7-1
970 Words
7
NOW THAT PAUL HAS A large and growing production team, he should be able to ease up a little and let his people take over. But Winsome is compelling, he is enamored of the work, and there is always some new and exciting thing he can give his attention to. Paul does his best to balance the reality of Winsome with his life with Alex, but it’s the nature of the business that it’s a losing battle. It doesn’t take long before he’s working six a.m. to six p.m. in his new offices before coming home for dinner and another several hours of work in the loft space that used to be Gemma’s living area.
He freaks out before every table read over scripts that are done and solid and fine. Victor always shields his writers from so much network bullshit. Now Paul knows he must pay the debt by taking those hits for his own team.
The problem is, he’s convinced he can somehow get the scripts tight enough that there won’t be any hits, but it doesn’t work that way. Network executives object to things to remind writers and showrunners who God really is. The battles Paul is determined to fight are largely losing ones.
As difficult as things are now — Paul is getting five hours of sleep on a good night — he knows they will become next to impossible once Alex starts filming again. There’s a difference between seeing each other when only one of them is fully functional and never seeing each other conscious at all.
At least Alex has finally learned to cook something other than pasta. Which Paul finds himself enjoying for reasons that range from having one less thing to worry about to thinking that Alex looks absolutely adorable in their kitchen puttering around in a stupid apron Carly bought him as a joke. When Paul is foolish enough to tell Alex this, he gets a dry and unpleasant comment about housewives and kept boys. It screams of some sort of defensive inner narrative that Paul is hesitant to inquire about. He doesn’t have time for a crisis — or a lack of indulgence — from Alex right now.
Unfortunately, that means he also doesn’t have time to indulge Alex, and that’s far less good. Filming on Fourth is still a couple of weeks from resuming, and Alex is restless and bored. Sure, he climbs as much as he can make time for between the meetings and interviews and events that pepper his days. But the act of making magic on film is what drives him. Without that center, he’s clearly a little bit lost.
And Alex lost has always been, from even before it was a legitimate option, an Alex who looks to Paul. Which means he interrupts Paul’s home office time constantly.
Paul knows to grit his teeth, smile, and be grateful for something in his life that is not Winsome. But it’s hard. With every day seemingly bringing a new crisis, it approaches impossible. Paul has no idea how far Alex’s patience is going to ultimately extend.
* * *
* * * *
JUST BECAUSE VICTOR opted out of the Winsome party doesn’t mean he has any intention of opting out of his own yearly event for Fourth. The party at his house for the cast, crew, and staff is one of the rare times Victor allows anyone but his intimates into his home. It is, by necessity, much larger than the event Paul hosted.
This year, it’s also considerably less happy. Were it a smaller event, Victor probably would make a speech about everyone’s concerns, about his own unhappiness with the network and what they have to work with. He’d spend some time talking about how this is going to change all of their lives as they figure out how to tell the story they want to tell with a whole new set of constraints. But Victor’s house is currently packed with people and all their attendant plus-ones, and Victor wants to say nothing about what he has planned — or his own anger — anywhere it might leak.
The semi-official silence on the topic doesn’t stop people from talking in corners, and the whole crowd feels uneasy. Which makes Victor even more angry with the network. His people are good — no, his people are the best — and while Hollywood offers no one any guarantees, they deserve better than this strange situation.
* * *
* * * *
“JESUS, ALEX, YOUR BACK,” Paul says into his ear as they strip out of jeans and T-shirts down to their swim trunks at Victor’s house for the Fourth party. Alex knows he’s covered in scratches from Paul. This isn’t the first time the ease with which his skin marks has made things conspicuous, but it might be the most awkward.
Alex cranes his neck to look even though it’s useless. He’d already caught sight of it in the mirror this morning. “It’s fine,” he shrugs.
Paul presses his palm against his lower back and looks worried. And guilty. “Are you okay?”
“It’s fine,” Alex repeats. He doesn’t want to start this discussion. The marks aren’t anything new. “But if Liam gives me s**t for it, I’m blaming it all on you.”
“I would hope,” Paul says. Alex bumps his hip before leading the way to the pool deck. Paul doesn’t seem to know whether to hover or give him his space. The third time he asks if Alex is okay or if he needs anything, Alex huffs and pushes at his shoulder.
“Oh my God, I’m fine, Paul. Believe me, I’ll tell you when I need you,” he adds in a whisper, and gives him a look on the right side of wicked when Paul’s eyes go wide. Finding new ways to play with his boyfriend is a joy.
When Paul doesn’t move from the spot Alex adds, “I see Carly — I’m going to go say hi.” He kisses his cheek before he saunters to the edge of the pool, where she’s floating, lazy and regal, on a bright green raft.
Across the pool from her Liam sits fully dressed on the lounger furthest back from the water. He gives Alex a wave hello.
* * *
- Writer
