Rita had been counting
down the days until she was able to escape the production office. Liz had been making everyone’s lives hell
ever since her talk with Max.
Well, Liz was always on
edge. She lived on caffeine, and
probably cocaine. Her constant
frustration was even reflected in her appearance, with her frizzy, dirty blonde
hair and blood shot eyes. She always had
caked on foundation that was one shade too light for her skin, and her crimson
red lips hid smoke stained teeth. Rita
could still remember the way Liz had hissed when she was on the phone, her
lips pressing against the receiver so hard that her thick, waxy lipstick had
smeared onto the plastic.
Rita had heard most of
the conversation, and really couldn’t believe how Liz could lie to Max like
that. The network didn’t care about the
format switch. Hell, they had loved it. It was Liz who was pushing back. She didn’t want to see her show changed.
But it wasn’t her
show. It was Max’s. The network couldn’t stand Liz, but they
loved Max, and Liz knew full well that if the fight made it to the head
honchos, she would be the one packing her bags, not Max.
“That bastard thinks he
knows this business better then me? He
thinks he knows what people want to see?”
Liz was screaming so loud that Rita could hear her clearly halfway across
the office. “That little shit wouldn’t
have a pot to piss in if it wasn’t for me.”
Rita glanced over the top
of her cubicle, at Liz’s office. She was
alone, ranting to herself, the door wide open, and the entire office crew able
to hear her.
“I developed the original
idea, and that’s what they are going to stick with it! They want to change it? Over my dead body!” Liz slammed her door shut.
All of this had started
with that one phone call. Then, a few
days later, it was a call from the network.
Max had gone over her head. Liz
shouldn’t have been surprised. Their
relationship had soured over the past year, and the Fantasy Land special was
turning out to be the nail in the coffin for their relationship. Especially when Max got the cuts that Liz
demanded put back into the show.
Rita sat back down, and
focused on her work. Just stay out of it. That had been her mantra since she
had gotten back from Fantasy Land.
She hadn’t been shocked
when Rico had quit. After hearing about
Brittany’s death, not to mention having his throat cut open and getting
attacked by a bunch of demonic troll dolls, he just didn’t have the drive to
keep chasing after things that went bump in the night.
Rita had considered
quitting, too. So much had happened, and
she had learned so much about her family.
She had learned about the darkness that she had inherited. When she had finally gotten home, and had
been able to settle into a more normal routine, she looked at herself, at the
darkness, and realized something.
She needed to fight
it. She didn’t just mean fighting it on
the inside. No, she had to go out into
the world and fight back against the evil that kept trying to seep into the
world.
She knew Max didn’t
believe the stories about Heartsong Island, but she did. He wasn’t the one doing all the research, and
scheduling the interviews. There was
something evil hidden in that island, and she was going to find it.
“Rita!” Liz’s door popped
open, and she popped her frizzy little head out into the office. “Get in here!”
Rita took a deep breath,
and marched over to Liz.
“Yes?” She kept a smile
on her face, hiding her discomfort.
“You’re not going on the
shoot. I need your plane ticket.” Liz was eyeing her, waiting for her to
complain.
“Then you’ll have to talk
to Max about that.” Rita’s smile grew.
“It’s the network’s
money, not…”
“Didn’t you hear? Max is paying for my flight.” Rita
giggled. “Isn’t it great when you have a
host who comes from money? He’s so
sweet.”
“You are not going on
that trip.” Liz was walking towards her slowly, her eyes shooting death
rays.
She had to admit; it was
fun getting under Liz’s skin. The woman
had been a mega-bitch to her since the first day she was hired. It was probably
because Rita didn’t fall under Liz’s control.
She was Max’s production assistant, and he had sole control over her
career. Liz had no footing with her, no
real way to threaten her. She tried, as
was evident in her current attempt to bully Rita out of the new shoot, but in
the end she always had to back off.
“Like I said, ma’am,
you’ll have to talk to Max.” Rita
turned, and started back towards her desk.
“You could go to the network about it, I guess.”
“That bastard is not
going to keep me away from this special.” Liz stomped her foot. “And neither are you. You give me that ticket, or…”
Rita turned. She had been through enough. After everything she had dealt with in that
temple, Liz didn’t even come close to scaring her, and at that moment she was
getting really sick of her shit.
“Or what?” Rita’s voice
was flat, cold. It even surprised her at
how cruel she sounded. “You better watch
your tongue Liz, or someone will drag you out of the office by it.”
She hadn’t meant to say
that last part. She hadn’t even realized
she had been the one to say it until she saw the shocked, horrified look on
Liz’s face.
“How… how… HOW DARE YOU
TALK TO ME THAT WAY!” Liz rushed at
her.
Rita didn’t back
down. She just stood there, her eyes
never leaving the producer. Liz raised
her hand, ready to smack Rita nice and hard, but she froze.
“Fine. I’ll… I’ll get my own ticket.” Slowly Liz backed away, a few drops of sweat
breaking out on her forehead.
What had Rita done? She was so sure that she was just about to
get the shit smacked out of her, and then…
Was that fear in Liz’s
eyes? Rita hated to admit it, but the
feeling that she had scared someone as monstrous as Liz kind of made her feel,
well, good.
“Good for you.” Rita’s smile returned. “Now, I’m going to take the rest of the day
to pack. I have to get up bright and
early for the flight tomorrow. Any
problems?”
Liz didn’t speak. She just went back into the office, slamming
the door shut.
“Didn’t think so.”
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