I'm back again, friends! Sorry for making you all wait so long for this update, but as I said in my last malec story (Pas de Deux), with Thanksgiving and what happened a few weeks ago with that certain cast member, I wasn't feeling very inspired and writing or editing my work seemed impossible, so I decided to take some days off to regroup and come back stronger. It took me a bit longer than expected, but as people say, it's better late than never.
Anyway, this chapter isn't as long as the first one, but still has 7K words, so it's pretty long (at least for me). As usual, I won't say much about it because I hate spoilers, but I really hope you like it. There are some characters appearing for the first time and this chapter marks the beginning of Alec and Magnus's story, so I'm excited for you guys to read it. Please make sure to share your thoughts in the reviews and to fave/follow the story if you can.
I'll see you all real soon, I promise.
Find me on twitter as MsAlexisCriss or tumblr as msalexiscriss.
Much love, Alexis.
Chapter 2
On Friday morning, Alec and the team that his boss had assigned him for the interview, Aline Penhallow and Simon Lewis—the best photographer and cameraman of the magazine respectively—were ready to go to Magnus's house to do the oh-so-famous exclusive interview.
One of the magazine vans was parked outside the building and they were just loading the equipment they were going to need before leaving—cameras, cables, microphones, lights, etc. They had to be in the house of the 'acclaimed' actor and singer at ten o'clock in the morning to set everything ready and start the interview half an hour later. Magnus's team had been very specific about the schedule, stating that their client detested tardiness and asking them to arrive on time.
"Alec! Alec!" Izzy and Clary exclaimed, rushing out of the magazine building and motioning him to wait for them—Jace was trailing behind them.
"What is it?" Alec asked, trying not to sound too exasperated. He had no idea what these three wanted, but he had no time to lose.
"Could you get us his autograph?" Izzy asked hopefully.
"Really, et tu, Izzy?" Alec asked not quite believing what he had just heard and just staring at the three with judgemental eyes.
"Hey! I don't want one, don't look at me like that." Jace immediately said, raising his hands in the air. "I'm not that much of a fan, I mean, I've heard and seen his stuff and he's pretty good, but I don't need an autograph."
"Can you get it or not?" Izzy asked. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, big brother, so you're morally obligated to do this for us, it's not our fault that Aldertree decided to choose you, Magnus's number one hater, to interview him."
"I'm not his number one hater, I couldn't care less about the guy, I just don't think he's the super talented singer slash actor you all think he is." Alec said, trying to defend his point of view. Celebrities nowadays were more about looks than actual talent, that was why they reached the top so easily. A wink, a smile and one or two favors, and the world gave them everything on a silver platter.
"Whatever you say, we're not here to discuss your obvious blindness and lack of good taste, can you get us his autograph or not?"
"Okay, fine...I'll try." Alec said resignedly. As his sister had pointed out, he was, indeed, morally obligated to do so—for his family, for his friends and for practically all the employees of the magazine. In the last few days he had been receiving the same kind of request from almost everyone—from some very distinguished members of the executive board to the maintenance staff and mail people. Everyone wanted this guy's autograph.
"Could you also ask him to sign Max's collection?" Izzy asked, handing Alec a bag with all the available formats of Magnus's albums and movies: vinyl, CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, EPs...everything.
Alec knew that his teenage little brother, Max, was a bit obsessed with the famous singer and actor. He had been dressing like him for months and getting on his parents' nerves with the excessive amount of eyeliner and nail polish he had been sporting.
"You told Max!?" Alec asked in disbelief. He had specifically asked his siblings not to tell their little brother about the interview until it was done for a reason. He had wanted to avoid all this.
"Sorry? I was on the phone with him last night and it kinda slipped and well, you know him, he made me go all the way to our parents' place to pick up all this stuff and bring it to you."
Now Alec understood why he had so many missed calls from his little brother. He had planned to call him as soon as the interview was over to share the 'experience' with him, but now he wasn't so sure if that would be the best idea. If Max already knew about the interview, there was a good chance that the little imp was ready to interview Alec himself just to get all the scoop on his idol. As far as he knew, his little brother wasn't interested in the family business and didn't want to become a journalist like them, but he had it in his blood, so maybe it would be better to wait until he could see him in person and distract him with whatever he got for him from his encounter with Magnus than call him and risk being ambushed on the phone—the last time it had happened, he had talked to him for five straight hours.
