Oscar winning tears

Rio was laying on her bed with her phone on speaker and constantly checking the clock, time was passing suddenly slower than ever. She was anxious and hungry because last night she got good news about her project proposal, it was happening. She went straight to bed so Monday could come sooner and never imagined that almost five years after getting the position of intern at Paramount studios and eventually being picked as screenwriter developer her opportunity will finally come. 

If there was something Rio loved in her life more than anything was writing. From a very young age she gave signs of being a brilliant storyteller, every time little Rio had a bad day or a nightmare from the night before she turned all of this into beautiful writing. Now after many years that escape from reality became her every day, the thing that pays the bills and puts food on her table and despite everything Rio couldn't be happier.

 “It’s going to be fine, you need to relax, I can hear your heart pounding from here” a sweet and calm voice from the other side of the line told Rio.

 “What if she said no?” Rio groaned “what if it was a stupid idea that should never have left my notebook”

 “Are you being serious right now Ri? you fought so badly for that opportunity and now that you have it are you doubting?” she scolded her “you need to chill”

 “I know I know, sorry it's just… i'm so nervous Jen, i can't help it” 

 Jen let out a long sigh before speaking to her friend again “Look, I have told you before that’s completely normal, you are allowed to feel like that but it has to stop when you are self-sabotaging you” 

 Ahhhh self-sabotaging, creative people's best friend, even if Rio was excellent in everything she did, that little part of her brain always betrayed her.

 “I guess I'm being hard on myself again huh?” she let out a little chuckle

 “No shit sherlock” Jen said with a playful tone “Anyways, gotta go break is over”

 “Thanks for the help, dude I really need it”

Jen always knew, every time Rio was having one of her very common lows she was always there, not questioning but listening and that meant everything to her.

“Always babe, let me know if you need anything and see you at your place at 9? so you can tell me everything”

Jen ended the call and Rio went back to the puddle of anxiety she was drowning moments ago. Finally collecting her entire being she walked to the kitchen and started to ramble through the pantry to have something for breakfast.

Usually she spent her mornings at the studio even if there was not work to be done, being there was just a spark of inspiration but today was diffrent.

 “Alright, it’s totally fine” she told to herself “I can do it, I can handle it, just believe it Rio”

Words of affirmation always worked on her and if she tried hard enough, she could actually believe it.

Time was being a bitch with Rio because she could swear minutes were going backwards on the clock and that was not helping. 

Eventually she decided to let all those intrusive thoughts aside and went out to get breakfast at the little coffee shop that was near her apartment building. Having a little time out of her place may help and she was always down for a walk. After around an hour and a half she went back and started to work through her emails when she received a text.

Lilia Calderu 

Hi Rio, please meet me at the studio today at 1 pm, let me know if it works for you. x

Me

of course! See you there :)

She had no idea what Lilia would possibly want, they haven't worked together since a long time ago when Rio was her intern during her first year at the studio but they kept the communication after being promoted and Lilia was really important to her, it was practically the first contact she had in the industry , she was her teacher and supported her from day one even though she didn't had to do it. To Rio, Lilia was not only her colleague but her role model too.

 She took a shower, packed her bag with her work stuff and after some time headed to the studio when during her drive got a call.

 “Hi! I was expecting your call all morning”

 “I know Vidal, and think I have some good news for you” the voice from other line said 

Rio could already feel her palms getting sweaty and her heart was about to leave her body through her mouth. “She said yes, didn't she? please tell me she said yes or hang the fucking phone right now”

 “We got it! Well, you got it”

At that moment Rio had to carefully pull over and step out the road and for a minute because her whole body suddenly felt like Jello and crashing before her big deal wasn’t on her plans, also dying on a Monday? hell no.

“Please tell me you are hundred percent sure and this is not one of your fucking stupid jokes Wade because I’m going to chase you for life and th-” she was cut 

 “Okay I need you to get a grip real fast Rio, I.AM. NOT. JOKING” Wade at this point was practically screaming “Just check your stupid email ASAP!”

