Real Talk - Savannah

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Jyothi pulled the strap of her old leather satchel over her shoulder and tugged at the zipper on her jacket, muttering under her breath as the teeth got stuck, pausing to jerk it free and try again with more success. It had felt like everything had gone wrong on her shift, that day. Cranky customers came and went, and Jyothi had tried to keep a positive attitude about it...but now there was a constant voice in the back of her head, reminding her that she'd been offered a role on Jason Andrews' new drama. A real role--main ensemble.

The urge to steal all the cans of aerosol whipped cream she could carry and moonwalk out of the cafe after telling everyone exactly what she thought of them was almost overwhelming, but she'd managed to repress the rebellious ideas until the end of her work-day. Having opened the cafe first thing, it was still early afternoon now that she'd put in a full eight-hours (plus unpaid lunch break), and she had a few hours left to herself in daylight. Jason had managed to leave a copy of her first script in a plain brown envelope at the cafe for her, and she'd picked it up when she'd gotten to work, first curious, then increasingly terrified as it became clear that this was actually happening. Sort of.

Of course she hadn't had time to sit down and go through the script--as soon as she'd seen what it was she'd shoved it back into the envelope, lest any of her co-workers be able to read over her shoulder.

She knew she had to wait until she had something in writing, though. ...but she was no legal expert. She couldn't even afford a real agent. Not yet, anyway.

What she needed was advice. From someone who knew more about the industry than she did. Someone unbiased. Someone sober. Someone she didn't have to pay.

When she spotted Savannah coming away from the coffee-counter with a drink, Jyothi practically bounded over to her, a little breathless.

"Hey, are you busy?"

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@jyothi

Today was her day off. Why the heck was she at USBC? She rarely ever got days off with the new season of Our Chaotic Life picking up speed. Not that she was complaining per se, though she did wish she could spend a little more time with her new kitten, Toulouse, who she had gotten to make her apartment feel a little less lonely and always have a little furry friend by her side. The two got along quite well, both content to nap until noon on her days off. Toulouse was very much a lap cat.

Yet somehow, today she found herself at USBC. In her arms were two grocery bags, filled with everything from cat treats to bananas. She had simply decided, on her way home from the store, that she ought to stop by the cafe to see if Jyothi was there. When she had ordered her drink with no sight of the woman, Savannah asked the woman at the counter, who informed her that Jyothi's shift had just ended. Shrugging, Savannah figured she would text her on the subway home. It wasn't bothering her too much, she wasn't looking for her to come over, just thought she would pop in to say hello while she was working.

As she waited for her drink, Savannah scrolled through her phone. Her camera roll was nearly filled with pictures of Toulouse over the last month that she had adopted him. She had already posted a couple to Instagram, and she thought it was about time for another. She didn't particularly care about the people who thought it was too much, it was merely to satisfy herself.

Savannah was startled out of her thoughts when her name was called to pick up her drink from the counter. She took it without looking up, heading towards the door. It was then that a ball of energy approached her, and Savannah realized with a grin that it was just the person she had nearly given up on finding. Keeping her large smile, Savannah shook her head: "I'm free, what's up?" Savannah chuckled at her friend's large amount of energy. Clearly something was up, and she gestured to a nearby empty table, seating herself as an example.

"I think you need to sit down."

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MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

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Jyothi turned and followed Savannah to the table, sliding into the other seat without any seeming break in her constant state of motion until she sat down and was then forced to be still. Even so, she let her bag fall to the ground beside her feet with a thud and then she held up a finger as if to press pause as she bent to rummage for the package, setting it down on the table and tapping her fingertips against it.

"Okay..." she glanced about nervously to make certain none of the cafe employees were within earshot, but they were all safely occupied with customers; but Jyothi still took the precaution of lowering her voice to a whisper and leaning forward so only Savannah could hear her. "This may or may not be a big deal, but I need you to swear you won't say anything to anyone because I don't even know what to think right now, except that I am kind of fully freaking out."

She knew she couldn't even begin to explain what had happened at the bar, with Jason, her audition, his offer, and now however it was all snowballing and felt ever so slightly beyond her control. And she wanted to be in control. She wanted everything she felt she was right on the cusp of getting, but she wanted to know it was right and real and not just another dream about to go up in smoke.

Opening the end of the packet, she pulled the top of the script from the envelope just enough for the show name, episode title, and her name in a handwritten note from Jason Andrews to be visible, and pushed it towards Savannah for her to see.

Then, she sat back in her chair and began to gnaw nervously on the end of her thumb, staring at her friend and waiting for her verdict.

