This is the seventeenth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, and Part XVI before continuing.
“Oh my god, please tell me you saw that show I did just now, Eliza.”
“I wish I could, but I’m afraid I slept through it.” Eliza tried to stifle a yawn, but Angela could hear the lingering sleep in Eliza’s voice, telling her she had woken Eliza with her phone call.
“But it was the best episode I’ve ever done,” Angela whined. “You’ll have to catch it on our website. It should go up in a few hours.”
“I will. For sure. I promise. I’m so sorry I missed it just now. I know the ratings take into account online views, but they still seem to rate live viewings higher than anything else.”
“It’s because they’re all egotistical assholes. They still think the best way to determine a show’s worthiness is whether people are willing to arrange their schedules around when it airs. It’s the same old story: just a bunch of old white dudes who need to catch up to the rest of society.”
“That sounds harsh.”
“I guess it does. Sorry about that. I just heard they’re considering canceling the show.”
“What?” Angela heard Eliza’s voice go from sleepy to alert in an instant.
“They just told us yesterday. That was the other reason I was hoping you had gotten a chance to watch the show this morning.”
“Oh man, Eliza I am so sorry. If I had known I would have made sure to watch it. Nothing would have stopped me, you know that, right?”
Angela giggled, but she wasn’t sure why. This was certainly no laughing matter. “Of course I know that, silly. Then again, you are an actress. I should have known better than to expect you to get up before noon.”
“Very funny. I had a late night last night, that’s all.”
“I see. And what were you doing that was so important?”
“It’s not that it was important. It’s just that it was one of those evenings with a quicksand-type quality to it.”
“Huh?”
“You know how sometimes you go to a party expecting it to go one way and be over by a certain time, but the next thing you know you’re still there, talking to a guy at three in the morning?”
Angela sat down on the couch in her dressing room. “Hold on. There’s a guy?”
Angela could almost hear Eliza’s smirk through the phone. “Maybe.”
“Tell me everything.”
“You’ll kill me.”
“I’m literally on the other side of the country, how could I possibly manage that?”
“You’ll find a way.”
“Because…?”
“Because the guy was Roger Stevens.”
Once Angela had managed to pick her jaw up from the floor, she said, “You were up all night talking to Roger Stevens?”
“Maybe.”
“Was it like …? Was there …? OK, just tell me everything. Every. Single. Detail. Understand? Leave absolutely nothing out.”
To be continued…
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