Just one more backflip, Silas reminded himself.
He nailed it and flung his arms out, standing up straight as swiftly as possible, then turned his head up front and smiled widely, trying to hide his panting or the pain in his chest. Or the twinge of ache he felt in his right ankle.
The crowd went wild, screaming incoherently. Well, even if they were coherent, Silas doubted he'd understand what was being said. His ears were ringing.
There was a big round of applause and then the anchor moved forwardly and announced the sing-along which came next after ten seconds. He shifted a bit to hide behind Rowan, who was the actor in front of him and took a deep breath. Then he held up the microphone to his lips and started the song. Five minutes later, it was done. The anchor now announced that the programme was done for today. The ones who wanted to meet the actors would be able to meet them backstage, half an hour later.
Finally, a break.
Silas trudged back inside, collapsing on a chair immediately, his right hand rubbing his ankle. One of the staff immediately came forward, handing him a water bottle.
“Silas, you should see a doctor about that,” Rowan said, sipping water from his own bottle, indicating to his ankle. Rowan was breathing heavily too; but his condition was nothing compared to Silas.
“I know I should…but you know how tight my schedule is,” Silas replied, wincing slightly and he tried to get more comfortable on the chair.
“They are too hard on the newbies,” Katy muttered. Silas gave a weak smile as Rowan nodded vigorously.
“A newbie rose to ranks too quick and too sudden. Who knew I’d be starring a show as a lead in my very second ever work.”
“You did superb in Anemophile, even as a side character. You attracted eyes with your speech. Not often, but once in a while, if a side actor is well loved by the audience, the studio just lets them have their own show in the next one,” said Lucas, our director, “It’s a lucky thing, but everything has its drawbacks. Silas knew the drawbacks when he came along,” he ended firmly, throwing a kinder look at Silas before getting up and clapping his hands.
“Everyone, freshen up and change quick. Get something light to eat and drink. One last fanmeet and then you can go back.”
The Entertainment Industry is a very unpleasant and uncertain place. Silas had grown up hearing that from everyone, before he even wanted to be a part of one. He had been warned against that dream since childhood. Ironically, he ended up in that line itself.
Afterall, forbidden fruit is sweeter..
He hadn’t chosen it out of stubbornness, rebellion or anything. Since he was a child, he loved the concept of actors. People who pretend to be others, for the sake of the viewer’s smiles. But he hadn’t wanted to be one till he learnt of the hardships involved.
People usually run away when they heard ‘hardship’. But for Silas, hardships are what attracted him. It made the thing feel more real.
Being a professional actor was not about just acting for a show. It was about fanmeets, stageplays, dances, singing, entertaining the audience beyond just the recorded moments.
It was tiring. It left barely any free time. But who needed free time? Not Silas. He needed something to do with his time.
He loved his fans. He sincerely loved them. Even the ones who were too toxic with their love. Even the ones who could get overbearing. Even the most temporary ones. He loved them, for loving him.
They gave him a reason to get up and put on a smile on his face everyday while going to the studio.
Everything was all good and well until the last week. Last Sunday, there had been a dance show and Silas, being the lead actor of his latest show ‘Delta Time’, had had to dance to a few popular songs, chosen by the fans.
Somewhere near the last song, he had suddenly felt a spike of pain go up from his right ankle. He had shifted his weight lightly and continued, ignoring it. The moment he reached back home, he had collapsed. The pain didn’t leave him totally. He thought he had probably twisted his ankle and tried to twist it around to fix it. There was no swelling, but the pain persisted.
Rowan, his best friend in the studio had noticed and had agreed to staying in front of him in the gymnastic movements of dances, so that Silas could take it slightly easier. Silas had agreed, not pointing out the fact there are cameras angled around as well.
Rowan suddenly came up and kneeled down in front of him, picking up his leg and gently massaging his ankle.
“Fanservice?” Silas grinned.
“Faen (Faen is Thai for lover) service I’d say,” Rowan said, grinning back. They were both aware of the cameras on them, shooting this.
"You'd get the crowd dead if you ever said that on camera," Silas said, shaking his head.
Delta Time was actually an LGBT+ show, where Silas and Rowan had played the leads, who were in love. So of course, a lot of people shipped the actors playing it too. The director and producer had given the whole cast lectures on how they’re now bound to do a bit of fanservice here and there for the fans who ship them, but never confess to being a real couple – etc. Silas and Rowan had tuned them out, playing rock paper scissors under the table. Whoever loses the round of fifteen games, gotta buy food for the other.
They gotta stick together? It wasn’t an issue. They were best friends. They would stick together whether they were told to or not.
When fans asked them if they were gay, they had the same answer: “As Harry Styles said, we are all a little bit gay, aren’t we?”
