AJ couldn’t believe how rude they were being. She was a staff writer forSNLfor fuck’s sake.
But as they resumed speaking over her head, it began to sink in. Her accomplishments didn’t matter. To Em, she would always be a depthless twenty-four-year-old girl. A pawn.
And to Ian, she was just a show pony. He’d been willing to champion her so long as she made him look good. But the second she stopped jumping through hoops, he’d cut her loose.
By the time a staff member came to line them up, AJ felt about as valuable as a pressed penny.
“I’m sorry about that,” said Noah quietly as they stood together offstage.
“Don’t be,” said AJ. She forced a smile when she saw the concern in his eyes. “I’m just sad I didn’t get to pitch you my diabolical Hess Truck movie.”
As Noah laughed, the room beyond erupted in welcome.
Ballroom 20 at the San Diego Convention Center was ten times the size of their venue at Florida Supercon. And Mike had been wrong. This place was packed with Blue Coat blue.
From the stage, AJ spotted Otto’s bald head a few rows back and assumed that Oona was wedged in beside him. Today, their sign readYou Have No Idea What’s Possible. Two rows behind them, Mike gave AJ a double thumbs-up.
She waved as she took her seat beside Noah at a long table dotted with mics.
Their moderator today wasVicejournalist Geoff Chandler, a tall hipster who was deeply in Em’s thrall. His long introduction lauded not onlyInto The Bluebut the whole Tyner-verse. From there, his questions were a vehicle for his own pretentious, worshipful commentary.
“For those of us who know your full oeuvre, Em, Rho falls somewhere between the loveable-but-sophomoric Baron onHaunted Highand James Dean–esque Dante inNinth Circleon the antihero scale—how intentional was that?”
His questions about the female characters were misogyny masquerading as cultural critique.
To Toni: “Zora and Navi were the original space dykes—it’s all good, guys, my sister’s gay. Level with me—was there a real attraction or were you two just doing it for the attention?”
To Dave: “You can’t tell me there was nothing going on with Pete and Navi. I mean, he’s basically her gynecologist. He must have looked under that body armor during routine maintenance…or is Pete not an advocate for women’s health?”
Then Geoff turned to AJ. “So. You write forSNL.”
No name. No apparent question attached. Just a fact he felt she should explain to him.
“Yes,” said AJ, her voice unnaturally high. Beside her, Noah tensed.
Geoff was eyeing her now, sizing up his prey. AJ didn’t need to look at Toni to know she was cringing; being a woman in comedy had a way of triggering fragile male egos.
AJ’s heart was racing when Geoff finally said, “I wanted to ask you about ‘No.’ ”
The sound in the room rocketed to a fever pitch. Blood rushed to AJ’s cheeks, her mind suddenly gluey.Holy shit.He didn’t think she deserved her job, and to show it, he was going to put her on trial for “No” in front of five thousand people. Including her little brother.
Geoff Chandler could scent her fear. His eyes glinted as he said, “It’s such a strange moment.”
So many eyes.AJ cleared her throat, attempting to shrug it off. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
Another whoop from the crowd.
“What was going through your head?” asked Geoff with fake interest. “Forgive me for saying this, but it’s so out of left field—the show is so cerebral, and that shot is just so…base.”
AJ blinked.
She had heard him word for word, but all she could think was,You do paint quite a picture.
And she was tired. She was tired of feeling judged. She was tired of judging herself.
Noah was sitting forward now. He was going to tell Geoff Chandler to fuck off.
To AJ’s surprise, Ian also looked like he was about to interject.
