Christian called Eden on the way to the press tour. Once again, Jonah had sent a car, and he did his best to relax against the cool leather seats of the BMW. As the phone rang, Christian drummed his fingers against the arm rest, his teeth clenched. It had taken three days to make sure the interview was just right. Aspen had practically lived on Jonah’s couch those three days, which had led to an argument with her wife on the last day. All things considered, Christian was going to be more than a little relieved once the day was finished.

“Tell me you got it,” Eden said in lieu of a greeting. Just the sound of her voice had Christian on high alert, even though there was really nothing else she could do to make things worse.

“Yeah, I got it. I sent it over just before I left for the press tour. Hopefully it’s everything you wanted.”

“I trust it will be. You had too much incentive for it to be anything else.”

Incentive. As though being threatened with exposure could be called incentive. Still, Christian bit his tongue. All he had to do was get through this last day and then he could quit. That idea terrified him. He had some savings stashed away, but going more than a month or so without a job would make things difficult financially, especially since he was in a city that cost much more than Louisville did.

“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I’m on my way to the press tour, and I upheld my end of the deal.”

“Thank you. I’m grateful you decided to do—”

“I didn’t do it for you,” he snapped. “I did it for Jonah. So he could come out with more dignity than you were going to give him.”

Eden sighed. “I know it’s not going to matter to you, but you saved a lot of people’s jobs.”

Like that was supposed to make Christian feel better about the entire situation? The only person he’d gotten to know at the magazine was Franky, and they had enough contacts that if something happened to their job, they would be fine.

“Whatever. You got what you wanted. Do you need me to put in a two weeks’ notice or anything after the tour?” The less time he had to spend around her, the better.

“No. You’re still within your trial period, so you don’t need to come in once you submit your article. You will need to find another housing solution since you’ll no longer be working for the company. I’ll send your letter of recommendation to your new address.”

Shit. He hadn’t thought about that. Over the course of the few weeks he’d been in California, he’d searched for a new place to rent, but the thought of paying in the thousands for a one-bedroom apartment made him shudder. He’d have to check Craigslist again and hope whoever he roomed with wasn’t a secret serial killer.

“Okay. I’ll let you know as soon as I find something.”

“I’ll give you two weeks.”

“Then I’ll find something soon.” He didn’t even try to keep the frustration out of his voice. Blackmail and an eviction? What kind of sadistic asshole was Eden? The car pulled into the convention center and Christian jumped at the chance to hang up. “Hey we just arrived, so I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

Without waiting for a response, Christian ended the call and shoved the phone in his pocket. She could go to hell.

The driver walked around and opened his door, and Christian climbed out of the car. The event center was spectacular, a giant glass building that looked almost like a spaceship. Now all he had to do was find the right room.

Franky had given him the rundown about how the press tour would work. There would be two press conferences, one with the actors and directors to discuss the filming of the movie, and one with a few key members of the crew to talk about the technical aspects. In between the conferences, there would be several interviews taking place, some one-on-one with actors and directors, some set up as a roundtable event, with several reporters asking their questions as the actors were brought in. He didn’t need to worry about those, though. All Christian was assigned to was the first press conference.

There were several other reporters already in the lobby when Christian walked in, and for a moment, he watched to see what they were doing. The newcomers headed toward the front desk to grab their press badges, so Christian followed suit, waiting in line until it was his turn.

“Name and organization, please.”

“Christian Miller, InTune Magazine.” The words felt like glass coming out of his mouth. At least he wouldn’t have to be associated with them for much longer.

The woman behind the counter shuffled through the stack of badges then pulled his out and handed it to him. “You’re going to be in Petree Hall. Follow the signs.”

And just like that, he was in. Rather than wait around in the lobby, he headed straight for Petree Hall, finding it within minutes. It probably would have been a good idea to get to know some of the other reporters, since they might become valuable contacts, but the thought of waiting around made his skin crawl. All he wanted to do was get this over with.

As he suspected, only a few people had arrived, giving him his pick of seats. Eden had specified she wanted him on the front row, but really, what was she going to do? It wasn’t like she would be able to tell where he was sitting just from his reporting.

There was still plenty of time before the press conference would begin, so Christian pulled out his phone and started looking up apartments to rent in LA. He could get a studio for less than a thousand, which wouldn’t be horrible, but the thought of living and sleeping in the same space wasn’t appealing, and he couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t be mugged on his way home in the neighborhoods he was finding. One bedrooms were worse. The cheapest ones were over twelve hundred a month and even then, they might as well not even be in Los Angeles they were so far out from the city.

Maybe he could convince Jonah to let him stay for a few weeks until he found another job. It wouldn’t be an idea situation, especially since Jonah would be dealing with the fallout from his coming out interview, but he was a good person. He wouldn’t let Christian get tossed out onto the streets. If nothing else, he would probably help Christian find a temporary roommate until he could find something more permanent.

“Having fun yet?”

Christian looked up to find Aspen approaching him. “Not especially. I’m trying to find a new place to live. Eden put me up in an AirBnb until I found an apartment, but since I’m not going to be with the magazine after today, I have to leave ASAP.”

