Work Text:
“Who’s coming and why, you say?” Sidney looked annoyed at Margareth Denham, the matriarchal CEO of the production company. Among her subordinates simply called ‘Lady D’ because of her aristocratic poise and commanding ways.
Lady D gave him a good stare down. “Apparently one of the biggest streaming services is not thrilled that we allowed the leading man of their new high-profiled show to score a self-goal. Therefor they are sending an expert in crisis communication online. A Miss Charlotte Heywood.”
“And you have accepted this why?” Sidney was standing now, rolling his eyes. He had worked as Chief Communications Officer for Margareth Denham for the past 5 years. She had always shared her opinions but without bossing him around.
“Because, dear boy, we are a production company and they are a streaming service. They have the consumers, not us. I can’t believe I have to explain this to you.” Her patience was running thin. “The big conference room in 15 minutes. Don’t be late!”
Sidney huffed and collected his tablet and notebook. How this season 2 announcement had exploded in his hands was beyond him. They had given the middle-aged female fanbase more than they asked for. He had even hired the sand artist they had used in their campaign. “Menopause for the win,” he mumbled angrily to himself.
Inside the conference room a young woman was preparing the meeting, piling handouts and hooking a laptop to the big screen.
“New intern?” he asked disinterestedly and placed his things at the head of the table. Until told otherwise he was the head of this meeting.
She arched a brow and looked at him. Before she could respond he continued in a condescending tone of voice. “Be a dear and get us some tea and coffee too. The meeting starts in 10 minutes so be quick about it.”
“Yes, Sir,” she said and brushed past him leaving a delightful whiff of citrus and fresh laundry in her wake.
A few minutes later she returned with a trolley and started to place cups and pots and water bottles on the conference table.
“Shall I be mother too?” she asked dryly.
The sardonic twinkle in her eyes was enough to sack her, Sidney felt. “No, it’s fine. We’ll manage.”
Lady D arrived just on the dot. She was headed towards the young woman when Sidney exclaimed exasperatedly, “Miss... I forgot her name, is running late. Not very professional.”
He poured himself a cup and noticed that the intern was still in the room. “You may go now. We’ll call you if we need anything else.”
To his surprise the intern reached out her hand. “Charlotte Heywood. I’m with the streaming company. And you are?”
Fuck, Sidney thought to himself. This was going to be a long meeting. When did he learn not to snuff people off?
“Sidney Parker. I’m the CCO here. Please forgive me for making assumptions on your part.” He almost sounded like he meant it.
“Yes, it seems you make a lot of those when it comes to women,” she locked eyes with him. To his annoyance he lost the staring contest.
“Well, since we have made the necessary introductions, let’s get on with business. Will you take the floor, Miss Heywood?” Margareth Denham leaned forward and folded her hands.
“Absolutely. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. As you know we start filming the new show shortly. Casting was based on stars from other successful shows matching our target audience, one of them being yours. Our hope was of course that the fanbases would follow their favorite actors to our show. We listen in on the grapevine on social media and so far, this strategy looked like it would be a roaring success. That is until you posted the news on season 2 and 3 and let our new leading man piss on his fans to put it in direct terms.” Charlotte flipped through her presentations showing quotes and screenshots of the fanbase chatter. She observed Mrs. Denham and Sidney Parker as she spoke. The first looked calm, the latter shifted in his chair, his cheeks burning with anger.
Then he couldn’t hold back anymore. Of course, he couldn’t. How dared she coming here and accuse him of not being on top of his game?
“Now listen, Miss Hardwood. We fully acknowledged the fanbase in this. They got not one but two more seasons because of it.” Sidney stood and started pacing the room. He needed to vent his anger. That... that child was hardly experienced enough to challenge him or criticize his work.
Charlotte met his anger with stoic calmness and ignored his insulting and deliberate name error. “Mr. Parker. It is true that you gave them the gift of two more seasons. Also, that you acknowledged their hard work. Yet, you missed your mark. We have watched these women, this sisterhood, group, rally and campaign tirelessly for nearly two years. They can put a man on the moon, and they did. Had it not been for these women’s love for his character and as a bi-product him as an actor, we would never have chosen him. It certainly wasn’t the IMDB scores on his other work, I can tell you that. My problem is that if you have the power to place a man on the moon, you can kick him off it too. We fear that the new show will have a less fortunate start because you let the man reduce this sisterhood’s hard work in the most arrogant, tone deaf manner. They were not asking for a season two. They were asking for a happy ending for the two characters they had come to love so dearly. To feed them this misplaced philosophical bullshit is the worst thing you could have done to them. How the fuck could you as an institution in the industry not see that?” Not once did she raise her voice.
She had continued to show examples from Twitter as she spoke.
