The moderator began to ask questions from his notes. Alex was charismatic and looked completely at ease in front of the audience. If I wasn’t already fake dating him, I might’ve even developed a crush on him, but it was interesting to be able to see that he was still acting up there, playing a version of himself that was slightly different from what I saw with him in private. Was the way he was with me a type of performance as well?

We were so similar in that way. My alter ego had slowly become part of my persona and trickled into my authentic personality enough that my “real” self felt inauthentic now. I had become the person I’d simply been pretending to be at first.

Who was the real Alex Chase? I doubted I’d ever find out.

Max gave an answer about the film that was passionate and articulate. There was an obvious camaraderie between him and Alex, with them frequently teasing each other and jokingly correcting each other’s answers. It was a stark reminder that abusers are never all bad and are only bad to certain people. This man had been vile to me, and yet he seemed like a charming, caring guy to everyone else in this audience. It made me ill, but I would keep my secrets because that was part of my job.

The moderator gestured towards the rows of seats. “We’ve got time for just a few questions from the audience before we wrap up…” He pointed to a woman in front who had immediately raised her hand.

“Alex, if I was going to knit you a hat, what color should it be?”

The audience laughed and Alex smiled good-naturedly. He looked my direction as he said, “I’ve been partial to blue lately.”

My cheeks heated, but I was fighting a stupid smile.

The next question was for Max. I tried to tune out his answer, fantasizing instead about raising my hand and asking him a few choice questions of my own… Why can’t you keep your dick to yourself? Are you aware that no means no?

That was off-limits, but it did give me a genius idea to get back at Alex for his Pride and Prejudice stunt. It took a few more questions before I finally caught the moderator’s attention and an assistant jogged back to me with a mic.

I managed to keep a straight face as I said, “Alex, it was recently reported that you were paid more than twice as much as your female costars in every movie you’ve been in for the last five years. What tangible actions are you taking to resolve the gender pay disparity in Hollywood?”

The room cheered at the question. We may enjoy handsome, charming men, but we liked equal pay more.

“Wow, that’s a great question.” Alex was looking back in my direction as he said it and I swore I could see the tension in his smile. He pretended to loosen a tie he wasn’t wearing.