"Well, you'll have to tell him I can't do this." Alec pointed to the bag containing Max's collection. "This is a very serious interview, Iz, my first exclusive. Magnus is a busy man, I can't ask him to sign all this. Besides, I don't think he's going to feel very comfortable with me if he finds out that my little brother is one of his obsessed groupies, I could creep him out and-"
"But Max-"
"I'm sure Max won't mind if I just get him a simple piece of paper with his signature on it, I had already planned to ask Magnus for a personalized autograph just for him. Max loves him anyway, so he's going to combust no matter what I bring for him."
"Yeah, that's true...I'm sorry, but I had to try."
Alec just smiled—he understood. They all loved Max to bits and if any of his siblings would have been chosen to interview Magnus instead, Alec would have tried to make them get stuff for their little brother as well. "Don't worry, I get it...anyway, I have to go now, it's getting late and this idol of yours was very specific with the schedule for the interview, apparently he hates tardiness."
"Alec…" Clary said, stopping him again. Of all the members of their little group slash family, he and Clary weren't what could be called the best of friends, they liked each other all right, it was just hard for them to see eye to eye on things. "Could you get one for my mother too?" She asked, giving him her sweet smile. The one she used on a daily basis with Jace and that seemed to work miracles.
Alec chuckled—this was unbelievable. Literally everyone and their mother loved this guy. "Yeah, yeah...don't worry, I'll see what I can do for you all." He said, playfully rolling his eyes at the ridiculousness of the situation and just getting into the van before they could distract him further. Aline and Simon had finished loading the equipment and they were already waiting inside. "See you later, guys!" He exclaimed, waving goodbye and closing the door of the van behind him.
"They wanted autographs too?" Aline asked, sounding not so surprised.
Alec nodded. "Can you believe them?"
Aline chuckled. "I got some requests as well."
"This is unbelievable." Alec sighed. "I really don't get what's so special about this guy, but anyway, let's go! The sooner we get there, the sooner I can get this over with and forget it ever happened."
"Forget it ever happened!?" Simon exclaimed. "Alec, we're about to meet the star of the moment! Magnus Freaking Bane! That's not something you can forget that easily. He's like...I don't know, Jared Leto, but better. You know, that guy from Thirty Seconds of Mars who also won an Academy Award? He's a bit of a dick and all, but he's done some great stuff and-"
"Simon..." Alec cut him off, meeting eyes with him through the rear-view mirror. He liked Simon, besides being excellent at his job he was a great boyfriend to his sister and therefore a good guy in Alec's book, but he talked too much and his brain-to-mouth filter never seemed to work—something that managed to irritate Alec more often than not. "Just drive, okay?"
"Okay, yeah...driving." Simon shut up, starting the engine and without further comment, taking them to their destination.
o-o-o-o-o
With each street they passed, Alec grew increasingly anxious and didn't even know why. It was just another interview, probably with the biggest and most annoying FPC in existence, but still it was nothing he hadn't done before. He had once interviewed Mariah Carey on the red carpet of one of her Christmas concerts and had lived to tell the story, so he could certainly handle Magnus Bane, who compared to the famous diva singer was very down to earth.
"Simon, is it too far?" Alec asked after a while. They were on Fifth Avenue, just past the Grand Army Plaza and Apple's glass cube.
"No, in fact, we're pretty close. His house is on the Upper East Side, ten blocks ahead." Simon informed him.
Alec sighed and looked out the window as the van kept making its way through the ever-clogged streets of New York. He wanted to distract himself and not think about the interview until they got to Magnus's house, but it wasn't an easy task, so despite the beautiful view that the passenger window offered, he found himself trying to go over the interview in his head and planning the most likely course it would take.
Interviewing FPCs was always the same, they were so self-conceited that they could spend hours upon hours just talking about themselves, so in a way making them share things was never a problem, the problem was what kind of things they shared. Usually, they talked about stupid, pointless things that in the long run never had any impact on the audience and that was what Alec hated the most. He always tried to make these interviews interesting, worth reading, but when it came to FPCs, the script always changed. They always managed to twist everything and make a serious question—which could actually give people reading it some insight about them as human beings—about something else entirely, making Alec's actual journalistic work seem like nothing but a joke.
