Sometimes, the staff members forgot that they worked on the set of a soap opera. They didn’t live in one.
“Sparx, they’re ready for you,” Jay, one of the assistants, said after giving her door a quick knock.
Sparx thanked the young man, straightened her back, making her long brown hair cascade down her back, and marched herself to the writing room. About twelve people were waiting for her, even though she’d only called the meeting with the director and head writer. They’d been the ones to contact the executives. Maybe that was why Sparx was so nervous.
“Sparx,” Milton James Covington, the most important man in the room, snapped her name like it was a curse word. “What can we do for you?”
“Hi, everyone,” she answered, sitting down at one of the plush gray chairs set around the enormous pine table where the writers wrote out the lives of the characters on The Town.
It was at this very table that other people had decided who Sparx’s first kiss would be. She’d been fourteen and freshly added to the show after her mother arranged for her to have an audition. Seems her desire to be in the drama team at school had inspired her mother to believe she would one day be the mother to a great actress. She’d never kissed a boy before sharing an on-screen kiss with Antony Green. It had been as embarrassing as showing up to school naked to have a hundred witnesses to her first kiss. Or, as Sparx recalled it, the first game of failed tonsil hockey. Anthony had stuck his tongue down her throat and wiggled it around. It hadn’t been good.
But it wasn’t the last time the writers would get her to kiss a love interest. Sparx had kissed more fellows onset of The Town than she ever would in real life. Samantha was a real go-get-'em, which was something she was taught through the years of scripts. Sparx had no idea if she would really be as forward with men in her real life, but at least Samantha had prepared her if the time was right.
No kiss, either on set or in her actual life, had ever been good. It was probably because, during each kiss, she flashed back to Anthony Green and his slug of a tongue worming in her mouth as she tried to breathe.
The very same people had her career in her hands now. They hadn’t cared that they were giving away her first kiss. It was doubtful they’d care that she wanted to broaden her acting credits.
“Shawna McNamara has written the story of Mary-Ann Lewis, a woman who survived a brutal kidnapping at the hands of a madman. I’ve been granted an audition for the lead role in the movie. I want to be written out for a few months while I prepare for the role and film the movie.”
The resulting silence was as heavy as the forty coats of mascara on her eyelashes. It was awkward and dark. It didn’t bode well for her at all.
The gathered showrunners exchanged a series of looks. Most stared at Milton, waiting to see his reaction before speaking out. He leaned back in his chair, his beady little eyes narrowed as he quietly assessed her.
“When I hired you all those years ago, I gave you the job because you were determined. You convinced us that you wanted to be on The Town. Now I’m beginning to think it was a mistake to give you a spot on the show. You’re no longer committed to the show that has treated you so well over the last two decades.”
“Fifteen years,” Sparx corrected, despite herself. She was too angry to say anything else. Milton was a jerk. No longer committed? Was he serious? “ and, if you might recall, I was a teenager who was excited to have that chance. I have given you fifteen years of my life, but I am an adult now with career goals. I am not asking to leave the cast permanently. I need a few months to work on a project that is near and dear to my heart.”
“You’re contracted,” Milton interrupted. “That means you can’t.”
Sparx rattled off the names of her male costars who had been given the time away from the show. Milton’s red face became redder, his tiny eyes becoming angry lines. His mouth was pulled back into a sneer.
“None of those actors are as central to the show as you ate. The answer is no.”
“Samantha could be written into a coma for a few months,” she suggested.
“I don’t think the formidable character would ever be in a coma,” Stephanie, the head writer’s nasally voice piped up.
Sparx was shocked, down to her toes, that Stephanie was refusing. Was there no longer any solidarity between women? Shit on a craft platter. This was turning into a bigger disaster than she had expected.
For fifteen years, she had given the show everything she had because it had been her dream to be an actress. Somewhere along the way, Sparx knew she’d grown overly comfortable on the set of The Town. It was too sheltered. She had become stagnant in her acting, and she was desperate for a change. She wanted to be in a serious role, one that would be respected and maybe throw her acting career down another path.
That was the dream. Not playing the same character for her whole life. Sparx needed a change. She wanted an adventure, a challenge. Something she could be proud of. Shawna was on the fence about hiring Sparx because her acting credentials were limited. It had never bothered Sparx before. She was Samantha Arden. She was the face of The Town. But it was no longer enough. She’d grown up on these sets, opting out of college or any other acting opportunity that came along.
Now was her time. They wouldn’t stop her. If Sparx had injected anything of herself into the Samantha persona, it was her courage and stubbornness. Using her Samantha voice and flair, Sparx stood, rolled her shoulders back, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and gave them the Arden freeze out.
“I quit.”
“Excuse me?” Milton blinked at her, two seconds away from bursting a blood vessel in his purple face.
“You heard me. I quit. I won’t work for a network that treats its female employees differently than their male counterparts. This is blatant and unfair sexism.”
“You’ve got a contract,” Stephanie’s panicked tone made Sparx feel terrible, but she wouldn’t back down.
“You won’t be able to leave. We’ve got more lawyers than you’ve got sense, apparently.”
“Come after me,” Sparx snapped. “I dare you to get lawyers involved. I’m sure the media outlets would love to know that The Town is run by old stooges who are still living in the past with their unsupportive writers.”
The threat landed good and hard. Not that it was only a threat. Sparx was seriously considering going to the tabloids to let them know of this messed up situation.
“You’re making a mistake,” Milton insisted. “You will never work in this town again.”
And just like that, Sparx knew she’d made the right decision.
-
The restaurant’s decor was warm and inviting. The wood paneling was decorated with koi fish paintings. The center of the room was actually one huge koi pond, where giant red fish swam happily. The tables were set low to the ground, framed by thick cushions. Sparx picked up a piece of California roll and shoved it in her mouth.
She just dropped a bomb during lunch with her sisters. She took her time to chew some delicious sushi before answering their questions.
“You did what?” Cinder gasped, her mouth open wide enough to swallow a full-size baseball.
“What happened?” Ember stumbled out after a series of wha-wha-whas.