Damian was furious, that insufferable woman at the pathetic excuse for a coffee shop made him look like a complete asshole when in reality he was simply trying to expedite the process because they were taking too long. Now here he was drinking the subpar coffee in the lobby, grinning at his win. That will be the last time I see her.
"Ahem, Damian?" The receptionist, Barbara Gordon, called.
He pulled himself out of his short lived reverie, "Yes Gordon?"
"I really wish you'd stop using my last name, reminds me of waiting for my dad to be done at the police station."
"We are at our place of business, and we must conduct ourselves professionally."
"You call me that no matter where I am!"
"Hm, instinct I suppose since I don't see you that frequently outside of work hours. Anyway, what room is the meeting in? I'm already behind schedule, I don't want to be late." He leaned against the counter slightly.
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes as she typed something into the computer. "Looks like your father canceled the meeting and rescheduled it to…friday at one o'clock."
"Four days from now? But the article is supposed to be released tomorrow!" He almost yelled.
"Oh, there's a note in the memo. The media team delayed the release until Friday as well, but at five."
"They can't be serious! What did my publicist have to say about this?" He took a step back and began pacing.
"Damian, I don't know why or what happened, I just have the new times. Why don't you ask your father or Dick?" She said gently while readjusting her glasses.
"No, I don't need their excuses. Well then I'll see you on Friday." He huffed.
"Mm, not so fast there. You have a preliminary costume fitting on wednesday."
Damian pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine, I'll see you on Wednesday." He stormed out of the office building.
How could they just cancel the meeting discussing the procedures of handling the media frenzy. They were supposed to announce his involvement with the movie and begin his media tour to garner buzz for the movie. Now that it's delayed the Gotham Gazette won't be happy that they didn't have their front page news when expected and that might reflect poorly on him, like they weren't confident it would sell well.
Here's the problem Damian always had when it came to his own stardom. Many people assumed he got his starring roles because of his father's connection to the industry or his adopted brother's ties, and while he in no way claims that he does not benefit from nepotism, a lot of the roles he earned on his own.
Damian started out like anyone else in this business, background roles or extras. Sure he had the best access to those roles, which he publicly thanked nepotism for, but he did his time in the background and it was other directors, lead actors and actresses, and the public that begged him to start aiming for starring roles. So, he did just that and he was a natural of course, you can't live with one of the best actors in the world and not pick up some skills, but Damian brought something totally new to the game.
For starters, he was half Middle Eastern which he takes a lot of pride in and is happy to bring at least some representation to Hollywood. He also liked to think of himself as more in tune with his characters, that he delves deeper into who they were to better understand who they are. Not to discredit his father, but Damian simply believed he was in some ways, if not most, a better actor than anyone in his family. He wouldn't dare openly admit that, but everyone around him seemed to suspect he felt that way.
Unfortunately Damian was somewhat of a diva. He had no intentions to be but when he sees something that can be better, he speaks up. If he thinks something is out of character or doesn't make sense he brings his complaints to the writer and director. But the thing that most directors hate initially is that Damian would go off script and completely improvise very dramatic scenes.
Why then would he keep landing these roles if he is such a nuisance to work with? It's because he was almost always right about the changes and his improvised scenes were arguably his best work and has won him countless awards. He was, plain and simple, a phenomenal actor.
Even with all the praise he gets, Damian still has to answer to the trolls that ruin every interview or live Q&A. The ones that demand he acknowledges his privilege with nepotism and being half white, which he does, every single time. It's like these people don't believe the awards or the raving reviews of his movie, or even the general consensus online. They make him feel like he has to continually prove himself, make a bigger name, to show that he is more than his father's name. That's why Dick went into directing, to get out of Bruce's shadow.
Damian thinks that staying out of the public eye as much as possible will help his image and have him not come across as wanting to always be in the spotlight. But Bruce pointed out that all that does is make him seem like a recluse that only wishes to grace people with his presence when he has won something. Damian hates PR and having to do those talk shows or Buzzfeed Interviews but it's the only way he can change this image of himself according to his father. The only public thing Damian enjoys is his charity work with the zoos across the nation and the local animal shelters. Damian trusts animals more than people and he can tell they don't think he is who he is purely because of his familial ties.