"Do any of you know anything about this pseudo-celebrity's house? I mean, is it a house or an apartment?" Alec asked in yet another attempt to distract himself. "I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with the way some celebrities live. I know some have very luxurious apartments and some other mansions, Magnus comes from a very wealthy family, so I'm guessing that since childhood he's had a life full of luxuries, I don't think that has changed much now that he's a superstar, do you?"
"Hmmm, no, it's very unlikely, but wait...you didn't google the address?" Aline asked surprised.
"No." Alec admitted.
"Why?"
"I don't know, it didn't seem important."
"Well, it's not, we're gonna see his house anyway, but I have to admit that this is very unusual of you. I mean, you're always very meticulous with your interviews, you like to know every last detail about the person you're interviewing. You not knowing from A to Z about this guy is weird." Aline said as Simon turned left on 69th Street.
"I didn't have much time to prepare myself, only two days, I had to prioritize my research." Alec shrugged. "Anyway, I hope he doesn't live in an apartment because no matter how luxurious it is, I'm afraid we'll have some problems with the footage. You guys will have to do some miracles with the angles to get material for fifteen pages. You heard what Aldertree said this morning, he wants original shots and-" Alec's words died somewhere in his throat.
They had just parked in front of a building marked with the number twelve on the front, and although it was a six-story building that could easily be mistaken for a luxurious apartment building, it was not. It was one of those very old New York mansions valued in many millions of dollars.
"Holy shit!" Simon exclaimed, gaping at what appeared to be Magnus's home.
"A very hmmm...humble home." Aline added, taking a quick picture of the impressive facade.
Alec rolled his eyes and jumped out of the van, immediately straightening his clothes. "Of course he lives here," he said without surprise, "only a diva like him would live in a 100 million-dollar-valued mansion."
"Jealous much?" Aline inquired.
Alec chuckled. "Are you kidding? Who would like to live here?" He asked, pointing to the ostentatious mansion, because seriously...who would like to live in a place like that one? Just by looking at it, Alec knew that despite all the luxury, no one could call this place a home. It looked cold, lifeless...lonely—homes weren't supposed to look like that.
"Me." Both Simon and Aline said at the same time. They were already taking out all the equipment from the van.
"Of course you would," Alec said, rolling his eyes again as he rang the bell. They had arrived just in time.
A very tall, easy on the eye and dark-skinned man who, judging by the attire Alec assumed must be some kind of butler, opened the door and after checking their IDs, making them sign some papers and pass them through some security protocols, ushered them inside the impressive mansion.
The place could be cold, lifeless and lonely, but Alec couldn't deny that it was also impressive—jaw-dropping impressive. If from the outside the building looked luxurious from the inside it was like stepping into a freaking museum. The art on the walls, the priceless antique furniture, the stunning paneled staircases in light oak...every inch of this place was exquisite.
"How big is this place?" Alec asked, unable to resist the curiosity to ask more about the palace that Magnus had bought for himself.
"It's a six-level property with 20,000 square feet of living space, in addition to 2,500 square feet of outdoor space, which includes a roof deck with sweeping views of Central Park and the city, sir." The butler told them.
"Wow…" Alec, Aline and Simon exhaled, taking in all the beauty of the house.
Alec had once visited David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris's Harlem townhouse when the magazine had interviewed the famous couple and Alec had gone as an assistant to his father, but that place had nothing compared to this one. The Burtka-Harris household was impressive, yes, but this one definitely took the cake.
"Now, if you please." The butler told them, pointing toward the stairs.
They all nodded and followed him through the finely decorated mansion until they reached one of the five living rooms available.
"Five!" Simon gushed in a low voice, only for Aline and Alec to listen.
Alec looked at him and sent him a please-behave kind of look. Simon could easily lose his cool when he was in front of celebrities, he was the official cameraman of a very famous entertainment magazine, but, surprisingly, after years and years of meeting all kinds of celebrities, he still got star-struck.
"You can settle yourselves here for the first photo session, I'll send some refreshments right away and Mr. Bane will be here shortly." The butler said, making a slight bow and walking away.