So Rio did, searching through her phone apps opened mail and it was the first unopened, at the top of the list waiting for her. The confirmation, a copy of a NDA contract, the hour and the day for the planning meeting. Tomorrow, Tuesday 22nd at 12 pm. Rio's stomach dropped, she made it, finally did.

 It was real, this time it was and all those sleepless nights and days of hard work they finally paid off. Tears of joy filled Rio's eyes and she never felt so complete, it was her time and she’s not wasting it anymore.

 “This…” she sniffed “god, I’m crying outside a Taco Bell” she couldn’t hold anymore and laughed so loud 

 “I think you can afford it right now chica, enjoy the moment and give me a call after” he ended the call.

 The rest of the drive to the studio felt like she was on autopilot, her mind drifted to some other place, she just couldn't believe it yet. There was so much more to do left, the fact of having the project approved and the consulting secured doesn't mean that this was going to work and that only made Rio spiraling again as she was walking her way to Lilia’s office.

She gently knocked the door and waited until she heard Lilia’s voice

“Good evening, Rio, please dear come in” she greeted her with a big smile

Lilia Calderu was a big name in Hollywood, the kind of person who comes to mind when you think of masterpieces. from a young age she entered the film world as an assistant at a small studio in New York where she worked until she made a name for herself and moved to Los Angeles to pursue the big dream. That's why Rio feels so connected to her, because they both went through a lot of shit to get to where they are.

 “Lilia, you're not gonna to believe this” barely breathing, Rio said as she took a seat next to her on the velvet couch Lilia had at her office.

 “Jesus Mulder, do you remember how breathing works?” 

 “I can’t, I may pass out but Lilia, I got it I fucking finally got it!!!” The excitement on Rio's body could fill the whole space, she couldn’t stop smiling and screaming.

 Lilia took Rio's hands in hers and instantly became infected by her enthusiasm.

 “I know kid, and i hope the following news make you just as excited”

 Never stopping smiling and with a curious look Rio tilted her head in confusion

 “What is it?” she asked 

 “Well, it seems we are together on this rollercoaster” she stood from the couch and walked to her desk pulling some papers and handling them to Rio.

 “You are joking” 

 Why does Rio hate jokes so much? isn’t this like the third time she asks that? some trust issues there I see. 

 “I’m not, you are in the presence of your future director” Clearing her throat and extending her hand to Rio she said “Ready for another dance Miss Vidal?”

 “You fucking bet Miss Calderu”

 *******

The meeting was not as expected, it took actually at least 3 hours to get all the details polished, both parts discussed the clauses of the agreement and signing of the NDA to protect any potential conflict of interest between the studio and the department, as well the penalties in any case of information leaking that could interfere or damage an investigation. 

 “Well, it seems we have everything in order and there wouldn’t be any issues” Mrs. Davis gathered all the papers and placed them in her folder inside her portfolio 

 “Miss Vidal, is there anything you want to add or do you have any questions left? Sharon asked

Rio who was fighting for her life trying to not fall asleep after what she would consider the most long and boring meeting ever. She took a deep breath and shaking her head “i think everything is fine here, if something comes up I’ll find you Mrs. Davis”

 “Great, then I think we are done here and ready to start,” Sharon said. “Detective Harkness, why don't you show Miss Vidal the place so she can get inspiration ASAP “she joked 

 With a very noticeable annoyed look on her face Agatha stood from her chair and walked towards the door. Rio didn’t move right away.

 “Are you coming or not, Miss. Vidal?”

 “Huh yeah yeah! sorry” she jolted from her chair and packed her stuff back into the bag 

Even though Agatha agreed she was going to be on her best behavior with this agreement doesn't mean she wasn't going to have fun trying to ruin it. She was pissed, being cornered by a no escape choice was not on her bingo card.

As they were walking through the stairs and hallways of the building, of course, Agatha made her take the stairs instead of the elevator just for the fun of it.

