Once Kylie was out of sight, Stephen scurried down to the lower deck to release Ethan. The door popped open, and there he was, sitting on the edge of the bed and giving him the evil eye. "The storm settled hours ago," he shouted. "What made you think that you could just keep me locked up? And why isn't the motor running? Is there something wrong with the boat?"

"Calm down," Stephen sighed. "Kylie and I slept through the storm, so we didn't wake you up when it ended. Then, when we finally did wake up, we thought that you were still sleeping. The motor isn't running because, while the storm ran its course, it pushed us all the way to Seattle. In the morning, all I had to do was throw a rope over a post and pull us in."

​​

Ethan thought about that for a moment. It seemed reasonable; there was still one question that he hadn't asked. "Where's Kylie?" he wondered.

"Lucas came for her," Stephen replied. "Kylie wanted to get an early start. She would have brought you with her, but she thought you were asleep, as I already told you, and she didn't want to wake you up. If you want, I can drive you to her set."

Ethan knew that Stephen was a snake, but, for now, he had to trust him if he wanted to get where he wanted to be. "Alright," he replied. "Let me eat and get dressed, and then we can go."

***

Kylie was in make-up when Stephen and Ethan arrived. She'd already been through the wardrobe, and she looked gorgeous. As they watched her, though, she began to panic. "My script!" she cried. "Has anyone seen my script? I haven't looked at it in days!"

Lucas looked at Ethan, but Ethan just shrugged. "She must have left it in the Garbo Palace," he said. "But there must be an extra script around here somewhere. Have you checked your office?"

Lucas's face turned red, and he scurried off to look for it in his office.

Lucas had a lot of questions that wanted to ask Kylie, but he recognized that it wasn't the right time to ask them, not while she was expected to perform in only a few minutes, from a script that she barely remembered. He hoped that Stephen and Ethan would be gone when he returned, but he only got half of his wish. Stephen was there, but Ethan was not.

Once Kylie was done with her make-up, Lucas handed her a script and showed her to her private room. The door had her name on it, and there was a platter of fruit on the table, and, most importantly, it was quiet. There was no place in the building that was better suited for her to read her lines.

"Would you read through them with me?" Kylie wondered, and Lucas nodded that he would. Lucas closed the door behind them, and they sat down across from each other. Before they got into the script, though, Kylie asked him how Elizabeth was doing.

Lucas had been drinking tea, and when he heard the question, he began to choke. Once he was okay again, he looked at her with animosity and said, "You were the one who brought her to Hamorna and then left her alone. She disappeared that night, and now you have the nerve to ask me how she is!"

"What are you talking about?" Kylie wondered. "I don't remember taking Elizabeth to Harmona…"

"What the fuck, Kylie?" Lucas hissed. "Are you sick in the head or something?"

Just then, Stephen barged in, and Kylie looked at Lucas. "Please," she whispered, "can we talk about this later?"

Stephen smiled as he grabbed a piece of pineapple from the tray and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed, swallowed, and then he said, "You're needed on set. The director would like to start shooting."

Kylie followed after Stephen, more afraid than she'd ever been in her life. She hoped that as the filming began, and the other actors fell into their roles, the script would just come back. She knew that it hadn't been that long ago that she'd had these lines memorized, but her memory had been acting up on her lately.

Lucas showed her where to stand, a place across from two other actresses. The one said her lines, the next replied, and then it was her turn to chime in with her two cents. Her mind went blank suddenly, but her mouth opened anyways, and, much to her surprise, the line jumped out – and her heart skipped a beat. At first, she was ecstatic, but when she looked around, she saw that everyone was disappointed.

The director called "Cut," and called her over. Once she was in front of him, he said, "There is something going on with you. You have always been a master of facial expressions. In that scene, though, it looked like you were wearing a death mask.

"I'm sorry," Kylie cried. "I don't know what happened. "Please let me try again. I will get it next time. I promise!"

The assistant director waved his hand and told everyone to take a break.

"We'll go again," the director sighed. "We've already filmed you in half the scenes, so get your shit together. If you can't get your shit together, this movie will be dead in the water, and I will be forced to sue you for all you are worth."

Kylie returned to her room to practice her lines in front of the mirror. It was frustrating because it only took a minute to realize that the director had been right and, no matter how hard she tried, she could not get her face to do what she wanted it to. Falling into her chair, she began to cry. The tears had only flowed for a second thought when Cliff popped in. "Stop crying!" he commanded. "The director will have a fit if he has to send you back to make-up for touch-ups.

Hearing this, Kylie pulled herself together. She looked at him and thanked him.

"It is nothing," he replied, "but we've got to figure out your block. We both know what you are capable of, we just need to figure out a way for you to access that talent."

Cliff looked at her curiously. "When you look at me," he wondered. "who do you see?"

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Dear Readers,

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