Page 13 of Good Enough

“Come again?”

“If only,” she muttered, not realizing she was speaking aloud.

Comments like that may make our time working together either super awkward or very interesting.

“You just got this script late yesterday, so you’ve reviewed the script, made notes, discussed with God, analyzed, and researched me all in a very short time. I’m wondering how that all gets done if you sleep.”

No way in hell am I going to tell her that Midas did the bulk of the research as soon as Ka-Bar called in his favor.

“Again. It’s what I do, Kubrick.”

“Kubrick?”

His mouth quirked up at the corner. It wasn’t a smile, but it wasn’t a non-smile either. “It’s what God nicknamed you.” He shrugged. “You’re stuck with it, I’m afraid.”

“Ugh. Great. I don’t suppose you could call me Kai? Or at least just Serrano?”

“Nope.” He popped the p when he said it. “Once you’ve been named, it stays. Military regulations.”

“What bullshit. That is not written in any military manual. And even if it was, I’m not military.”

“However, I was, and at Tribe, we use nicknames for safety when on a job. You hired us. Our rules trump yours. Besides, if you want an in-sync team, using their character names, not real names, will help create that effect on set. They’ll start to become those people instead of being themselves.”

Kubrick began grumbling to herself. Somewhere in the quiet ranting and raving, he heard “assclown,” which he hoped was directed at God and not him. Then he heard “G.I. Joe,” which truth be told, he was starting not to hate as long as she was the one saying it.

Waters took pity on her and changed the subject to safer topics. “I suggest we start by going over what your proposed schedule is. Then we can start going over the largest alterations I’m suggesting and work our way through to the smallest.”

“We? You’re going to be directly involved with this?”

“God assigned me to your job, yes. Problem?”

He watched her swallow. “N-no. I just thought you were the middleman, so to speak. Isn’t it a bit below your pay grade?”

“I’m on medical leave. I won’t be cleared for a few more weeks. So, I’m your man.”

5

FEBRUARY 9TH

Kai

“So, I’m your man.”

There had been a pregnant pause after he said that.

How do I read that? Does he mean it to be a double entendre? It sounded like a double entendre.

To cover how the comment had thrown her, she began to dig through the haphazard piles she’d started when he sat down. The problem was, now she no longer knew where anything was. Organized chaos was her modus operandi. The fumbling probably wasn’t helping make her look professional.

Or is that because he’s watching you as intensely as a sniper watches a target?

After a few false starts and some quick paperwork solitaire, everything was relatively back where it had been, and she was clicking along on all cylinders. He explained how he set up his notes in the script, letting her know that he trusted her to read them rather than be patronizing and go through them one by one. While reviewing some of her ideas, he offered suggestions when they were asked for, asked intelligent questions for clarification, and never once interrupted her. Instead, he waited until she finished a thought, making sure that she was done speaking.

It was not the Hollywood way. Everyone here was always in a hurry; their way was the only way, and everything was a power play. Initially, she found herself outside her tornado mode, ending her sentences with question marks. When he didn’t show signs of correcting her, she eventually dropped the questioning and paused when she normally wouldn’t, again waiting for him to correct her, scoff at her ideas, or something. But he never did. And it didn’t take long before she became comfortable with working alongside him to where she was steamrolling through at her normal pace of a thousand miles an hour.

His response? He had cleared a small space, dug one of her legal pads out of her chaos, swept up a Disney villainess pen, and began making notes. He should have looked ridiculous. He didn’t. He looked focused. Contemplative.

Hot.

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