Better Than Revenge [Unedited - 2012 Version]

Chapter Nine

Better Than Revenge 

Chapter 9 

“Sophia?” Suzy asked after a minute of silence. “Sophia, dear, are you there?”

“Yeah,” I replied, my voice hoarse. I was trying to hold it in. I really was. I didn’t want to explode on this poor lady, but it was hard. It was so hard… This could not be happening. It couldn’t. It just couldn’t! This was just my luck… 

“How do you feel about this?” she asked after I didn’t say anything else. 

“Well, at first, I was happy,” I replied slowly. “Until I found out who my leading man is." 

“Yes… I thought this might be a bit of a problem…” 

“If you thought it might be a little bit of a problem,” I began, still speaking in a ridiculously calm voice, “then why did you cast him?” 

“Well… that would be something best explained by Nora, I’m afraid,” she tittered nervously. 

“I know he doesn’t want to work with me either!” I exclaimed. “I’m sure he’s screaming at Nora right now!” 

“I think you may have a point there,” Suzy admitted shortly. “Nora has a grimace on her face and is shouting…” 

“See? This is a sign! A sign from God! We can’t do this! We can’t work together!” 

“Oh, honey, it won’t be so bad!” she assured me. “You two will learn to get along, I’m sure!”

“No,” I cried out. “We won’t! That’s the thing! You don’t get it. No one gets it! I will never be able to get along with him. Ever! It’s just humanly impossible!” 

“But—” 

“Oh, God, oh, God. This is just my luck. Why is this happening? Why him? There are tons of other actors out there. Why did he get the part? Why, why, why?” 

“But what did he ever do to you?” she asked, sounding very puzzled. “What caused this? There has to be a reason for this repulsion you feel…”

“Of course there’s a reason,” I blurted out. “A good reason, at that! I’m never going to say what the reason is, of course, but there is one!” 

“Well, it can’t be that bad—” 

“No, it is that bad!” 

She sighed in frustration. “Okay, well, I’m sure working with him can’t be too bad, nothing you—” 

“No! It can and it will be that bad!” I exclaimed wildly. “I can’t work with him! I don’t want to work with him! I told myself that it’s just not worth it once, and right now, I think I was right! I don’t think it is right now!” 

“What do you mean, dear?” she asked in confusion. 

“I was watching one of his movies—well, I was being forced by the loser I call my best friend to watch one of his movies—and a very explicit kissing scene came on and I made a face at the screen and thought to myself, or maybe I said it out loud… I can’t remember… but I said that having to do that with him and having to work with him wasn’t worth all the fame in the world,” I explained, rambling quite a bit as I spoke. “And right now, I think I was right! I’m not sure if it is!” 

“Of course it’s worth it,” she exclaimed, aghast at the idea that it wasn’t. “This is the chance of a lifetime, Sophia. This doesn’t happen everyday. Are you really going to let something as petty as your hatred for the actor you have to work with affect your life in this way?”