calling dibs

May 23, 2087. Summer Phoenix is 21. Evie Bachman is 23. 



Day and night, Summer has been diligently rehearsing her lines for an audition. She will read for the lead role in a fun vampire movie, which is expected to be campy in a clever way and full of fun stunts. The heroine is headstrong and sexy, which she is hopeful she can pull off. She's even more confident about the fight scenes—mid-air, the script says. They'll be hoisted up on wires.



In the bedroom next door, Evie is mystified. She met Shiloh while she was still working at The Rattlesnake out in Sierra Nova. He's cute, if not a little dumb.  She knows she's not ugly—she has at least that much to offer—but she can't figure out what else she's doing wrong. This dude came onto her computer more strongly than her.

"I didn't even know they still made these!" he exclaimed and got his grabby hands all over the ancient machine without asking first. Maybe it was for the best that he didn't try to grab at her boobs instead?

Evie was never sure how low her standards were supposed to be, but maybe she could do better than this.


Summer has been begging Evie to come out with her to the Valley, to be her entourage while she buttered up some connections and maybe scored a date, if she was lucky. Every budding starlet needs to have an entourage. Famous people hang out here, Summer promised. They would meet some movie stars for sure. If nothing else, two of her co-stars from her Final Fantasy work promised to show up.


"They're both hot," Summer explains. "But only one of them is single. May the best lady win."

"Yeah, right," Evie laughs. "Like I'd ever land a date with a movie star."

But, to everyone's surprise, maybe Evie's surprise most of all, Odin Grant turned his dreamy brown eyes in her direction. It turns out that Odin's type is curvaceous brunettes, down-to-earth types who like to laugh and maybe even hang out in front of a good movie on a rainy day.

"I like movies," Evie says.

And once he and Evie got talking, nobody else could get a word in. 

Summer watched them hit it off throughout the night, surprised and maybe even a little prickly about it. Summer had told Evie often how Odin was the hottest guy in the movie. She had half an idea about trying to catch his attention for herself. But if Summer was hoping they’d strike up something eventually, she didn’t act on it fast enough.


The choice was made. The man was smitten. Neither of them even noticed that their friends had cleared out for the night. Or how late it was, and that the vendors wanted to pack up their shops for the night. 


But they weren't finished talking when the festival finished, so Evie invited Odin up to her apartment. "For coffee, or whatever," she said with an inviting smile. She was only mildly self-conscious about what message that signaled—in her experience, she'd invited men to her actual bedroom and nothing came of it, so she really had no clue what to expect.


First, they just talked. Evie talked about her remaining year of university and how she hoped to dip her toes into the political sphere. What a coincidence! Odin's brother was a state representative, and he promised to introduce them so she could gain some tips and connections.


Then Odin talked about his acting work. He didn't take it too seriously. He usually got the generic meathead kind of roles. But he did all of his own stunts and it was a fun way to make a living. He liked to think that he was a deeper guy than the meathead parts would suggest, but he was also well aware that he wasn't good enough of an actor to pull that off on screen.

Evie believed him about being deeper. She could tell that much already. He was smart, but not awkward. He must have incredible restraint, because he'd been staring at her boobs for nearly two hours—definitely more interested in her than her computer—but he hadn't tried to take off her bra yet. What a gentleman!

Evie was so unaccustomed to a date going well that she didn't really know how to end it. Thankfully, he took the lead. He explained that he hoped they could take things slow and steady. He wasn't going anywhere, and he was really hoping for something more than just a casual fling. Because of the meathead-tattooed look, women always assumed he wanted nothing but casual. But he was so bored of casual.

"Me, too," she said, which made it sound like she'd had a lot of casual flings. That couldn't be further from the truth, from a girl who had only been with Beau Jackson for seven years on and off. "I mean, I haven't actually dated around that much, but I get how it would be boring. I mean, I'd love to see you again!"

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is good!"


Numbers were exchanged for the promised date.

—

As promised, Odin called Evie back the next day to go out for a breezy and fun lunch date in the park.



Evie found Odin to be friendly and polite, a pure gentleman. He wasn't hung up on any ex-girlfriends, he didn't like to gut fish, and he didn't prefer vintage computers to the company of women. Score!



And they sealed their first official date with a few kisses.

Looks like unlucky-in-love Evie might have finally gotten lucky.

—

But Summer wasn't out of luck, either. Maybe there were no dates to speak of, but she does have some good news. She heard back from her agent. That vampire movie she auditioned for is signed and ready to go. She snagged the lead role. They’ll be casting the other parts over the summer, and hoping to begin filming this fall.

Maybe her love life is deader than dead, but Summer's acting career is on fire!

—

footnotes: Evie's failed attempt with Hudson // Evie's failed seven years with Beau