Vic pushed off the back of the tub and pulled Sophia, legs spread, onto her lap. “You know we’re equals in that area, right?”

Sophia kissed her soulfully, liking the idea of equals very much. Of course, she hadn’t lost sight of their vastly different circumstances, but she couldn’t deny the unexpected ways they fit, and not just physically. Though, as their wet chests slid up against each other, there was no denying they fit in that area as well. In fact, they fit so well, she couldn’t prevent a little groan when Vic eased back slightly.

“So, will this movie allow you to direct in the future?”

Of course, Vic had found the one topic that could distract her from sex right now. “I don’t know. It’ll put me closer, though. Every movie I’ve ever done brought me closer and trust me when I say I’ve done some terrible films. Still they were always chosen to move me one step closer to the kind of people and experiences I’m after in the long run. This one should earn me some mainstream recognition, as long as Brian doesn’t fuck it up with his lack of vision.”

“Is that hard for you? I mean of course it is, but at first I thought you were just a controlling sort, the prototypical Hollywood diva.”

“I can be that, too.”

“But you’re also more.” Vic pushed. “You’re like a musician who hears a sharp note, or a race car driver who hears a novice grind the gears. It’s more painful to be part of a lackluster movie when you can see what it could’ve been, what it should have been, and to know that opportunity has been denied to you, not because of any factor of your own making, but due to constraints of a world you didn’t build or choose.”

Sophia stared at her, no longer capable of some quick comeback, barely even able to draw a full breath.

“Isn’t every day, every scene, every take, an act of restraint not to snap and smash cameras that men like Brian don’t even know how to use to your standards?”

How had Vic just understood that and summed it up so beautifully? How had she managed to see on a fundamental level what Sophia fought against every day?

Vic’s smile spread slowly. “Sorry, did I get a little carried away?”

Sophia shook her head. “No. Or maybe I like it when you get carried away. You’re this totally put-together woman who knows all the right things, and does all the right things, and says all the right things because you’re dedicated to playing the long game, but deep down you’re also a woman who’s equally capable of burning the whole thing to the ground.”