26. March 10th

MARCH 10TH

Kai

The peace was officially shattered,and tension was high. Big Bird had arrived the day before, and everyone was miserable. From the moment he got out of the Jeep to the current moment in the War Room, he had been raving about something. The lack of a direct flight. The delays. The turbulence. The lack of "real" rental cars. The bumpy, rutted roads. The heat. The bugs. The housing accommodations.

And it was not missed by the man that Waters and Kai were sharing quarters now because of his arrival and refusal to stay in Coxen Hole. If anything, he'd truly gone atomic over that—Kai sleeping with the help. According to him, it was completely inappropriate and unprofessional.

Waters was present for all of his tirades. As promised, he never left Kai alone, which was both endearing and frustrating on her end. But to his credit, he never spoke up during her conversations with Stapleton. He just stood near a door, arms crossed, leaning against the wall, waiting to "take out the trash" if it got to that point.

It had been too late today for Kai to take Big Bird on the tour he wanted, so instead, she showed him the work they'd accomplished in the War Room, informing him of some of the changes they had decided upon, all of which he vetoed, and all of those vetoes she ignored. He had no script control according to the contract. She had made sure of that. Now, he was looking over invoices. Again.

"Serrano, this is totally unacceptable," Big Bird complained.

"What is, Craig?" Kai sighed.

God, I hate this man. This is the last time I will work for someone else. Once this movie clears the box office, I'll be set for life and can make my own films.

He sat behind her desk, flipping through invoices. "This wasteful spending."

Sitting on the leather couch, Kai didn't even look up from the script that sat in her lap. She was back to reviewing blocking and camera angles that she wanted for shots when filming started in a few days. If she didn't engage him with eye contact, sometimes he backed off.

"Craig, you know very well we're actually below the projected budget for our timeline. Food is currently much cheaper here than expected. We have been using hardly any electricity since we got back from training; we are too damn tired to sit up and turn on the lights at night. And we haven't been going to town at all, so we're not using any fuel, eating out and using per diems, or enjoying any entertainment. How could we possibly be wasteful in our spending?"

"Apparently, you didn't need to be down here this early."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, you've been doing all of this unnecessary training. We could be shooting already."

Kai resisted the urge to sigh again. "It's not unnecessary, Craig. We have been over this and over this. It may not appear so right now, but it will be worth it in the end. Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

He hmphed and threw the invoices down on the desk. "I sincerely doubt that. I still contend that this ‘extra training' you're doing is a waste. And I will continue to say it so that when it proves true, I'll enjoy the opportunity of saying ‘I told you so' all the more."

Counting to ten before answering, Kai laid her pencil down, closed her script, and gently set it on the coffee table.

"Well, until that day, Craig, let's just assume I'm right."

He grunted, casting a malevolent stare in Waters' direction. "Clearly, you've too much free time on your hands as well."

She felt Waters tighten up from across the room as she turned her head to look directly at Big Bird. Her face felt hot, and if it had been possible, she would have shot daggers at him from her eye sockets. "And how have you determined this from your lumbar-massaging, ergonomic, baby cow leather desk chair back in L.A.?"

"You obviously have time to shack up with this Neanderthal, which means that the time you've spent rolling around in the sheets with him is time you could have been working." Craig was involved in a stare down with Waters, which was dangerous enough in itself. But what was worse was that it took his focus off of Kai, and that was a big mistake.

"Whom I spend my nights rolling around in the sheets with is not your business, you fuckwitch," she hissed, "and never will be. You have no right to censor my behavior as long as it doesn't compromise the work I'm doing, which it clearly doesn"t. You're just searching for any little reason to rattle my cage, something you've been doing since our first day working together." Her eyes were glittering so bright they could have spit venom. "I strongly suggest you go to bed and get a good night's sleep. In the morning, you should get in the Jeep with one of the crew, head straight to the airport, and go home. You are not needed here, nor are you wanted. You'll only get in the way and create the distraction and impediments to our progress that you claim you want to prevent. Hell, I'll even drive you myself and charter a private jet to get you on a direct flight if it gets you off my set."

Big Bird smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, Serrano. You need to be taken in hand here, and I'm going to see to it that that happens."

Kai took her steps toward the desk slowly and carefully. Her palms came down to lay flat on its surface, and she leaned over to get eye level with the bastard who sat there smirking at her. Her voice dropped even quieter, a sure sign that she was about to let loose if he didn't come to heel. "You couldn't even begin to take me in hand, Stapleton. I would break you into so many pieces you'd cry like a fifteen-year-old girl who got stood up for the prom. And when I was done pulverizing your soul, even the angels couldn't put your sorry, jigsawed ass back together. I doubt the demons from hell would, either. Don't you dare threaten me. Ever."

With that, she turned on her heel and headed toward the hallway door. When she pulled up even with Waters, she turned back to the producer. "I'm going to the kitchen to get some dinner. When I come back, you'd better be gone because I plan to spend the rest of the night rolling around in the sheets with my unnecessary Neanderthal. If you're not gone, I'll pay him from my own pocket to feed you to an extra large snake out in the jungle, which I will then personally chop into pieces and feed to the sharks."

She opened the door, passed through without looking at Waters, and slammed it behind her.