Rio was the first on broke the silence “It’s a big building; I never imagined it like this from inside”

Agatha stays silent for a moment and rolled her eyes discreetly 

“Yeah, it's a big building” she answered dryer than the Sahara.

Rio noted the lack of desire to engage in small talk and remained silent until they reached Agatha's office. 

She was fascinated by the way it was decorated, even though she has seen her many times on tv or in videos of her conferences she could never read her this well before. The place was filled with books everywhere, a little crystal chess board on her desk, a pen holder in the shape of a rabbit and many other trinkets wandering on every corner. 

Everything was organized and it felt like home, the only thing Rio noted was the absence of personal items, besides her degree hanging on the wall and many other certificates from her years during the academy there was nothing else.

“I just wat to say that I’m so happy you agree to this, really I’ve been looking forward to d-” Rio was mid yapping when she got cut off 

“It wasn’t my idea, I had to agree because I was practically forced”

It was everything it took Rio to understand this maybe was gonna be harder than she thought but she had 

“Sorry…. to hear that, the least I want to do is to make things uncomfortable for both of us but you didn’t say anything on the meeting anyways” Rio said testing Agatha’s patience 

“I already made it clear that I had no choice but to agree to this nonsense, and all about making things uncomfortable? cut the bullshit” she picked up a box that was under a filing cabinet and dropped it on the desk.

“There” she pointed the box to Rio “you can start and do whatever you want with that”

Rio gave her a confused look as she approached the box, she opened and took a folder full of papers “what is this?”

“Files from old cases, there's like a lot of information there you could use” 

Rio let out a long sigh “this is not what i came for, i need the real action”

“What do you mean by real action?” Agatha crossed her arms and raised a brow in annoyance

“You know the real stuff, your work, the way you do the things”

Agatha felt at that moment she was dealing with another person who just enjoyed all the crappy narrative that has been created around murder cases, mainly fueled by morbidity and the way media has offered an unrealistic version of them.

“You know these are real cases? with real people, everything happened in reality, they were not written to entertain” Agatha said looking directly at Rio’s eyes “So there you go, the real stuff”

“You are enjoying this, right? not helping at anything at all” 

 “I’m literally giving you so much right now, this is material you wouldn’t even get at any other place, you’re getting special treatment, I don't see the problem” 

“Special treatment you say? I mean, it's helpful but-” Rio runs her hand through her hair “what i mean is that I want to see how you do things” resting her hands on the desk and slowly getting dangerously close to Agatha.

Agatha let out an awkward laugh “I don't get it, what's you plan here, what do you really want?”

“I want to see the real you, I need to get to know you…. as a detective of course”

Yeah of course 

“I just-” Agatha cuts herself “Don't know what's so interesting about me why so suddenly? i really want to know that”

“Okay uh, this is kind of embarrassing but I saw you one time on the news, they were interviewing you about the bodies found near the Griffith observatory” lightly biting her lip Rio sat back on the couch “it was really interesting the way you handled it”

Agatha scoffed “Why so? I just answered what they asked”

“Yeah, I know, but you seemed so chill, relaxed and professional. Never stutter or looked away, i mean that interviewer was so strong to stand there before you because i would melt instantly just to make eye contact with you”

Agatha noted the flirtatious tone Rio was giving her and for a second, she got actually nervous. 

“That's ridiculous, and why another movie about crime and detectives and all that shit, aren't there like a thousand of them already?” Agatha said while crossing her arms and adjusting her posture.

“Yeah, but none of them are about you” Rio replayed instantly 

Agatha would be definitely lying to herself if she denied the fact that the words Rio just said caused a reaction on her, because the heat she was starting to feel on her face as her cheeks were slightly turning pink was so embarrassing.

“Please, who could possibly be interested in a middle-aged woman's boring life?” giving Rio a playful smile.

