And with that, she exited the frame.
Todd watched Noah Drew stare after her for a minute. It wasn’t until he retreated to the back of his cell that Todd remembered—this show wasn’t scripted. They’d just…donethat.
The next time Em and Ian came into the editing bay, Todd wavedthem over. The other interns exchanged looks as if he were voluntarily walking into the lions’ den.
“I think I have something,” Todd said anyway.
“What’s this?” said Em impatiently when he saw AJ Graves enter at the time stamp. Ian said nothing. Todd handed them each headphones and watched them watch the footage. Ian was almost…proud; Em was unreadable. When the scene finished, Todd paused the recording.
Ian looked at Em. “Well?”
Em was chewing on his lower lip, deep in thought. After about forty seconds, he glanced at Todd and said, “Thank you.” Then he turned to Ian. “Next time, get her goddamn hair down.”
Todd’s Coverage, Episode 2:“Scallywags”
While dropping cargo on Tory II, the Captain picks a fight with a band of Naval officers who are bullying the local villagers. Back on Gilamede, Ana and Rho trade barbs in the brig.
AJ clutched a ventiiced chai for dear life as she shuffled toward Ian outside their soundstage.
A bleached sky hung over the Fox Studios lot; elsewhere, the sun was rising. AJ had no idea why Ian had asked to meet here at six-thirtya.m., but she hadn’t changed out of her pajamas in protest.
Ian looked tired. AJ recognized the face of an Ian who had been up all night sifting through footage. She’d seen it often enough onTurn It or Return It.
“Didn’t want to meet in the editing bay?” said AJ, intending to sound light and immediately betraying her confusion.
Ian took a sip of his own coffee. “We want you in full glam today.”
AJ started. “Was I not ‘mousy and unassuming’ enough yesterday?” she asked, pulling the drawstring of her brother Patrick’s purple UMass sweatshirt so that the hood scrunched her face.
Ian gave her a sheepish look. “Em wrote that before he met you.”
“Oh, right.” AJ let go of the strings but kept the hood up. “And now?”
Ian shrugged. “Now he thinks there might be more to her.”
It took AJ a full beat to process what Ian had just said. That after seeing AJ,Em Tynerwas reconsidering her role.
This was…unexpected.
And improbable. AJ mentally reviewed her movements the day before. Mostly, she’d been in the control room with Ian and Em, watching the many-framed screens of what was happening on set. During that time, Em had looked at her all of once, maybe twice.
There had been that scene with Noah.
But that was nothing, a less-than-three-minute exchange filmed through prison bars.
Not to a producer, though.To a producer, their size difference, their coloring, even their costumes together were compelling.The sick waif would make quite a reveal as Alara.
AJ searched Ian. “This is routine, right?” she asked. “I mean, she’s just a plant.”
“We want everyone looking their best,” he said in a tone that told AJ not to push.
“Got it,” she said, shoving down the unease in her gut. Thiswasroutine. They were filming a network program, and she’d barely been in costume yesterday. Ian probably just didn’t want to tell her she looked like an urchin. “So, what’s the plan for today?” she asked, eager to move on.
“Today we’ll mostly be shooting on the lot,” said Ian. “Sorry—on ‘Tory II.’ ”
“Where I assume my character will receive her makeover?” said AJ. “Could the guy fromThe Princess Diariesmake a cameo?”
Ian smirked—he was known to watch Disney after smoking a bowl. “Paolo from Genovia is unfortunately stuck in another wormhole,” he said, shooing her toward hair and makeup.
