Samara sat in her trailer reviewing her lines, and when she took breaks, she checked hotels and local rentals on her phone. She was leaning more toward the hotel because that would come with daily housekeeping and room service to suit her needs better. As she checked one hotel after the other, she was careful to review their restaurant menus and room service hours, preferring one that was open twenty-four hours a day since her schedule wasn’t exactly regular, and she could wrap at four in the morning on a night shoot and might need to eat by five.
When she heard a knock on her door, Samara checked the time, and it was noon exactly. She stood from the small table in the middle right of her trailer, walked to unlock the door that she was choosing to keep locked, even if she was inside, unless it was absolutely necessary to leave it unlocked, and saw Dana standing there.
“Lunch,” Dana said. “I wheeled it over here all by itself in the warmer, so it should be hot enough.”
Samara looked behind Dana, noticed a brown six-foot-tall warmer on wheels, and looked back at her.
“Thank you,” she replied and took the aluminum container from her.
“Sure,” Dana said and turned to go.
“Actually, can you come in for a moment?” she asked.
“You want me to stay in case it’s not hot enough, don’t you?”
“What? No,” she said quickly. “Can you take a break from whatever it is you do to talk to me for a few minutes?”
“Whatever it is that I do? I’m on the catering staff. I literally just handed you your food. See this warmer behind me?” Dana asked, hooking her thumb back to it.
“I know that. I meant I don’t know what you’re doing next. I assume you don’tjustdeliver my meals,” Samara said,still standing in the open doorway of her trailer.
“You’d be correct.”
“Okay. So, can you take a break from what you have to do next, then?”
“I’m supposed to return to serving everyone else lunch.”
“Oh,” Samara said and looked down at the walkie-talkie that Dana had on her hip. “Tell your boss I wanted to talk to you about my upcoming meals.” She pointed to it and turned to go back inside. “I need to get this open and eat, or it will get cold.”
“I can’t just–”
“Tell him I’m forcing you to stay. It’s my fault. Blame me.”
“Well, that’s not exactly far off, so I guess it wouldn’t be a lie,” Dana replied, stepping up and inside before closing the door behind her. “So, this isn’t about your meals, I take it?” She reached for her walkie-talkie and pressed the button. “Hey, boss? Come in.”
A few seconds later, it crackled, and a male voice said, “Yeah, Dana. What’s up?”
“I’m going to be 86 for a few. Miss Barber wants to talk to me about her meals.”
“Oh, shit. Is something else wrong now?”
“No, boss. And Miss Barber is right here, so I’ll just report back when I see you, okay?”
Samara removed the lid from the aluminum container, smiling at Dana’s attempt to save her boss’s job, and turned back around to see Dana standing there awkwardly.
“Uh… Okay. Copy that.”
“Sit. Sit,” she said. “Do you eat eggplant?”
“Huh?” Dana asked. “Oh, no. Not really.”
“I have some vegan snacks in the cabinet and fridge if you want to eat with me,” she offered.
“I had my lunch already. Thanks.”
“Are you lying?” Samara asked, reaching for a fork in the drawer behind her.
“Yes,” Dana replied.