"Well," Simon breathed out, already unpacking his camera, "I don't know about you guys, but I would kill to become friends with this guy. He certainly knows how to live. Did you see the bar on the second floor? It's the size of the Hunter's Moon! Well, maybe a bit bigger, but I think it's just a matter of perspective, I mean, it's hard to know exactly without all the drunken idiots passed out on the tables, and-"
"Simon, stop fanboying for a second and set your camera ready," Alec said, "we're here to do an interview, not to befriend anyone—we're professionals." He added. It was true that Magnus's place was impressive, in fact, what Simon had said about the bar in the house being the size of that Brooklyn bar that their group of friends used to frequent every weekend was true, but they had to act like the professionals they were.
"Okay, fine...relax, it was just a curious commentary." Simon said. "It's not like I was going to ask him to be my friend or anything like that, I was just making an observation about the size of that place. Hosting a party there would be totally cool, like, can you imagine? We could invite the whole magazine, I could even call my old band and organize a gig. There's room for a stage there and with the right equipment Rock Solid Panda could make a comeback and-"
"He literally never stops talking, does he?" Alec told Aline, who was rolling her eyes in exasperation—something Alec could relate to.
"No, he doesn't." Aline agreed. "He's a lost cause, I really don't know how your sister puts up with him."
"Me neither, though she can't shut up either, so I guess it's true what they say: there's someone for everyone."
"Hey!" Simon complained. "I'm here, remember? I can hear you both."
o-o-o-o-o
As Aline and Simon readied the cameras, the lights and the microphones, Alec began to wander around the large living room, trying to observe as much as he could while he still had the chance. His grandmother used to say that you could learn a lot about people from their houses and, although Alec didn't like Magnus at all, he couldn't deny that thanks to this unexpected twist of fate now he was a bit curious about him.
So far what he had gotten from the man's house was that, one, it was plain obvious that Magnus liked an expensive life, and two, that although everything did look cold and lifeless, Magnus seemed to have a very good taste. All the rooms they had seen so far were finely decorated with elegant furniture and exquisite decoration, the styles were a bit eclectic, but that didn't make the mansion any less beautiful. Those classic touches mixed with the contemporary elements made the place look unique, quirky...very—and Alec hated to admit this—Magnus.
The living room that Magnus and his team had chosen as the first spot for the photo shoot was large and spacious, it was framed by a large chandelier that hung high above the cluster of armchairs and the coffee table; it had a fireplace in one of the walls, a black grand piano in the corner, sculptures and paintings almost everywhere, and of course, a spectacular view of the city.
A painting at the far end of the room caught Alec's attention and he got closer to have a better look of it. It was a strange painting, full of all kinds of colors and sharp edges. The combination was chaotic, aggressive even, the forms were fractured and faceted, creating a kaleidoscope of colors that trapped the viewer in its colorful spiral. It was an intriguing and quite interesting painting, Alec was not an art enthusiast, but for some strange reason this painting made him want to be one. He wanted to be able to discover all its secrets, all its hidden messages—to decipher it.
"What do you guys think?" He asked his friends, without tearing his eyes off the painting. "Is it just me or this painting besides being extremely bizarre is kind of-"
"Kind of what?" Someone asked, interrupting Alec's question.
Alec froze in his place. That voice didn't belong to any of his friends, so very slowly, he turned around and, to his surprise, saw to whom that voice belonged. Standing on the threshold of the room and with a huge smile plastered on his face was Magnus Bane in the flesh.
"Oh…"
For a split second Alec lost his voice and just stared at the man standing in front of him. If he had admitted back in his office that the man was attractive, now there was no way he could deny it. Whether he liked it or not, Magnus Bane was «extremely» attractive. Tall, with a flawless olive skin, toned arms, amazing hair, strong jaw and the most beautiful pair of brown eyes that Alec had ever seen, not to mention his excellent taste in clothes. Alec wasn't a fashionista like his sister, but he certainly knew how to appreciate good clothes when he saw them, especially when these fitted its wearer so well—and well, there was no doubt that these ones did. The tight scarlet shirt Magnus was wearing accentuated his amazing body and those black pants hung in all the right places. The whole outfit made Magnus look like a supermodel, but...he still had that stupid, fake grin on his face and that killed all the sex appeal. It was like bursting a balloon with a needle.