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@jyothi

Clearly this had to be something big. Jyothi was nearly bouncing off the walls, eager to show Savannah... something. What, she had no idea. As her friend shuffled through her bag for a mysterious package. The shape seemed a bit familiar to Savannah, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. For some reason, Jyothi seemed very stealthy about what she was about to display, which should have been a massive clue to the sitcom actress. She naturally leaned forward in response to the barista's attitude, nodding vigorously when Jyothi mentioned she couldn't tell anyone what she was about to see: "Of course- I mean I swear." She offered her pinky in true Savannah fashion. Pinky promises were law.

She waited, albeit not patiently since the anticipation had been building, to see what Jyothi had been making such a big deal out of. The second the woman opened the package, Savannah knew what it was. She didn't have to look at the writing on the front, until curiosity took over and she needed to know the details. Savannah took a deep breath and almost screamed in delight for her friend, and then thought better of it. How did this happen? She knew her friend was talented, but chances did not come often for such amazing opportunities and roles.

"Jyothi... wow." It took a moment for Savannah to form a proper sentence. She was truly thrilled for her friend. She felt bad every time she talked about going to set for Our Chaotic Life while Jyothi stood behind a cafe counter. And now it was her turn. Savannah didn't think much of asking if she was sure the offer was legit, but she was very curious in general: "That's awesome! I'm serious- how did this even happen?" It came out a bit more accusatory than Savannah had meant it to, but the genuinely happy message still came across, she hoped. It was at this moment that Savannah realized she was still leaning over the table, excitement pounding through her body. She leaned back against the chair, at last dropping her grocery bags on the floor she forgot she had been holding.

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MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

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Jyothi propped her elbows on the edge of the table and leaned forward until her chin was resting in her hands, her shoulders lifting and falling in a helpless shrug.

"I'm...I'm not even entirely sure. Okay, so I kind of found out the name of a bar Jason Andrews goes to pretty often, and I tracked him down--it's not as creepy as it sounds, shut up--" she said, preempting any judgement of her mildly stalkerish ways with a wave of her hand. In another life, she'd've made a fantastic private investigator. "...and we get to talking, and--look, I was honest, I told him I work in the coffee shop here, but that I want a chance to get into real acting, right?"

Jyothi began to nervously play with the ends of her hair, holding them up to the light and squinting at them as if searching for split ends. She tended to fidget when she was nervous, unless she forced herself not to--in which case she would be rigidly still. She was comfortable around Savannah, though...so she only had to be careful not to pull out all her hair by the time she was finished explaining.

"So he made me audition, right there, in the bar. No one else was really around--well, the bartender--but it was so embarrassing! He might have been kind of drunk. I was a mess, I improvised, I couldn't remember anything I'd prepared, it wasn't even anything complex or subtle--I figured I blew it, I don't even know why he..." She shrugged again. "Anyway--and then he didn't say anything for a long time, but then he said there was a part for me, and now I've got this script, but...maybe he WAS drunk. I haven't--" she looked around the cafe again and lowered her voice, the volume of which had slowly increased along with her excitement and confusion as she'd talked. "--I haven't quit yet, because how does this even work? What if it's just, like, a guest role for two episodes and then I get killed off? Is this even legal? I haven't signed anything yet. What should I even be looking for, if I do get a contract?"

It was a lot of questions all at once, but Jyothi had a lot of worries, and no-one else to share them with.

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@jyothi

Savannah listened intently to Jyothi's story, and she had to admit, it did sound a bit insane. Lucky for Jyothi (or unlucky depending on how one looked at it), Savannah wasn't one to assume things, and this situation was no exception. She took no heed of the possibility that Jason Andrews could have been taking advantage of her friend, and the Our Chaotic Life star merely felt pure, wholesome joy for her. She knew her friend was throwing herself into the bad habit of fidgeting, but Savannah made no comment.

It wasn't until Jyothi mentioned that perhaps the man had been drunk that Savannah even put one second into a thought about it. She paused as Jyothi continued, rambling slightly, and Savannah drummed her fingers on the table. She didn't know much about Jason Andrews, but she generally held high faith in people until they proved otherwise.

"Yeah, no you definitely need to get stuff in writing and ask as many of these questions to him as soon as you can. I mean, I can see if my manager is free to talk, but it might be a while to make an appointment. I don't really know much about technical stuff and I don't want to give you the wrong information... But Jyothi... this is honestly so big! I can't believe this!" She also didn't know much about the show Jyothi would be going on, but she would for sure get familiar with it. She would support her friend through all of it, if she had any say in it.

"I'd like to think that he just really liked you, Jyothi. I'm not the one to ask, but to perform in the middle of a bar, that takes guts... wow," Savannah breathed, offering as wide a smile as possible for her friend. "How do we celebrate?"

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MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

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"Questions..." Jyothi nodded intently. "Yeah, I should...I should make a list of questions. But not...not demands, right? I don't even know what kind of expectations I should have, as far as money goes."

