The day had been extremely busy at the movie studio, Tina was in her fourth meeting of the afternoon and hadn’t had a moment to spare to grab lunch. She half listened to an irate director, begging her for additional money for his movie. She inwardly cringed when she caught herself tapping her pencil absentmindedly to keep herself busy having tuned him out completely.

It was well known that although Helena owned the movie studio, Tina made most of the decisions regarding its operation. Her attention drifted from her pencil to her growling stomach and suddenly she felt the need to end the meeting quickly.

“Tina, I mean really, a budget was submitted without even having that damn script finalized. How can I possibly be held accountable to it?”

Tina smiled politely, pausing briefly for effect. She was accustomed to dealing with high powered people in the industry and wasn’t intimidated.

“I say you’re accountable to it, otherwise I’d be throwing money at every person that stepped in this office with the same sad story you’ve just handed me. Go back and cut your budget again and get it within 10% of the original figure. Once you’ve done that come back and we’ll talk.”

Tina got up and made her way around her mahogany desk to show the flabbergasted director out of her office, a clear indication the meeting was over.

“Tina, this is bullshit and you know it!”

“Get it within 10% George. That’s my final offer, otherwise you won’t be making a movie with us at all.”

George Jones, the hottest director in the industry, looked at Tina and shook his head. He was obviously angry at her audacity to turn his request down. He quickly walked out of the office while she sat back down and buzzed for her assistant.

“Yes Tina?”

“Please hold my calls and meetings for at least a half hour. I’ve got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that’s calling my name and I intend to enjoy it.”

Tina took her finger off the intercom and smiled as she took her lunch out from her desk drawer, relishing in the small amount of time she had to herself. She slipped her suit coat off her shoulders and let it fall against her high-backed leather chair. She took a bite of her sandwich and closed her eyes, enjoying the taste of smooth peanut butter.

Bette walked past her assistant’s desk in a hurry. Jordan looked up from the mountain of paperwork that sat in front of her as she heard Bette’s stiletto boots pass her by.

“How is it possible that it’s 2:00 and I haven’t even sat down to do my actual work for the day?”

“That’s how it is being the boss 2 weeks out from a major show. I thought you knew that’s why you get the big bucks!” Jordan called out as she scrambled to follow Bette into her office. She closed the door behind her and sat opposite the gallery owner. She had half of the mountain of paperwork that once was on her desk now in her lap.

“The top 3 need decisions by close of business today, the others can wait until you take them home because you’re addicted to work.”

“Boy you know me so well,” Bette raised an eyebrow to accompany her smile, “I might have to replace you just to be a mystery to someone again.”

“Please,” Jordan scoffed and then pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose. “I know you’d never do that.” She plopped the entire stack of paper onto Bette’s desk smiling as Bette leaned back in her chair with an overwhelmed look on her face.

“Hold my calls so I can make a dent in some of this paper will ya?”

Bette slipped her own suit coat off her shoulders revealing only a black leather vest and her well toned arms. She absentmindedly twirled her pen in her hand as she took the first file off the top of the stack of paper. She began to thumb through the artist’s catalog of work, making mental notes on the glossy photos that graced each page.

Tina rolled her eyes as she took the third bite of her sandwich, which was accompanied by her phone ringing despite her instructions to be left alone.

“Yes?” Tina didn’t try to hide the annoyance in her voice.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but Angelica’s school is on line 1 for you.”

Tina looked puzzled. She quickly picked the phone up.

“This is Tina Kennard.”

“Ms. Kennard this is Mrs. Snell, Angelica’s principle at school.”

“Yes, hello, what can I do for you, she’s alright isn’t she?” Tina tried to ignore the feeling of dread that now resided in the pit of her stomach along with her 3 bites of sandwich.

“Angelica is in my office, we’ve had to suspend her from school for fighting. We need you to come pick her up.”

Having only made it through half of the first catalog, Bette became annoyed at the sound of her cell phone ringing. She put her pen down forcefully, grabbing the phone to see who was calling before it forwarded to voicemail. She picked it up when she saw Tina’s name flash across the screen.

“Hey Tina,” she answered casually, her anger quickly fading.

“Hey,” Tina was obviously angry and trying to maneuver her way through traffic wasn’t helping her mood. “I’m sorry to bug you, I know you’ve got a show coming up, but Angie’s school called.”

“Is she ok?” Bette became worried at the sound of Tina’s voice.

“She’s in trouble for fighting.”

“What? That doesn’t sound like her at all. What happened?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t gotten there yet.”

“Was she hurt?” Bette asked frantically.

“No, but she’s suspended,” Tina sighed as she got caught at the one remaining light between her work and Angelica’s school.

“Do you need me to go down there too?” Bette wasn’t sure what she should do considering that Angelica was a perfect student and never got into trouble before.

“I think I can handle the school, I know how crazy it gets before a show for you. I’ll call you when I figure out what happened and we’ll talk about what to do okay?”

Bette closed her eyes and shook her head. “That sounds good to me T, thanks for calling and I’ll talk to you soon.”

Tina shut her phone and parked the car as close to the school as she could possibly get. Her heels clicked on the pavement as she hurried to determine what happened to her daughter.

Angelica was sitting in Mrs. Snell’s office, angry to begin with for being there, yet completely incensed when her request to contact her Aunt Alice rather than Tina or Bette fell on deaf ears. She slouched in the chair, arms folded, looking directly at Mrs. Snell. The principle maintained eye contact with her assuming that it was intimidating Angelica, but she wasn’t phased, she was a strong willed 7th grader.

A knock at the door broke the staring contest between student and principle. The moment came that Angelica was dreading, Tina had arrived and let herself in upon Mrs. Snell’s request. The principle greeted her with a handshake at the door. She motioned for Tina to sit next to her daughter, who hadn’t dared to make eye contact with her, knowing that when she did it wouldn’t be pleasant.

“Angelica was involved in an altercation in gym class today. Both her and the other student involved need to be suspended Ms. Kennard.”

Tina turned with an angry look in her eyes at Angelica, waiting for her daughter to look at her, which Angelica avoided expertly. She found an imaginary piece of lint on her lap more fascinating then looking at her mother. Angelica made a production out of “picking” it off her leg to stall for time.