CHAPTER 10
Dana had only caught sight of Samara in a towel, with wet hair dripping down over her shoulders, for a split second, a microsecond, really, before the bedroom door had closed, but it had been enough to bring her back to earlier that afternoon when she’d held Samara against her, running her hands under her shirt when she probably hadn’t been supposed to.
That was what Samara likely wanted to talk to her about.
It was an audition, not the real thing, and Dana could have adapted for that.
Hands could have been more loosely draped, or at least, gone over the damn T-shirt, which had been pretty thin as it was, and she still could have gotten a feel of the warmth of Samara’s soft skin through that just fine.
She could only pray silently, as she plated their meals, that doing something stupid without checking if it had been okay with Samara first wouldn’t cost her this chance to do the thing she loved most in the world because this whole day had been amazing.
She’d gotten to audition for a movie, and the adrenaline rushing through her had carried her exhausted body to this point, where she was probably about to get scolded for touching Samara inappropriately.
Even if she didn’t get the part, though, this whole experience had renewed her desire to follow through on more than just local community theater.
There was nothing wrong with community theater, of course, and she loved most of it, but when she’d reluctantly taken off for school with a big push from her mother, her plan hadn’t ever been for Broadway.
It had been for film, for Hollywood, and for finding the right characters that she could bring to life.
The fame and the money were secondary. If she never got to the A-list level but had steady work as a B or C-lister, she would have been happy. She’d always just wanted to act.
“Hi.”
Dana looked up from pouring Samara a glass of wine and noticed that Samara was wearing a pair of black sweats, looking way too good for someone wearing a plain light-blue cotton T-shirt.
Her feet were in flip-flops that managed to look more expensive than Dana’s car, and her hair was still down and wet, though it had been brushed through.
“Hey. Um… I should have let it breathe. Sorry, I–”
“No, it’s fine,” Samara said, looking down at the table. “I’m not a wine snob.”
“I guess that makes one thing,” she joked.
“One thing?” Samara asked as she sat down at the two-seater bolted-down table and took one of the paper napkins supplied by the hotel, placing it delicately in her lap.
It was kind of cute how she’d done that, so Dana tried not to smile as she watched it happen, but she couldn’t help it, so she had to turn away from her. She couldn’t think that Samara was cute right now.
“One thing you’re not a snob about,” she replied.
“Oh. Touché, I suppose.”
“So, you wanted to talk?” Dana asked as she sat down across from her.
“What did you bring for yourself?” Samara asked her instead.
“I grabbed some of the lunch leftovers,” she replied.
“Why?”
“Because your food was ready,” she said. “And I wasn’t about to get yelled at again for it being too cold. Besides, I’m having dinner with my sister, so I brought this mainly because you seemed to demand it.”
She looked down at her own plate which had the salad and green beans with almonds that she had placed there haphazardly as she’d practically run out the door to get the food to Samara.
“I see,” Samara said and picked up the fork that Dana had set out for her. “Thank you for doing all this, by the way, setting it up like an actual meal.”
“Yeah, no problem. Are you being nice to me because you’re about to have me fired for real this time?”
“What?” Samara asked, sounding shocked, and put the regular water glass that held her wine down. “No. Why would I do that?”
“Act like that hasn’t happened already. And I don’t know. You’re not usually this nice to people, from what I’ve seen.”
“I’m nice,” Samara defended.
“Are you?”
“I can–” Samara stopped. “I’m particular.”
“You don’t say,” Dana replied with a smile.
“People confuse particular with mean.”
“Sometimes, it is mean, though,” Dana argued.
“Maybe. But I’m not being nice to you because I’m going to have you fired. What would give you that idea?”
“Well, your food hasn’t been right a couple of times, and I’m the one responsible for it. Then, today, during the audition, I…” Dana stopped and reached for the glass of water she had poured herself from the tap.
“Is that regular water from there?” Samara asked, pointing to the sink behind Dana.
“Uh… Yeah. Why?”
“You drink tap water?”
“I do. Why?”
“Dana, tap water isn’t the cleanest water in the world, no matter what they tell you.”
“Maybe not, but we can’t all bathe in a mountain spring every day.”
“I just meant that you could get sick on this stuff, and there’s bottled water. Drink my bottled water.”
