Page 6 of Hot Set

I arched an eyebrow, unsure precisely how to answer to that strange bit of information.

Seth spoke again. “Are you from around here, Alex?”

“Originally,” I said, “But I went away for college. So, I’ve been gone for a while.”

Seth nodded. “Same,” he said. “I went away for a while, too. I was trying my luck in L.A., but it didn’t go as planned.”

“No?” I asked.

“No,” Seth replied, his voice carrying a note of finality.

I knew better than to ask anything further and instead just nodded.

“And then, you came to us,” Brandon replied.

“Sadly,” Seth said, “But hey, beggars can’t be choosers.”

“Beggars?” Brandon asked.

“Don’t take it personally, Brandon,” Seth replied. “I do take my role asWesson Winchester Smithvery seriously. Truly Oscar material.”

“That is averyclever pun,” Brandon said, sounding vaguely offended.

“Clever, sure,” Seth replied, “And I’m the god of war.”

The joke was that the Egyptian god of warwasnamed Seth, but at the time, I didn’t get the joke. If I had, I might have laughed. Instead, I stood there quietly, silently begging Brandon to bring me back into the conversation. I felt forgotten. And what was I supposed to do? Should I speak up and say something, or should I let them finish talking? Should I wander off on my own or patiently wait?

“And I’m still annoyed that you won’t let me have my motorcycle chase scene,” Seth replied, crossing his arms.

“We can’t exactly replace you if you die in a fiery crash,” Brandon said, “And besides, we’d have to get an insane number of permits.”

“Like you can’t afford an insane number of permits,” Seth countered.

“Of course, I can,” Brandon said. “It’s just I don’t feel like doing the paperwork, not to mention scraping your ass off the pavement.”

Seth rolled his eyes and flipped his hair again. “See, Alex, this is what I deal with,” Seth said. “Every single day.”

“Yeah, you’re such a martyr,” Brandon replied. "How you suffer!"

Seth cracked a mischievous grin. “Careful, Brandon. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to this production, would we? Remember theflamingo incident?”

Brandon pinched the bridge of his nose. “I swear I don’t know why I hired you.”

Seth put his hands in his back pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Because I’ve got the looks and ooze charisma,” he replied, “Don’t cross me, Brandon. If I up and leave, what will you do, then?”

“You aren’t going to leave,” Brandon said.

“Do you want to hedge a bet?” Seth asked.

“No,” Brandon replied, “Because if I do, you’ll quit just to spite me.”

Seth laughed, the sound dark and musical. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you, Alex. If Brandon here gives you a hard time, let me know.”

“I don’t giveanyonea hard time,” Brandon said.

“Also,” Seth said, “You need to look at the scenes on schedule tomorrow. One of them is toward the end of the film, and you’re having us film thatbeforethe scene where my hair gets turned blue via the magical witch.”

Brandon swore. “Really?” he asked.

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