章 4: Eat My Gold

RayKon53? She quickly typed in the name in the server, searching for him meticulously before finally finding him. She stared at the name for a minute and wondered if she had gotten lucky. While Lily was busy looking for Cage, she had found someone who could possibly be the man. She knew that he played this game, it was one of the reasons why she had started playing it, but the game had quickly pulled her in. Her cursor hovered over the name as she analyzed the chances.

Ray Kon was his favorite character from when he watched Beyblade. Five and three were his lucky numbers.

'Could it be? Impossible,' she told herself.

She followed the man and realized that he was an excellent player. A lot better than her, someone who prided herself over her gaming skills. She wondered if this person was a Cage Cavanaugh fan who had taken up this name. She admitted the chance of that happening was high.

She fired a message at the player. [Rinten: Take my bow, senpai. You have eaten my gold.]

She curiously gazed at the message over and over again, hoping the reply would come sooner, but the player had already gone offline. Dejected, she played one more game and went to bed.

- - -

Cage trudged back to the dressing room, feeling a part of his soul leave his body after the exhausting interview. He plopped down on the designated chair and let his body go as the makeup artists swiftly came forward to remove the gunk from his face. The interview had drained him off his energy.

"You did well," his manager, Stephen Luther, said. His voice filled with pride.

"They had to ask about her, didn't they?" he muttered, exasperated by the curiosity of the people into his private life. He understood that it was part of being a celebrity but he only wanted to showcase his talent, not air his dirty laundry to the wind. He knew that questions about his ex-girlfriend would come up frequently as he promoted his movie, but he didn't think it would cause such a ruckus.

The news about Keira and him had been all fake. Neither of them was interested in the other, but fake dating was all the rage in the entertainment industry and any buzz about reel couples evolving into real couples made a movie blockbuster hit, such was the condition. Keira Higgins had been his colleague and they were pleasant acquaintances that didn't have any issues with one another, but their management company had decided that matching them together and leaking paparazzi pictures would be the best way to promote this risky film. Cage didn't do romance and unlike his action flicks, the romance might not sell. Cage was adamant that it was not needed, but no one listened to his words.

In the end, Keira was captured by the cameras with another man, a married director who she was having an affair with. What little civility had been there in their relationship as colleagues flew out of the window. News after news agency contacted them for information but what was to give? He didn't even like the woman and now he had a reputation of being dumped and cheated on. He wanted none of that in his career.

"You made the decision when you said yes to the proposal, it was the only way to create buzz," his manager shrugged. Cage couldn't deny that it had created buzz and that loads of people would watch the movie just to see if the rumors were right, they would go and watch for the drama. The producers would get hefty returns and he would receive some praise from critics if he was lucky.

"The breakup will only draw more attention," the expression on the man's face was the source of Cage's irritation. He tried hard to hide it but it was clear on his face.

"Never dating a co-star," he pledged when the makeup artists were done with him. He changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and t-shirt and strolled out of the room. Several people bowed at him but he looked peeved enough for none of them to approach him and ask him for an autograph.

"We'll take you back to the hotel. You have two interviews tomorrow and a couple of photoshoots in the next couple of days." Cage sighed feeling sympathy for himself. He would have to live through torture for the next few days. "New genre, new technique. You need all the help you can get to make this a hit."

"People like romantic comedies," he groaned, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get out of any of the appointments.

"But they don't associate romance with you," his manager replied smugly. "You may make women swoon with one smile of yours, but you haven't shown them how you romance, so you need to work it." Stephen knew how hard his artist was working for the new project. He had spent days rehearsing and making sure his character was perfect and the filming had gone well. Yet at the end of the road, he felt nauseous and disbelieving of what he had to do to make people watch his movie.

He was the King of Action, not of romance. He had to come in terms with it.