Chapter 52
Ingrid seethes when Maggie shows her the new pages at their next transfusion.
This is not what she wanted at all! While the character development’s arguably better in Maggie’s version, and there are some great one-liners, none of that matters.
She didn’t listen! She just ignored all Ingrid’s instructions and bulldozed right over her.
Frankly, this is the kind of diva move she’d expect after a writer scores their first Critics Choice Award or Gotham.
Not now. Not when she’s just starting out.
If she can’t listen to directions now, what good is she to anyone?
As Maggie waits anxiously next to her, Ingrid tries to formulate the words to express the extent of her disapproval.
But before she can say anything, Kyle pops his head in and asks Maggie, “You want me to make you a ginger shot?” Ingrid all but screams, “No, she doesn’t want you to make her a ginger shot!” Kyle scurries away.
Turning to Maggie, she waves the papers. “What is this?”
“I…I thought I’d try a different direction. Do you like it?”
“No, I don’t.”
Teresa glances over at them. Ingrid puts her fingers on her temples as she tries to communicate to Maggie that they do not have time to try “different directions.” This isn’t a fifth-grade science project.
This is a real movie with real people attached!
They’re on a schedule! Charlie’s expecting the script!
Hailey’s deal depends on these pages being perfect!
Everyone is counting on Ingrid’s endorsement of Maggie being right.
As she’s talking, Ingrid jumps out of her armchair.
She points to her desk. “Actually, can we do the transfusion there?”
Teresa turns to gaze at Ingrid’s computer. “Sure,” she says, disconnecting them from the machine and moving everything over. Ingrid grabs an extra chair and puts it at her desk. Maggie sits down cautiously.
“No, you sit here.” Ingrid points to her computer chair. Maggie switches seats, now seeming even more confused.
As Teresa gets the two of them reconnected and the machine working again, Ingrid turns to Maggie. “Can you tell me the meaning of this? Why would you rewrite everything?”
“I just…I wanted to try it! What about it do you not like?”
“It’s unspectacular.”
Teresa quietly excuses herself and walks out.
“Am I getting closer, at least?” Maggie asks, biting her nails.
“No.” Ingrid points to her computer and tells Maggie to pull up the Finder. “Why didn’t you just write it the way I told you?”
“Because it didn’t feel organic to me,” Maggie says. “I just thought—”
“Don’t think,” Ingrid says. “Just do.”
“But isn’t it a writer’s job to think? To execute their vision?”
Ingrid suppresses a cackle. “Is this the vision you developed after putting in ten thousand hours? And getting a film degree? And working as a writer’s assistant for years and then getting staffed on a show? That vision?”
“No,” Maggie says in a quiet voice.
She instructs Maggie to pull up her original outline for the script, based on Ingrid’s ideas. “Are you ready to do it my way now?”
“Here?” Maggie asks, confused.
Ingrid instructs her to open up Final Draft.
“You want me to write the script in front of you?”
“Why not? We have all morning.”
Panic grips Maggie’s face. “What about the transfusion?”
“You still have your hands,” Ingrid says.
Maggie’s fingers touch the keyboard, then jerk back as though the keys are scorching hot.
Ingrid commands her to keep going. She knows it’s aggressive, but she needs Maggie to get the message.
Stop jerking her around. This is Ingrid’s movie.
Just because Maggie pushed her way in, and Ingrid’s currently beholden to her because of her vulnerable health, doesn’t mean she can walk all over her.
As Maggie starts typing, Ingrid leans in, watching over Maggie’s shoulder. Click-clack-click.
“Are you…just going to watch me?” Maggie asks, pausing.
Ingrid nods.
“No.” Maggie starts pushing the keyboard away. “I’m sorry. It’s too much pressure. I’ve never written with anyone looking over me, let alone while getting a transfusion!”
Ingrid shoves the keyboard at Maggie. “Give me a chance, you said. You’re not going to regret this, you said. Show me.”
The room goes quiet. The ceiling fan spins above. They lock eyes.
Maggie grabs the keyboard and starts pounding out the words.