eight

RINGGGG!!!! RINGGGG!!!!

Dan picked up the phone, 'hello?'

'Hey' came Anne's voice from the phone

'How are you, Miss Miller?' asked Dan

'I am-I am good' answered but her voice sounded uncertain 'I called you to ask about the work on that video'

'It's almost done' answered Dan, he was a not-so-tall guy with a sharp jawline and wavy brown hair.

'Ok well, bye then' said Anne about to hang up but Dan spoke up 'Why didn't Mr.manager call this time?'

Silence. A heavy, sad kind of silence.

Then, a quiet sob.

'You don't have someone to talk to?' asked Dan

'Yeah…' sobbing Anne broke into tears

'So what happened?' asked Dan directly

'No-no, I don't want to waste your time'

"Miss Miller, I'm still on this call because I want to be here. It's my choice." His voice was steady, leaving no room for argument.

'They rejected me'

'That movie?' asked Dan

'Yeah…'

Dan let out a slow breath. He knew how much this meant to her. The late-night script readings, the endless rehearsals, the nerves before auditions. Mr. Manager told him that she wanted this more than anything. And now…

'I'm sorry, Miss Miller' said Dan

'Call me Anne' said Anne

'I really thought this was it. I thought this was the one.' Her voice wavered. 'They told me I had potential'

Dan frowned. 'Did they even give a reason?'

'Just the usual "we've decided to move in a different direction" bullshit.' she laughed, but it was empty—hollow. The kind of laugh people let out to keep themselves from breaking.

'I worked so hard for this one…' She let out a shaky breath. '...and it still wasn't enough.'

Dan leaned forward, resting his elbow on his desk. 'It's not about being "enough", Anne.'

'Then what is it about?' she asked bitterly

'Then why does it feel like it does?'

Dan was quiet for a moment, then said, 'Because you care.'

Anne let out another breath, this one quieter.

'Maybe I'm just not meant to do this,' she mumbled.

Dan's jaw clenched. 'Don't say that.'

'Maybe I should just quit, you know? Find something more stable. Something where my worth isn't decided by some faceless casting director who doesn't even bother to meet me in person. No one believed me, not even my parents, I guess they all were right'

'Anne.' His voice was firmer this time. 'Listen to me. You're not quitting.'

'Why not?'

'Because, Anne, I believe in you' said Dan

A cold breeze hit her in the face, all the sadness suddenly started to fade up. She just needed someone to tell her that she could do this, that someone had believed in her.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

'Wow, that's totally Dan' said Peter 'So what do you think the password is?'

'I think, it's the date when this happened because, after this day, Dan and I became good friends'

'This day was special for you, not much for Dan' said Adi 'Are you sure about this?'

'One way to find it' shifting her gaze to Dan's laptop on the table.

Anne slowly moved toward the laptop and opened it. Her breath hitched as she navigated through the files, her pulse quickening with each click. The folder she was looking for sat there, untouched yet undeniably significant. Locked. Just as it had always been.

Moved her finger across the keyboard with stress in her heart, every heartbeat was making her more nervous about it

Password - _2_ _1_ _0_ _5_ _2_ _0_ _2_ _1_

Correct password - access granted

'WE ARE IN - WE ARE IN' shouted Anne jumping with joy

A wave of joy flowed through three of them - shouting. Anne's hands flew up in the air as she twirled in her chair, bursting into laughter. 'I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WORKED!!' she yelled, eyes shining with excitement.

Peter grabbed a pillow off the couch and threw it in the air. 'I TOLD YOU SHE'D CRACK IT!'

Adi grinned, shaking his head. 'Anne Miller, you are a damn genius.'

'I know, so should we see what's in the locked file?' said Anne

Adi reached the laptop and slowly moved the cursor

Opened the file

It was a video.