Themis, who was dressed as a man, looked at Sharon and scowled. She laughed and said, "I didn't expect the big bad bully to be a woman. Shouldn't you be home with a baby in your teat?"

"What kind of man talks to a woman like that?" Sharon countered

​​

The king's kingdom was so vast that many people who lived in it, didn't even know that they were a part of it. Among these people, most were free to say whatever they wanted to say about the king. Nobody cared. Closer to home, though, such comments were unwise. A man could be killed for lamenting his king.

Themis lived in such a place and, even though he though his king was retarded, he kept such thoughts to himself. The irony of it was that, of all the king's advisors, he was the one that the king trusted the most.

When Themis spoke, his voice was cold as ice and as sharp as a pickaxe. "If you act like a man," he said, "don't be surprised if you are treated like a man and executed for a man's crimes. In the end, even if you win, you will lose."

Hearing these words, Sharon's eyes softened, and for the first time that day, her femininity could be seen plainly.

Sally's expression made the crew gasp. They'd known that she was a great actress, but this was more than they'd expected. Even Miller was shocked. So far, as the two actresses played off of each other, they gave the performance of a lifetime. A layman might not have understood what they'd just seen, but the ladies had gotten so deep into their characters that something spiritual had happened.

Because Kylie's face had been covered, all of her emotions had to be expressed through her eyes and through the sound and tone of her voice. For many actors, without the use of the rest of their expressions, it was too difficult to express the inner feelings, so they were not able to do certain characters justice.

Though Kylie had found a way to take advantage of her disadvantage and express even more emotion than she otherwise would have been able to do, she turned her disadvantages into advantages which, in acting, was a hard thing to do.

Upon meeting for the first time, these two' enemies' created a level of tension that was so high that anyone who had been there instinctively knew that this film would be a blockbuster. Even Sally, who had always been skeptical about Kylie, could tell that she was the right person for the role of Themis.

As soon as the scene ended, Miller had stood up and begun to clap. Sally's assistant handed her a bottle of water, and she raised it in the air to salute Kylie. "What a great performance from Kylie," she shouted. "I have never seen anything like it, and especially not from a novice!" She patted Kylie's shoulder, handed her the water bottle, and said, "Good job! I am sorry that I ever doubted you!"

Sally's assistant handed her a new bottle of water which she opened and quickly drank.

After hearing Sally's praise, Kylie didn't know if it was genuine or not. On the one hand, it was good enough for her to have received such high praise from one of her idols. On the other hand, it meant a lot less to her if it hadn't been anything more than smoke. Every once in a while, she looked at Sally in her peripherals and slowly convinced herself that the praise had been genuine. 

Kylie knew that most people never got the chance to meet their idols at all, so she should count herself lucky, or that was what she figured. Not only had she met her idol, but she'd worked side-by-side with her idol and received positive affirmation from her idol.

When Kylie got home that evening, she was so happy. She couldn't wait to tell Ethan about her day. When she saw him, the first thing she told him about was the scene she'd shared with Sally and how she'd said so many nice things to her.

"Sally's acting is really fantabulous," she gushed.

Ethan looked at her and said, "You are better than her, though."

Kylie's brow furrowed, and she said, "You weren't even there, so how can you say that?"

"I have heard your tale," he grinned. "At the end of the scene, people were clapping for you. They were cheering your name. Even Sally humbled herself before you and raised her glass to you. Until today, she was the number one actress. After sharing a scene with you, she acknowledged that you were better and passed the metaphorical torch. If you are unconvinced, think about this: while everyone was cheering for you, who was cheering for Sally?"

Kylie thought about it for a few minutes, and then, finally, she said, "You are right. Nobody was cheering for Sally."

Kylie frowned, and Ethan touched her nose lightly. He said, "Let it go for tonight. You have the entirety of your life to find your place in the world. At the moment, though, there are more pressing matters. We are both tired, and dinner is ready.

Kylie smiled and said, "What would I do without you?"

Locally, there was a place for B list actors and unknown models to show up and look for work. This is where Khloe went after she'd left the studio. For her, it was a major step down, but it was the only step available to her – and even this wasn't a sure thing. The place was called THE CIRCLE.

The first thing she did when she got there was to put her name on the left side of the page. On the right side, she wrote about her experience. It was pretty depressing. She had spent a long time telling herself that she was an established actress, but the sheet proved otherwise. 

After a few minutes, an elderly woman came over and looked at the list. "Not lying," she said. "We check up on your 'resume.' If we catch you lying, you can never come back."

The woman looked her in the eye and asked her if there was anything she wanted to change before she took a seat. Khloe frowned and said, "If I were going to fake a resume, I would have beefed it up a lot better!"

The old woman looked at her skeptically, in a way that suggested she thought that Khloe had told a joke, but she had misunderstood the punch line.

"Never mind," Khloe sighed. "I didn't lie on the paper."