KATE
I was writingmy review for the latest animated movie when my cellphone rang. I glanced at the screen, didn't recognize the number, but answered it anyway. I always hoped an agent might pull my screenplay from the slush pile and call to offer representation.
It hadn't happened in the two years I'd been trying, but I always hoped…
"Hello, this is Kate Dawson," I said in my most professional voice.
"Hey, Kate. It's Drew." He paused for a second. "Wait, isn't your last name Prosser now?"
I groaned inwardly. "I didn't take Nolan's last name."
And I really didn't want to have that conversation right now either.
"Oh…that's interesting. I never pegged you for the feminist sort."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, not that being a feminist is bad. I mean, we should all be for equal rights for women,” he hurried to say. “I just remember coming across your notebooks back in high school and seeing you had written Kate Burrows all over one of them."
I covered my mouth with my free hand and gasped. "You saw that?"
Drew chuckled. "It was adorable how you put a heart in place of the 'o' in my last name."
My cheeks burned. "That was a long time ago, Drew. I've grown up a lot since then."
"I know."
There was awkward silence for a moment.
So I cleared my throat and said, "So what were you calling for?"
"I have a proposition for you," Drew said. "This might be going out on a limb, but my handler quit this morning and the show is desperate to hire someone quickly with everything happening next week. They want someone trustworthy. Someone I already know. And I remembered you saying something about only working part time, and I figured you might be open for something more."
Really? He was offering me a job? In the very industry I was trying to break into?
"What's the job like? You said I'd be your handler? What's that?"
"Basically, you just make sure I get to my appointments for the show. We have a lot of promotional interviews coming up next Monday. And then you also have to help with a few other things. It really shouldn't be that hard."
"Can't your personal assistant do that for you?"
"He's already too busy handling all of my business affairs right now. We need someone who can just focus on the show."
Writing for the newspaperwasgetting pretty monotonous.
"When would I start?"
"Right now would be ideal, actually."
"Right now?” My voice came out too loud.
"Like I said, we're in a bind. I understand if you need to decline. It was a shot in the dark anyway."
"Wait. No…” I said, not believing this was actually happening. "I can do it. I'm almost done with my article anyway." I mentally calculated whether I could really do it or not. Things were pretty slow at the newspaper, and they could hire out my work easily enough if I couldn't give them the appropriate two-week notice.
"Really?" He sounded like he hadn't expected me to accept his offer.
"Is it just at the ANB studio on Alameda Avenue?"