the greatest films of all time were never made

“Hope. You are not getting out of that car.” 

Freya is using her bossy mom voice that’s usually only reserved for her son, but works wonders on her niece, too.

Hope groans frustrated and slumps back in her seat. She dramatically pouts at the screen in her hand and sends her aunt some death glares on top.
She is in a bad mood today and that tends to increase the amount of snark and sass she incorporates in any verbal exchange. Freya knows this and doesn’t seem too fazed by what comes next.

“It’s not like you can stop me, but okay.”

“Hope.” It’s a clear warning. “You are already in the car, all dressed up and ready to go, so don’t let all the effort go to waste.”

She can see how that’s a good point. She still doesn’t feel like socializing though.

“It’s not like I put in that much effort.”

She eyes her high waisted black dress pants that are secured to her body by black suspenders and the white crop top that exposes some of her midriff. It’s really not that special.

Freya sends her an approving look through the facetime call.

“I like it. Shows off you abs and screams gay.”

Hope snorts. Freya can be so much fun when she isn’t on Nick duty.

“Mission accomplished then.”

She looks out of the car window and estimates that she has a few more minutes left before David will drop her off.

“I’m really proud of you.” Freya’s tone is calm and genuine. “I think this event tonight is exactly what you need and Miss Tig did the right thing when she talked you into going, I like her already.”

“Emma. She hates it when I call her Miss Tig.”

“Well, I like Emma already.” Freya rolls her eyes. “I think meeting some new producers, directors and the other actors the agency represents is such a great opportunity for you to make friends. You should really go for it.”

“I don’t need friends, they disappoint me.” Hope is very proud of her vine reference.

Freya isn’t. She bursts into a monologue of comforting and cheerful words trying to hype up her niece.

It’s just that Hope doesn’t share her aunt’s excitement for the mixer tonight. When Emma pitched the idea to her she tried everything to get out of it, but unfortunately her agent had a better overview over her calendar than Hope herself. 

It’s an event hosted by her new agency. All of her actor colleagues that have arrangements with the agency will be there as well as casting directors, producers and writers. Basically just one giant social gathering to form potential connections and collaborations. 

It’ll be Hope’s first semi public appearance since the scandal. She suddenly regrets wearing rather casual clothes. Even though the event is a private function paparazzi will most definitely lurk around the entrances. 

Hope is about to say something rather self-deprecating again when David knocks on the dashboard. It’s their universal sign for we’re here.

“Alright, Freya. I gotta go. Love you, give Nick and Keelin a big old hug.”

“I will. You go and have fun.”

The first hour is exhausting. It’s pretty obvious Hope is the agency’s biggest client there and everybody wants to talk to her. She’s had so many short lived talks and chats with people that she's pretty sure there’s steam coming out of her ears and nose at this point.

The only thing keeping her there is a thought that came to her on her way in. There is a big chance she might see her again. Her. 

Meaning Josie Saltzman. Her partner for a chemistry read just a few days ago.

Hope couldn’t quite get the girl out of her head. 

Apart from the fact that she is absolutely gorgeous and cute, her near panic attack had left Hope rather concerned and intrigued at the same time.

Once they got into character and uttered their first lines it was like a switch had gone off and Josie seemed fine. Like nothing had happened before. 

Hope has many questions.

She almost googled the girl immediately after meeting her, but held herself back, because it seemed a little stalker-ish.

So here she is at an event constantly being pulled into random conversations, but all she really does is smile and look for brown hair in the crowd.

After another hour she finally makes it to the open bar and crashes onto a barstool. She takes out her phone and sends Rebekah an angry voice message that’s probably inaudible because of all the background noise going on around her.

“Auntie Bex! This event is sooooo gruelling. I swear if another white middle aged wanker puts his arm around my waist again I’ll cause another scandal.” Next to her Hope hears someone do a spit take into their drink. “And yes, you can add that to the money I owe the kids’ for their swear jar.”

She slides her phone back into her pocket and faces the woman on her left.

“Eavesdrop much?”

Hope’s breath gets caught in her throat, because right next to her sits Josie Saltzman nursing a weird looking cocktail. She really wasn’t expecting that.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Josie stumbles over her words and her face turns a subtle shade of pink.

