Alexa clenched her jaw and resisted the urge to gouge her own eyes out. Instead, she let her long nails dig into her hip as she stood firmly in front of Ron. It was the third time that day that he had started screaming at her, and she was about ready to shove her stopwatch down his throat.
First it was that his complimentary parking pass was only good for a lot that was two blocks away, and he was obviously too important to walk those two blocks to the rehearsal hall. Then it was that his props weren't ready, even though he was the one who smashed them on the floor the day before. And this time? Because she downright refused to buy a specific type of creamer with their already-limited coffee budget. That obviously meant, on top of everything else that day, that Alexa was completely incapable of doing her job.
She was getting really sick of dealing with his attitude. Alexa had never come across an actor so stuck up, so full of himself, and so demanding as Ron Garett. There were stories, of course, of actors demanding this or that, totally trivial things, but Alexa had never personally come across anything like it. Most actors she knew were decent, civil people. As a stage manager, she was thankful for that. Her plate was full enough without having to deal with egotistical snobs. Ron Garett, on the other hand, was of a whole different breed.
The man strolled in fifteen minutes late almost every morning. Gerald, the director, was on Alexa's ass about that. Not that she could do anything about it, of course -- Ron had absolutely no respect for her. On those days that he managed to show up on time, he found something to berate Alexa about before the day even started. That the coffee wasn't quite done, that the floor was dirty and he refused to rehearse until she mopped it, that the floor was still wet after she mopped it. She couldn't win. She was at the theatre an hour before everyone and there an hour after. If she mopped first thing, the floor dried before he got there and he wouldn't believe she mopped it. If she mopped it too late, it wasn't dry in time.
And Ron threw tantrums like she had never seen. Even Gerald admitted casting him had been a huge mistake. The man was new in town, and this was the first show he had been cast in, but he thought he was a hot shot. He was an asshole, plain and simple, and Alexa couldn't recall any man that had ever made her hornier. He was gorgeous -- he had a chiselled body, strong arms and a cute ass. She was almost tempted to typecast him as the tall, dark stranger -- his eyes were deep and dark and his hair fell against his forehead, contrasting to his slightly tanned skin. But he treated her like shit, and she would never allow herself to be with someone who did that. It just made her even more frustrated that while she wanted to scream at him to smarten up, she also couldn't stop wondering what it would be like to slowly strip his clothes off and lick every inch of his toned skin.
"Well?" Alexa snapped out of her thoughts to see Ron towering over her. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that as little as her job paid, she needed it.
"Well, Ron, I'm sorry that regular half-and-half doesn't suit you, but there is no money left in the budget for flavoured coffee creamer. You're more than welcome to bring your own in."
Ron looked ready to freak out again when Danica rolled her eyes and punched him on the arm. "Dude, shut up. You're freaking out over coffee creamer that no one would drink but you."
Ron's lip twitched and he glared at Alexa. "If you gave a shit for any of us, you'd do your job properly."
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Alexa said, digging her nails into the palm of her hand to keep from slapping him. Luckily, Gerald came up to save her.
"It's been a long day," he said, putting his hand on Ron's shoulder. "Why don't we call it early?"
Ron stormed out of the room and Alexa put on her fake smile as the rest of the actors made half-hearted apologies for Ron's behaviour and gathered their things. She went through her post-rehearsal chat with Gerald, went into her office, and shut the door, gritting her teeth together to keep from screaming. She took a deep breath and smoothed her hair back before quickly typing the schedule for the day after the next, and thanked whoever might be listening that the next day was her day off. She needed to get away from Ron for awhile. She was tired of his bullshit, but she was even more tired of wanting to touch his glossy hair and unbutton his shirt so she could run her hands against his strong body. Maybe with him tied to her bed, so she could do whatever she wanted -- so he could feel what it was like to not always get his own way.
A sudden knock on the door jolted Alexa out of her thoughts, and she was thankful. She could feel a warmness radiating from between her legs, even through her jeans. Shaking her head to clear the thoughts of a naked Ron from her head, she stood up to open it.
"Alexa!" Danica and one of the other actors, Paul, were standing there. "Hey, a bunch of us are going out for drinks later tonight. Wanna come?"
Normally, Alexa would be too tired, but after the day she had, she could use a night out. "You know what, yeah," said Alexa. "Who's all coming?"
"Everyone, I think," Paul replied, knowing full well she was asking if Ron would be there. "But there's gonna be a lot of us, you don't have to deal with... anyone you don't want to."
Alexa considered changing her mind, but smiled. "No, I'll be there," she said. "I'm not going to let... anyone stop me from having a good night."
Paul and Danica grinned and gave her the details. Alexa would have just enough time to run home, shower, and change before meeting them at a club about a block from the theatre. With a promise to see them soon, Alexa gathered her things and the schedule she had just made and locked her office.
On her way out of the building, she stopped by the rehearsal hall to put the schedule on the bulletin board, sighing in frustration when she realised Gerald must have turned off the lights on his way out. The room had two entrances, and as her luck would have it, the light switch was next to the entrance on the other side of the room.
She felt her way through the room in the dark, silently congratulating herself for not tripping on any of the rehearsal furniture as she made her way across the room. In the dim light that spread from the door, she was able to post the schedule and turned to make her way back when she heard Ron's voice.
"...dumb bitch of a stage manager," she heard him say. He paused, and at that moment she saw his silhouette in the open door, a cell phone pressed to his ear. "She doesn't give a shit about anyone! ... I tell you, man, if everyone in this town is like her, I'm never working here again."
