saying that Curt’s acting wasn’t good enough to make an audience forget details that they might know about his personal life. They needed him to simply not have a personal life so that audiences would be able to believe he was falling in love on screen.
They’ll believe it anyway, Curt thought. I can sell it. I’m good at what I do.
Aloud, he said, “I should never have signed that contract in the first place.”
They both looked at him. “Of course you should have signed it,” Jacob said irritably. “I don’t know who you think you are, Curt. You’ve never been a prima donna before.”
“I’m not being a prima donna now.”
“You think you shouldn’t have to sign a contract with the studio producing your film? Every actor in the world does that.”
“But I should have negotiated the terms,” Curt said. “What that contract requires is ridiculous.”
“It’s the same contract everyone in the film was required to sign,” Dimitri said.
“Oh, bullshit,” Curt said. “You did not ask the actor who plays the comedic sidekick to sign a contract governing the terms of his personal life.”
“You don’t know what’s in another actor’s contract.”
“He’s married,” Curt said. “So I’m guessing there’s a version of the contract that allows for marriage.”
Dimitri was quiet for a moment, obviously angry. “You aren’t married,” he said at last.
“And I never will be if I keep signing contracts that don’t allow me to be involved with women.”
“Let’s just take a step back,” Jacob said quickly. “We can fix this. Mr. Belov, how would it be if we brought the woman in and asked her to sign a confidentiality agreement? If she pledges not to disclose the identity of her baby’s father…”
“That might work,” Dimitri agreed, though he sounded rather dubious. “Curt would have to agree not to be seen in public with her or the baby for a period of perhaps two years. That would give us enough time to market the film the way we intended.”
Jacob nodded. “We could make that work. We could set her up in a private living situation and arrange periodic visits for Curt so that he could see them without the paparazzi catching on to the fact that he had a family. That ought to be doable.”
Curt couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They were deciding everything without him. They were preparing to tell him he didn’t have a choice about when and how he interacted with Annalise and their child.
And suddenly it occurred to him that that wasn’t true at all.
He had been deliberately agreeable. He had done his best to go along with what they had asked of him. But he didn’t have to do anything they were saying.
“I’m not going to do that,” he said. “I’m not going to let you hide my girlfriend and my kid somewhere and force them to sign documents promising not to mention my identity.”
Jacob gave Curt no more than a cursory glance. “Let me do my job here, Curt,” he said. “This is the way we can save your career.”
“No, damn it,” Curt said. “Listen to me for once, Jacob. This is my life.”
Now Jacob faced him head on. “What do you propose to do?” he asked, his voice harsh. “You’ve really created a problem here, Curt, and I don’t think you even see it.”
“That’s all you have to say?” Curt demanded. “I tell you I’m going to be a father, and all you can say is that I’ve created a problem?”
“What do you want me to say?” Jacob demanded. “I have a hard time believing you didn’t intentionally violate the terms of your contract here.”
“Yes,” Dimitri said. “The timing is very suspicious.”
Curt turned to the director. “You make romantic comedies,” he said. “You should know better than anyone how powerful love can be.”
“Oh, please,” Dimitri said, rolling his eyes. “It’s a film trope. There’s nothing more to it than that.”
Curt shook his head. “If audiences ever found out that Dimitri Belov doesn’t believe in the power of love, they’d be far more scandalized than they would be by a leading man having a girlfriend.”
“But Dimitri Belov isn’t under contract,” Jacob said. “That’s the part you don’t seem to understand.”
“I do understand,” Curt said. “But I don’t think it’s appropriate for a contract to dictate the terms of my personal life. And frankly, I’m shocked that you expect my girlfriend and my child to make concessions to it. They don’t work for you, you know.”
“We can make things uncomfortable for them,” Dimitri said. “I