“I’ll be fine. I grew up here. I drink this water every day,” she replied before taking a sip. “And I stopped by your trailer, like you asked, so there are six bottles of your special brand of sparkling water in this fridge now. I told a PA to have your trailer restocked, too.”
“Bless you,” Samara said on a breath and picked up the glass of water that Dana had poured for her.
“Anyway, about the audition… I just wanted to apologize.”
“For what?” Samara asked, and as she took her first bite, Dana waited for her reaction. “It’s fine, Dana.”
“Thank God,” she replied, exhaling, causing Samara to laugh a little. “And for touching you. That’s what I meant. I got a little carried away. I know we both said we’d be okay doing the dance scene, but that didn’t mean I needed to take it that far.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The touching. The under the shirt thing. And I’d been about to kiss you on the neck, too, like the script said, but you were right to pull away then.”
“Oh,” Samara said. “I pulled away because the song was supposed to end. That’s all.”
“That’s all?”
Samara looked down and nodded.
“So, I’m not in trouble?”
“Dana, you were acting the scene,” Samara said, looking back up at her. “That’s what you do in an audition. I’m glad you got carried away. It meant you gave a great audition.”
“I did?”
“Yes, absolutely. I don’t know about the role yet, who they’ll give it to, and I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I think you have a good chance.”
“Because I’m here already?”
“No, because you killed it,” Samara replied with a smile. “After you got over that initial round of nerves, you became Bray. No one else I’ve read with has been able to do that.”
“Vanessa could.”
“Not even Vanessa,” Samara said, leaning in.
“She was great, a talented actress, but she didn’t become Bray.
I could still see Vanessa in there somewhere, depending on the scene we were reading.
Once you sat in that chair, though, you were all Bray to me today.
It was a really great thing to see, actually. ”
“Thanks,” she said, working hard to just accept the compliment, which wasn’t something that came easily to her.
“So, what’s your plan?” Samara asked and took another bite.
“Why is it so cold in here?” Dana asked instead of answering that when she shivered.
“Cold?” Samara looked up at the thermostat that was mounted to the wall by the table.
“Oh, sorry. I like to keep the room at seventy, if I can. I knew it was going to be really hot today, so I lowered it to sixty-five to hopefully have a cool room to come back to, and I forgot to change it.” She reached up and changed the temperature to seventy. “So, what’s your plan?” she repeated.
“Well, I’m not eating these green beans, and then I’m going to have drinks and dinner with my sister.”
“No, I meant for the movie and in general.”
“The movie?”
“Dana, if you get this part, what are you going to do?”
“I’m not doing that,” she said, shaking her head.
“Doing what?” Samara asked.
“Acting like I have the part when I don’t. It’s bad luck.”
“Okay. Well, then, let me act like it instead so as to avoid your silly superstition.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Dana replied, shaking her head again.
“Do you have an agent, a manager, a lawyer? Anyone?”
Dana practically cackled and said, “Uh… no. We don’t need any of those to audition for local plays.”
“You need them now.”
“Not really. I haven’t gotten–”
“If they offer it to you, I mean,” Samara said and took another bite. “You’ll need people in your corner helping you make the right decision.”
“By taking their cut?”
“Yes, they get paid, but they know this stuff inside and out. Do you know how to negotiate back-end?”
“No,” she said.
“Me neither,” Samara told her. “But my team does, and they’ve always gotten me great deals.”
“Whatever I might get paid, should I get an offer, would not be even close to what they pay you. I wouldn’t be able to afford having anyone negotiate things for me. I would have nothing left. And if I’m acting in the movie, I can’t work on the catering staff, so I’d be out a check.”
Samara smiled and replied, “If you’d like, I can have my team help should you get that offer.”
“I just told you that I couldn’t pay–”
“They’ll do it for me and won’t take a cut.”
“They will? Why?”
“My agent has been with me for ten years, so he’s more family than strictly agent at this point. Besides, the holiday bonuses I give everyone on my team would more than cover whatever you’d pay them through your contract.”
“Why are you offering to do this for me?” Dana asked, sensing something beneath the surface.
“Because I want you to get the part,” Samara replied. “You’re the best one I’ve read with.”
“Got to have a good Bray to get those awards, huh?”
Samara looked a little offended and said softly, “No.”
“Sorry,” Dana offered. “Want me to drop that?”
“Yes, please,” Samara requested.
“Okay,” she said, nodding. “Done.”