CHAPTER 8
Dana tried not to be mad. Samara could do whatever she wanted.
If she wanted to take a part in the little lesbian movie that could, that was her choice.
And if she was only doing it because she thought it might win some kind of award, that might be shitty, but Dana supposed there were shittier things in the film industry than that.
She went back to work serving lunch and tried to push Samara fucking Barber out of her mind because she had bigger things to worry about.
Number one, she had to try not to burn people’s hands when she practically dropped the hot food onto their plates as they went through the buffet line.
“Hey, can I grab you for a second?” Reed asked.
Dana’s eyes widened, but she shoved the serving spoon into the potatoes and nodded.
This was it. This was the moment that she would be told it was all over.
They had found someone else who had killed the audition on video, and they were so confident that she’d kick ass at it, they were letting Dana off the hook.
She tried not to look disappointed as she walked around the line and followed Reed out of the tent.
“So, we’ve now gone through all the video auditions, and there were a few good ones in there,” Reed told her.
“It’s okay. I understand.”
“Understand what?” Reed asked.
“That I’m done. You found someone else. It’s okay. I didn’t actually expect to get the part or anything.”
Reed stopped walking and said, “Samara is in the room, waiting for us. I came to get you to do the chemistry read.”
“You still want me to do it?”
“Yes, Dana.” Reed chuckled. “We’ve got a few we’re going to ask to read again, but one of them is in London, wrapping another project today, so it could take her a week to get here.
There’s another actress in New York available now, but we’re not totally sold on her yet, so we’re going to hold off on flying her in.
Then, there’s you. Well, there’s also one in LA who’s going to read another couple of scenes and send us another recording, but Bryce wasn’t a huge fan.
Faye liked her. I thought she was okay. Anyway, you’re here right now, so if you’re still interested, we’d love to have you read with Samara and see if there’s a fit. ”
“Now?” she asked.
“Yeah, now.” Reed chuckled again. “I’m sure someone else can scoop potatoes onto plates, or they can scoop them on their own. They’re adults, right?”
Dana laughed and said, “Okay.”
“Great. Let’s go. Her Majesty is waiting.” Reed started walking but stopped. “Don’t tell her I called her that, please.”
Dana laughed again and said, “Your secret is safe with me.”
They walked until they arrived at the building, and Reed opened the door for her.
“All right, she’s here. Let’s get started,” Reed said. “Samara, are you ready?”
“Of course,” she replied.
Samara was already standing in the front of the room, holding on to her script, and Dana realized that she hadn’t brought her own copy with her.
She’d memorized the lines from the key scenes the previous night, but she was nervous now and didn’t know if her brain could focus on trying to perform with Samara and remember all the words.
“Great,” Faye said as Reed sat down next to her. “Let’s get started. We’re going to start with the dance. Is that okay? If you two are comfortable with it, let’s actually give that part a try, too. It’ll give us a good chance to see how you are together.”
“Sure,” Samara said. “I’m good with it. Are you, Dana?”
Dana sensed a bit of a challenge in her tone, but she couldn’t find her words, so she just nodded.
“Dana, do you need a script?” Bryce asked.
“Oh, yeah. Thanks,” she said and walked to the table where Bryce held out some script pages. “Okay. I guess I’m ready.”
“Good,” Samara said, and then her demeanor changed completely, and Dana knew she was Stella now. “You don’t think you’d watch me attempt to move hips that don’t like to move and see another woman on the dance floor and at least think about dancing with her instead?”
“No,” Dana said as she shook her head. “I don’t.”
She looked down at her script for her next line.
“Well, you’re right: we could do that. But we’d be giving up this amazing sofa seat I found for us. These are hard to come by here.” Samara as Stella said with a smile on her face.
“Could you part with it if we could find another seat?” Dana asked without looking up from the script pages. “Or, we could just dance… uh… in front of the couch… the sofa, blocking it so others don’t take it from us.”
She flipped to the next page.
“The song’s almost over, Bray. I–” Samara said.
“Take a chance,” Dana interrupted and looked up at Samara for a second before she returned her eyes to the page.