“Oh no, don’t worry. I didn’t realize it was you.” 

Seeing the other woman right next to her brings Hope a weird feeling of excitement deep within her stomach. 

She tries her best to discreetly take in all of Josie, her cute floral dress, slightly curled hair and beautiful, but natural make up. Yup. Very pretty.

Josie seems to do the same and Hope can see how her gaze lingers on the exposed part of her midriff. She can’t help it and flexes a little. 

Josie tears her eyes away and her blush gets darker. 

Hope is about to call her out for her staring when the bartender approaches and shoots Hope a flirty smile. “What can I get you?”

“Water.” 

He stiffens up and looks at her like she just grew a third eye.

“Water?”

“Yes, please.”

“Are you sure? Why don’t you give one of my specialties a try.”

He points at Josie’s drink. Hope sends him her best do I look like I give a fuck about your specialties glare in return. 

“So no alcohol? There must be a reason for that...”

He leans over the counter in what looks like a poor attempt at making a move on Hope.

“Death.” She says with a stern voice and sarcastic smile.

He freezes, so does Josie right next to her.

“One water coming right up.”

“Thanks.”She can feel Josie’s curious gaze on her and turns her full attention back to her. “Where were we?”

Josie observes for another moment, her eyes not leaving Hope’s.

“I was about to ask you how you ended up here.” She says.

Hope chuckles softly. She slides the water that’s being placed in front of her closer to her body. 

“Remember how I told you we would see a lot more of each other?” She takes a sip for a dramatic pause. “Well, I guess we have the same agent.”

Josie’s face falls. “What?”

She seems genuinely shocked and … upset?

Hope’s smile turns into a frown. The other woman apparently has something against potentially working with her or having her in the same agency. She does what she always does in situations like this one.

“Okay, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable with that information.” Hope downs her water in one go. “You know what, have a nice night.” 

“Oh no. I was just surprised!” Josie looks incredibly pale. “Please stay!”

Hope takes one more look at her and decides to stay. They sit in silence for a couple of minutes.

She is a little uncertain on how they will continue talking from here.

Josie seems to be struggling to find the right words as well. Some color returns to her face. 

“I never said you were hot, I said that I was hot.” Josie looks a little flustered now, her cheeks blushing a little and Hope finds it incredibly charming. “And by that I meant temperature wise not … looks wise.”

Okay. So that’s the direction they’re headed in. It has nothing to do with their previous conversation, but it must have been on the girl’s mind. Hope knows exactly what she’s talking about. She can still feel her excitement when posting the tweet. Also the regret right after. 

Hope raises one of her eyebrows, it's something her mom used to do all the time and she has been copying it ever since she figured out how to do it in front of a mirror years ago. A million different comebacks are immediately on her tongue ready to do more damage and get the girl next to her even more worked up.

“So you don’t think I’m hot then?”

Josie’s eyes widen in shock and a gasp escapes her lips. 

Her entire face turns a darker shade of red now. Hope thinks it's adorable.

“That’s … that’s not what I meant…” She stumbles over her words, her hand clenching the glass she’s still holding. “You’re obviously… objectively… very … attractive…”

Hope is so amused she can’t help but chuckle at her scene partner’s obvious state of discomfort and nervousness.

“Just objectively?” She asks.

Josie groans frustrated. “You’re impossible.”

She lets go of her glass and gets ready to stand up, but Hope really doesn't want her to so she places her hand on the other actress' one.

“Wait. Don’t go.” Hope searches for Josie's gaze and tries to convey how much she wants to keep up their conversation. “Look I’m sorry for putting you into this position and for twisting the narrative. Our scene was just genuinely the best thing that happened to me in months and I just felt the need to post about it.”

“Oh.”

Josie is eyeing their hands and how Hope's is still resting on hers. Hope realizes how uncomfortable it probably makes the other woman and quickly retrieves her hand. She instantly misses the physical contact and how soft Josie's skin felt under hers.

She takes a second to recover and bites her lip, another habit she picked up from her mother.

