Contract Bride: Rising From The Shadows

Dosha pushed open the door to the casting studio in Manhattan.

She looked like a shipwreck. Her hair was plastered to her skull. Her dress was ruined, stained with mud and rain. There was a band-aid on her heel where the asphalt had chewed through her skin.

The room went quiet.

Sloan was there, of course. She was wearing a pristine white dress, her hair blown out to perfection. She took one look at Dosha and laughed.

"Wow," Sloan said. "Method acting a hobo today, Mrs. Stuart?"

Dosha didn't even look at her. Her eyes were hollow. She had walked for three hours before a truck driver had pulled over. She felt feverish.

Lily, the casting assistant, ran over. "Oh my god, Dosha. What happened? I have spare clothes in the back."

"No," Dosha croaked. "I'm ready."

"Dosha Young!" the casting director called out.

Dosha walked into the audition room. Zachary sat behind a table. He looked tired.

"Okay," Zachary said, looking at her appearance with confusion. "The scene is... a woman who has been betrayed. She has lost everything. She is on the edge of a breakdown. Are you ready?"

Dosha didn't answer. She sat in the single metal chair in the center of the room.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a tube of lipstick. Her hand was shaking uncontrollably.

She uncapped it. She started to apply it.

She missed her lips. The red wax dragged across her cheek. She kept going. She applied it to her chin. To her nose.

Tears started to slide down her face, mixing with the rain and the lipstick. She didn't make a sound. She just stared into the camera lens with eyes that had seen the end of the world. It was a look of absolute, crushing desolation.

Zachary stopped writing. The room was so quiet you could hear the hum of the air conditioner.

Dosha dropped the lipstick. It rolled across the floor.

"Scene," she whispered.

She wiped her face with the back of her hand. The madness vanished from her eyes, replaced by a cold, hard clarity.

"Thank you."

She stood up and walked out.

Zachary scrambled up from his chair. He ran into the hallway.

"Dosha! Wait!"

Dosha stopped. Sloan was watching, waiting for the rejection.

"That was..." Zachary struggled for words. "That was terrifying. The role is yours. The pay is scale. And Casper might sue me."

"I'll take it," Dosha said. "Just cut the check."

Sloan's jaw dropped.

Lily burst into tears. "We did it!"

Dosha leaned against the wall. The adrenaline was fading, leaving her dizzy. Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

She pulled it out. A text from Casper.

Where are you? Asset won't eat.

Dosha stared at the words. He didn't ask if she was okay. He didn't ask if she made it home. He asked about the dog.

She typed back: I'm working. Let Sienna feed him.

She turned off her phone.

"Lily," she said, her voice weak. "Take me to the hospital. And then find me a lawyer. I want to find a loophole in that NDA."

"You're going to fight?" Lily asked.

Dosha looked at the rain streaking the windows.

"No," she said. "I'm going to resurrect."