“Nikhil, are you seriouslylivingwith Mom and Dad now?”
Fuck. His brother. How did he get Nikhil’s new phone number?
“Arjun. Where are you calling from?”
“I have a phone now. I found a guy to come look at the basement tomorrow. Can you clear it out?”
“Look at it? Why?”
“To renovate! Do you know how much Toronto rent is bringing in these days? My guy said—”
“Arjun, I’m literally living in the basement.” Plus, the last thing his mother needed was contractors and chaos in the house. Not to mention, who was this “guy,” and where did Arjun find him? As if Arjun hadn’t done enough damage to the family.
“I thought you were some big shot—why are you living in the basement?” Arjun asked.
Arjun shouldn’t be the one talking about less desirable living situations. “It’s temporary. Mom and Dad refinanced the house once because of you. Leave them and their house alone.”
“I’m trying to get that money back for them! I can act as a real estate broker from here. My guy said we’re sitting on a cash cow.”
Nikhil’s hand fisted. “Money for them… or for you?”
“Look, little brother, not everyone can hit the lottery like you. Maybe you should be thinking about how to support yourself after you’re washed up. When you peak at your age, you only fall faster. You’ll be a has-been in two years.”
“You should talk aboutfalling, Arjun. At least I make an honest living.”
Arjun snorted. “Honest? Your job ispretendingto be someone else. If you’re not pretending, you’re nothing. Who’d you blow to get that role, anyway,Nik?”
The door opened and Lydia came into the dressing room, pointing at her watch. Nikhil nodded at her.
“Go to hell,” Nikhil said. “And don’t you dare call Mom and Dad about this. Cancel your guy.” He disconnected the call.
Nikhil looked at Lydia, his heart pounding heavily in his ears. “Sorry. Family drama. Hey, can you get me a new phone number?”
Lydia almost looked like she had a drop of compassion on her face. It could be irritation, though. “Yeah, later. Jason will be done with his intro soon. I’m expecting the signal to get you out there any moment now.”
Nikhil nodded. Jason Bruzas was the director/screenwriter of the film, and he was currently on the stage telling the roomful of fans about his exhaustive search for the perfect Simon DeSouza.
Lydia’s text tone buzzed seconds later. “Okay. You’re on.”
They’d done dress rehearsals. He knew where to go. What to say. Nikhil took a deep breath and headed through the door and down the narrow hallway to the back of the stage.
The auditorium was simple. Just a black stage with a large screen. Jason and Sasha Keller, one of the producers, stood in the middle of the stage. All Nikhil had to do was walk toward them. The crowd was cheering. At least that sounded like cheering. It was noise. Nikhil’s headshot was projected on the screen behind him. Not his regular headshot, but a new Ironis one they took a few days ago that looked like the rest of the Ironis cast pictures. When he got to the middle of the stage, he shook Jason’s and Sasha’s hands and looked into the crowd smiling. At least he hoped he was smiling. He couldn’t feel his face right now. All his senses seemed blurred.
“Nik Sharma!” Jason said, holding up Nikhil’s arm. The stage lights were too bright to see anyone. Did he hear booing? Maybe Arjun was wrong. Maybe he wasalreadya has-been.
“Happy to be here!” Nikhil said.
“Wait until you see this one in the Bronze Shadow costume!” Sasha said, squeezing Nikhil’s arm.
There may have been whistling then. Definitely clapping. Maybe still booing. Nikhil was sweating and felt lightheaded.He inhaled deeply. He wasn’t going to pass out. He’d been on the sets of plenty of TV shows and even a few movies, albeit not ones anyone watched. He wasn’t going to get stage fright now.
He had to pull through. Because if he screwed this up, he could kiss his entire career goodbye. He’d be a has-been before ever being an anything. Arjun would be thrilled.
“Tell me, Nik,” Jason asked. “How did it feel when you got the call that you were going to be the Bronze Shadow?”
“Oh. It was great.” He wasn’t supposed to say that. He was supposed to go on about how unexpected it was.
“This is a big change from sitcoms and stand-up, isn’t it?” Sasha asked.
