“Good,” Samara replied.
“Good,” Dana said, nodding as if either of them had actually said something worth nodding to.
“So, did you quit the catering thing?”
“The catering thing? You mean myjob?” Dana asked.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Howdidyou mean it, then?”
“I only meant that you have anewjob now, Dana. That’s all.”
“Not yet, though. And I still have to pay my bills. Why is everyone acting like a bunch of magical money was just deposited into my checking account? I still have to sign on the dotted line. Then, I don’t even know what happens because I’ve never done this before.”
“So, you didn’t quit yet; got it,” Samara replied, trying to make light.
“I’m going to ask for leave of absence.”
Samara’s eyebrows creased, and she asked, “Why?”
“So that I have a job when this whole thing is done in two months,” she said and took a sip of her drink.
“But you’ll still have the possibility of reshoots, ADR, press commitments, and the premiere,” Samara told her.
“ADR?”
“Audio. We’ll have bad sound at some point on location, so we’ll need to loop it.”
“Oh. Right,” she said, nodding as if she had thought of that already. “Forgot that part.”
“That’s not going to happen in the next two months,” Samara noted.
“Then, I’ll ask for some more time off. How long does looping take? I did a couple of student films, but nothing that required looping, and I don’t consider that real experience because there was no budget, they were only ten minutes long, and it took two days to shoot.”
“Why are you doing this to yourself?” Samara asked.
“Doing what?”
“Not going for it.”
“Iamgoing for it. I’m taking the damn part, Samara.”
“After that. Why aren’t you–”
“Here you go,” Candace said, interrupting them as she dropped off Samara’s drink.
“Perfect timing, Candace. Have a drink, Samara. Alongdrink,” Dana told her.
Samara glared at her over the glass this time and said, “Thank you, Candace. It’s great.”
“You’re welcome. Are you all going to eat, too?”
“Oh, God…” Dana said. “Please tell me that someone brought you your dinner tonight, and you aren’t eating here.”
“No, I didn’t order anything for dinner tonight because I knew I was coming here,” Samara replied and looked back up at Candace. “What are your vegan options?”
CHAPTER 13
