CHAPTER THREE
1424 Words
She glances at him, but he’s staring out the window. Finally, she speaks, voice a little shaky.
“Uh…just a block from the theater, 14th street.”
“Good. We’ll drop you there,” he says shortly, leaving no room for argument.
“You really don’t have to—” she starts, but he cuts her off immediately.
“Full address.”
She gives it reluctantly, feeling the weight of his authority. The uncomfortable silence begins, before she tries again. “Thank you for what you did… I didn’t expect anyone to step in like that.”
He scoffs, turning his head slightly toward her. “You don’t need to thank me for firing him.”
Her eyes flicked to him in surprise.” I wasn’t going to”, she swallows. He deserved it. “Still… that money you arranged—it’s more than I’ve ever seen. I don’t know how to—”
“Don’t mistake this for kindness. I don’t tolerate stupidity, and your manager crossed a line. That’s all there is to it” he snaps.
She rests her back on the cold leather sit, unsure whether to feel grateful or insulted.
“That money isn’t a gift. It’s what you earned, and it’s the least he owes you after what happened. If you’re smart, you’ll use it wisely.”
Her jaw tightens, she nods and decides to stay quiet. The car finally stop at her apartment building. She moves to open the door, but he speaks again, stopping her.
“I’ll call someone to look into other theaters. If you want to keep performing, it’ll be under my terms or nothing at all. I don’t waste time with people who can’t handle themselves, but you seem like you could be useful somewhere else.”
His words are cold, but the offer feels real. She looks at him, unsure how to respond. “I… I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t take too long, call this number when you decide.” he says flatly, motioning to the driver. He hands her his business card.The door opens, and she steps out, holding her bag.
She watches the car drive off, his words echoing in her mind. The help he’d given felt more like a demand than a favor, but despite his rudeness, a part of her couldn’t ignore the opportunity he’d just offered.
She walks up to the front door then unlocks it. It was past midnight already, the lights were turned off and she could sense that Mia had gone to bed. She didn’t expect to be home this early, she approaches her room falling face down on her bed and passes out.
****
“Ana! You don’t mean this” Mia’s eyes sad and concerned after listening to the whole incident that happened to her roommate. Ana stretches her hands facing her phone towards Mia with a straight face then she bites her lip.
“What’s that?” Mia asked curiously, taking the phone off Ana’s grip. She stares at the alert Ana received the night before. Then closes her mouth in awe.
“You’re f*****g with me Ana, what??”, she continues, jumping of from the wooden chair into Ana’s bed.
“I know, but I’m not kidding” she said calmly, looking so exhausted. “Everything yesterday happened like a dream. I didn’t expect it”
“Oh my goodness. It is a fucki—“ Ana cuts her off rolling her eyes.
“Language, Mia”
“Dream….,” she corrected herself “it’s a dream, you’ve always had this big crush on him, although he’s not all that you expected”
“What do you mean?” Ana asks concerned, furrowing her brows.
“I mean, he’s rude” she shakes her head sharply, her Australian accent kicking in. “..but I think you should let that aside, probably was havin’ a bad day”
“Woah, so you’re supporting him now?” Ana said, faking a laugh.
“ I’m not, I mean” she curves her mouth to the side as if whispering to an imaginary figure, her eyes following the act. “He’s better than that wanna be boyfriend of yours”
“Don’t bring Sylvester into this, he’s a good guy.”
“Whatever” Mia replies, scrunching her upper lip in disgust then stands up from the bed. Ana looks down, a certain memory flashes as she called out.
"And, Mia," Ana called, raising her hand to catch her friend's attention.
Mia turned toward her, brows raised.
"Uh, he said he’d give me a shot," Ana started hesitantly, "but on his own terms."
"A shot?" Mia’s face twisted in confusion.
"He... offered me a job last night."
"What?" Mia exclaimed, her hands flying to her curly dark hair as she ran her fingers through it. "Ana, this is huge! What did you tell him?" Her voice was slightly breathless, her words spilling out quickly.
"I—I didn’t give him an answer," Ana admitted, glancing away.
"Why not? Were you too stunned by the money? Don’t need the job?" Mia fired back, her tone disbelieving.
"I just… need time to think," Ana murmured, pulling a small business card from her purse and holding it out. "He left this."
Mia snatched the card and glanced at it, reading out loud, "Brown Enterprises…are you kidding me?”, her eyes widening. Looking back at Ana in shock.
“Opportunities like this don’t just fall into your lap!" She grabbed Ana's wrist and pulled her up from the bed.
"Mia, wait!" Ana protested, laughing shyly as her friend places her phone into her hands and began typing in the number from the card.
"No time for waiting!" Mia says. "You’re calling him now!"
“Well… wait let me freshen up, I look like mess. Can you see me?” Ana says gesturing from her head to her feet. She rushes to the bathroom with her towel in her hand. She looks back at Mia who’s mouth was folded in annoyance.
“I promise, I’ll call him”
---
(James):
I sat slouched in my office chair, my head resting against the back as I replayed the events of last night. I hadn’t planned on being there honestly. Business meetings in small towns weren’t my usual thing, but this trip had been different. A local associate insisted I visit the theater, swearing it had the best dancers. I should have been furious about that blonde woman ruining the evening, but instead, I found myself distracted, restless.
A sharp knock on the door cut through my thoughts.
"Come in," I said flatly, not bothering to look up.
My secretary stepped inside, practically drowning under a stack of papers. I watched her struggle to keep them balanced, unimpressed.
"What do you have for me?" I asked.
"Sir, I made several calls to Brunt Entertainment," she said quickly, clearly nervous. "They’re requesting a profile of the lady and specific details about available roles.”
She carefully placed the stack of papers on my desk. "These are the positions currently open, sir."
I glanced at the papers before leaning back in my chair, my fingers cupped around my jaw brushing gently. "And you couldn’t narrow this down? Or do you expect me to waste my time sifting through all this garbage?"
She stood there awkwardly, clutching her hands, unsure how to respond.
“Just leave, I’ll call you when I need you”
The secretary nodded quickly and turned to leave, her footsteps quiet but hurried.
I tapped my pen against the desk, my thoughts returning to the blonde lady from last night, I hadn’t caught her name. I don’t mind giving her a shot, even after ‘that’ disaster. If she wanted this opportunity, she’d have to prove she was willing to work for it.
I tried distracting myself with some folders. Another long day was just beginning, and I had to follow up. The telephone rang, I sighed holding it to my ear.
“Yes?”, i answered sharply.
“Mr. Jack Brown?” A low soft voice speaks on the other end. It sounded familiar.
“Speaking”, I replied
“The lady you helped last night, Candy…. U-Uhmm”. She stammers. “Ana. My name’s Ana”, she corrects herself but I become impatient.
“Get to the point”
“I’ve thought about it and….” she lets out a quiet sigh. “I need the job”.
- Writer