“Bitch,” Aspen muttered.

“Shouldn’t you be like… backstage or wherever they’re keeping the actors?” Christian figured she’d be with Jonah up until he walked out to take his seat.

“He told me to come check on you. Said you’d probably be relieved to see a familiar face.”

“Yeah, well, he wasn’t wrong. There are so many real journalists here. Like, people who have experience. I just got hired because of a blog post I made when I was drunk.”

He didn’t belong here. These journalists were ones who’d been writing for entertainment magazines, blogs, and tv shows for years. Not some amateur from Louisville, Kentucky who’d only ever written human interest pieces.

“You’re going to do fine,” Aspen said. “I know this isn’t your area of expertise, but just think about how you can use what you’re good at to put an interesting spin on things. Or do a horrible job, say ‘fuck it,’ and walk away. It’s not your problem after today.”

Technically, she was right. But no matter how much he wanted to do a shitty job just to spite Eden, he couldn’t imagine writing a terrible article on purpose. Especially if he was going to be looking for another job. If they found it and thought that was what all his writing looked like, he’d never get hired.

“I’ve got to get back to Jonah. The conference is about ready to start and I want to go over a few more things with him.” She stood and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”

Looking around, Christian realized the room was now nearly packed. The second row, where he was sitting, was completely full, except for Aspen’s newly-vacated seat, and every chair he could see was filled. An out-of-breath, frazzled woman with her hair in a tight bun slid into the seat next to him and smiled tightly.

“Hi. I’m Isabel Lewis.” She held out her hand and Christian took it. Looking down at her name tag, he nearly jerked his hand back. She was from E! News. “Let me guess. This is your first big assignment?”

“Yeah.” If he could keep his answers short and to the point, maybe he wouldn’t say anything that would embarrass himself.

“I thought so. You have that new-kid-on-the-block, nervous look to you. Relax,” she said with a smile. “These actors seem intimidating, but they’re all pretty great. Most of the time we crack a few jokes with them. And there’s free lunch afterward, so you can meet some of the other reporters. We’re a friendly bunch. I promise we don’t bite.”

Isabel sounded surprisingly earnest, and Christian found some of the tension in his body easing. He’d originally planned to leave immediately after the press conference, but now he was tempted to stay. Maybe he’d make a few professional contacts at the lunch.

A door at the side of the room opened and the cast and director of Alpha Flight walked out, taking their seats at the long table at the front. Christian couldn’t help but smile. He was sitting in the same room as several of his favorite actors, Jonah among them, and he actually had the opportunity to ask them a few questions. Now he understood why people got into entertainment reporting. There was a certain awe that came with events like these. An awe he could definitely get used to feeling.

“Thank you all for coming to the Alpha Flight press conference,” the director said. “Before we open the floor for questions, it’s my pleasure to show you an exclusive first look at a never-before-seen clip from the film.”

The lights dimmed and a scene appeared on the screen behind the cast. A green fish-woman was chained against the wall of a spaceship, while a man Christian knew to be the Master of the World explained where he’d come from and what he planned to do with her. Christian shivered at the strange tension in the scene. Tom Hardy had done a fantastic job at giving off just enough creeper vibes. Another fish-person and a blonde in a form-fitting blue uniform burst through the door, and the screen faded to black.

Unsure whether to clap or not, Christian waited until everyone else did, and then followed suit. The director beamed and leaned forward into the microphone. “Now, we’ll take some questions.”

Isabel’s hand shot into the air so quickly Christian thought she was going to hit him with it. But the director didn’t call on her. Instead, he called on someone behind Christian.

“Dan Brooks with The Comics Journal. My question is for you, Gavin. I know the Alpha Flight team has a history working with the X-Men throughout the comics. Is this something you’re planning on incorporating with future films, given your work on the X-Men films?”

The director nodded. “Starting out, we wanted to establish Alpha Flight as a group in its own right, but I’m absolutely interested in puling in a few X-Men, if we can work it out with the actors and their schedules. Thank you.”

More hands went up, and the questions continued. Christian scribbled answers as quickly as he could, writing in a shorthand he only hoped he would be able to read once he sat down to properly write the article. Nothing was off limits, from questions about accommodating an actress’s pregnancy to ones about filming on location in Saskatchewan. It was actually interesting, hearing the actors and director talk about what it was like on set and the process behind filming.

“We have time for one final question before we go,” Gavin said, scanning the room. “You, sir.” He nodded to one of the reporters on the front row.

“Tim Lee, Out Magazine. My question is for Jonah. Your character, Northstar is gay. How did you, a straight man, connect with him?”

Oh god. The question took Christian by surprise, even though he really should have seen it coming. People always wanted to know how straight guys could possibly fathom being attracted to other men, even playing a role. He clenched his teeth and waited for Jonah to brush it off or give some generic statement.

Sitting up a little straighter, Jonah cleared his throat. “Well, Tim, Northstar and I have a lot in common, actually. Now, I can’t fly and I can’t project photonic energy blasts, but um… we both like men.”