Page 91 of Something Cheeky

“Thank you for your feedback,” she said coldly. “I’d appreciate it if you scheduled any further meetings through Shawn or Heather.”

Greg huffed and stomped out of the room, almost running into the staff coming into the shop. TJ’s head swiveled as he tried to figure out what had happened.

“Excuse me,” TJ yelled down the hallway, but Greg had long disappeared. “What happened here?”

“Greg wanted an update. And he got more than he bargained for.” Zoe laughed uneasily. She fought the urge to run home and take a long hot shower.

She needed to warn Derek. They had to stick together and stand up to Greg.

Chapter 39

“Great job today,” Derek said at the end of rehearsal. “Before you head out for the night, I have some news.”

From behind the cast, Heather and Th?o nodded encouragingly. The three of them had agreed to wait until the end of the day to announce Greg’s news. As the director, he shouldered the responsibility.

“We’ve been presented with a great opportunity to be one of the headlining shows for DC’s API Heritage Month Festival,” he said with false excitement.

The actors cheered.

Th?o rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed that he hadn’t blamed Greg for the “opportunity.” Derek couldn’t change the timeline, so there wasn’t a point to inciting drama or hard feelings against the artistic director. He needed this team to focus.

“Which means, we have to move up opening night.” He swallowed before dropping the bad news. “By two weeks. Which means we’re skipping previews.”

Their cheers turned into groans.

“We’re not even close to ready!” cried Katie Mai.

“I’ll make sure you’re ready,” he reassured them. “Memorize your lines and nail those songs.”

“I’ll be here if you want to schedule one-on-one time,” Th?o offered. “Talk to Heather and we’ll make it work.”

“What about Equity rules?” Danny asked. “We’re already working our max hours.”

“I can’t—won’t—ask you to break Equity rules.” Derek bit his lip as he searched for a solution. Tech meant twelve-hour days and he wanted them to be as well rested as possible before then.

“Th?o and I will work with Heather to redo our rehearsal schedule,” he said while looking at the two women.

They flashed him four thumbs-up in agreement.

“I know we’re under a lot of pressure now that opening night has been moved up, but I’ve worked with all of you before. You have talent and drive. You’re going to do this show justice no matter what.”

They responded with “Hell, yeah!” and “You got that right!”

“Now go home and get some rest. I’ll see you all tomorrow morning.” Derek’s smile was real this time.

He slumped into a chair once the actors left. Heather waved good-bye before heading to her office.

“You should’ve thrown Greg under the bus,” Th?o said.

“There was no point. What’s done is done.”

“Yeah, but every story needs a white dude as the villain,” she half-joked. “You give him too much leeway.”

“Don’t you start. I still have to tell Zoe.” He sighed.

She’d sent him aWe need to talktextover an hour ago. All he’d managed to tell her wasAfter rehearsal.

“You’re going to see her now? What about us?”

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