When she tries to lock eyes with Josie again she's just in time to catch the girl looking at her lips likely following the movement. 

Hope smirks promptly and is already about to utter a suggestive comment, but hesitates. She really doesn't want to piss Josie off even more. She opts for a nicer approach.

"I can delete the tweet if you want."

She starts going through her pockets in search of her phone. She could do it right here and wants to prove it.

"It's okay." Josie is back to playing with her beverage. "Gained a bunch of followers."

She smiles and Hope thinks it’s the prettiest smile she has ever seen.

“Uh so you’re using me for clout?”

“Well I wouldn’t be the first.”

Hope is pretty sure she misheard the last bit. Did the shy and kinda awkward woman right next to her just make a sassy remark?

Deep down she’s a little offended. The wounds are still fresh and she’s almost certain that Josie was referring to her break up drama. At the same time she’s impressed. 

She didn’t expect this. Not at all. Neither did Josie. Judging by how quiet she is and how her lips press together hard.

“I’m so sorry! That was incredibly rude.” She is staring holes into her drink.

“Ouch.” Hope doesn’t really know what to say next.

She usually is a woman of few words and this entire conversation with Josie has been so uncharacteristic for her in its duration and depth. 

She talks to people at events like this one all the time and she knows that people get very open and approachable vibes from her, because she wants them to. She tends to be a little flirty, witty and over all easy to talk to. What people don’t know is how much of a fassade all of it is. If people were paying close attention to her parts of the conversation they would easily see how superficial all of her comments are. 

Hope is an actress, a good one. People are just not aware how good she really is.

So all of the little safety mechanisms she has in place tell her to end this conversation. They scream at her to make up some excuse and never talk to the other woman again. Their banter has reached an uncomfortable topic and its time to move on.

Hope doesn’t. 

Maybe it’s Rebekah’s voice echoing in her head you barely have friends, I honestly think that you have none. Or Freya’s words of wisdom it’s such a great opportunity for you to make friends.

She can’t quite put her finger on what it is that makes her stay.

“It’s okay. Nothing wrong with being honest. I deserved that one.” She tries to make her smile look way more genuine than it feels. “How about we go back to you asking me how I ended up here?”

Josie sighs in relief and holds out her hand for a handshake. Hope returns the gesture and watches amused as Josie resets their conversation.

“Hi, Hope, it’s nice to see you. How did you end up here?”

Hope doesn’t let go of Josie’s hand. Instead she places a chaste kiss on the back of it. 

“Hey there Josie.” She winks. “It’s actually a pretty funny story. I didn’t want to  go, but my aunts and Emma forced me to go here because I quote ‘Hope you have no friends and need to make some, pronto.’” 

Josie stares at their hands and blinks a ridiculous amount of times. It takes a few seconds before she registers what Hope said. She pulls her hand back slowly.

“You don’t have any friends?”

“None that I really talk to.” Hope shrugs. “I don’t need friends…”

“... they disappoint you?” Josie finishes the sentence with a playful smile.

Hope laughs out loud in delight. “That’s exactly what I told my aunt earlier.”

“I guess she didn’t appreciate the vine reference?”

“She really didn’t.”

Hope really likes where this conversation is going now. She can feel some of her walls coming down. She just shared something she had never told anyone before. 

Josie starts rummaging through a tiny purse Hope didn’t notice before. She retrieves a pen and takes a napkin from the bar. She scribbles down numbers and Hope can tell from just that that the girl has pretty handwriting

Once Josie’s done she exhales loudly, her cheeks reddening again. She offers the napkin to Hope. As Hope reaches for it she notices that the other woman is shaking a little.

“Are you alright?” She asks.

“Yes.” Josie says way too fast. “Take it.”

Hope looks at the numbers curiously.

“Now you have a friend you can talk to.”

Hope meets Josie’s gaze and grins. “And who might that friend be?”

“Are you seriously making me say it?”

“Yes.”

“It’s me. Hope, I’m your friend now.”

“Do I get a say?”

Josie tilts her head to the side as if in deep thought. “Nope. Not really. We’re friends now.”

Hope folds the napkin carefully. 

“I reckon that’s enough for me.”