Frankly, anything above bottom-dollar would be an improvement on her current wages. Tips were all very well, but they were scarce and scant once everything in the jar got divided up between everybody on shift at the cafe. A main ensemble role must pay something more like grown-up money...but Jyothi couldn't even begin to imagine what that might be...and it seemed weird to ask. Much as she didn't want to seem too pushy, she didn't want to set herself up to get taken advantage of thanks to her ignorance of how these things should work. But then she barely had any grasp of what was in the realm of normal expectations...and so far everything had been one surprise after another.

Heck, the whole experience had been unorthodox. Anything could happen, now--good or bad.

Savannah was right, though--of course she was right. And it was surely in the studio's interest to do things more by the book than perhaps Jason Andrews had, to begin with. It wasn't as if she couldn't talk to anybody else. There must be other producers, a director...if it was really going to happen, somebody would point her in the right direction. She just had to trust that there was less than a 100% chance of her life and dreams being wrecked on purpose by these people.

Catching her friend's smile, Jyothi at last seemed to relax a little, pressing her hands to either side of her face to stop herself from grinning too crazily in response.

"It's insane, isn't it?" she said with a little laugh. "...well if we're going to celebrate, it's still going to be on a barista's budget, for now," she added.

Tag: @savannah

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@jyothi

"No, no... Demands is too harsh. You want to be on their good side," Savannah reassured the woman. Even she herself was relatively new to the industry, and sure, Our Chaotic Life was a hit, but it was only just starting season two, and it was nowhere near a top classic at USBC (yet, hopefully). Though one could hope, Savannah was still not in a completely stable job. She continued grinning regardless, and knew Jyothi was alright. She could handle the work and the balance, it was just such an odd situation that she had gotten the offer from. But that was nothing for Savannah to worry about.

She did have to laugh a little at how excited Jyothi was, and who could blame her? When Savannah had been offered the role of Elizabeth in Our Chaotic Life, she had been jumping all over the place. Unlike Jyothi, Savannah had auditioned before she even moved to New York City. The chances of her actually getting the part were slim to none, but somehow she had done it. She doubted it had anything to do with her resume that boasted her childhood modeling career and small list of commercial roles. She had just gotten lucky, and so had Jyothi, no matter how unconventional it was. So Savannah packed up and moved from New Jersey to the big apple.

"That feeling doesn't go away, I promise," Savannah laughed. Perhaps it was merely a part of her personality, and Jyothi would eventually calm down, but that wasn't how the sitcom actress saw it. She took every day as a gift, knowing that any could be close to her last.

Of course they had to celebrate though! Savannah glanced down at her bags she had been carrying, then at her untouched drink, and shook her head: "Don't worry, I've got wine and some snacks-" she picked up one of her bags to demonstrate- "so we can just go back to my place. It's the least I can do!"

Sure, it wasn't an elaborate party or anything, but she wanted to be here for her friend, especially in such an exciting time.

Savannah stood up, grabbing her things abruptly and jerking her head towards the door. "Come on, we've got food to eat and a cat to pet."

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NOTES is this okay? i didnt really know also didnt know if we want to continue or leave it sweet like this??? no clue lmao

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

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Jyothi was already breathing easier simply from the relief of being able to tell someone. She trusted Savannah, though their busy schedules meant they didn't often spend much time together. Perhaps their paths would cross more often, now that they would both be young actors working at USBC. Provided Jyothi didn't wake up to realize this was one extended, torturous nightmare and nothing in her life had really changed.

Don't get paranoid, just be smart.

She'd get a contract and read it carefully before she signed it. But who was she kidding--she'd sign whatever they wanted, if it gave her a chance. Hopefully she wasn't so entirely an idiot that she'd get completely taken advantage of, or end up signing away her life and human rights for the next twenty-five years. Legally, she doubted anyone could make that kind of contract stand, but dwelling on worst-case scenarios was far too easy a habit to fall into.

Savannah Dalton was a sunshine-faced angel, Jyothi decided, with her offers of wine and snacks and cats. Jyothi slid the script and envelope back into her satchel and rose to follow her friend, still smiling widely.

"...aw, thanks, you're the be--wait, you got a cat? When did you get a cat?" The excitement of her own life-changing news aside, Jyothi still had plenty of room in her heart to take an interest in her friends' concerns. Jyothi had an instagram account, and she did try to remain at least a little bit active on social media...but when her life consisted of nothing but sweeping up coffee-grounds and getting sugar-syrup stuck in her hair, there wasn't much that felt glamorous enough to be worthy of being posted online. Maybe that would change, soon.


Tag: @savannah
ETA: sorry, just saw the note! We can leave it there, if you like? Assume they went and hung out and destressed and played with a kitty and had a girls' party?

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This thread is complete and closed !

(sounds good!)