"I apologize for that," Alec said, quickly composing himself, "I was just-"
"Yes, you were saying that my painting besides being extremely bizarre was kind of...?"
Alec couldn't help but blush a little. "Hmmm, very intriguing, actually, a bit hypnotic if I may add. The colors and the composition seem to put the viewer under a spell, making you want to, I don't know, discover all its secrets...decipher it."
Magnus let out a chuckle. "Well saved, mister...?"
"Alec Lightwood, writer for The Shadow World magazine." Alec said, extending his hand in a polite way and offering it to Magnus.
"Short for Alexander, I assume?" Magnus asked, tilting his head a little—curiosity was evident in his eyes.
Alec nodded.
"You have a nice name, very powerful, the name of many rulers." Magnus smiled, finally taking Alec's hand.
The moment Alec felt that warm hand against his own, an electric current went through his body, but he put the feeling aside thinking that maybe it was just a reaction to having been caught blatantly criticizing a painting that, in fact, he had liked in the first place.
"I'm Magnus Bane," Magnus said without letting go of Alec's hand, "and to instruct you a bit about the bizarre painting over there, that piece is called 'Battle of the Lights, Coney Island,' by Joseph Stella. He was a very renowned futurist painter. I have another painting of his in my hmmm...private recording studio."
"Thanks for the art class," Alec replied, quickly retrieving his hand from Magnus's unsettling grip, "but, may I introduce my team?" He added, pointing to the other two people in the room who, so far, had been stoically ignored. "Aline Penhallow, my photographer, and Simon Lewis, my cameraman."
Magnus immediately turned around to politely greet them and Alec took those few seconds to jump into his professional journalist self and calm down a bit. He couldn't deny that given what had happened with the painting and everything, Magnus had caught him a bit off guard, but he was a professional—he knew how to control himself.
"So…" Magnus said, returning his full attention to Alec. "Where do you want me?"
Alec took a deep breath before replying. "Over here please, if you may, Mr. Bane." He said, expecting Magnus to take a seat in one of the armchairs he had pointed at, but the man didn't move from where he was standing.
"Okay, you know what?" Magnus exclaimed, and Alec's whole body trembled with anticipation.
He didn't know what kind of over the top request Magnus was about to ask, but he was sure as hell that there was one coming up. That was what happened when you interviewed a FPC, they all had the same modus operandi.
"Let's set some rules before we start with this, okay?" Magnus said, surprising them all.
"Okay...?" Alec replied hesitantly. He was literally just expecting the extravagant request that he was sure Magnus was going to ask and that Alec probably wouldn't be able to fulfill, causing with that the cancellation of the interview. He could already hear Magnus's lecture about the magazine's lack of professionalism because Alec had been unable to bring Holy water from the Vatican so that the man could wash his hands. And if that happened, Alec could start looking for a new job because he was sure that Aldertree was going to fire him and not even the fact that his parents were the owners of the magazine was going to save him.
"You and your team are going to call me just Magnus, not Mr. Bane, not Magnus Bane, just Magnus, and I'll call you all by your names, is that okay?"
"What?" Alec blurted out. He had been expecting a more diva-like request, certainly not that.
"I want you all to call me just Magnus, is that okay?" Magnus asked again.
Simon and Aline said 'cool' at the same time and Alec just limited himself to nod.
"I don't like the mister title, I'm way too young for that," Magnus elaborated, "and besides, we're practically the same age, right? I mean, I'm not going to ask any of your ages because that would be extremely rude of me, but you all look young, so I'm going to assume we're about the same age and, therefore, we'll drop the formalities, okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Alec finally said, though it still came out in a whisper. His voice wasn't completely back. This man had a strange effect on him.
"Good, now, where did you say you wanted me, Alexander?"
"Hmmm, just Alec...and over here hmmm, Magnus." Alec said, stuttering a bit. He had no idea what was going on with him today, but he had to control himself or else this wasn't going to work for anyone.
Alec turned around to take a seat opposite Magnus and used those few seconds to take a deep breath and get ready for the interview. "Are you ready, Aline, Simon?" He asked his friends and co-workers.
"Yes, we're rolling, we can start whenever you want." Simon said.
