Sidequest for Love by L.H. Cosway

It was just an hour before guests would be arriving. I sat down in the middle of the empty theatre and took a selfie, posting it to my social media with the caption, Have the whole place to myself. Isn’t life grand!

I was just slotting my phone back into my pocket when Neil appeared. He carried two small paper plates on which he’d placed a selection of finger foods. He handed one plate to me and kept the other for himself. Was this his version of an olive branch?

“See? I’m not a total slave driver,” he said grudgingly, and I couldn’t help the way my lips twitched. I wanted to smile but held it back. He might be a bit too buttoned-up, but Neil was a decent sort. At the very least, he worked hard and took pride in his job. I’d observed that today, despite my comments about his soft hands.

He surprised me when he took the seat next to mine, and we ate in companionable silence. After a few minutes, his phone buzzed, and he put his plate down to pull it out.

Being the nosy person that I was, I read it over his shoulder. It was that Annabelle lady again. It looked like they were chatting through a messenger app.

Annabelle: I wish I could be at the screening tonight. I’d love to finally meet!

I pretended to focus on eating a small cracker with hummus while I watched Neil type a quick reply out the corner of my eye.

Callum: I wish you could be here, too. We’ll meet one day. I’m sure of it.

Wait a second … Callum?! What the hell? Callum Davidson was one of the stars of Running on Air. He was also Neil’s boss. Why was Neil messaging some girl and pretending to be him? I didn’t breathe a word, but when Neil went to put his phone back in his pocket and his eyes met mine, the colour drained from his face.

He knew I’d seen.

I slowly raised an eyebrow as my mouth curved into a smile. I’d been right about him. Strait-laced Neil had a whole lot more going on under his professional exterior.

“I can explain,” he said.

I couldn’t hide the mirth in my voice. “Please do.”

I watched as he sat forward and dropped his head into his hands, swearing profusely under his breath. Oh, shit. This was serious. My smile dropped. Neil was stressed out, and I suddenly felt bad for him. What had he gotten himself into?

I reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. I won’t tell anyone. Your secret’s safe with me.” A short silence fell before I asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

He sat back and cast me a troubled look as he shook his head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

I kicked my feet up on the chair in front of me. “Try me.”

Another silence fell. He blew out a breath. “Jesus Christ. I can’t believe I’m considering telling you of all people. I must really be going mad.”

I tried not to be offended by the you of all people or the going mad bit of what he just said. I knew I wasn’t exactly his favourite person. Plus, we barely knew each other. But sometimes, it was easier to tell secrets to strangers than to those close to you.

“I used to have a really big crush on Leanne,” Neil blurted.

My eyebrows jumped at his confession. What did Callum’s girlfriend have to do with this? The little tomboy was the last person I expected Neil to fancy. I imagined him going for delicately feminine blondes who wore dresses and cardigans and shit. There was nothing delicately feminine about Leanne, but she was still all woman. Being a fan of the show, I looked up to her a lot, actually. I was kind of impressed that Neil had crushed on her. He really was full of surprises.

“I never stood a chance with her, obviously,” he said, gesturing to himself. “I mean, look at me and look at Callum.”

“Hey, don’t be so down on yourself. You’re a good-looking chap,” I said, feeling like he needed the compliment right then. Sure, Callum Davidson was sex on a stick, but Neil wasn’t unattractive. He was hot in a nerd boy sort of way. If Callum was Superman, then Neil was Clark Kent, and I’d always had a soft spot for men who wore glasses.

His cheeks coloured a little at my compliment. “Thanks,” he said shyly. “But I know what I look like. I’m not the sort of man women notice.”

I wasn’t sure I entirely agreed with that statement, particularly since I had noticed Neil had a nice, pert little backside on him. What? It wasn’t a crime to glance at a bottom from time to time, especially one as visually pleasing as Neil’s. Still, I didn’t argue with him. Instead, I got straight to the point. “So, you decided to pretend to be Callum online? How did that happen?”

He rubbed his jaw. “It’s complicated. When I realised Leanne was never going to choose me over Callum, I was in a really bad place. I was depressed. It was around the same time that Callum started having me run his social media accounts. He had thousands of unread messages from fans, and he wanted me to pretend to be him, just composing a few polite responses, saying thanks for the support and all that. A few months into it, I came across a message from Annabelle,” he sighed, his head falling back against the seat as he stared up at the high ceiling. He had a handsome profile, I noticed.

“And?” I prodded, nudging his elbow. I was hooked on his story and wanted to know more.

“She was a fan of the show and had sent a long message about how she was into parkour and hoped to be as good as Callum one day. She talked about how she looked up to him and would love any advice he could give about improving her free running. I sent her the usual response, thinking I’d leave it at that, but she kept responding, and before I knew it, I was pulled into a full-blown conversation where I was pretending to be Callum. I hadn’t meant for it to happen, but now I really like her, and I hate the fact that I’ve been lying about who I am all this time. I haven’t had the courage to come clean.”