Page 114 of A Dead Man's B-Side
“Uhh…” She tried finding her words while walking around the table to place our respective dishes in front of us. “The show must go on?”
A small smirk slipped out, tiny, as I clasped my hands together and shrugged to Rain. “Well, there you have it.”
Rain raised a brow. “I’m sure she wasn’t implying what she thinks she’s implying.” She turned to the poor server, grabbing her attention. “Tell me,Lily, would you join a group of people so passionate about theatre that they’d lose themselves over the edge of its border of fiction?”
At Rain’s voice, and her clear status above Lily, she began to stumble with her words. “Well, I-I think theatre is only one form of art people can–do get lost in.”
Rain and I both subtly looked at Marigold, purely on instinct, but she noticed. She stiffened as her lips parted.
I looked down to my plate.
Rain leaned back, undeterred. “Would you die for it? Theatre?”
Lily licked her lips, thinking, and I tried cutting in, “That’s not relev–”
Paris made me pause as she pondered, muttering to herself, “It’s a very real possibility with Callum Queen.”
Lily whipped her head to the side at the latter’s words, immediately changing whatever words she had planned to say, “Sorry–are you talking about Callum Queen–the son of Matthew Queen?”
A beat of silence passed before Ajax grinned, wide and charming. “Well, isn’t this a happy coincidence? We were. It’s really a shame Callum couldn’t make it, as I’m sure he would have loved to meet his…?”
Lily, not as well-versed in the serpent tongue of the upper class, spoke quickly, “Oh–no, no, I don't know him–knowofhim, yes. I’ve heard of his work, is all. His dad, more often. I didn’t know you all knew Callum Queen.”
“Oh, he’s a dear friend.” Paris sounded. Her voice dripped in sweet honey as her words came out whimsy and dreamlike. The alcohol in her system seemed to vanish and reprieve as she appeared entirely focused on her act.
Matthew Queen, from the whispers I’d pick up around Castle Hill, knew about every single step taken within any county’s movie industry.
Why?
Because he owned it.
If there was any production worth following, any upcoming star worth remembering, Matthew Queen had his name written somewhere in those contracts. I wasn’t as educated as I had liked on the people I should know, but Matthew Queen wasn’t just anyone. He was on the board, and that was a good enough reason to study his entire bloodline.
I met Rain’s gaze, gesturing with my eyes to Lily. The theatre genius that would get me a leg up over Callum. She only raised her brows, resigned.
“Yes,” August hummed, grinning at the embarrassing implication despite himself. “We’re very close. In fact, Callum can’t seem to get enough of me.”
Chapter Nineteen
Alexandr Miroslav
1982
It was a cold day when I knocked on Paris’ door, which was why I was wearing the coat Wolf had given me weeks prior. I leaned back against the opposite wall and waited for her to answer, well aware that she was inside, and correctly predicting she would take a while.
My heart thudded a little harder when I recalled why I was doing this in the first place. The memory of Paris’ wine glass and her glassy eyes. The way she’d swayed before slipping into the backseat, promptly falling asleep against the window.
I waved Rain’s pursed lips off when we arrived back to Castle Hill and nudged her awake when she didn’t step out after us. Having to be burdened with taking her back to her dorm and ‘tucking her in’, if me haphazardly throwing her duvet over her could even count as that.
The door swung open and I blinked at the sight in front of me. To my surprise, Paris was dressed like she’d come out of an American high school film. It wasn’t unflattering, only… not what I’d ever expected to see her in.
Her dark jeans were baggy, and her grey sweater had a number of miscellaneous designs that seemed to go well when taken as one. “You like?” She wiggled her brows at my expression.
“Paris.” I greeted, straightening from my slumped position. “You look… not half bad.”
She grinned and played with a strand from her ponytail. “I know. I would say I am quite gorgeous if I weren’t so humble.”
I let out an amused breath, smiling. “I came to ask if you wanted to join me for a walk.”