Alec gave Aline a quick look to get some sort of confirmation too.
"Ready." She said.
"Are you ready, Mr. Ba-I mean, Magnus?"
Magnus nodded.
"I'm going to ask you some questions that I compiled myself. As you already know, we have to cover 15 pages, so naturally I have a lot of things and topics that I want us to talk about. To be precise, I have five different blocks of questions to cover different aspects of your professional life and career. Victor Aldertree, my direct boss and editor-in-chief of the magazine, personally approved each of the questions I'll ask and made sure none of them came any close to the list of forbidden topics that you and your people so kindly provided to the magazine. However, if at any moment you want me to stop, change or rephrase any question, just raise your hand and we'll stop rolling, is that okay?"
"I think it's perfect, thank you, Alexander." Magnus replied, smiling.
Alec wanted to tell him that he hated when people called him by his full name, only his parents did that and it was usually when they were mad at him and he was in trouble, but something stopped him from doing so.
"Okay, then...let's begin." Alec said, taking out his tape recorder and notepad.
"I'm all yours, Alexander." Magnus said, winking and flashing him one of his crooked smiles, and although a flash of crimson ran down Alec's cheeks due to that quite distracting sight, he took a deep breath and started the interview.
o-o-o-o-o
The interview went smoothly, after the first few questions, Alec was able to relax and now he was completely in his element. It didn't matter who the celebrity sitting in front of him was, if there was something that Alec loved was his job and, although sometimes he had to do interviews and write articles about people he didn't like—like at that very precise moment—he couldn't deny that doing so was one of his passions.
"So, we've been talking about your sudden rise to fame and how all this has come as something unexpected for you." Alec said, taking a deep breath. He was about to ask the only question that Aldertree had warned him about. Next to that question his boss had scribbled a quick note that said: 'careful with this one.' At first Alec had thought about removing it completely from the list, but after thinking it through he had decided that he was going to ask it anyway. It was a somewhat dangerous question because the answer could go either way and Alec could lose control of the interview, but he trusted that he could handle whatever Magnus told him.
"You turn thirty this year, but you've already been in a couple of movies, you have a hit TV show currently airing, three platinum albums, two EP's and have shared a Broadway stage with Barbra Streisand, to what or whom do you think you owe your success? Or, is it just a combination of luck, money and what we call some very good and important connections?" Alec asked.
Magnus's confident facade suddenly changed, and Alec wanted to high-five himself for that. He knew he had a way with words and that last question had undoubtedly shaken Magnus. The implication of his overnight success was clear and the star now seemed as if he were searching for the right words to answer Alec's question.
"Nobody, ever, had hmmm...asked me that question before." Magnus admitted. "But, I'd say that no, it's definitely not a combination of good luck, money and/or important connections."
"Then, could it be because of the good looks?" Alec inquired.
Magnus chuckled. "You flatter me, you really do, but I don't think so either."
"Then, what is it?"
"Hard work and sacrifices, Alec." Magnus replied sincerely—the sudden change from Alexander to Alec was strangely unsettling and made Alec frown. "I've been working very hard for a lot of years, trying to make all my dreams come true, and now we could say that all my efforts are finally paying off."
"So, do you consider all this sudden fame as your reward?"
"No, I don't." Magnus said firmly. "To be honest, I couldn't care less about fame."
"You say you don't care about fame, but let's say that tomorrow the world woke up not knowing who you are anymore, would you still don't care?"
"Of course I would care, but there's a very thin line between fame and recognition. I do not care about fame, but I do care about recognition. I want people to like what I do."
"So for you recognition «is» a reward." Alec stated.
"Isn't it for everybody?" Magnus retorted. "I mean, you are a journalist and you write articles and do interviews so that people recognize your work and say, 'Oh, look! Alec Lightwood did this interview or wrote this article. He's a very good writer.' It's the same for everyone. We all are always looking for recognition, from the doctor who just saved her patient's life, to the guy who cleans the streets. We all want others to recognize our work either because it entails a great effort on our part and we've put a lot of time and dedication into it, or because it is what we love to do and are passionate about. Everyone's situation is different, some work for pleasure others out of necessity, but I believe that all the things in this world that are done with even a little bit of effort, dedication, love and passion are worthy of recognition, don't you agree?"
