“Sure,” I reply.
She nods and leads the way. I can tell she has somewhere in mind. Probably somewhere new and trendy. With outdoor seating or a window table, so any passing paparazzi can see us. Letting her lead is a good idea, she is great at this. She’s been in the game longer, so it makes sense to learn all I can.
A short time later, and I am indeed, sitting outside a trendy restaurant. The tables are arranged on a raised wooden deck and there is an overabundance of potted bamboo. How the paparazzi are supposed to get a good shot through all the foliage, I have no idea. But Liliah seems happy enough.
We both order a salad and more iced coffee. It’s nice to sit down and enjoy the atmosphere. Liliah is chatting away about something but I’m not really paying attention. Though I do watch her fondly. She is animated when she talks. She’s also a good-looking woman. I like watching her.
The feel of the sun on my skin is pleasant. Between my sunglasses and the dappled shade from the bamboo, it’s not too bright or hot. Life is good. I don’t need Mackenzie Jones to be happy.
“Oh, my god! It’s Abe!” shrieks someone.
There is just enough time for Liliah to grin at me before I’m surrounded by teenage girls with their phones out.
“Hi,” I say in my Abe voice. It’s clear these girls want to meet the character, not me. I don’t mind at all.
They swarm over me and jostle into position for selfies. I smile at the phones, making sure my chin is at the right angle. All the training my publicist gave me comes flooding back, and I lean in close enough to the fans so I don’t look standoffish, but not so close that I look pervy. I concentrate carefully on my hands. Backs are the safe zone, but I need to be careful to not slip around so it looks like I’m copping a feel of side boob.
It’s stressful, but more than worth it. My ego feeds off the attention and right now, it’s thriving. I can’t fathom ever getting tired of this.
“Why aren’t you with Cain?” demands one of the girls. She casts a glance at Liliah that looks positively murderous.
“He’s got stuff to do right now,” I start, but they all begin to frown. “But I’m meeting him later,” I finish.
The girls grin and a couple even squeal in happy delight. It was a good save. Even though we are enemies in the show, they clearly want us to be hanging out together. ‘You and me both, girls,’ whispers some sardonic part of myself before I crush it down. What a ridiculous thought. We can’t stand each other. Hanging out would be awful.
“Hedgehog sixty-nine is going to go nuts!” exclaims one of the fans.
I stare at her blankly. She sees my look and takes pity on me.
“She is the writer of your most popular fanfic.”
Fanfic? There is fanfic about the show? That’s incredible and a brilliant sign that it is doing well. I’ve never been in anything that had fanfic written about it before. I’m ridiculously pleased. It’s got to help the chances of getting renewed for season two.
I give the girls my best smirk, “Give Hedgehog Sixty-nine my love,” I drawl as if I’m intimate with what she has written. It’s only a little white lie. By tonight I will be. My fingers are itching right now to whip my phone out and look it up.
The fans scurry off and the sudden silence feels strange. Liliah grins at me again. Her dark eyes sparkling. She looks genuinely pleased for me.
I tuck into my salad and try to act all cool. If this is a glimpse of my future life, I can’t wait for it to start. Adoring fans every day would be a dream come true. I’m just spinning off into a full day-dreaming fantasy when my thoughts are brought to the here and now by someone approaching our table.
A shy middle-aged man comes up to Liliah and asks for her autograph and it’s my turn to grin in encouragement. She deserves to get some attention too.
After lunch, we do some more shopping. Finally, the paparazzi find us and we laugh and look adoringly at each other, while making sure the bags from the most expensive designer shops are clearly visible. It’s a great day.
In the end, I wait until nighttime and for Liliah to go to bed before I check out the fanfic. Closing the door to my study, I take a deep breath and turn on the computer. As soon as I pull up AO3, happy memories from my teenage days come flooding back. It is quite possible that my obsession back then helped fuel my desire to become an actor. I’m only slightly embarrassed. Anything that provides motivation and inspiration, is good in my opinion.
I search for ‘Mancer’, the name of our show. The number of results that come up has me blinking at the screen. Then, with a shaking hand, I click on the first one. The words flow off the screen and into my mind. I swallow dryly. A few paragraphs in and the spice level is already off the chart. Cain and Abe have wasted absolutely no time in getting down and dirty in their illicit encounter.
Clicking away before I get too sucked in, I try another one. It’s also incredibly spicy and also between Cain and Abe.
In the end I skim read through hundreds of fics. Whether it was caused by my half joking suggestion at the read-through or entirely the fans’ own dirty minds, I have no idea. But our characters have been firmly and vehemently shipped.
Mackenzie’s brilliant acting and my own helpless infatuation must have helped fuel this fire, but it’s kindled a beast that has grown to epic proportions. If AO3 can be trusted as a barometer of fan reactions. Which it usually can be.
It’s hard to understand why the director never called us out on what we were doing. Nobody ever told us to play them that way or to look at each other like that. Did it go over everyone’s head? Did they like it and decide to roll with it? I’m not brave enough to confess and ask, so I guess I’ll never know. But they are going to be thrilled with the results. Hollywood loves success. In whatever form it takes.
Idly, I click on one more story. The writing style of this one really pulls me in. Then my eyes nearly bug out as the characters stop filming and Kit and Mackenzie hurry back to Kit’s trailer. They’ve got fifteen minutes before the next shoot and Mackenzie has bet Kit that he can make him come twice in that time.
As I eagerly absorb every glorious intimate detail of the fantasy, my cock gets hard. Achingly hard. I try to ignore it but I’m only human. Mackenzie wraps his lips around Kit’s cock and I’ve never wished for anything to be true so hard in my life. Almost unbidden, my right hand frees my cock. Before I have really decided to, I’m stroking myself as I’m reading and visualizing the story.
