Tina shuffled as quickly as she could into her office, her arms full with her bag, coffee, her briefcase, and half a dozen scripts. She dumped everything on the desk and snatched up the phone, which was on its sixth ring by her count.

“Tina Kennard,” she wheezed into the receiver.

“Hey Tina!”

“Oh, it’s you,” Tina said, annoyed at herself for rushing to get a call that she could have returned anytime. It was only her friend, Alice, on the line. “Hey, Al. What’s up?”

“Don’t sound so enthused to be speaking to me. I was just calling to remind you about the party.”

“Alice,” Tina drawled, walking around her desk and flopping down in her chair, “Your party isn’t for a week.” Surely by then, she could find a decent reason to get out of going…

“But I know you, Tina. You’ll try and find a reason not to go, put off getting a dress until the last minute, you’ll attempt to beg off completely for a lack of anything to wear, and then I’ll have to practically bribe you to leave the house. You’ll show up in a two year old dress that needs dry cleaning, drink far too much because you feel self-conscious about it, and end up going home with some drunk, loser guy you’ll bitterly regret sleeping with in the morning.”

Tina was shamed into laughing. “You know me well, Pieszecki.”

“I do. So I’m calling to remind you, right now, that you need to get a dress. It’s going to be a big one, Tina. Great opportunity for you to make some more connections in the literary world. You can’t always count on the author whose book you want to option for a film to be your best friend, you know. This particular coup we’re going to celebrate is a one-time thing.”

“Don’t I know it,” Tina sighed.

“Right, so. It’s gonna be a big night. Dress. Shoes. Buy them. Okay?”

“I will,” Tina promised.

“Good. Catch you later!”

Tina hung up. She hated parties and social gatherings – work was one thing, but in her limited downtime, she was really a homebody at heart. But there was no escape. Tina sighed. It wouldn’t be so bad. She wanted to celebrate with Alice; it might actually be fun. A dress. She would see about getting a dress today, if she could find the time…