Alec nodded. He couldn't articulate an answer for that. He was confused by Magnus's response, the guy was showing a side that Alec didn't even know it existed.
"In this business," Magnus continued, "it is fame what keeps you relevant, yes, but it is recognition what makes you good at what you do. And if you're good at what you do then fame is just a collateral damage."
"So, you don't like fame." Alec asked.
"That's not a question."
"Sorry, you're right. So...don't you like fame?" Alec rephrased.
"Not always. I mean, it certainly has its perks because I can reach a lot more people with my art, but it's not what I want. There's this phrase from an English novelist, Ouida, that says: 'Fame has only the span of a day, they say. But to live in the hearts of the people—that is worth something.' And that's exactly what I want. I want to live in the hearts of people. I want them to love what I do, to recognize my work and say, 'Oh, look! Magnus wrote that song or made that movie.'" Magnus said, and somehow Alec knew that the singer had been sincere since the smile on his face was one that Alec hadn't seen before. It wasn't fake or forced, it was genuine and for just a fraction of a second, Alec's heart skipped a beat—Magnus truly had a beautiful smile.
"You seem to be speaking from your heart." Alec said. For some unknown reason, he had felt the need to acknowledge Magnus's sincerity.
"I am."
"I noticed." Alec admitted. It was very easy to tell when Magnus's answers were close to his heart. Alec felt as if he could read this man as an open book, something that until now hadn't happened before—both professionally and personally. "And well, your work has been recognized all over the world, so you must be doing something right." He added, a bit flushed as he tried to continue with the rest of the questions.
o-o-o-o-o
The interview continued without setbacks and once Alec finished with the first block of questions they changed locations using the bar, the dining room, the library and finally the pool to take more pictures and carry on with the questions. By the time the interview was over, it was way past lunch time.
"Thank you so much for the interview, Magnus." Alec said, while his team picked up the equipment and started to take it downstairs to the van.
"It was my pleasure, Alec. You asked some very good questions, so I should be the one thanking you. If I'm completely honest, I'm not a big fan of being interview, it's always awkward and a nuisance for both parties, but this experience was different. I like different."
"Thanks for that, I'm glad to hear that this was different from what you were expecting."
"Oh...definitely."
"And also thank you for signing that advanced copy of your new album for my little brother, you really didn't have to do that, although I'm sure he's going to go crazy when I give it to him."
"No problem, just make sure he doesn't leak it online or else I could get in trouble."
"He won't, don't worry. He practically worships you, he would never do anything to put you in danger." Alec said because it was true, Max loved Magnus and would never do anything to hurt him in any way. Besides, Alec was sure that his little brother was going to turn that album into some kind of relic as soon as he knew that Magnus himself had broken a couple of rules just so he could have an advanced copy of it. "Either way," he added, "I'll make sure to find a way to ensure that the album stays under wraps until it's officially released."
"I appreciate that, and I really hope Max likes it."
"I'm sure he will, so much so that I can assure you that by the time it comes out, he'll know all the songs by heart."
Magnus chuckled. "So he's a die-hard fan, huh?"
"You could say that." Alec said because 'die-hard fan' was an understatement when it came to Max's love for Magnus. "But really, on his behalf...thank you."
"Don't even mention it, it's people like your brother who keep me where I am, so it's the least I can do for them."
Alec couldn't help but smile. "And also thanks for the signed posters, many people in the magazine are going to put them in their offices, I'm sure."
"Are you?" Magnus questioned, raising one of his perfectly stylized eyebrows in a very inquisitive way.
"Hmmm, I don't think so. I'm not a big fan of covering walls with posters, I prefer pictures." Alec replied sincerely. He had no idea why he had shared that personal detail about himself, but he had done it and there was no way to take back his words now.
"Well, I could always send you a framed picture if you want." Magnus said, winking at him.
Alec blushed. "There's-there's no need for that, but thank you. Hmmm, we'll send your team a copy of the interview before publishing it, so we'll be in touch." Alec said all businesslike. He was trying hard to turn their little exchange into something professional again and put aside the feeling he had that Magnus had just somehow flirted with him.