“Hey, Dana, everything okay?” Bryce asked her.
“Uh… Yeah. Sorry. I’m good. Can we maybe go from the top?”
“Sure,” Faye replied with a nod. “Start again whenever you’re ready.”
“You don’t think you’d watch me attempt to move hips that don’t like to move and see another woman on the dance floor and at least think about dancing with her instead?” Samara started again, right on cue.
“No, I don’t.”
“Well, you’re right: we could do that. But we’d be giving up this amazing sofa seat I found for us.”
“Could you part with the seat if we could find another seat?”
“Um… Dana, that sounds a little weird. The line is ‘part with it,’ so you don’t say ‘seat’ twice,” Bryce noted.
“Right. Sorry,” Dana said and took a deep breath. She tried to get back into Bray mode and looked down at her script. “Could you part with it if we could find another seat? Or, we could just dance in front of it, blocking it so others don’t take it from us.”
“The song’s almost over, Bray. I–”
“Take a chance,” Dana said plainly.
“Can we take a minute?”
Dana looked up, surprised, because it was Samara who had asked that question.
“Sure,” Faye said and turned to Reed and Bryce, giving them a concerned expression.
“Dana, can I maybe talk to you outside?” Samara asked.
“Me?”
“Yes, you,” Samara said, taking her hand. “Come on.”
Dana was promptly pulled out of the room, down the hall, and then into another room that was empty save for a few pieces of random furniture.
“What’s going on?” Samara asked her, letting go of her hand.
“You just pulled me in here. What–”
“Dana, this morning, you were great. You stared at me like you might actually find me attractive. Now, you can’t even look at me.”
“I can look at you. I’m looking at you right now.”
“In there.” Samara pointed toward the other room. “You have to be able to look at me in there, and then again, every time we’re on camera. We’re supposed to be two women falling in love at first sight here. We’re about to do a sexy dance and make out after that.”
“I just got a little mixed up. That’s all. I–”
“Is this about lunch?”
“What? No.”
“Really? You’re not still pissed at me?”
“A little, yes. But I’m…” She looked around the room. “Nervous, okay?”
“Why?”
“Because I get nervous. I always have during auditions, but this is the biggest one of my life, so I’m extra nervous, and you’re standing there with that…” She motioned to Samara. “Face I’m still kind of mad at. And I was scooping potatoes about three minutes ago, so I’m doing the best I can.”
“You’re mad at my face?”
“A little,” she replied.
Samara laughed and said, “Okay. Well, can you picture someone else’s face, then? Maybe a girlfriend or a boyfriend.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend.”
“An ex you don’t hate?”
“Not really,” she said. “I hold grudges, in case you can’t tell.”
Samara laughed again and suggested, “Celebrity crush, maybe?”
Dana cleared her throat. She wasn’t about to reveal that before she met Samara, she’d had the tiniest of crushes on her.
“It’s fine. You really don’t have to help me. It’s not like I’m going to get the part, anyway. They’ve got three others they’re looking at still.”
“I watched those videos. Dana, I watched you read for five minutes this morning, and I liked what you did more than what I saw from the two I read with yesterday or any in the videos.”
“You did?”
“You might still be mad at my face, but I meant what I said before: I do want what’s best for this movie.”
“Because you want the awards.”
“Not just that. Will you just give me this?” Samara took Dana’s script from her hands and wrapped it up with the one she was still holding.
“You didn’t need it this morning, and I’m off-book, too, so I’ll put mine down in there, and we’ll really try this time.
Act like you aren’t mad at me. Make it part of the performance, if you have to, but let’s get this right. ”
“I might not be able to,” Dana told her.
“You got into Carnegie, NYU, and Juilliard. You’ll be fine.
” Then, Samara bit her lower lip and added, “Just trust me, okay? I won’t do anything to mess this up for you.
Be Bray. Stella is the shy one. Bray takes charge.
I’ll follow your lead, okay? I promise, I’ll be your scene partner in there. You can trust me on that.”
Dana swallowed because Samara was being nice to her, and her eyes were kind of dancing a little, which was distracting, but Dana decided she’d use that, and she’d refocus and get this right.