“Lesbians on twitter” she said “You know you made it when they make fancams with your face and that diva Beyoncé song”

Agatha's brain was having an aneurysm right now “I understood like twenty five percent of what you just said”

“What, are you not familiar with the word lesbian?” Rio said teasing her and Agatha rolled her eyes 

Agatha tried to control the furrow of her brow, shaking her head “Can you be serious” 

“Okay okay a fancam is like a video that has fans from something made and post on internet using videos from tv shows and movies with something specific, it could be a character or the whole thing in general, and they use viral or catchy songs”

Agatha thought she should have asked this to Billy before ansd skip Miss Vidal 101 of internet things she didn't know.

“Hmm” she hummed “I think I got it, thank you miss Vidal”

Rio put her thumbs up and grinned “You're welcome, I think I don't have to explain to you who Beyoncé is, right?”

This deadass, of course she knows who Beyoncé is, she may not be chronically online but doesn't live under a rock either.

Agatha rolled her eyes feeling they might snap out of her skull “Ha ha, really funny” 

“So..” Rio clasped her hands giving Agatha a big smile “what if we get started” 

She doesn't know right now but this girl will be her ruin, and everything Agatha can think about is how she would manage to not lose her shit. 

“Okay, what do you want to know” Agatha said “and don't make me want to hit my head on the wall until I get unconscious with stupid ass questions”

Rio pulled a notebook and a pen from her bag, placing it on her thighs “You really have a weird sense of humor, like its bad but interesting” poking her tongue to the inside of her cheek she gave Agatha a playful smile.

“I am funny, I have sense of humor and a really good one, maybe you are just annoying”

“Well, they say it’s my main charm, make pretty girls fall for me by being stupid, and honestly it has worked” taking the notebook and pen out of sight she rested her elbows on her legs and her hands rested on her cheeks, never leaving Agatha’s piercing eyes. 

“Is it working now, detective?”

That really took her by surprise and she thought Rio was a bold person, to flirt with her just like that and in reality Agatha had no problem with that, she has done it too many times with strangers at the bar but right now, she couldn't afford that, Rio was nothing more than one of her very unnecessary problems at work.

She would not fall for her game and even if she was dying to do so Agatha would have to make the biggest decision of her life, to reject the flirtation of the beautiful writer right in front of her.

She cleared her throat and let out a small chuckle “If I said yes, would that let you sleep in peace at night?”

“Absolutely, yes”  

Agatha scoffed “Then no, have insomnia Miss Vidal”

“It will work, I’m sooo sure and you can call me Rio by the way” she said with so much confidence that it sounded like a threat.

Actually, Agatha got a little bit scared, because maybe it was her brain playing tricks on her every time, she looked at those big brown beautiful eyes or the fact that Rio was so insufferable that she could believe for a moment she was right and would end up in her bed one day.

“Yeah, good luck with that big girl” Agatha said

Before this whatever the fuck is keep going a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Hi Agatha, sorry” Billy said shyly making his way inside the office and handing Agatha a folder 

“Don’t worry kid, nothing interesting happening here” she grave Rio a little smile 

The boy didn’t notice her seated on the couch at first and jolted a bit when he turned around.

“Oh sorry! I didn’t see you there, hi my name is Billy!” He said extending his skinny arm to shook her hand 

“Rio, nice to meet you too” she thought that probably the eyeliner shortage on this area was this kid's fault because during her teen years she doesn’t remember wearing this much.

They exchanged an awkward smile for a while until Agatha cleared her throat and made Billy’s attention to come back to her 

“Chief Jones asked me to bring you this, there’s a new case in Santa Monica, you guys are having a meeting with the responsible of the station there, apparently your help is needed” he said 

Agatha gives the file a quick look before grabbing her bandage and gun to place them on her belt. “Okay, let’s go”

Rio got mesmerized by that simple action, felt like those near five seconds she went to a different dimension just by looking how Agatha's delicate hands worked, her long fingers tracing the edge of her belt to clip the bandage. god, she was so screwed and so gay.

She went back to earth once she saw Agatha too close to her snapping her fingers right in front of her face bringing her back to earth.

