Page 37 of Directing You
I slammed my phone down on the desk and narrowed my eyes at Jenna. “What is it youdowant, then?” I sneered.
That was the moment Jenna dropped the act. Her wide doe eyes narrowed. She stopped nibbling her glossy bottom lip. And she crossed her arms. “I want Hazel’s part as the nun. It fits me better and it’ll be better for my resume.”
I almost laughed in Jenna’s face. God, this girl was dumb. This blackmail shit might have worked with other professors for other productions—teachers who likely weren’t going to be directing anything beyond the walls of the university. But to blackmailme? A Broadway director? She was basically sealing the tomb of her career. She might win this role unfairly, but I wouldnevercast her again professionally, and I would spread the word about what a nightmare she was.
I tried a different approach first, though. “Are you sure you want the part of the nun? As a professional director, I think playing one of the prostitutes at the brothel would round out your resume better. You’ve been typecast as the ingenue, and this will help you—”
“I want thelead role. The prostitute is a small role. I deserve better.”
My mouth twitched into a frown. “Are you surethisis how you want to get the role?” I couldn’t help but wonder how many times Jenna had pulled this stunt. How many of those lead roles on her resume were granted because of blackmail and back door dealings? It was despicable. And frankly, it wouldn’t get her far in her career. We were an egocentric people, and I didn’t see many of my colleagues putting up with this shit outside of academia.
“I want to get the role however I can,” she said.
I wanted to annihilate this girl. Ruin her. Throw her blackmail back in her face. But then I thought of Hazel. I didn’t want her getting fired. I didn’t want her to no longer be able to afford school. Shit, what a mess. The fact of the matter was that I could still cast whoever I wanted in the version of the show that I produced outside of this school. And that would without a doubt be Hazel.
“I feel like I should point out that photos from two years ago don’t prove that Hazel is doing anything wrongcurrently. For all we know she doesn’t even dance there anymore.”
Jenna’s smile turned cold. “I thought you might say that. You see, I have a friend who works at Hazel’s strip club. He sends me updated pictures. And it was the funniest thing…a couple weeks ago, there was an image of Hazel on stage dancing with a man. Dancing withyou.”
Fuck.
“So? It was before my integrity clause began. Before I was her professor. I have nothing to be ashamed of.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “Sure. You tell yourself that.But, even if you’re correct that Hazel’s dancing isn’t in violation of the integrity clause, a student-teacher relationship definitely is. Even if this particular image is from a time before you were her professor… you were very interested in defending Hazel before I even showed this picture of your involvement. You were trying to find a way to save her, so, something tells me that whatever is going on there, it wasn’t just that one night.”
I pushed off of my desk and stood over Jenna. “Let me get this straight. If I change the casting and you are made to be the lead… you’ll keep those images to yourself?”
Jenna nodded, her smile widening.
“That’s blackmail,” I said, stating the obvious.
“That’s show business.”
I snorted. It was like a line out of some cheesy 1960s movie.
Even still, I wished I could talk to Hazel about this before signing a deal with the devil. But there was no way to bring her into this conversation easily. “Okay,” I said. “I need to discuss the change with my playwright before I announce anything.”
“You’re the director. And our professor. I find it hard to believe that you can’t make this executive decision all on your own,” she said as we strolled slowly to the door. I paused, my hand halfway to the handle.
She paused, examining her fingernails on her outstretched hand. “So…are you willing to make the announcement today…now…or am I going to have to do it?”
I took a step toward her, seething. My face felt hot, like at any moment steam might emit from my ears. “You’re playing a game you can’t win, Jenna,” I said, smiling despite my disgust. “I have a contract with the writer. I am legally not allowed to do anything without chatting with him first.”
Her gaze narrowed, trying to read the truth in what I was saying. And it was true. I had signed a contract saying as much. What Jenna didn’t know was that Clay had emailed me after watching the audition tapes to say that I could change the casting as I saw fit if anything unforeseen happened in class. “Fine,” she snapped. “Call him now. I’ll go back to rehearsal and await your announcement.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a box of chocolate truffles like the ones Hazel used in her act. “And give these to Hazel when you give her the news.”
“Jenna?” She paused, turning to face me, her hand still resting on the doorknob. “This shit may work now…in undergrad. But I’m not just your professor. And you’ve just made an enemy who is very high up in the food chain.”
Her smirk dropped briefly, but just as quickly as it fell, the armor was back up again. “Maybe you should make casting choices with your brain and not your dick.”
My smile grew. “Oh, Jenna. My dick didn’t win me five Tony Awards. But you keep telling yourself that’s why you didn’t get this part if it makes you feel better. Now get out of my classroom.” Because, for now, at least…it was stillmyclassroom.
