Ramona faced off across from Emily, one of the interns transcribing what they were saying, his fingers fluttering over a keyboard. Neither of them were actresses but they were trying to dialogue it out as per Adama and Eddie's instructions.
"You know what's kind of crazy? Yesterday was my birthday and when I blew out the candle on this cupcake I bought myself, I actually made a wish. That I didn't have to be alone on my birthday. And then, Henry showed up."
Ramona looked at her with steely eyes, as though analyzing her more than actually listening to her offered olive branch. "I hope there's no misunderstanding here…"
Emily raised an eyebrow, thrown, almost wondering if Ramona was breaking out of character. "I'm sorry?"
"Don't mistake all this as an invitation back into his life…"
Emily felt almost punched in the gut by the coldness of Ramona's turn, and the intern transcribing next to them made a small, appreciative whistle.
"Bitch is cold!" he laughed after their dialogue had trailed off, and Ramona shrugged.
"Its just what comes naturally." Ramona joked with a large, perfect smile outlined in crimson lipstick.
"ABC loves it." Adam's voice rang in Emily's ear, she had to plug her other ear and duck behind Neptune's Net, where she as having lunch after a long motorcycle ride up the PCH to hear him.
"That's awesome!"
"Usually they wait for upfronts to order the series but it turns out because of our work with Lost they just want us to go full steam ahead, straight to series! We're going to need you and Ramona back in the writing room immediately. We've also got to start casting next week, if you want to be in on that-"
Emily made a face on her end but chirped happily, "That's fantastic! A whole season order? How many episodes?!"
"21."
Emily sat down hard on a rickety bench behind the diner and put a hand over her mouth. It was incredible. Possibly the biggest job she'd ever been a part of. It could change her life. She was already a respected writer but usually was brought on for pilots and punch up. To be staff for a major network show…this was the game changer she'd been waiting for. Even if she had to sit across from Ramona every day.
As Emily walked towards the OUAT writer's office for the first day, she was stopped in her tracks by the make up tests pinned to the corkboard leaned up against the halls. She had seen headshots of Lana Parrilla when she was first cast as Regina and noticed a passing resemblance to Ramona, but now she was seeing a stunning replica of Ramona staring back at her from the wall. The black, sleek cropped hair, the red lips and devilish smile, the sleek gray gown. It was like Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin. It almost made her giggle in the hallway, until she caught sight of her own doppelganger.
Jen Morrison stood with her arms crossed in a red leather jacket, feet solidly planted in tall leather boots. Her hair was very, very curly (Emily never did anything with her own long pale blonde hair- which was a little shorter than Jen's). But she felt flattered to think this was her "celebrity stretch" and stared appreciatively.
"Spooky, isn't it?" came a purring voice behind her, and Emily turned to see Ramona, coffee cup in hand, a smart black suit on, her own immaculate face peering into Lana Parrilla's as though she was staring into a mirror.
"It is kind of weird. Although I'd never wear the kind of false eyelashes they've got Jen in."
"No point, they'd fly off once you fired up your 'hog', I'm sure. I will commend the costume department for perfectly capturing your penchant for pants that leave nothing to the imagination." Ramona flicked a pinky at the skin-tight jeans Jen Morrison had been styled in.
"You know, I never thought they'd make Emma this…well, I mean…I see these costume tests and I think hey, maybe we're actually going to have a gay main character on our show. Maybe we're going to make history. And I'll get to be a part of it." She ducked her head, suddenly feeling shy at saying something so sincere to Ramona of all people, who was staring at her intensely. Ramona's brow knitted.
"So you are writing with us for the season? Not just stopping by."
"Um…Yeah…." Emily said, putting a hand on her hip, slowly becoming defensive.
"And I assume this is your first primetime network series?" Ramona cocked her head, raised one manicured eyebrow.
"Yes." Emily started to feel embarrassed, but kept her head up. Ramona stifled a small smile.
"Well, as someone who has written on many different staffs, let me tell you, you can abandon that fantasy right now. There is not going to be a gay woman heading up a drama on a primetime Disney affiliate in either of our lifetimes. Believe me, I know: The networks, the execs just aren't capable of doing it."
"Yeah, well…" Emily refused to look away from her gaze. "You don't know what I'm capable of, Ramona." She said, and turned sharply onto her heel and into the writer's room, barely keeping her angry embarrassment in check.
They started filming after the first four scripts were written. They wanted to break the season but held off because the network wanted to see what "gets" they could manage as cameo stars and wanted to put them in context as fairy tale characters. Still, because of all the CGI the production schedule was moving at a clip, and Eddie and Adam confessed to their writers that while they were vaguely aware of how it was all going to resolve, they should get used to the idea of writing with a "partial road map."
The first table read was sandwiched in between two writing sessions, and Eddie and Adam called in Emily and Ramona to be there for the scenes they'd written for the first two episodes.
Emily came in and shook hands with Jen Morrison ,who was much more petite than Emily was expecting, barely clearly her chin, and Lana Parrilla, also exquisitely petite and surprisingly warm and friendly in person. Emily realized, with chagrin, she'd been waiting to snarl at her like she and Ramona did in the writer's room on a daily basis, their charged bickering silencing the other writers and frequently bringing meetings to a stand still until Adam and Eddie would demand they take their scene into the hall and work it out amongst themselves.
Adam was heading the table read today and introduced the four women, smiling broadly.
"I hear Emma is based on you." Jen smiled at Emily, who felt her cheeks blush slightly. "And of course its easy to see where Regina came from-" she gestured at Ramona, who was wearing a dress almost identical to the dress Regina wore in the premiere- sleek gray satin, in a very modern cut.
"Considering she's the villain of the series, that's not exactly a compliment." Ramona said bluntly, causing Jen to look a little startled and Lana to barely suppress a laugh.
"Emily, maybe you could tell me about how you met Ramona?" Adam said as they all sat around a large conference table.
Emily groaned. "Let's see. She fell into the ocean and then got really pissed when I jumped in and fished her out."
"I was 'pissed' , as you so adolescently describe me, because you cost us the boating race. And kicked off my shoe."
"She would have been at the bottom of the pond, and not having really talked to her I thought that was a bad idea."
Ramona's eyes flared and her lip pulled in a small sneer. "My laboutin is languishing there now, if you're feeling compulsively heroic anytime soon."
Adam's eyes flitted between Lana and Jen. "Do you get it?" he said to the two actresses.
"Oh, I get it." Jen said, widening her eyes at Lana, who nodded knowingly.
"Yeah, I'm getting a real sense of the character." Lana gave Jen a small wink.
