"Come here," his voice is gentle again.
She gives in, placing her small hand in his. Lifting the cloth, he sees her blood spill out from her palm. He inhales sharply through his teeth and presses the rag back down. They sit there like that for abo...
Sandra takes her place on the cold, metal chair. "So, uh, what's my motivation here?" she jokes, while pretending to turn a giant, invisible steering wheel. Tickled, Keanu flashes his megawatt smile.
"Just try not to explode, ma'am."
"Call me Annie."
"Okay, Annie."
He places a hand on the back of her chair and leans down toward her, pausing to examine her movements. Is she...bouncing on her folding chair? She is, she is bouncing on the metal chair like she is sitting on a bus. He turns away for a minute to collect himself, then turns toward an imaginary highway. Sandra cast furtive glances up towards him, her mouth going dry. Eye candy is a known perk of her job, but it's almost hard to focus with him. This did not go unnoticed with the director and writers, watching closely for signs of that spark.
"I can't do this, Jack. I can't get on that."
"Yes you can, Annie. I've got you."
He engulfs her with his arms, covering most of her body, as they pretend to get on a metal sheet that would be released from a speeding bus. This is written as an intense scene in the script. As they scramble onto the sheet, he scrambles to grab onto her so frantically that he is unaware of how high on the back of her thigh his hand had come to rest.
"Did you just cop a feel there, dude?" She teases a stunned Keanu.
"What? No! No, I mean, I didn't mean to—" He turns a couple shades of pink, retracting his hand at lightning speed.
Sandra burst out with laughter. "Relax! I'm just messing with ya!" Sandra burst out in laughter, almost in tears as he squirms. She covers her mouth, shoulders trembling as she tries to stifle her mood.
He stares at her again with that quizzical look. His eyes are lit, intrigued by her confidence and wit.
Behind a long table, the director nods toward the writers, who flash a thumbs up. This is a connection the audience will want to see, they all knew it.
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Jan calls the writers and producers back to the table as Keanu starts to gather his things. The assistant hands out copies of the headshots as they begin the grisly process of dissecting each one like they are inspecting produce at a grocery store.
"I know her agent," Mark motions towards the bigger name. "I could put in a call, maybe we can up the offer, cut a smaller speaking role?"
"There's no heat there, what good would that be?" Jennifer frowns, "She couldn't be bothered."
Mark shrugs, "Instant bump in tickets sales with that name. Guaranteed."
"You know who Tad will want in this role, Jan." Jim nods toward the picture of the blonde. "Probably made some promises," he mutters to himself.
"Right, who thinks she'd step up to the plate in a crisis?" Jan asks a quiet room. "Nah. Her looks get attention for about 10 minutes and then..."
"Tad doesn't care about that," another writer pointed out.
An uncomfortable laugher arose.
"What about this one," Jennifer holds up Sandra's headshot. "We all saw what we saw."
"I like her. She's your girl next door," the director starts, "I could see her changing her own tire by the side of the road, I could see her driving this bus." He motions for Keanu to come over to the table. "What do you think? Who do you want on that bus? Who would you trust?"
Keanu studies the headshots, his gaze falling onto the one with the doe-eyes. He runs his fingers through his hair, scratching the back of his head for a second. His eyes crinkle as he replays their handshake. "This one," he taps on Sandra's photo. "No doubt. She's Annie." With that he turned to walk out the door, leaving everyone in silence.
Jan and Mark look at each other. "That's the most we've gotten out of him during this whole search, you know."
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