Page 57 of The Brave and the Reckless

Now/Hereby Adriana Banks

Chapter Seventeen

ANNIE LOU AND THE FOURTEEN THIEVES by CommanderAnnieRyder

Fandoms: Bravetown Park. Bravetown (TV Show). Den of Thieves (Attraction).

29 Dec 2023– Chapters: 9– Comments: 35– Likes: 107

Tags: Ace x Annie, Kidnapping, Mild Violence, Damsel in Distress, Found Family, Original Side Characters, Angst, smut begins in chapter 4

NOAH

I was about to be fired. I should have known that I was too replaceable to get into trouble. Annie Lou’s costume was highly specific. It wasn’t that easy to switch her out. Ace Ryder just needed to show up dressed in black with a bandana over his face. So when I tailed Esra through the hallways of the office building, summoned by Renee, I knew only one of us was getting fired.

People here hooked up all the time, but not in the park, and definitely not during opening hours.

Had we forgotten to switch off the microphones one day?

The hideout’s location wasn’t accessible to the publicduring shows, but maybe another cast member had heard us from outside. I still would have expected the courtesy of a conversation. Who the hell would run to Renee to tattle right away?

I balled my fists when we walked into Renee’s office to see Lucas already sprawled in one of the chairs opposite her desk.

“Oh, hey, Lucky!” Esra’s face lit up at the sight of him. She clearly didn’t realize what his presence here meant. Or maybe she did, but she was blinded by the fact that she actually liked him, because no matter how many times I made her come, she never smiled at me like that.

“Hey gorgeous.” He smiled back.

Sleeping with a girl doesn’t make her your girlfriend.I’d heard Adriana tell him as much the day after he’d spent the night in Esra’s room. Getting me fired would sure get him a step closer though. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Esra was into the costume. Into Ace. Into being handled by the guy in the mask. She liked being the little damsel, had calledherselfPretty Annie Lou right after I’d made her come the other day. She might just start hooking up with whoever replaced me.

“Sit down everyone,” Renee said and closed the door to her office behind us, “we need to talk.”

“Do I need a lawyer? Do I get a phone call?” Esra asked with a big grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She knew as well as I did that we could be in deep shit.

“I know the two of you are active online,” Renee said as she sat down, pointing at both Lucas and me. “So you have likely seen some of the posts and comments.”

“I turned off the comments on all my videos last week,”Lucas said and turned to Esra. “I wasn’t sure if you watched my videos, but you don’t need to see that shit.”

“I don’t watch your videos, sorry,” Esra mumbled, furrowing her brow.

“You called us in here because people have been trolling Esra online?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Renee said.

Esra and I sighed in relief, garnering confused looks.

Sure, yes, the park’s online presence was important, but we’d clearly both been worried about a scandal of a vastly different scale. A few online haters were nothing.

“I’ve been deleting the comments and untagging myself from any posts like that,” I said, unable to keep my smile hidden.

“You’ve both been getting comments about me?” Esra asked, relief short-lived.

“There are a few very persistent commenters that we can block across all accounts and write off as ‘trolls’,” Renee said using air quotes, “but the general consensus isn’t great either. It’s not affecting our numbers. Not yet. But the online chatter has been loud enough for our customer experience team to notice. Once they notice, it usually doesn’t take long for word to spread.” Renee sighed and trained her eyes on Esra. “I want to make it very clear that nobody thinks you’re at fault, okay? You saved us from having to cancel our show altogether after Lindsey left, which would have definitely resulted in booking cancellations. Still, I’ve decided to put out a casting call to find someone a little more experienced.”

“You’re firing me?” Esra’s voice cracked and, in that moment, I would have burned down the entire internetto keep those assholes hiding behind their usernames far away from her.

“Oh, no, no, honey, no. You’ll always have a place here at Bravetown. Just not as Annie Lou. And it will take a few weeks for us to find a replacement and get her ready for the show, which is why I’ve decided to extend the run until we switch to the Spooktacular Sunset Showdown in late October.”

Esra opened and closed her mouth. “Can I keep the boots?”

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