BtW Book 01, Part 02: The Devil of the Details

"No questions right now," Yun replied. Kat, still gobsmacked, could only shake her head.

Talia looked down at the spine-bound papers in front of her, selected one, looked at the first page, and handed it to Yun.

"Ms. Lau, this is a copy of your proposed contract. And this," Talia said, going through the same process with another sheaf of papers, "Is yours, Ms. Tallman. Please sign this document attesting to your receipt of your copy. Then you may go. We'll reconvene at the studio offices at the indicated address on Saturday."

Kat and Yun signed for their copies, thanked Talia, then headed for the door. Before she reached it, Kat glanced back at Talia. She was resting her forehead on one hand and flipping pages and making notes with the other, showing no sign of getting ready to leave.

Yun snapped her fingers in Kat's line of vision, startling her.

"Ground Control to Kat, are you there? I know you're probably floating on cloud nine at the moment, but my arm's getting tired."

"Sorry," Kat replied, noticing for the first time that Yun was holding the door open. She went through and Yun followed, pulling the door gently shut as she did.

"She's not going to get much sleep, looks like," Yun said, as they headed for the exit. "I know the type. My parents are like that and I've got a touch of it myself."

Kat, lost in her thoughts as she was, said nothing. She was elated and anxious in equal measure about being offered a role -- one of the leading roles no less -- but that paled in comparison to the thought that, if she accepted, she'd be working for Talia, with Talia, for however long the project lasted. Only her prevailing anxiety over the tremendous responsibility she'd been handed kept her feet from floating off the floor.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yun give her a sidelong, appraising, glance. When Yun spoke, her voice was pitched low, low enough that it might have only carried a couple of feet at most, even though they were alone in the corridor.

"Are you sweet on her?"

There was no levity or teasing in Yun's tone. But it was such an unexpected question that Kat stopped and turned to face her.

"What? No! Why would you--"

"The way you look at her."

"It's just, just-" Kat fumbled for the phrase her father often used. "Art appreciation." That was it. Of course it was. It had to be.

"If you say so," Yun said. "Just...be careful, okay? C'mon, I'll keep you company while you wait for your rideshare."

* * *

Kat couldn't sleep. Though she was in bed, under the covers where it was nice and toasty warm, the roil of her thoughts kept her awake, alert, and aware. She read the words on the page in front of her. Again.

Talia had offered her and Yun the lead roles in the production she now knew had the working title of Inkunzi-7. The provisions in the document before her made that abundantly clear. All that was needed to make it official was to run the contract past her representation, discuss the contents of Addendum One with Talia, and sign on the dotted line. Straightforward, but not at all simple.

Kat rubbed the bridge of her nose, then moved to rub her forehead, as though either gesture could banish the stress headache throbbing faintly but insistently behind her eyes. The situation was gratifying, humbling, and terrifying all at the same time. On the one hand there was the warm fuzzy feeling that arose from Talia's approval, her confidence in Kat's ability, her trust. On the other, there was Kat's abject terror at the prospect of figuratively and literally exposing herself to strangers, first on set, then to whichever viewer base Inkunzi-7 would reach.

Did she want to do it?

Could she do it?

After the first audition -- which now seemed so long ago -- she had thought the first question a settled one. She had, after all, said that she wanted to proceed with the audition process, despite knowing what would be required should she be given an offer. But, as she had told Yun just that morning, now that those requirements were no longer possibilities and probabilities, but actualities and certainties, she was finding that that earlier answer wasn't quite as settled as she had thought.

As for the second question, it was perhaps more accurate to ask whether she could bring herself to do it. Addendum One laid out in precise, clinical, wording, in descriptions so dry they could have come from a medical journal, exactly how many scenes there were and what each scene entailed. From her own limited experience with Taika Studios' back catalog, Kat knew they were run-of-the-mill, unexceptional. So she could hardly take exception, at least on that basis. Again, it had been easy to be confident and decisive when it had been an entirely intellectual consideration, but this, this was a gut check, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Kat put the contract down atop the covers and rubbed her temples as the headache intensified. She took deep, slow breaths, trying to find an oasis of calm and, unbidden, found it in an unexpected place. Because all of a sudden she remembered Talia's words that morning. She believed Kat was capable of assaying the role, but Talia's belief wasn't the issue, had never been the issue. It did give rise to a third question, however:

"Do I believe in the you that believes in me?" she whispered into the quiet night. There it was. The crux. In her mind's eye, as she asked the question, she saw Talia: her face, her eyes, her smile. And Kat knew then what her answers would be, even though her conscious mind rejected the implications of the mental journey that had led her there.

She sighed and picked up the contract. Closing it, she laid it on the nightstand beside her bed, then lay there for a few minutes, just staring at the ceiling. Then she sighed again, picked up her phone, and unlocked it. It came to life, the light from its screen bathing the planes of her face in warm-white light. Kat pulled up the chat app and typed out a quick message to Eileen, asking her to be on the lookout for the copy of the contract Talia had sent. Switching channels, she typed a lengthier message to Yun. It seemed she had barely pressed "Send" before the icon indicating a voice call request pulsed. Tapping it, she brought the phone up to her ear.

"Kat." It was an uncharacteristically laconic greeting from her voluble friend.

"Yun."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Have you even read it?"

"Done nothing but. Since dinner, anyway. Just waiting on Eileen to tell me when I can come in."

"Can we meet? Talk it over?"

"What's there to talk about? And even if there was, we can do it right now."

"It's almost midnight. Besides, I want to do this face to face," Yun paused, then continued, "Please?"

"Okay." Kat supposed it was the least she owed. "Where and when?"

"Rosalyn's, tomorrow lunch? One-ish?"

"I'll be there."

"Thanks. G'night."

"Good night."

Kat tapped the button to end the call before locking the phone and setting it down on the nightstand. Then she rolled over, pulled the covers over her head, and tried to sleep. Late as it was, tired as she was, it was still a long time in arriving.

---To be continued---