Page 28 of And They Had a Great Fall

Garren called cut and motioned for Jake to watch the playback on a small screen. Jake studied the video as it replayed. He stayed quiet and stole a glance at Garren. He couldn’t read the expression on his face. Garren hit play for a second time.

“What do you think?” Garren asked, his face neutral. “Does this capture what you were envisioning?”

“Yes, mostly,” Jake said, pausing to gather his thoughts. “You described this story to me as a simple arc of an unexpected hero. I think it’s more universal than that. It’s the story of overcoming your darkest, most scarred self … a man who breaks out of who he istoldto be and finally becomes who hewantsto be.”

Garren nodded. “Jake, I’m blown away. This is different than I saw him, but I absolutely love where you’re taking him.” Garren shook his head slightly. “There’s a lot we have to figure out toadjust the direction.” He asked one of his assistants to bring them lunch from craft services. He wanted them to watch the previous footage to decide what needed to be reshot. They’d need go through the schedule and pencil in reshoots in the middle of the current production in order to get back on track.

“This won’t be easy, but I think we can do it,” Garren said, already taking notes. “I’m going to need some long hours. You ready?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” Jake said, ready to work twenty-four hours a day if that’s what Garren needed.

By the time Jake made his way back to the apartment, it was past 10:00 p.m. He and Garren had spent eleven hours watching footage, taking notes, and inserting reshoots into the schedule. Jake walked off the set feeling excited by the collaboration that had occurred, a far cry from where they were only days ago.

He had put in the work to better understand Tom, but he’d also clawed out of the dark cave he’d been sliding into. Kat had given him an emotional ladder to climb out. She made him feel safe and centered, which allowed him the strength to become another person. Jake was beginning to understand:thiswas his process. He had to take the character off the page through understanding how they physically moved through the world and what motivated them and their inner thoughts. Alongside the work to know the character, he needed to shore up his own personal psyche to control and withstand the transformation. Kat not only helped remind him of his process, he believed she was part of the process. He wanted … needed … her in his life.

He walked into the apartment and found Kat pacing in the kitchen, on the phone. He was surprised to see her back at the apartment. He’d texted her to let her know he would be late, and she hadn’t replied. He half expected her to still be in the office.It was clear to Jake that Kat’s day had not gone so well. He saw a defeated look in her eyes when he walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He retreated to the living room to give her space.

Her voice sounded hoarse and tense. He could only hear her side of the discussion, but the frustration was palpable.

“Only five million units … It won’t affect it. No, I did the calculations three times … Me. I take full responsibility. Yes, I should have … I know. It won’t happen again … Yes, I’m aware.” Finally, she took out her AirPods and tossed her phone on the counter with a loud sigh.

She walked over to where Jake was on the couch and flopped onto the other side. He watched her put her head back on the couch, blink away tears, and blow out a shuttered breath. He moved closer and turned his body to face her.

“Looks like you had a rough day. I take it the stickers are still an issue?” he asked, placing his hand on her knee.

Kat swiped a single tear out of her eye and took a deep, shaky breath. “No,” she said, still looking like tears were going to flow at any moment. “We actually found a solution today. Well, a super smart marketing manager came up with a solution. It’ll still delay some shipping, but the customer won’t notice.”

Kat went on to explain that the marketing team had come up with an idea to create a larger sticker, with a QR code featuring virtual assistant apps, and use that sticker to seal the boxes. It was a tactic the Denmark team had used when they’d launched a previous device. Their manufacturer in India could turn the stickers around within four days. There was enough buffer in the timeline for a four-day bump without changing any sales projections.

Jake watched her intently as she explained the solution, no longer holding back her tears. He reached over and swiped a tear off her cheek.

“Kat, that’s great news, isn’t it?” he asked. He couldn’t keepthe confusion out of his voice. Her story was one of triumph, but her tears were those of defeat.

“Yes, it’s fantastic,” she said, her voice flat. He raised his eyebrows at her until she continued.

“Will, my boss—the current COO—is disappointed. Specifically, in me,” she said, and put her hands over her eyes. “Everyone is watching me to see if I have what it takes to be COO. There are people who think they deserve the job. I bet they’ll be thrilled if I fail. This wasn’t perfect. I screwed up and I feel.…”

Jake knew that feeling all too well. He had just crawled his way out of that unsustainable headspace of shaken confidence mixed with a side of self-loathing. He wasn’t going to let her sink into that space too.

“How exactly did you screw up?” he asked. He really didn’t see this as anything other than thinking on your feet.

“First off, going to sleep without my phone,” she started. He opened his mouth to protest, but she put her hand over his and continued. “Jake, I’m here in Denmark to help them with a launch that happens on Wednesday, and I’m in the middle of leading the US launch. Even on a Sunday, I can’t go silent.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he fired back at her. He didn’t mean to sound edgy, but he felt guilty. “I’m sorry, Kat.”

“No, no. Don’t apologize. If I were you, I would have let me sleep, too. None of this is your fault. I know it sounds ridiculous, but this is a one-point-two-billion-dollar launch, Jake. So, whether or not it’s fair, it’s true. It was a bad coincidence that theonetime I stepped away was when the shit hit the fan,” she said with a sigh. “So, that was one thing.”

“What’s the other?” Jake asked. He knew this promotion was important to her, and he was trying to understand how her world operated. He thought her schedule and inability to step away, even for a minute, seemed unsustainable.

But, when he thought about it, that kind of dedication wasnot foreign to him. His work wasn’t so different. When he was on a project, it was all-consuming. He understood a nearly 24-7 focus, but the difference was his shooting schedule had a beginning and an end. In a short time, he’d observed Kat’s life and to him, it was a constant state of high pressure.

“I didn’t put anything in our manufacturer contract that would protect against this,” she said. “They decided to change the adhesive, and I should have put a contingency in the contract that required them to alert us.” She shook her head. “Will called it a rookie mistake, and that hurt.”

Jake pulled her feet into his lap. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I can imagine that stings,” he said.

Her face told him she was playing “rookie mistake” over and over in her mind. He knew, all too well, the anxiety of disappointing someone you admire. Whether it was a corporate COO or a film director, the feeling of inadequacy was the same.

“Kat, try not to beat yourself up. It’s solved. And everyone makes mistakes,” he said. “You’re not omniscient.”

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