This life was exhausting but rewarding all at the same time, he wouldn't give it up for anything. Which is why he was incredibly irritated they had rescheduled his article in the Gazette, because now that meant more PR meetings and probably more interviews to make up for the delayed information.
Damian had gone to his favorite vegan cafes a block down, he made the trip down here, might as well make it somewhat worth his time. As he was about to head out and back to his condo, he changed his path walking back toward the offices, promptly deciding to see if his father or brother were in so they could discuss the delay. When Damian got out of the elevator on the seventh floor a half dozen assistants and execs were milling about and chatting excitedly. When they saw him, some tried to scatter but still offered a polite gave a nod in their direction but continued his way towards Dick's office.
He couldn't clearly make out what they were talking about, but everyone was in unusually high spirits. The beginning of a large budget movie was often hell for everyone, so something must have recently happened to garner this much excitement.
As he approached the Dick's office, Jason Todd came strolling out with the ever present smirk he always had. Damian had known Jason for almost half his life, he played one of Bruce's sons in a project for several years and then got his own spinoff from that. He was your average roguishly handsome actor with a 'I don't give a shit' mentality, he did come from nothing unlike Damian and worked his way to the top. He was in some theatre production at a local underfunded middle school that Bruce donated money to and stopped by to see their fall play. Bruce was blown away by Jason's performance at such a young age, but what's more is that when Bruce exited the theatre to go back to his car, he caught the young Jason trying to steal the tires. Instead of involving the police, Bruce introduced himself and offered to pay for acting lessons for the kid and got him a few auditions which he landed.
Since then, Jason has almost been a part of the family. Bruce and Jason didn't always see eye to eye as Jason was brash and prone to scandal, but it was almost as if Bruce had officially adopted Jason, he was around the manor often enough, he might as well have been a legal son.
Still Damian was often annoyed by the slightly older man's behavior, always feeling like Jason was squandering the opportunities his father gave him by being drunk in public and saying outlandish things, as well as literally fighting off paparazzi. He also toted around a new woman every week and it felt like gross behavior from someone who was given everything.
Damian resented Jason in some ways too, because the only thing that separated the two of them was that Bruce chose Jason to follow in his footsteps, but he was forced to give Damian those same opportunities. Except as the media saw Jason as an underdog story that made it big, Damian's success was purely nepotism. Not to say Jason didn't also deserve the roles he got, he was admittedly a good actor, but it wasn't fair to be so similar yet treated so differently.
"Hey little D." Jason said, meeting him a few steps from Dick's office.
"Todd, what did I say about nicknames?" Damian narrowed his eyes at the taller man.
"To be fair, I don't remember half the things you actually say to me. I try to block you out but your incessant complaining really knows how to pry its way in my head occasionally. " He shrugged and was about to continue walking but he stopped himself just to the side of Damian's shoulder. "We're all in a pretty good mood, Dick especially. Try not to sour it for fucking everyone." He patted him on the shoulder, which Damian instinctively shoved off.
"I only complain when there is something reasonable to complain about, and how other people perceive my constructive criticism is not my problem."
"Yeah because telling me to stop wearing my leather jacket is such a reasonable complaint that entirely affects your life." He rolled his eyes.
"You wear it year round and half the time you don't even ride your motorcycle because you're being driven around. It's pointless and you think it makes you look cool, but in actuality you look like an imbecile. But I'm glad to see that maybe the tides are changing since it seems to be absent from your outfit today." Damian smirked smugly, but was confused to see Jason shoot back the same look.
"You're wrong about pretty much everything you said just now, but I don't give a rat's ass what your opinion is on my outfits or why I chose to wear what I do, but I will let you in on a little secret. I was wearing my jacket today, took it off while I sat in on a few auditions for your little superhero movie, and now it rest on the shoulders of one fucking hot new actress in town that, and here is the secret," He leaned into Damian's space whispering, " will probably be your leading lady."
"Great so I may have to deal with some bimbo that probably slept her way into the audition and-" It was Damian's turn to roll his eyes but Jason's unforeseen shove made him stumble and swallow the rest of his sentence.
"Don't fucking say things like that. She had a fantastic audition while also being fucking hot. Don't be such a prick and just assume things about someone because I say she's hot."
"Only girls you think you have a chance with do you even bother bringing up and 90% of the time they're bimbos so excuse me for jumping to conclusions. Besides, there's still auditions for the roles over the next couple of days, we don't know anything yet." Damian took a step forward but looked over his shoulder, lowering his voice, "And don't even think about laying hands on me again Todd, we're not friends, and we are not family."
