Page 5 of A Little Bit Extra

“Hi, Carla?” I ask. I don’t want to assume that she’s Carla, but she is the only person in the room, so it seems like a safe bet.

She looks up, eyes wide, mouth broken into a huge grin. She waves me over to sit.

“You must be Cassie! You find the office okay? I hope Dave didn’t give you too much trouble down there.”

“Oh, yes, easy enough. Thank you for the detailed email. It helped,” I say as I take a seat across from her.

“Great, great. Okay.” Carla flips through a few more pages on her clipboard before taking them off and handing them to me.

I look at the pages to find a schedule.

“That is the schedule for this week and next. Marcy will–” Carla says.

“Marcy will what?” A voice comes from behind us.

I turn around to find the same girl from the diner. Today she’s wearing a purple dress to match her purple bob.

Marcy’s eyes widen, and she points to me with a smile on her face. “Small world, eh?”

“Indeed,” I say as I turn back around to Carla’s desk, my thoughts wandering to how Marcy and Emmett know each other. Marcy takes a seat on the edge of the desk, avoiding the chair next to me.

Carla looks from Marcy to me with her eyebrows raised.

Marcy sees her confusion. “Oh, right, Cassie was my server at the diner last night.”

Carla slowly nods. They both look down and I realize they both have clipboards. Are clipboards mandatory here? Do I need a clipboard for my three pages of paper? I make a mental note to order one online later.

Marcy gives me the rundown on what to expect for this job. I’ll come into the studio a few times a week and do normal PA duties, such as deliver mail, ensure actors get to set on time, and occasionally run errands for the talent on off hours if their driver is unavailable.

Our days should stay pretty busy, but we have downtime to sit on set in case someone needs something. Marcy wants to give me a tour, so we tell Carla goodbye, and I smile before we head out the door and back down the stairs.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize it was you last night.” Marcy looks back at me.

“You couldn’t have known, and I didn’t know either. So not a problem. I’m just happy to be here,” I reply.

Dave the doorman waves to us as we pass him and head down the long hallway. There are posters on either side from movies that were filmed at the studio, similar to the ones at the diner. There are also photos of staff and cast for some of them with autographs from the principal actors. I look at them and my arms prickle with goosebumps. I know that many movies are filmed in California, especially the classics, and most of them were filmed at January Studios.

I have to walk faster to catch up to Marcy, who veers to the right to follow another hallway. My gaze wanders from the bright lights on the ceiling to the staff standing around the corridor chatting with one another.

We say hello to other staff that pass by. Marcy calls everyone by name.

“How long have you worked here?” I ask. Watching how Marcy moves around the studio, recognizes everyone, and the confidence she exudes makes me think she’s been here for a while.

“Um, three years?” She slows her pace to walk in line with me. “I started as a PA. Now, I’m an assistant director and manage logistics on set.”

“Oh, that’s awesome.” I’m about to ask about Emmett, but we finally reach the set.

We walk through the door frame into a large room. To the left, there’s a table lined with all sorts of food and drinks. There’s also another double door, but I’m not sure where that goes. The rest of the room is full of different sets. There appears to be a police station, a café, and a living room.

Marcy leads me to the center of the room to a man sitting in a director’s chair. His short gray hair matches his beard, which is trimmed short around his jaw and upper lip. He’s wearing a black t-shirt and dark jeans with a white pair of Converse. He is the most stylish director I’ve seen.

The man smiles and stands to greet us.

“Marcy! Feels like we just ended the last film, right?” They hug. I shift from one foot to the other and glance around the room.

“Hi, Ed. Yes, it’s hard to believe it’s already been two months.” Marcy turns somewhat to me and holds her hand out, gesturing in my direction. “This is Cassie, my new assistant.”

Ed takes two steps toward me and extends his hand. I give it a shake.

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