It couldn't be, Magnus was bisexual all right, but there were strong rumors that he was back with his ex-girlfriend Camille. Of course, Alec had been unable to get a confirmation during the interview since any question regarding Magnus's personal life had been strictly forbidden, but it made sense—they both had filmed a movie together a few weeks ago, they were going to have to rekindle the romance for promotional purposes at some point.
"Thank you, I'm really looking forward to reading it. Are you sure that you and your team don't want to stay for lunch? I can ask my people to prepare us something quick if you don't have much time." Magnus said, reaffirming the offer he had made once they had wrapped the interview.
"No, thank you, we appreciate the offer, but we really have to head back to the office." Alec said. It wasn't entirely true, they could go back to the office whenever they wanted, but Alec felt really uncomfortable and just wanted to leave. Apparently, Magnus was not the diva that he had first thought he was and he didn't know what to make of that. In all the years he had been writing for the entertainment industry he had never been wrong about a celebrity before and now it seemed that Magnus could be the first one.
"Okay, as you wish. Then I guess this is goodbye?"
"It is."
"Well, thanks again for everything, Alec." Magnus said, extending his hand in a friendly way.
Alec took a deep breath and grabbed it—the electric current he had felt the first time they had touched was still there and it was unsettling. "It was a pleasure meeting you." Alec said, trying to be polite, but in truth, all he wanted was to run away from that house and never come back.
"Likewise, Alexander." Magnus said with a smile.
Alec returned the smile, but turned around immediately. The 'Alexander' was back and it did things to him, so he just followed his team down the stairs and climbed into the magazine van before he allowed himself to breathe again.
The last few hours of his life were a bit hard to process, after the interview, Alec couldn't match the opinion he had of Magnus Bane with the man he had just talked to for almost five hours. He was very confused. "Didn't you guys find the interview a bit confusing?" Alec asked, looking for some guidance on what had just happened and why he felt the way he felt.
"Confusing?" Simon questioned as he started the van.
"Yes, the man we just interviewed is not the one that the magazines and the media have been selling all these years." Alec said, somewhat worried. "He's different, I mean, you guys saw the way he answered all my questions, he's clearly very polite, schooled, compassionate, committed...honest."
"Isn't that like a good thing?" Aline asked confused.
"No..." Alec whispered.
"Why not?" Simon and Aline asked in unison.
"Because that means he either lied to us or to everyone else." Alec concluded.
That was what had been bothering him since they had wrapped the interview. He felt cheated. He had come here expecting to confirm the impression he had on the man, but had met a Magnus who didn't quite fit the FPC mold, so either Magnus had been surprisingly honest with him and was really different from what Alec had thought or he had played pretend in these past hours just to charm them—Alec was inclined to believe it was the latter. At first he had thought that he could read Magnus as an open book, but now that he thought about it, he knew he had been wrong. People couldn't learn to read other people with only a few hours of knowing them, it was impossible.
"I don't think he was lying." Simon added. "My camera was on his face like all the time and I think he was being honest. You know how people say you can see when someone's lying based only on their facial expressions? Well, I once read this book that described how FBI agents detected when someone was lying and it's actually pretty simple. There are a series of facial expressions and associated reactions that are like these huge giveaways for them, like if a suspect's eyes are darting back and forth when they're talking or if they are blinking rapidly, or-"
"Simon…" Aline said to stop the rambling.
"Oh, okay...yeah, sorry, I can lend you guys the book later if you want, it's really interesting. But what I was trying to say is that I don't think he was lying, in fact, I'm pretty sure he was being sincere. I think he's amazing, Alec."
"Yeah, me too." Aline agreed.
Apparently Magnus Bane had just won two new groupies for his army of crazy followers.
"I don't know, guys...I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." Alec shrugged, thinking that there was definitely something hidden behind that seemingly charming and honest personality. "He can't be «that» amazing."
"Why not?" Aline asked.
"Because he's an actor." Alec said as a matter of explanation.
"I thought you'd said that he wasn't one?" Aline said, clearly remembering Alec's words about Magnus's acting skills—or lack of, for that matter. If Alec had said that Magnus wasn't a good actor fifty times in the past few days, they were very few.
Alec exhaled loudly and looking out the window at the sun that was bathing the city with its warm light, he confessed. "Maybe I was wrong and he is, in fact, a very good actor."