"Fuck you little D, you used to be a touch nicer when you were younger, guess that stick never came out on its own. I can just see it now though, you being jealous when you see your co-star and knowing that you can't have her because I already will."
Damian fully turned to him now. "First, I don't date coworkers. Second, anyone interested in you isn't smart enough to be interesting to me."
"Mark my words Dami." Jason called out making his way down the hall and to the elevators.
Damian was already frustrated on his way up, now he was just down right pissed off. Jason sure as hell knew how to push his buttons. He tried his best to shake the conversation and took a deep breath before heading into his actual brother's office.
"Hey D! Everything alright out there? I heard you and Jay's conversation get a little heated." Dick was milling about his office, collecting stacks of files together.
Dick's office was very cluttered but in particular groupings. He thrived in organized chaos, he was a researcher at heart and made sure to analyze every bit of data before making a decision. It's why he was such a good director, he really understood the background of his movies and would make sure they were as accurate as possible. His mahogany desk could barely be seen beneath the mounds of different colored folders representing anything from future projects, schedules, resumes, and even lunch menus to his favorite restaurants. The floor to ceiling window across the back wall of his office gave him an impressive view over the city and let a lot of natural light in. The office was still overall bright and clean, with off-white walls and light tan wooden panels, the light reflected well around it. Knick knacks from his early days with his real family in the traveling circus were placed neatly on the many bookshelves around the office. He had a plush couch and armchair in the corner facing a large flat screen TV and a coffee table that matched the rest of the wooden furniture in the room. On the other side of the desk were two comfy green velvet chairs for guests to use. It was minimalistic, but full of life. Damian didn't feel cooped up in here like he did in Bruce's office that had a much darker color palette.
"Just Todd being his usual irritating self."
Dick set his current stack of papers he was carrying down and excitedly started searching for something else in a file cabinet. "He's been in a better mood since the audition we saw today just before lunch, this Ra-"
"Dick, I really don't care to hear about it right now. From what it sounds like, she probably isn't worth the headache she'll give us if she's already throwing herself at Jason." Damian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a seat in front of the desk.
Dick straightened up, a perplexed expression resting on his face. "I wasn't aware they knew each other, she just borrowed his jacket for the scene but he didn't mention he knew her."
"To be fair, I'm not sure how acquainted they currently are, but he made it clear he wanted to get more acquainted." He scoffed.
"Well then I'm going to tell him to back off, I don't want anything ruining the potential this girl has. I think she's our girl. She is our sorceress!" He threw his arms dramatically into the air.
"Be reasonable, Dick. You still have more auditions for that role coming up. You were probably just hungry."
"Maybe, but maybe not. I'm telling you, you're going to love her. I can pull up her audition tape so you can see what I'm talking about." Dick practically ran to his computer, typing in his password. He barely was able to hit enter when Damian snapped the laptop shut on his fingers. "Ow!"
"Not interested until you've seen the rest. I don't like you making rash decisions, that's Jason's brand, not yours. Besides, I came here to talk about something actually important."
"Idunno Dami, I have a feeling about this one. But I hear you and I'd hate to be rude to the people that have worked hard on their auditions and count them out just yet. So I'll finish them out and go from there. However, this is actually very important, arguably more important than what you've come here to is our lead female hero, your right hand woman. She needs to be good enough to stand beside you."
"You're opening auditions for this massive role to anyone that can speak. I don't know why you didn't just go with someone we've worked well with before." He crossed his arms.
Dick leaned his forearms on the desk. " Like who? You've berated me for anyone I've ever suggested. Besides, how are we gonna evolve as an industry if we keep using the same handful of actors, it gets boring. I want fresh talent, and the chance to give someone their big break!"
"How charitable. I haven't hated everyone you've said. Brown was okay to work with." Damian huffed.
"Stephanie is not the right fit for this role, the Sorceress is dark, mysterious, temperamental. Steph plays the girl next door, happy go lucky type. Plus she hates you."
