Page 42 of Beyond the Darkness
He didn’t recognise the voice at first, but as he turned and saw the two podcasters hurrying behind him, his spirits sank.
Amber was in front, while Corman trailed behind, laden down with a large backpack and holdall of equipment.“That was awesome,” Amber said, catching up with him.“You smashed that today.”
“Absolutely,” Corman said, drawing level.“I got goosebumps just watching from the side.That was, like, stupendous.”
What kind of podcast do this pair run?They spoke like a couple of airheaded stoners.
“Thank you.It’s been a hell of a day.I just want to get home and relax.”
“Sure thing.We would, too, if we’d just been through all that.”
“I was exhausted just watching you.”Corman grinned.
Surely their eternal cheerfulness was the most exhausting aspect of their career.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, turning away.
Amber moved in front, blocking his path.Her expression shifted from joy to an approximation of solemnity.Hudson was getting a good idea of the dynamics of their podcast, and he had no desire to discover more.
“We got off on the wrong foot this morning,” she said.
Now Corman formed an impassable obstruction in front of him.“Yeah.We don’t want you to get the wrong idea about us.”He put both hands across his heart.“We’re totally sincere.”
Hudson resisted the urge to laugh.“Look, guys.I appreciate that you’re just doing a job.I was angry this morning and apologise if I spoke out of turn.But the truth is, I have a lot on my plate, and I don’t need this kind of distraction.I meant what I said.I’m going to stay out of your way and appreciate you doing the same for me.”
“But we really want to talk to you,” Amber said.“I don’t think you realise what a big deal this opportunity is for us.Not just sitting in onDarkest Blue, that’s awesome enough, but getting to meet you.”
“We’re big fans.Huge.”Corman grinned.
Hudson’s defences prickled.He was not going to like what came next.
“The biggest,” Amber added.
“We love you.”
“We really do.”
Hudson took a step back from them.
“Straight up,” Corman continued.“We’ve been fans for years.We bought tickets for the play as soon as you were announced to be playing the lead.Isn’t that right?”
“We absolutely did.We couldn’t believe Hudson Rhodes was coming to Blyham.”
“If you listen to episode two-hundred and seventeen ofBeyond Blyham, you’ll hear us talk all about it and how hyped we were by the news.”
“It was really inappropriate, to be honest.”Amber giggled.
Hudson looked at her quizzically.
“We were doing a deep dive into the Blyham Cat Killer at the time.Very serious stuff, but we just had to share the awesome news about the play with our listeners.”
“We were hoping you would come on the show,” Corman said.“To talk about the play obviously, but we want to go further than that.We want to talk about you and your career.”
“All those great roles you’ve played,” Amber gushed.
“We’ve seen them all.We know everything about you.Ask us anything, we’ll know the answer.”
Hudson raised both hands.“Guys, enough.That’s never going to happen.If you do indeed know anything about me, then you’d know that I don’t give interviews about myself.I haven’t in years.”
