Without his work, without his reputation, he’d be nothing. Have nothing. Again.
A smart, uber-competent woman like April wouldn’t want him then anyway.
“Yeah. I hear what you’re saying.” His eyes stung, and he closed them for a moment. “Thanks.”
“Look...” Something rustled down the line. Alex, shifting. “I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, if you decided,Fuck it, I want her more than my career, and told her everything, I’d have your back. You know that.”
Marcus huffed out a breath, unwillingly amused. “It’s the sort of shit you would do.”
“It’s one hundred percent something I would do. Probably on live television, followed by an impromptu reading of the filthiest, most show-averse story I’d ever written.” Alex’s laugh was short-lived. Tinged with bitterness. “There’s a reason Ron and R.J. gave me a fucking nanny. But you’re not me, and I’m trying to help you make better decisions than I usually do.”
After his recent arrest at a bar fight, the showrunners had saddled Alex with a paid minder to keep him out of trouble. A woman related to Ron somehow, which didn’t bode well.
“Speaking of which, how’s it going with”—what was her name?—“Laurel? Laura?”
Withthatsigh, Alex could have singlehandedly powered awind farm. “Lauren. My implacable, humorless, improbably short, annoying-as-fuck albatross.”
Marcus kept his voice dry as the desert they’d shot in during the third season ofGates. “It’s going well, then.”
“It’s going. She’s not.” Aggrievement saturated every syllable of every word. “Apparently, she’ll be accompanying me to all public outings until the last season finishes airing. Even though I promised not to drink again. Or end up in another bar brawl, unless absolutely necessary.”
At that addendum, Marcus massaged his temples. “As I pointed out to Ron, she couldn’t actually stop me from brawling unless she was standing on a stepstool of some sort,” Alex said. “Although she’s stronger than you’d think. Maybe she’d just tackle me at the knees and sit on me until I sobered up.”
There was a certain grim relish in Alex’s phrasing, which raised the question: Under what precise circumstances had he discovered Lauren’s strength?
“She’s going to hate all the premieres and awards shows,” his friend crowed. “Haaaaate. I can’t wait.”
With all the evil glee in his tone, Alex might as well have been stroking a hairless Chihuahua and plotting the eruption of a henchman-created supervolcano from his secret lair.
Marcus winced. Better not to think about that ill-fated role inMagma!: The Musical. He could only hope April never learned of its existence, because the science behind the entire—
No. It didn’t matter what April thought anymore, because they wouldn’t be communicating, either in person or online. After this one last time, tonight.
He knew what he needed to do now.
“I’m glad you’re getting some pleasure, however perverse, outof the arrangement. Be nice to Lauren, though. It’s not her fault she got assigned to keep you sober and peaceable.” A quick glance at his laptop revealed a screenful of responses to April’s posts, with more appearing every few seconds. “I’d better go now, but thank you for listening. Again.”
“No problem.” A rustling noise. “Hold on just a second. Let me check my schedule.”
While he was waiting, Marcus skimmed the first several comments. Most were supportive, but AeneasFan83—not a close friend on the server, but a longtime member nevertheless—was edging toward defensive, don’t-be-so-sensitive territory in a way that made Marcus’s hackles rise.
Within a minute, Alex was back. “I’ll be in LA on Sunday. Want to binge-watch that British baking show late next week? I haven’t heard someone say the word ‘claggy’ in far too long.” His voice turned speculative. Almost dreamy. “I’ll bet if I used the phrase ‘claggy sponge’ around Lauren, she’d think it meant something dirty. I’ll have to try it.”
Marcus didn’t envy Lauren her job. Not at all.
After this disastrous week, however, Marcus figured he could use as much time as possible with his best friend. “Binge-watching claggy sponges sounds great. We’ll work out the details once you’re back. Take care of yourself in the meantime, and safe travels. Andbe nice.”
More evil laughter, and Alex was gone.
Then it was time to think. Hard.
Marcus’s response to April’s thread took him embarrassingly long to compose. Finally, though, he came up with the right words. Or at least the best words he could, under the circumstances. They would have to be enough.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:Becauseof job requirements about internet usage, I won’t be able to post here much for the foreseeable future. I shouldn’t even be doing so now, but I wanted to say two things.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:First, thank you for being such a welcoming, supportive group. Over the past few years, becoming involved with this particular fandom has taught me so much about storytelling and community and—sappy as it sounds—myself.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:Second, if we ARE a community that prides itself on being welcoming and supportive, we shouldn’t look away when one of our members tells us, at the cost of her own personal discomfort, that she sometimes feels alienated and hurt by things we’ve written. Especially since, as ULS rightly points out, the fundamental message of the Aeneas/Lavinia relationship is simple: Character over appearance, and kindness and honor above all.