Damian shrugged "True." He always had a hard time with his female co-stars, either they were hired because they were pretty but couldn't act their way out of a paper bag or they wanted to start a relationship with him to increase buzz surrounding the movie. He tried that once with Emiko Queen and after the movie premiered, just as he was coming around to it being a real relationship, she breaks it off right before announcing her next movie. He felt used and she somehow spun the tale to make him out to be the bad guy, and with his record, it wasn't hard to sell. He swore that he'd never do that again, or even date co-stars in general.
He'd done a pretty good job of making it clear from the beginning, but some leading ladies still tried, thinking they could change his mind. They never did.
"Anyway, if you came here to appeal the press release date change, I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do about it." Dick opened his laptop once more and typed something.
"You don't understand how bad this is going to make me look to the Gazette, and if they mention it to anyone else, it'll be even worse. If this is because you guys are afraid about what I-" Damian was leaning forward in his chair, his voice raising just a little.
"Damian, stop. Everything will be fine. We wanted to wait until your costume fitting so we can send some pictures with the announcement so people see this is happening and real and that we stand behind you fully. Bruce explained everything to the editor-in-chief and told them how much the pictures were going to enhance the story and they agreed. Plus with first look photos of the costumes, all the blogs are going to be jumping on the news and spreading it. By Saturday, everyone will know you're heading my movie!"
"But won't this put us behind schedule for the press tour?"
"Not at all, I didn't schedule your first talk show until the following week as a precaution if we didn't gather much wave of media presence. But I now worry we're going to cut our impression short with the new stuff you'll be talking about." He was now reclined back in his seat, hands folded in his lap.
Damian wanted to argue, but it did all make sense. "And the other cast announcements?"
"All will be released in due time. I'll probably save the Sorceress announcement until last though, really build up speculation and buzz."
"Not to mention drama." Damian muttered.
"Hey, drama isn't all that bad when it's speculation." Dick retorted, pointing at him.
"This feels like the 'no such thing as bad publicity' excuse. And that always goes horribly wrong." He crossed his arms, slouching a touch into the chair.
"That's because it kinda is Dami boy. Except it's truly not bad publicity, sure some people will get disheartened that it's not their pick, but we're working with entirely original material, no fanboys to worry about." Dick seemed way too relaxed for a director releasing what is thought to be the biggest movie of the decade.
"You still seem to be grossly overestimating the weight of the news about the Sorceress." Damian stood from his chair and did his best to brush the wrinkles from his suit.
"And you seem to be a misogynist that doesn't think his female co-star is as important as him!" Dick said firmly as he stood as well, palms on his desk with his body leaning towards the accused.
Damian sputtered his words, his eyes darting for anything to come to his mind right now. "I am not a misogynist! I just think that after my announcement, everyone else is gonna hold the same weight." He settled his hands on his hips to help him look confident in his statement, but Dick could see right through it and Damian knew it.
"Admit that you're scared some relatively unknown actress is gonna steal your limelight."
"That's not it."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah…" Damian watched as Dick slowly sat back down, a calm smile on his face as he rested his right ankle on the knee of his other leg and folded his fingers in his lap. "Ok, maybe I think that we are putting too much stock in the idea, but maybe I'm worried that my chance to change the public's opinion of me is going to be overshadowed, especially with how big you're acting like it's going to be!"
"Let it out, Dami. We can't ease your mind if we don't know what's going on inside of it. Look, I know that the press has been up your ass since the Emiko incident. But anyone that's worth anything knows the truth and will not hire her ever again. But if our sorceress is the next big thing, it may not hurt for her to like you…not in any sort of romantic way. Lord knows we won't push that angle again, but literally just think you are a decent guy." Damian scowled at his older brother implying the task for the new girl to be difficult. "Then, if she does reach mega popularity as we hope, then she'll be willing to do interviews with you and about you and then everyone can see how…charming you really are."
"I see you and your committee have put a lot of thought into this. It would be foolish to not give your theory at least a small glimmer of a chance." Damian pulled away from the desk and headed toward the door. He turned ¾ of the way back to Dick, "But she has to be tolerable too, I won't fake liking someone just because it'll be good press, someone will notice eventually and then it'll blow up in your face."
"I wouldn't want it any other way Damian. Now I'll see you Wednesday for a moment to check on your costume, but we'll really touch base again on Friday. Have a great rest of your day Dami."
Damian nodded in response, closing the door behind but watching Dick's annoying cheery smile disappear behind the door. He really hoped that they cast this role well because it'll either be hell or the best thing to happen to him in a while.