Page 101 of Something Cheeky

She complied and rubbed the furrows out of her forehead. She’dtold Derek that the costumes would be completed in the time and stay true to her vision. Zoe refused to prove Greg’s expectation by failing to finish the costumes in his accelerated timeline.

“We love our costumes,” Katie Mai reassured her. “You’re the first designer I’ve worked with who knows how to dress someone my—our—size. You have no idea how affirming our costume fittings have been.”

“Oh, thank God.” Zoe sighed in relief. Her anxiety had caused her emotions to run amok. She had to reel it back in. “Why are we here then?”

“We’re worried about the integrity of the show,” said Danny.

“Greg has tried to steamroll it every chance he gets,” Katie Mai added. “And Derek has given in to his ‘suggestions’ way too often.” She used air quotes around the wordsuggestions.

“How so?”

The two actors looked at each other again as if debating on how much to tell Zoe. Katie Mai bit her lip while Danny crossed his arms in front of him. Were they worried about ratting out Derek?

“I’ll tell her if you can’t,” TJ jumped in. “Greg claims there’s too much Vietnamese spoken and sung in the show.”

“Which there is not,” Danny defended adamantly as he slid off the counter as if to stand up for the musical. “I don’t speak Vietnamese, but I didn’t feel lost at the first read. I felt the emotions and figured out what was happening based on context.”

“But has he changed anything to English?” Zoe asked. She couldn’t believe that Derek would do that. He’d stood up for her when Greg pushed back. He’d do the same for the musical.

“No, but Derek still could.” Katie Mai looked down at her shoes.

“Did you tell me that Greg wants Derek to make the Emperor’s role bigger?” TJ reminded Danny.

“Greg came to me about it.” Danny rolled his eyes. “He said I should demand a bigger part.”

“I know Greg is—uh, well-meaning in his own way, but so far Derek has stayed true.” Zoe sighed.

“What about changing the musical’s name because Greg says it’s too hard to pronounce?” Katie Mai asked. “I can’t believe Derek caved.”

Zoe’s back stiffened.

“Don’t you dare say Derek caved,” Zoe spoke firmly. “He talked to me about it. It was purely a business decision and I stand by him.”

All three of them fell silent. They looked chastened.

“Zoe, you’ve known Derek the longest, so if you trust him, we will, too,” Danny finally said.

“But my gut tells me that something is wrong or something is about to go wrong.” Katie shuddered. “Could you at least tell him about our concerns?”

“Me? What am I supposed to say?” Zoe shook her head. She already had the costumes to deal with. She certainly didn’t want to tell Derek how to handle Greg when she avoided the white man every chance she could.

“How about you tell Derek that the cast is concerned by how much Greg has his hand in the show?” suggested TJ.

“Wouldn’t it be better to hear this directly from the cast?” Zoe pointed out.

“It’ll sound less threatening coming from you, since you two are dating.” Katie Mai smiled sheepishly.

Zoe sighed. She didn’t want to tell Derek how to do his job, but everything the two actors had recalled worried her.

“Would it make you feel better if I talk to him about your concerns?”

Katie Mai and Danny nodded enthusiastically.

“Fine, I’ll talk to him. But he really does have everything under control.” Zoe knew they wouldn’t stop unless she promised to speak to Derek.

“Thank you.” Kaite Mai hugged Zoe. “We have about ten minutes before our break is over. You can catch him if you go upstairs now.”

“Now?”

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