Samara knew it might cost her a few roles. Then again, it mightgether a few since more and more actors werecoming out these days, so studios and networks were trying to be more politically correct about hiring queer actors to play queer characters. She could even get something juicier than this role after Vancouver. Yes, that was what she would do. She’d do this movie, do the next one, and come out in the process and find a better role to play thatwouldget her to the next level of her career, where she wouldn’t have to play dumb blondes or scientists whose shirts never seemed to button all the way to the top. She wanted to be taken seriously and as someone who would have longevity in this business, and to achieve that, she needed more than just this movie and the lame action one she was doing after it.
Her morning had been spent packing and checking out of the awful hotel to move to the much nicer one. It wasn’t a five-star, but a four-star one would work on such short notice. Since it wasn’t an extended-stay type of hotel, and they hadn’t had any suites available for her, she had a standard room, but it came with a king bed, a nice bathtub with a separate shower and a mini fridge that held six bottles of sparkling water and nothing else. There was also a two-seater table by the window that led to the balcony, the thermostat in this room read seventy degrees, and nothing seemed to be making weird sounds. With room service, she figured she’d be okay here until after the holiday break, when she had already reserved a suite for herself.
After she had moved hotels, she’d changed and decided to walk around a little, but instead of walking around aimlessly, she’d donned that horrible wig and glasses and stopped by NOLA Guides, seeing Rory, who didn’t recognize her at first, and Jill, who was working in the office. They hadn’t wanted to charge her, but she had insisted, and she had made sure to tip Rory well for the first tour and Jill for the second one when it had been Jill’s turn to get out of the office a bit.
Then, it was back to the room to shower and get ready for her date with Dana.Wasit a date? She didn’t know. They hadn’t called it that in their text messages. She’d asked Dana over for dinner but hadn’t specified whether she wanted it tobe a date or not, and her comment in the car about sleeping alone last night hadn’t helped because she knew Dana had understood her. Samara hadn’t been able to sleep last night, and not just because of the random room sounds but because, yet again, she’d been thinking about Dana. Specifically, Dana’s lips on her neck and her fingers buried inside her. She had wanted that since she’d first seen her, and that new, sexy haircut really wasn’t helping Samara. She had been turned on for days now, and no matter how many times she’d touched herself, it hadn’t been enough.
When the knock at the door came, Samara shot up from the bed, where she had been sitting, waiting impatiently for Dana, who had texted her that she was leaving the set and was on her way. Samara straightened her dress, which was silly because it was pleated. It was also short, but not too short, and her flats showed that she cared, but not enough to put on the fanciest heels she’d brought with her. Her blonde hair was down and curled at the ends, and she had put on just the smallest amount of makeup. Mainly, mascara and lipstick, and a little cover-up for a small stress pimple she’d seen emerging on her forehead above her right eyebrow. Samara shook her head and took a deep breath. Then, she opened the door.
“Hey. You didn’t respond to my last message, so I just brought–” Dana stopped. “Oh.”
“Oh, what?” she asked.
“You look–” Dana’s eyes raked over her body. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she replied.
“I don’t,” Dana said, looking down at herself. “I came from the set. I’m wearing an NYU sweater.”
“You look fine,” she said. “What did you bring?”
“Oh,” Dana added, shaking her head in the same way Samara had just done. “I texted you again after I told you that I was leaving to see if you wanted me to bring anything. You didn’t respond, so when I had to go, I just grabbed this.” She held up a bottle of Samara’s favorite wine. “Is that okay?”
“That’s perfect. Thank you. Come in,” she said, motioningfor Dana to walk into the room.
“Wow! This place ismuchnicer than where they put you up.”
“I tried. I really did,” she said, closing the door. “But the sounds… I couldn’t get over the sounds, and I wasn’t getting any sleep.”
“The sounds?”
“The freezer made sounds. The AC unit also kept kicking on every ten minutes, and it was never keeping the room at a regular temperature. The shower even dripped a little, and I could hear it whenever the AC wasn’t on.”
“No shower dripping here?” Dana asked.
“Nope. And I’ve already tested it. Rain shower, too. My favorite.”
“There’s a rain shower in this place? I’ve always wanted to try one of those.”
“You’ve never–”
“No,” Dana interrupted. “I’m a caterer. I can’t afford fancy places like this.”
Samara smiled, took the bottle of wine from her, and said, “Maybe you can try this one.”
“I would, but I stole a shower in your trailer before I left.”
“What?” Samara said, laughing.
“Yeah. My trailer doesn’t have one. I had Jana let me in because you locked it on me.”
Samara continued to laugh as she set the bottle on the table behind her.
“Did you use my shampoo?”
“Yes,” Dana said.
“Really? You did?”