“Mr. Parker, surely you can see why we need to fix this. Not just for our show but for the success of your next two seasons too?” Her eyes softened slightly.
It was annoying but the child had a valid point. He was about to speak but Lady D beat him to it.
“What do you suggest, Miss Heywood? Margareth Denham looked at Charlotte with admiration and Sidney could feel the rug being pulled away underneath him.
Charlotte switched to a new slide. “Three steps. First, we bring the full press release where the quote was taken from--”
Sidney interrupted her. “There is no full press release. His press agent just sent me that.”
Charlotte muttered something about incompetent press agents to herself, then spoke again. “I’m aware of that. It’s not ideal but the only way to take the sting out of that hopeless press release is to give it a forgiving context.” She handed Sidney and Margareth a piece of paper. “I wrote a new version.”
I am humbled by having played a character that has moved a fanbase so much that they have campaigned to save the show.
Jane Austen is known for letting the protagonist meet and have the love of her life. Had it not been the work of one of our strongest period authors, I would have preferred to embrace the darker destiny that life sometimes leads us to. To me it was interesting that my strong, independent, very masculine character was forced to marry to save the family financially because that was the fate of many women at the time.
Although I relished playing the character, for me, I’ve always maintained that his journey concluded as I wanted it to. The broken fairy-tale like ending between our heroes is different, unique and so interesting to me and I wish the cast and crew every success with future series. I wish my fictional love every happiness and eternal love and a happy ending.
Thank you to the fans who fought so hard for this. I will never forget it.
Sidney had to admit it was pretty solid work. “Will he accept that we release this?”
“He already has. The company threatened to evoke the clause in his contract on damaging behavior. He may not like to have fans, but his career depends on them and we have already seen a drop in interest on the new show. Will you make sure to share it on social media, Mr. Parker? Don’t apologize, just bring it. Preferably with a resent photo, I have a selection for you.”
They discussed the right way to slip the fake press release in its full length into the chatter.
With a satisfying plan made out, Charlotte took a sip of water and clicked to the next slide.
“Second. You cannot just take someone’s favorite toy away from them without giving them a new one. I’m sure you’re already considering who the new first-lover should be?” Her brown eyes met his.
She was actually quite beautiful, he thought. Vibrant. Intelligent, obviously. Stunning body. Not his type at all but maybe it was time for a change.
“Mr. Parker?” It was the first time she had sounded impatient and irritated.
He discovered blushingly that his eyes had been fixed on the golden skin on her generous cleavage. Embarrassed he coughed to clear his throat and buy time.
“We have a shortlist but nothing is settled yet.” Sidney tried desperately to get back on track.
“It’s controversial but you ought to consider making the fans part of the casting process. They need a new face to visualize. Since the devastating ending this fanbase has produced more than 700 fanfiction stories – and some of them, I have to tell you, puts your writers to shame. These stories filled the gap while they rallied for a season two announcement. Now you have taken the main male character away from them. Introduce a new man to them. Someone they can fantasize of.” She sat down and drank some water while sharing some of the best stories with them on the screen.
Sidney and Margareth Denham read and shared a look. They would have to talk to the casting agents if they were to make this happen.
“I’ll leave that up to you. It doesn’t make a difference to us.” She glanced at her wrist watch. They had been in the meeting for over two hours now. Lady D left the room to call for some food.
“What’s the last thing?” Sidney found that he was enjoying himself working with Charlotte.
She drew her lip between her teeth. “I suggest an event for the fans. The leaders of the fanbase are already planning one. Why don’t you take an active part in this? You could hold a press conference with the actors for fans only. Maybe plan some tours to visit the sets. I also thought that a competition where the winner can sit in on a table reading would make them love you again.”
It was always an annoyance to work with fans, especially women with too much time on their hands. He found they were worse than teenage girls. There were other painful things he would rather do than indulge a crowd of menopause cougars but the company could hardly afford two seasons to flop because a leading actor felt the need to express himself as profound and disinterested in fame and fans.
“I’ll see what I can do. I suppose you already have a list of relevant contacts?” He gave her the first genuine smile.
Three dimples appeared as a breathtaking smile spread on her face. “I do. Here.” She handed him a USB drive. “I have a copy of all the material for you on it.”
“Have dinner with me tonight!” He blurted out the words without thinking.
“Thank you, but no.” Her smiled faded.
“I’m sorry I should have known you probably have a boyfriend.” Something about her made his cheeks redden all the time. It was normally the effect he had.
“I don’t. I’m just not your type.” She smirked drolly.
“Oh.” He poured a cup of coffee to seem busy.
Margareth Denham returned in that moment with an intern on tow carrying a tray stacked with sandwiches and fresh food. Never had Sidney been happier to see his boss.
The End