Page 114 of Total Creative Control
The video showedCharlie Alexander sitting at a wooden kitchen table. He wore a plain white shirt, and his hair was tied neatly at the nape of his neck. His eyes were red-rimmed, making him look as though he’d been crying.
“Oh my God, he’s put this outalready?” Aaron squawked.
Lewis snorted a laugh and leaned over to start the video.
“Okay,”Charlie began.“So, if you’ve seen the leaked video of me when I was drunk, talking about the show I’ve been working my ass off on, then this is for you.”He closed his eyes, inhaling, then exhaling hard before continuing.“I’m here to apologise. I want to apologise to everyone out there who I may have unintentionally hurt with my words. And I want to apologise to my many,manyLGBTQIA+ friends, who know this isnotwho I am.”He swallowed and wiped at his eyes.“And there’s one particular person I need to make amends to.”
Aaron glanced at Lewis. “You?” he said, amazed.
Lewis chuckled, and on screen, Charlie said, “Myself.”
For a moment, Aaron just stared at Lewis, open-mouthed. Then he burst out laughing. “No way!”
“Oh, butyes way,” Lewis said through his own laughter. “Keep watching. It gets better.”
Charlie gave a brave smile, then continued.“The truth is, I’ve been struggling with alcohol for a long, long time, and that night was a wake-up call. Literally.”
“Literally?” Aaron echoed, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Milly’s rubbing off on him, I see.”
“The morning after that night, when I woke up, I couldn’t remember anything. Nothing. Eight hours just—gone. Which I guess makes sense, since I was, in essence, a completely different person during that time. So much so that I had literally no memory of it.”
“Oh my God,” Aaron said, his eyes wide. “He’s actually trying to suggest that he’s not responsible for saying those things, isn’t he?”
“Yup.”
The on-screen Charlie ploughed relentlessly on.“All I could think, over and over, was, ‘Charlie, you’re an alcoholic. When you’re drunk, you turn into someone else. Someone you don’t even recognise, like Jekyll and Hyde. The things you say—that’s not you. That’s not whoCharlie Alexanderis.’”He sighed.“So I guess I’m going to take some time out now. To work on myself. To make amends to myself.”
“Jesus, he’s amonster,” Aaron whispered, but he was laughing too, and so was Lewis.
“What about the show you were working on?”A disembodied female voice—Milly—came from behind the camera. “Will Telopix be parking that now?”
“No, of course not,”Charlie said, plastering the brave smile back on.“Telopix is committed to bringing Leeches to the US—and we’re not going to make any changes to the characters. If there’s one thing this whole nightmare has taught me, it’s… well, I need to trust people more.”He paused, bending his head to his chest, as though to collect himself. Then he looked up again and said,“The truth is, it’s not easy for me to be real with people. I’m not making excuses. I should have been more open about who I am and what I believe. I should have trusted people to understand that. And you know what? That’s on me. I get that. So, I’m gonna work on trusting my gut a little more and worrying a little less about what the money guys say we need to do to please audiences.” Another sigh. “I’m going to take the time I need to go and do that work. But in the meantime, the show must go on, so I’m going to be handing over my creative vision to an amazing team of people. The original writer, Lewis Hunter—who’s a very dear friend of mine and has been incredibly supportive through this whole thing—is going to take the lead on the project, and everyone at Telopix is right behind him.”
“What?” Aaron said. “You’re hisvery dear friend?”
“I am now,” Lewis said. “Apparently.”
“Did he call you while I was sleeping or something?”
“Nope. But Kushal did. Apparently, Charlie’s being sent on an enforced sabbatical for the next six months, and I’ve been assured that he won’t have any further involvement in the show. Ever. I’m getting total creative control.”
“That’s amazing!” Aaron said, smiling. He tossed the iPad aside and straddled Lewis’s thighs, setting his hands on his shoulders. “I did wonder when you were supposed to have found time to be supportive to Charlie, given that we’ve been shagging nonstop since yesterday afternoon.”
“I’m being supportive by allowing Kushal to look over the amended contract Telopix sent over to ensure there’s no possibility of Charlie ever having any involvement in the show again,” Lewis replied, stroking his hands up Aaron’s sides and enjoying his shiver of pleasure.
“So you’re… putting the plug back in, as it were?” Aaron asked, shifting his hips.
Lewis gave a moan at the pleasurable friction on his cock and leaned forward to kiss Aaron lightly. “If the contract looks okay, I think I’ll go ahead. But I’m a cynical bastard, so I’ll let Kushal review everything and advise me before I make any final decisions. I’m definitely not rushing into anything while I have the upper hand.”
“The upper hand?”
Lewis grinned. “Turns out Telopix are desperate to mend the reputational damage this whole incident has caused—and I won’t let the opportunity to capitalise on that pass me by. Speaking of which…” He trailed off, unsure how to raise the subject that had been niggling at him since his brief talk with Kushal.
“What?” Aaron asked, leaning back on his heels.
God, he was lovely.
Lewis gave his head a little shake to dislodge his brain from the direction it was heading in and returned to the subject he’d just been thinking about. “How would you feel about working on the show again? With me?”