Page 22 of Cosplay & Consequences

I took a moment to sit down in the kitchenette across from Faye. “I am sorry. I should have listened to you.”

She said nothing. She didn’t even look at me. She did, however, eat another dumpling.

I sat there with a hollow feeling in my chest. Disappointing some fans was one thing. Disappointing Faye was heartbreaking. “Was my performance at least halfway decent?”

She peered up from under her bangs. “It was good. It could have been better.”

“I’ll fix this,” I told her.

She let out a grunt which was almost promising.

I leaned down so I could look her in the eyes. “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

She focused her gaze on the bowl of soup in front of her. “Well. There is one thing.”

“Tell me,” I said leaning on the table.

Her spoon poked at a dumpling, poking it down below the broth and then letting it pop up again. “So, a bunch of my friends I know from online are here and are going to a party-”

I knew this game all too well. I held up my hand to stop her. “You asked your mom, and she said no?”

She grimaced.

I gave her a small smile. “Sorry Boss, nice try though.”

“Danny? Meeting is about to start,” Paige called out from the living room area.

I sat down in front of the laptop. Paige took her position on the couch, tapping away on her phone. Britta and Stella were already online.

“Brilliant performance, Woobie!” Stella called out. “But you really screwed the pooch with the books.”

“You watched it?” I asked, half-amazed.

“My grandson set it up for me before he went to school.”

Britta snorted in derision. “It’s not all bad. At least people got to see you perform.”

There was a blip and Reuben Sinclair appeared with the rest of my crew. “Danny-Boy!”

I gritted my teeth, doing my best not to be annoyed with him. It was difficult. I was annoyed by his smile. I was annoyed by his hairline. I was always annoyed with Reuben, but I had to play nice as he was the executive producer for the show. I forced a grin. “Hello, Reuben.”

“We’ve got ourselves in a pickle, Danny-Boy. You know that right?”

“I am well aware of the situation,” I said calmly.

“Mmm-hmm. Well, the good news is that you at least stirred up some good publicity. Most of the people who have not read the books seem to think you’re perfect for the role. But that’s only a third of the audience. Guess who’s the other two-thirds?”

“Toddlers from age three to four?” I quipped.

“Funny,” Reuben deadpanned. “It’s the book readers, Danny. You’re going to have to figure out how to get them on your side.”

“I’m sure we’ll turn them around with the studio’s help,” I replied, knowing what he was going to say.

“Oh, the studio is staying away from you kid. You’re radioactive. You’re going to have to fix this on your own if you want to show up in Hall G at SDCx2. My suggestion? Win over that Richards girl. She was at least impressed with your performance. Get her to endorse you, everything will be smooth sailing from there.”

That part I wasn’t prepared for. I glanced at Paige as she pinched the bridge of her nose out of frustration. “Sure thing, Reuben. I’ll get right on that.”

“Excellent,” Reuben gave me a grin.