CHAPTER 14
“Hey, can you be careful with that?” she asked.
“Yeah, I am,” Terry, the guy replacing Dana as Samara’s gofer, replied, shoving the container into the warmer bag.
He then walked over to the counter where he had his coffee cup and took a drink.
“Can you maybe do that after you take Miss Barber her food?” Dana asked. “I think she’d probably want it to be hot when she gets it.”
“Damn, Dana. What crawled up your ass this morning?”
“She’s picky,” Josh replied instead. “So, get the food to her now, please.”
“Can you not tell people that Samara is picky?” she requested of her boss as Terry, carrying Samara’s food, left the room.
“She is picky,” Josh replied. “Now, you wanted to talk about a leave of absence.”
“Well, yeah. With me taking the part, I won’t be able to work on the movie for you, but I don’t want to lose my job either, so I’m not sure what to do.”
“I get it,” Josh said. “But you know we don’t have leaves in the traditional sense.”
“I know,” she replied.
“And I can’t promise I’ll have a spot for you when you wrap because I’ll need to staff appropriately to be able to do the work we have now, but you’re my best employee, Dana.
When you’re done filming, come back, and we’ll talk.
I’m sure I’ll find you something. You know I’m going to lose at least one or two people, with how this industry works. ”
“Okay. Thanks. That’s the best I can ask for.”
“You’ve always wanted to do this, though,” Josh added. “Why would you want to come back after finally getting a taste of your dream?”
“One movie doesn’t mean a steady paycheck forever,” she said. “And I have to run. Are you okay for today? I know I’m leaving you short-handed.”
“We’ll be fine. Go on.”
Dana left the catering area and headed to her new trailer, which was next to Samara’s.
She hadn’t been in there yet because the moment she arrived, she’d gone to see everyone in the office trailer and sign her paperwork, but now, she was officially on board as a lead in a movie.
It was still crazy to her, but it was happening, even though she had yet to believe it.
Dana pulled open the door and stepped inside.
Her trailer wasn’t as nice as Samara’s, but she had a full bed against the wall, a small kitchen, a little table, and a sofa that could fit about two people if both were very skinny.
Then, she noticed a vase with a mixed bouquet on the table and walked toward it.
There was a card, so she pulled it out and read it.
Break a leg.
Samara
Dana smiled at that. Samara had sent her flowers.
She sat down on the sofa and stared at them.
The previous night, they’d eaten with Dana’s friends at the bar.
She’d introduced Samara to Caroline and Enid, who had just stopped by on a whim and ended up joining them for drinks.
Caroline worked as an artist in Jackson Square, selling her stuff, and Enid had taken over the management of the second NOLA Guides location.
Both things seemed to intrigue Samara, so after Dana saw Samara finish her first drink, she’d ordered her a second one and switched to water herself.
Samara had seemed somewhat relaxed for the first time that Dana had seen her, at least, and when she finished that second drink, as promised, Dana had taken her back to the hotel.
Samara had even invited her in to keep talking since they hadn’t had a lot of time at the bar to talk without prying ears and random people asking Samara for a photo, but Dana had declined because she’d wanted to try to get some sleep.
Now, she was looking at flowers that Samara had sent her to celebrate Dana’s success while she sat in a trailer that was all hers.
“Hey, Dana,” a PA she hadn’t met said as she walked into the trailer.
“Oh, hi.”
“Jana,” the woman said, introducing herself. “I’m your PA today.”
“I have a PA?”
“They asked me to help you get settled,” Jana replied, looking down at her phone. “Looks like you have wardrobe up first. Then, makeup. Then, rehearsal with Samara. Then, lunch. Then, rehearsal again. Then, lighting tests and dinner. Then, rehearsal and lighting tests, and–”
“Okay. I get it,” Dana said.
“Oh, I forgot hair. You have a hair thing before lunch, too.”
“Okay,” she said, her heart racing a bit.
“Can I bring you breakfast?”
“I ate already. Thank you,” she lied.
She had yet to eat because she’d been too nervous and worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep it down.
“Snack in an hour? Trust me, you’ll want to keep your energy up. We’re behind, so it’s going to be a busy few days. Well, a couple of months, really.”
“Snack. Sure,” she said.
“Great. What do you like?”
“Oh. Anything, I guess.”
“Do you have a list? I can grab you whatever to stock you up in here and bring you something when you’re done with wardrobe.”
“No list. I’m local, so local stuff. Chips or whatever.”