They didn’t mind any of it. They actually enjoyed reading the fanfics and fan theories together, occasionally joking about being a real couple too.
Silas didn’t hate it here. He enjoyed it. He had fun.
But there was still so much that the fans didn’t know. His ankle condition. The fight between Katy and Lyssa, who played the side couple.
Silas sometimes wished he could do something about the friends he cared about and the issues they had to face on set.
Katy and Lyssa had been friends at first. Till one day, Lyssa went too far with the fanservice attempt and kissed Katy on the lips on stage, intentionally. Katy had been outraged by this sudden move taken without her permission but had been professional enough to not show it. Later they had a fight about it and now they don’t talk unless there’s a camera around.
“Sil,” Rowan said, his face turning serious as Silas refocused on him. “You should really see the doctor.”
“Row,” Silas replied, looking him in the eyes, “I know. But you know I can’t.”
Rowan got up, his eyes still looking extremely worried for his best friend/co-actor.
Silas got up and patted his shoulder once and went to change into fresh clothing.
By the time he came back, Lucas was back, announcing that they should go to the hall downstairs for the fanmeet now. Silas nodded and started on his way when Rowan came and slung his hand through his arm.
Silas looked at him questioningly and Rowan nodded his head towards Silas’ foot.
“You’re thinking too much about it,” Silas tried to insist, even as a spike of pain went up his ankle.
Rowan just shook his head and helped Silas out.
The fans who were waiting in the hall screamed and clapped as the highlight of the day - the actor and fan meet - started.
Silas and Rowan took their seat on a pink couch that was set on stage. The others sat down somewhere out of their view.
There were lots of questions in the question-answer round. Mostly questions around 'what would you do with your co actor if the following situation happened'. Silas smiled and answered most of them, while Rowan added funny comments, making everyone burts out laughing.
In the 'where would you like to take your co actor?' question, Silas talked about how he wanted to go to Hawaii with Rowan once, because while Hawaii was inherently fun, he wanted to see how much more fun Rowan could make it.
"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww," the crowd said.
"As for me," Rowan started, "I wanna go to Hawaii with Silas next week itself."
Silas looked at him suddenly, a suprised smile hanging on his face, trying to understand if he was kidding.
Rowan looked absolutely serious, even with the smirk on his face.
"Oh come on, I have a beach photoshoot next week," Rowan said, in a complaining way. "Maybe we can all together convince the managers to take me to Hawaii. As for Silas..." Rowan looked to the side and looked Silas up and down, "I think he can fit in a big enough bag."
"What?" Silas said, laughing and punching Rowan lightly on the shoulder. "I'M NOT THAT SMALL, JUST TWO INCHES SHORTER THAN YOU, IDIOT."
"Shoree," Rowan replied, scrolling through pictures of Hawaii on his phone, which he had opened before anyone noticed. "The shores here are pretty."
Silas put his head in his hands in exasperation.
One of the fans asked 'what would you be if you weren't an actor?' and Silas promptly jumped into the question and said with a seriously worried and straight face, "I don't know about me, but Row would definitely be a thief, his slight of hand scares me sometimes."
Rowan burst out laughing and said "If I was a thief, you'd be my first victim. I'm dangerously close to being broke though, so remember to lock up your house properly."
Silas grabbed a cushion and threw it in Rowan's face and they both ended up laughing for a long time.
Once it was all done, they moved backstage to face a glaring Lucas.
"Rowan, who allowed you go to go out of script and say Hawaii like that?"
"It's my wish. They asked me what I wanted, not what the director told me to say," Rowan said with a shrug. "So, were you pressurized by the fans to send us away for a vacation?"
"Yes, and it appears that it was your plan. You want a vacation that bad, Silas? That you made Rowan do something like that onstage?" Lucas said, turning to Silas.
"Sil had nothing to do with it. Not directly. But in case you haven't noticed, his ankle needs medical attention. Any more of those on-stage dances and the damage can be permanent," Rowan said, coldly. "The fans demanded this vacation, so they won't mind the delay in the shooting and the dance programmes. It's just one week, give us this much, for God's sake!"
Lucas looked at both of them then looked down at the tab he was holding, full of tweets tagging #rowsilhawaiitrip.
"Fine," he snapped. "But once you're back, you'll be working overtime. Send in your Kaylie (Rowan's manager) and Tim (Silas' manager). I will tell them the new schedules."
"Yes, sir," Rowan said, taking out his phone to call Kaylie.
"We need to have a talk," Silas murmered in his ear.
"Next week in Hawaii, my friendd," Rowan replied, swinging his arm across Silas' shoulder.
Silas sighed. "Got no choice, do I?"
Rowan just grinned widely.
