him,” Lydia said. She looked at Nikhil. “TL;DR, your haters hate that you have so many lovers.”
“And that’s why you’re sending him to Los Angeles,” Esther said through the phone. “We’ve discussed this to death.”
Harlan nodded. “Yes, but the executive team in LA are breathing down our necks to do evenmoreto fix this publicity problem. All they’re seeing is that damn hashtag to boycottIronis 3.”
Nikhil cringed. He had no idea there was a hashtag.
“The studio promised it would not cave to racist pressure,” Esther said.
Carmen shook her head. “It’s notracism. It’s because Nik is an outsider and doesn’t have the right personality for the role. There is even a whole campaign to get him replaced with Riz Ahmed.”