“Okay. I’ll grab what I can, and you tell me if you want more or different later.”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“Drinks?” the PA asked.
“Soda? Water?” Dana asked back more than said.
“Still or sparkling?”
Dana smiled at the thought of Samara and her special sparkling water.
“Whatever. Not picky.”
“Picky would be better,” Jana replied, laughing. “You’re not giving me much to work with here.”
“Sorry, I don’t have a lot of experience with someone shopping for me.”
“That’s okay. We’ll figure it out. If you don’t want breakfast, though, you can get over to wardrobe first. Ready?”
“Yeah,” she replied and stood.
◆◆◆
Wardrobe was three women asking Dana to try on one thing after another while taking measurements, having her step into shoes, out of shoes, asking her questions about what she was most comfortable wearing, trying on bras and underwear, too, because there would be sex scenes, and then, taking a lot of photos, waving them around as the polaroids dried.
They tacked them to a wall right next to Samara’s photos, and Dana watched as they compared and moved images around to see what looked good with Samara’s options.
After that, it was time for makeup, where they tried different products on her, took more photos, asked her to close and open her eyes, blot her lips, turn a certain way, and then get up, leave the trailer, and stand outside in the sun for more pictures there, too.
Then, she was walked over to where they had some test lights set up, and dozens of photos later, apologizing for the pace, they brought her back to the trailer and did it all over again because they were behind schedule and her skin tone was very different from Vanessa’s, apparently.
Hair was up next, and the two stylists kind of stared at her for a while as if not knowing what to do with her brown, curly hair that she had pulled back.
They took it down first, put it back up differently, combed it out, and tried a few more variations before they washed and dried it for her, straightened it, which only worked for so long because of the humidity, so it frizzed out on them, and they had to add more product to hold it down.
“Would you consider cutting your hair to a length that’s a little like Bryce’s?” one of them asked.
“Cutting it?”
“Yeah. I think it would look good on you. We can use the natural curl you have.”
“Oh. I guess. No one told me if they wanted me to do that.”
“It’s up to you, if it’s not in your contract that you have to, but I think it would work well. I actually think you could really pull it off.” The woman stood behind her and moved her hair a bit, trying to show her in the mirror what it would look like. “Yeah, badass.”
“Badass?” Dana asked.
“Definitely. If you let me do it now, we’ll get you out of here and be done soon.”
“Now? Cut it now?” Dana’s heart started to race again. “You don’t want to check with anyone first?”
“Yeah, let me ask to be sure, but I think they’ll want it. Give me two minutes.”
That stylist walked out of the trailer, and Dana sat there with the other one looking on.
“She’s right, you know? You’re hot, if you don’t mind me saying, but you’d be crazy sexy with a shorter cut. It would really work with your jawline.”
“Why do I feel like y’all are getting me ready for The Hunger Games?”
The other stylist laughed.
“They’re down,” the first stylist said as she walked back into the trailer. “Up to you, but they’re down. They asked me to do it later, though, because they need you in rehearsal now.”
“Oh, okay,” she said, standing quickly. “See you later.”
“You ready?” Jana asked, standing just outside the open door.
“You’re here? Uh… Yeah.”
“So, haircut or no haircut?” Jana asked as she motioned for her to walk with her.
“I have no idea,” she said.
What felt like only seconds later, Dana was standing in an alley they would be using for the scene where Bray would be taken in by the cops just for being in the same bar where a bunch of guys were fighting.
“We don’t have the bar for another hour, but we can rehearse out here for now,” Reed said and nodded to the back door of the bar they’d be using for some of the interior stuff.
“Okay,” Dana replied.
“We’ve got everyone, yeah?” Reed asked.
“Dana, do you need pages?” Bryce checked.
“No, I’m okay,” she said.
“Already off-book? It’s not even theater, either. What a pro,” Reed noted.
Dana stood against the wall with a bunch of extras and actors who would play the police officers, and she was glad it was an easy scene for her: only a few lines and mostly just her looking nervous, which was appropriate because she was actually nervous.
“Let’s run it,” Reed said.
When everything was set up and Reed yelled, ‘Action!’ which was the officer’s cue to say something, Dana’s vision blurred.
“Dana?”
“Huh?” she asked.
“Your line,” Reed said.
“Oh, right,” she replied. Then, she looked at the officer and said, “Hi. I was just in the bar. I didn’t do anything.”
“Stand against the wall,” he replied.
“Let’s stop there,” Reed instructed. “Can we…”