This Boy's Journey

Chapter Six: Navigating Waters

I wake up in my bed—alone mind you—sprawled out with my black sheets tangled around me. Michael and I got hot and heavy last night, but we were present enough not to take it too far. I wished I had that restraint with Jose. I had fooled myself into believing that what we had was something more and not just carnal. Michael is an original, it's his mind that I adore and what we would have takes a more decisive touch.

As I get dressed I smell the sweet scent of fresh bagels and the robust Moroccan coffee brewing and I leave my room for the kitchen. Michael stands there, greeting me with an equally fresh smile as if the ravishes of alcohol had completely evaporated in his sleep.

"Good morn," Michael says, " I got us some breakfast."

"I see," I say, eyeing the bagels set out on a plate. "They look delicious. Thank you."

"It's my pleasure."

We sit down and have breakfast. We don't bring up what happened last night, but I know that that subject will be broached in time. For now, there is work to be done. Today is my first official writing day and carrying around that baggage will do nothing but distract me. Michael, as a producer, will be with Zane in a budgetary meeting, which he's not fretful about. Zane is not tight with his wallet and willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that the finished product looks sleek and polished.

I leave an hour later and make it to the office via Uber. Paul and Danny are waiting outside and I join them in conversation until Anthony and Ryan show up. We go inside the building, filled with various people for various companies and go to ours on the seventh floor. Unsurprisingly, it's already decked out in the typical millennial business accommodations. There's a game room with a pinball machine, an arcade machine, and a ping-pong table, a lounge area with bean bag chairs and a futon, and a kitchen filled to the brim with snacks, almost all of which of the healthy environment that I've never heard of.

In the room, everyone sits down at the oval table except for Anthony who stands at the head of the table with a whiteboard behind him. He's the head writer of this group with the most years in the business.

"Hey all," he says with a clap of his hands. "I hope we all had a cool time last night because today it's business time. We're gonna start from square one so that we can really nail down what we're going for. I feel like—and I think Danny, Ryan, and Paul can agree—while we had a good story, we didn't really know what we were trying to say. I feel like we have a solid story and now it's crucial that we convey the tone. Is everyone in agreement?"

Everyone agrees and we commence. Anthony goes over the plot of the first season: Source Code follows Travis Stephens, an extroverted young adult who concocts a plan to release all the files on the misdeeds of the company he works for. He bands together with two other people as they work their way up the chain of command until they're able to bring it all crashing down. It's something that I'd watch and we just had to make sure that all the details are engaging for the viewer.

"I think it's a solid script," says Ryan, "I really do."

"Something's lacking..." says Paul, tapping his pen against his chin and leaning back in his chair. "The characters. I feel like Travis is fleshed out, but Ron and Albert are lacking."

"I think we should include a girl in the script," I say, and this is my first time saying anything.

"Why?" asks Anthony. "I mean...not that it's a bad thing. I just don't want it to feel forced."

"Inclusion doesn't mean a character is forced," I say with complete confidence. "Having three white guys might come off as more forced than having true representation."

"She could be the love interest," says Danny excitedly.

"...I mean," I say, trying to phrase this as politely as possible. Navigating these particular waters isn't especially new for me. "Possibly, but we should create three-dimensional characters and if that comes naturally then so be it."

"I think Eli has a point," says Paul, sitting straight up now. "Travis is strong, but the other two fall flat. I think we should scrap them and make them just as interesting as the main character."

"I think so too," says Ryan, looking around as if it's hard for him to keep up.

"Alright then," Anthony says, with a look that says he's been won over. "Let's get to work."

For the next several hours we changed Albert to Pearl, a bookish Chinese-American girl with a love of sci-fi, and Ron to Rajesh, an Indian-American guy that craves utter and complete corporate destruction. After we discuss the changes everything comes together. The two characters act as the respective angel and demon on Travis's shoulders, pushing and pulling him in either direction.

At the end of the day, we leave the office with a strong sense of accomplishment. Anthony, Danny, and Ryan go out to dinner at a vegan place, but Paul and I decline. There's still left over from the pizza again and for some scientific reason, pizza tastes better the second day.

"Good work today," says Paul earnestly.

"Thanks," I say, opening the Uber app. "I think it was really productive."

"I had a really good feeling about you and you just confirmed everything I thought. You really elevated the material."

"I do my best."

"You want to grab something to eat?" he asks, stuffing his hands in his pockets and raising his shoulders.

I turn away from my phone and look at him. He stares back at me from behind his black-rimmed glasses to grasp his intentions. That's my blind spot. I can read people like they're books, but I can't tell how they feel about me.

"Uh, sure."