One moment, the studio was alive, the audience roaring, lights and noise blaring, and the next it was dismantling itself. Live shows often moved so fast you had to inhale a copious amount of drugs and coffee in order to keep up. Amidst the clicks and hums of cameras powering down and lights dimming, runners were already swarming, preparing for the next day's shoot.
Whilst Rudi was making a big show of slapping Theodore on the back, exclaiming that this episode would "be replayed for years, darling," Aurelia slipped backstage. Arms tucked protectively around her body, the dash to the safety of her dressing room felt like she was wading through sludge, especially in 6-inch heels. She wanted to slam the door shut and have a good cry, but her phone began to vibrate before she could reach the door handle. She dug it out of her bag.
Lucy M
She pressed ignore immediately, fury making her head pound, easier than grief. She clenched her fists around the phone as it rang again, and then again, each time willing it to be the last. Finally, a message pinged through, and several others in quick succession-
Please pick up. I swear to god I didn't know
I will fucking kill her
Rudi's people contacted us for dirt, but I ignored it. I thought she would too
I understand if you never forgive me, but please believe me
Aurelia swallowed the lump rising in her throat, replaying the evening over and over in her head. She didn't mind that Lucy hadn't mentioned the show contacting her; that sort of thing happened regularly, and it was why you only kept the people you could trust close. It was more that Lucy would have been on the video as well, clearly a bit tipsy. She'd said some terrible (and hilarious) things about the people she worked with, some of them well-known. If more footage had played, she could have lost her job or faced legal issues- maybe even worse if an NDA was involved. She couldn't have known this was going to happen.
She started typing:
I know. I believe you.
Another notification appeared at the top her screen. It was a message from Alyssia, short and to the point.
My podcast is failing. I needed the money. You don't know what that feels like.
She read the message over and over, as if the repetition would somehow reveal a secret meaning to the words, but they still didn't make sense. How could a podcast that had just featured the UK Foreign Secretary be failing? As far as she'd known, Alyssia In Your Mouth had always had a steady stream of high profile guests. As for needing money, why hadn't Alyssia just asked her?
Whatever the reason, it was done. They were done. In an industry where discretion was paramount, you couldn't afford to keep people around who couldn't be trusted. She thought hard for a moment, wondering if she should get her legal team to go in hard, but the truth was, the pain of the betrayal hurt more than the revenge could heal. She set her jaw firmly and typed out a message.
And instead of asking me for help, you betrayed my trust.
You took something I said in private, filmed it without my consent, and gave it to a national television show.
I don't want your explanation, and right now, I don't want your friendship either.
She blocked the number, and, back against the wall, slid to the floor, breathing deeply until the poisonous thoughts in her head reduced to something more manageable. In a moment, she would have to put on her "Aurelia Hart, actress" mask, and get through the traditional after-show socialising, knowing that every single person in the room had-
"Hi." His voice was gentle.
She lurched to her feet. Theodore was hovering at a respectful distance in the open doorway, his hands shoved into his pockets like he wasn't quite sure if he was welcome, or where he was supposed to stand.
She gulped a mouthful of air and tried to speak, but he got there first.
"I wanted to check you were okay," He said, brow furrowing, "That was brutal."
She nodded. His kindness had caught her off guard, and she didn't want him to hear the lump that had risen in her throat as a result.
"I really hope you don't hate me," He shifted uncomfortably, "They didn't tell me anything about the... the video part. They just told me it was a fun surprise. And it was, well, you, so I said yes."
There was something unspoken in the way he said you. It made the embarrassment and the intensity slightly less sharp, settling into something that felt like it might be survivable. She stuck out a hand towards him,
"Start again?" It came out as a croak, but at least there were no tears.
He relaxed, "Sure."
They shook hands,
"I'm Aurelia."
"I'm Theodore, but I get called Teo back home. My dad is Theo. My brother calls me Doris, but that's…" He trailed off and started again, "Not important. I'm sorry, I talk a lot when I'm nervous."
That was evident and also endearing. She smiled shakily,
"I don't talk at all."
"Well then," He said, softly, "We complete each other."
The room was suddenly charged, electric even. It took all of her willpower not to let her eyes drift down to his thighs, thankfully hidden underneath his beige chinos.
"Aurelia, babe," The production assistant who'd offered her the baggie earlier poked his head around the door, eyes wide, although whether it was from excitement or cocaine was debateable, "There's a lot of press outside wanting a reaction from you."
Her heart sank,
"That was quick. Do you mind letting my driver know to meet me out the back door instead?"
"They're out the back too. Lots of cameras, lots of interest. They're out for blood."
She grabbed Teo's sleeve, hardly noticing she'd done it.
"No." She shook her head firmly as the assistant raced back down the corridor, "I don't think I can deal with them at the moment."
Teo was still for a moment, his eyes fixed on her hand, and then he grinned wickedly,
"I think I know a way out."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "You...do?"
"You won't like it."
XXX
Coat and bag under her arm, she followed him through the busy hallways. Now that the filming was over, nobody paid much attention to them as they hurried past, eventually turning off the main corridor down a much narrower, grimier one.
"How on earth do you know where you're going?" She called after him.
"I got lost on my way back!"
"Back from where?"
"From here!"
His hand found her wrist and pulled her sideways through a worn walkway, then through another door. It was the men's toilets, obviously the ones used by production, and, apparently, jetlagged Australians. She wrinkled her nose slightly, trying to avoid looking at the row of grimy urinals lurking in the shadows. Teo had hauled himself up onto the narrow window ledge and was fiddling with the rusty catch. It creaked, the hinges screeching with misuse, and then swung open triumphantly. He dusted his hand off and held it out to her.
