Page 4 of Cosplay & Consequences

She hesitated for a second but then shrugged. “Why do you care? We have Alfie.”

I let out a huge sigh of relief, the tension in my shoulders began to subside. “You are brilliant. And totally deserve a raise.”

Paige’s eyes narrowed at me. “Uh. Huh. And when will that raise come in?”

I smirked back at her. “When I’m shooting Valley of the Red Tyrant.”

Paige rolled her eyes and clasped her hands, pretending to beg. She also used that horrible English accent that always amused me. “Can I get it sooner? Please, sir. My refrigerator is bare and I have no shoes for my orphaned child.”

I let out a small huff of a laugh. “Your refrigerator is full of Eggos and Hot Pockets. Get me the job sooner and we’ll talk.”

“If you two are done, I’d like to get back to saving Danny’s career,” Britta interrupted with an irritated sigh.

I saw Paige open her mouth to say something which I knew wouldn’t be complimentary. I moved in front of her to block the camera.

“Thank you, Britta. I appreciate your work as always,” I replied, giving her a sweet smile. Hopefully she didn’t see Paige flip her off behind my back.

Stella waited a beat after Britta logged off before muttering, “What a bitch.” She then blew us a few kisses. "Goodbye, my loves!" she added, before logging off herself.

“Why do we put up with Britta?” Paige groaned.

“Because when you tried to do my publicity, you punched a reporter,” I reminded her.

She let out a snort of derision. “He had it coming.”

I picked up my phone and read about the ‘meh’ review again. It had been picked up by another network and had gained more traction on social media. I turned to Paige, slightly less stressed than the day had started with. “Do people really hate me that much?”

“Only the ones who don’t know who you really are,” Paige replied, typing furiously on her phone. “Which is mostly everyone. This is the problem with people seeing you as a soap opera villain for your entire career.”

A problem I’d been dealing with for years. While the regular work was good, I had limited time to perform outside of the show. I always got a few weeks off to do work on stage or snag a few guest star spots on other shows. But in the end, I was only known for being Marlin Sinbad. I knew I shouldn't complain. Most actors don’t get a steady job and could barely make ends meet. While I was grateful for the work at Minutes, my opportunities and other roles had dried up over the years. I shook off my thoughts, trying to focus on the next few days. “Ok. We’ll need to get a⁠—”

“I took care of it,” Paige interrupted. “There weren’t many rooms left, so I had to get a suite at the hotel connected to the Mission Verde Convention Center. I’ve already reached out to room service for your dietary needs⁠—”

I let out a long groan. “Do we have to? It’s been weeks of plain chicken, rice, and broccoli.”

Paige didn’t turn away from her phone, tired of my whining. Her eyebrows squished together, her lips pursed. “If you want the role? You have to look the part. Suck it up. Shirtless you look like a cover for a trashy romance novel. Which, by the way, grosses me out. So, stop complaining.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “Whatever. At least I’ll get to skip⁠—”

“Nope! I had Jorge reserve a nearby gym for you.” Paige smirked, knowing I was trying to sneak away from my trainer’s grueling workout sessions. Jorge was a great guy, but he pushed me to a breaking point on a daily basis.

I let out a little huff of air trying to let go of my exasperation. “You’re too good. You don’t let me slack off for a second. This is why I don’t give you a raise.”

“You’re not giving me a raise, because at the end of the season we-”

I knew what was coming at the end of this season and didn’t want to think about it. I held up my hand to stop her.

“We know why,” I said, cutting her off. “What’s the rest of my day like?”

Paige brought up her phone again. “Busier than normal. I had to clear your schedule for the next couple of weeks because of the two conventions coming up. I managed to get the producers to agree to give you the time off, but that means we have to tweak some of the storylines. The writing team is adding scenes with others to make up for your absence, but there are a few we have to do today. So, you got reshoots this afternoon for the amnesia scene with Blair. Then we’ll have some new pages where you’ll face off with Gerard regarding the hostile takeover of Glendale Incorporated. Followed by the scene where you reveal that Adam is your illegitimate son with Contessa.”

I could feel the headache starting and pinched the bridge of my nose. “We’re still doing that scene? It’s ridiculous. The man is ten years younger than I am,” I complained. “How is that even possible?”

There was a long pause before Paige responded. I knew I'd done something wrong. I just wasn’t sure what.

“You didn’t read the script notes I left you.” Paige put her phone down with narrowed eyes, scowling at me. “As usual.”

I grimaced. My mouth always got me into trouble. “I did read them,” I protested.