Chapter 16
Early the next morning, Dr.Ang and April moved into their own bungalow clear at the other end of the line of bungalows. Something about the move didn’t feel right, but Sonya had no reasonable argument for keeping them from making the move.
Yes, Dr.Ang didn’t sleep comfortably. And, yes, the dinette was tiny. And, yes, there was only one tiny bathroom for all three of them. But she’d repeatedly offered him her own bed, something he flatly refused. They made the tiny dinette table cozy and warm. And they had a workable schedule for bathroom use.
And now, she was alone.
Her little bungalow was suddenly so quiet, so unalive. The aching desire to be close to her daughter was worse than it had ever been. These past days with her had only amplified her need to be with her.
As promised, after lunch, Sonya passed by their new home to walk with them to the studio.
“How do you like your new place?”Sonya said, hiding her displeasure.
“Simple, but cute. I have my own room,” April said.
“Have you given more thought to our plan?”Dr.Ang said.
“Tonight, after filming... We’ll split up, or at least we’ll make it look like we’re splitting up. If the Bat has been watching us, if it’s been eager to get to any of us, it must be frustrating to see that we’re always together. But now, after being here for over a week, it would only be reasonable to assume you’ve both grown more at ease with the place.”
“Makes sense,” Dr.Ang said.
“He’ll see me leave to go to my bungalow and he’ll see you go to yours,” she said to Dr.Ang. “April will head back to the cafeteria to grab a snack.”
*****
THE DAY SEEMED TO STRETCHon forever. Dr.Ang had his big scene to shoot.Noticing his nervousness, Betty had whittled the crew down to a minimum. It was a long speech that the director wanted to get in one seamless and uncut shot.
“I need more raw emotion, Dr.Ang,” she said after his first attempt.
“Yes,” he dutifully said. He returned to his mark, set his shaking hand over the pommel of his sword and nodded his readiness.
“Not enough,” Betty called out after only a few lines. “Try again.”
But time and time again, the emotion Betty sought wasn’t there.
He’d memorized his text word for word, but most words came out wooden. He wasn’t feeling the words, he was simply reciting them.
“Cut! No. This isn’t working.”
“Excuse me,” Sonya said. “Do you mind if I have a word with Dr.Ang?”
“Sure,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Give it a try.”
Sonya pulled Dr.Ang aside. “What’s going on?”
“Saying a line here and there is fine. I memorize the words and I can manage to work some emotion into them. But this...and all in one take.”
“Nerves are getting the better of you, aren’t they?”
“It certainly appears that way.”