“Sadly, you too” she gives Rio an annoyed look “come with me”

Hot. Rio though and decided to play her cards 

“Okay Agatha” Rio knew that calling her by her first name when they have only met for about 4 hours now was gonna pissed her off and she was so in for that to happen.

“Excuse you, its detective Harkness even if it takes more of your saliva to say it” 

“Why does this child get to call you like that and I can't? said the writer pointing to Billy’s direction

Agatha put her hand on Rio’s shoulder “Because he already went through all the torture of working with me, he gets the right to do it”

“So, I need to be tortured by you to call you by your first name? hot, I’m okay with it” she said raising her brows with a playful grin 

Agatha rolled her eyes and took back her hand now walking outside the office without saying anything.

Billy followed her quickly and Rio did the same, taking her notebook and pen with her. They were walking a few steps behind her.

“Hey, for your information I’m nineteen, not a child” he said

Rio scoffed “But she gets to call you kid because you have annoyed her so bad she got the right?”

“Actually, yes and you should try it, it works” he said to Rio almost whispering and winking an eye.

Agatha heard their chatting and that made her mouth form a little smile, because those two could never be discreet even if their lives depended on it, just imagine them in ‘a quiet place’, dead the first night.

When the giggles stopped, she turned around and gave them a quick look before getting inside the chief's office. 

“Everyone is here, great! Billy, can you bring the report we got please” Jones said 

Agatha and Rio sat on the chairs across the desk waiting for the intern to come back.

“I hope you’re having a good impression from our office Miss Vidal, please let us know if you need anything”

This guy can’t be more condescending Rio thought, giving him a polite forced nod.

“Thank you, so far I’m having a great time, detective Harkness is a great host actually” 

Agatha has lost count now of how many times she has rolled her eyes but she knows it’s free and with Rio here, she’s definitely taking every opportunity to do it.

“You bet” replied to her still looking at the file she had on her hands

When Billy came back, they started to look over the report filled by one of the victim’s family. A murder, first degree, the cause of death hasn't been determined yet.

"The body is still at the scene waiting for the forensic team to do the examination" Jones gave them a few more details and instructions. 

Meanwhile Rio took notes on the dynamic between them, she put her whole attention on their mannerisms, the way they refer to every aspect of the investigation but especially on Agatha of course, because even though she has seen this many times on tv she doesn’t know why every time she speaks with her whole body, she gets so hypnotized.

Tracing every movement, the way her long dark brown hair rests on her shoulders or the way she can tell she’s wearing a little bit of makeup, so subtle you can’t notice and that makes her even perfect and noticing how sometimes she involuntarily bites her peachy lips when she’s talking. 

After a few minutes they wrapped up and headed back to Agatha’s office.

“I sent everything to your phone, it’s an exclusive resort so credentials already there too, just look for detective Romanoff she knows you are on your way” he said “Also, take this I know you haven’t replaced the old one and it’s very needed right now, lots of sun” he handed her a small bottle of sunscreen and gave them a thumbs up.

Rio couldn’t hide her smile because this exchange was so sweet and she can't imagine the number of stories these two probably have. Seeing Agatha this relaxed and real would be helpful to get enough material she needs for her project.

“Okay kid whatever, thanks and let me know any updates, I will call you as soon as we get there” Agatha said and took the keys of her car out of her bag “Are you ready for your first adventure Vidal?” She said mockingly 

She walks over to where Rio was standing and puts her index finger on Rio's chest, pointing. “I’m just gonna say this just one time Vidal, you embarrass me out there and I’ll make sure you get banned from every thrift store where you probably buy your clothes.

Ouch, the thrift store? Nope she was actually right, it was that obvious?

Rio puts three fingers up simulating doing the scout salute “You have my word ma’am”

“Are you even a scout?” she rolled her eyes

“Uhhhh if I say yes would you believe me?

She can’t be serious, and Agatha now was sure she would be dealing with not one but two teenagers in this office.

Closing her eyes and rubbing her temple she just walks out of the office. 

“Oh dear God, I know we are not friends or anything… but please help me”