“Yeah, okay.”
Samara left the room first, with Dana following close behind, and they reentered the audition room.
“Okay. We’re ready,” Samara said and moved back to her spot, dropping the pages to the floor. “Dana?”
“Yeah,” she replied with a nod.
Samara then found two folding chairs and pulled them over. She sat down in one and motioned for Dana to sit in the other. Dana did and decided that Bray would probably have her arm draped over Stella’s chair, so she put her arm there, and Samara smiled at her.
“You don’t think you’d watch me attempt to move hips that don’t like to move and see another woman on the dance floor and at least think about dancing with her instead?” Samara said.
“No, I don’t.”
“Well, you’re right: we could do that. But we’d be giving up this amazing sofa seat I found for us.”
“Could you part with it if we could find another seat?” Dana said her line, leaning in a little. “Or, we could just dance in front of it, blocking it so others don’t take it from us.”
“The song’s almost over, Bray. I–”
“Take a chance,” Dana said, staring into Samara’s eyes now, trying to make it look like she genuinely wanted to dance with this woman.
Then, Dana stood and held out her hand. Samara hesitated and looked around, just as the script called for, before she took Dana’s outstretched hand and stood up.
“This okay?” Dana asked as she pulled Samara into her by the hips. “You can put your arms around my neck.”
Samara did, and even though the script called for Bray to leave her hands on Stella’s hips, Dana moved her own to Samara’s lower back to pull her in a little closer.
They swayed there, in the middle of the room, with three sets of eyes on them, but Dana didn’t look away from Samara, who was a couple of inches shorter than her.
“I’m going to turn you around,” she said her line and, following the script, turned Samara in her arms, pressing her front to Samara’s back.
Her head was now on Samara’s shoulder, and they were swaying again. Dana’s arms moved around Samara’s middle, but not for long before she placed her hands on top of Samara’s and brought her arms around her own neck, bringing them even closer together, just as the script had told Dana to do.
“Your hips seem to move just fine to me,” she whispered into Samara’s ear, and she meant it, too.
It was her line, but it was also true: Samara’s hips moved perfectly with hers as they continued to sway.
“I think you’re doing most of the moving,” Samara, as Stella, replied.
“No, you’re definitely moving with me.” She moved her hands back to Samara’s hips, encouraging them to continue to move with hers. “Trust me; I can feel them.”
“Fuck me,” Samara whispered.
The line was supposed to just be, ‘Fuck,’ but Samara had, apparently, taken some liberties.
“I know,” Dana said, trying not to let that little ad-lib slip them up.
Samara’s hand moved up and into Dana’s hair, which wasn’t short, like Bray’s in the script or Bryce’s in real life was.
Dana wondered if she’d have to cut it for the role, but that only lasted for a second, because Samara fucking Barber had her hand in her hair, and she was actually massaging the back of Dana’s head.
Dana knew she was only acting because the script called for Stella to try to get Bray as close as possible.
“Stella, you…”
Dana’s hand slipped up a little higher and moved across Samara’s stomach.
The script called for her to touch Samara under her T-shirt, but Dana was worried she’d take it too far.
In the next part of the scene, the song ended, and she was supposed to kiss Stella’s neck, but Samara pulled away, probably pretending like the song had ended to avoid the kiss.
“Now what?” Samara asked with a smile after they both sat back down in their chairs.
“I guess now that we’ve danced, I need to buy you another drink.”
“I’m not done with this one yet, though,” Samara said, holding up a pretend beer.
“But if I buy you another one, will you stay longer?”
Dana bored her eyes into Samara’s.
“You don’t have to buy me a drink to get me to stay,” Samara replied softly.
“No?” Dana asked as she moved her arm back around the chair, and her fingers landed in Samara’s hair. “Grapefruit.”
“What?” Samara asked.
“Your shampoo has grapefruit in it.”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess,” Samara replied.
“I could smell it.” Dana ran her finger through Samara’s strands. “I like it.”
“Okay. I think we’re good,” Faye interjected and cleared her throat.
“Yeah, I think we’ve got enough. Did it just get hot in here?” Reed asked.