"No way," She said, taking an emphatic step backwards.
"I said you wouldn't like it!"
He was in total earnest, eyes bright with chaos and adventure. Oddly enough, everything about his outstretched hand told her she could trust him, although it was the footsteps that sounded just outside the door that made the decision for her. It was probably just somebody coming to use the toilet, but the excitement of the moment made it feel more like pursuit. She grabbed his hand.
He swung her up effortlessly, one arm clamping round her waist to stead her. The window opened out into an alleyway beside the studio, one end piled high with bin bags and broken props, the other leading to the streets of Soho. Holding her breath, she dropped down, wincing as her right ankle twisted in her stupid heels,
"Fuck!"
Teo dropped down beside her, and together they made for the street, Aurelia hobbling over the cobblestones. Once they reached the brightly lit main road, they paused, and then burst out laughing, incredulous at the ridiculousness of what they had done. The laughter released some of the tension of the evening, and Aurelia was grateful for it.
For about a second.
"There they are!"
"Miss Hart, how does it feel knowing your friends recorded footage of you without your consent?"
The pair of them froze, wide-eyed. They'd emerged out on the street about fifty feet away from the main studio doors. A hoard of paparazzi were making their way towards them.
Aurelia's lower lip quivered. Teo saw,
"What's the chance of you running in those heels?"
She shook her head, "None."
He nodded, "Thought so. I'm really, really sorry about this."
At least he'd tried. She steeled herself, awaiting the onslaught of invasive questioning, but instead, she was launched without ceremony into the air. Teo had grabbed her under the arms, coat, bag, everything, and thrown her over his shoulder.
"What are you doing, you dickhead?" But she was already choking with laughter, clinging tightly to his jacket as he bolted away from the crowd, dashing across the road the road, weaving between cars, and then barrelling up the pavement in the opposite direction. Some journalists tried to give chase, but between hauling heavy camera equipment and fighting through their own crowds, they didn't have a chance. Within a few minutes, Aurelia and Teo had been lost to the city.
XXX
A couple of streets away, they found a quiet spot.
"How on earth did you manage that?" She asked incredulously, testing her twisted ankle cautiously as he lowered her to the ground.
"I've been known to play a bit of Rugby League. Never quite like that though."
They both laughed again, but hers was shaking slightly. Now that the excitement was wearing off, the reality of the situation was setting in hard. The PR team would want to get involved, and her management company would be furious with her for letting herself get caught out on live television like that. Social media would already be doing its thing, screenshots of The Rudi Ellis Show would be doing the rounds, and one of the sleazy paps outside the studio would have got a picture of her knickers as Teo carried her away. The next week would likely prove… challenging.
And yet... Theodore Marinos was still standing in front of her, radiating a comforting, golden retriever energy. The heat from his body gone now that they stood part, she tucked herself into her coat, the cold reminding her that it was still winter.
"They're going to say I kidnapped you, like Paris did to Helen of Troy, depending on who you believe," He snapped his fingers, his face lighting up, "Hey, that's the next video sorted!"
"Glad I could help! But listen," She touched his arm gratefully, "Thank you for kidnapping me- for rescuing me, I mean. A lot of people… and I know this makes me sound full of myself, but somebody else might have taken advantage of a situation like that. You didn't."
"Nah, that's not me at all." His sincerity felt refreshing, like he wasn't trying saying the right things to please her. He ran his fingers through his hair, exhaling hard, "Look, this is insane. Four days ago, I was in Sydney, minding my own business, filming a Napoleon video, and today I'm in London, appearing on chat shows and breaking Aurelia Hart out of TV studios. What next?"
This was the question Aurelia had been trying to answer for most of her life. She had always been searching for something, always feeling as if she were on the outside looking in, the lingering sense of sadness forever in the background. She'd always chosen to run straight to the next thing, desperate to prove her worth by being busy, a new script, a new project. She been running since she was twelve years old, trying to escape a pain she couldn't control.
So why did she suddenly want to stop?
"How long are you in London for?" She heard herself asking, "Are you going back to Sydney right away or… or did you have plans to stay for a while?"
"I'm flying back in three days," He said, "I was going to wing it and walk out of the hotel in a different direction each morning to see where it took me, but its knowing exactly where to start."
"I was like that when I first moved here," It was the speed of the city that had struck her the most, a city that never stopped moving, "I used to think I'd never be able to find my way back to the student accommodation each time I left it. I got lost so many times."
"I get that," He said, "When I first moved to Sydney-"
They were interrupted by the toot of a car horn as it drove past. Somebody yelled, "Queen of the Nerds!" out of the window but thankfully moved on without stopping. Unfortunately, the spell had been broken. Teo gestured vaguely,
"I guess I should..."
Aurelia twisted the strap of her bag between her fingers and made a choice.
"Three days, you said?"
He nodded, "That's the plan."
She faltered, then looked up at him through her lashes.
"If you'd like," She said shyly, "I could… show you around London. Properly, I mean, not in the 'mad escapes out of TV studios way'."
His smile spread slowly, warmth lighting his eyes.
"I'd really like that," He said, "But are you sure? I almost feel like you're going to get into trouble for hanging out with a normie like me."
Aurelia felt something inside her loosen.
"Don't be silly," She replied, a little breathless, "Although I can't promise my plans won't change very quickly. My agent has a part she's squeezing some poor casting director about, so I might end up flying to an unknown part of the world in the next 24 hours, but so far, nothing."
They agreed to meet the next morning.
She didn't yet know it, but the long way home had just begun, in the company of a man she hadn't meant to meet at all.