Free Scar Flowers by Maureen O'Donnell

the cinematographer sat next to it, scribbling notes, wearing his stocking cap and a pair of khaki Army-surplus pants.
    “The props are wonderful . Julia’s notebooks are even here.” Karen stretched her arms over her head. She placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder and murmured in his ear.
    “ Sure,” answered Simon. He put a hand on her upper arm for a moment—whether to extricate himself or to show reciprocal interest she could not tell—before he turned to address everyone. “Let’s walk through it once.”
    Were they sleeping together? She made herself relax her jaw.
    As Karen took her place, Simon turned to Leah. “Ready?”
    “ Yes,” she answered.
    “And I’d like to talk to you for a minute after rehearsal.” His words sounded casual, but her pulse quickened. Would there be trouble?
    Karen twined against Victor on the couch, consoling and justifying, and he began to return her caresses. They argued, and Karen grabbed Victor’s shoulders.
    “ Good,” said Simon. “Stop there. Let’s work out the confrontation.”
    “ I’ve been thinking.” Karen sat up. Her white top did not cover the diamond stud in her navel. She flexed her bare toes against the floor. “Julia wants to know what Blake thinks of her. Even if she’s going to lose, she at least wants to leave her mark.”
    “ Yes, good.” Simon rubbed his forehead. “Except Julia’s probably not thinking about losing. She still has a chance.”
    “ Maybe she goes to kiss him, and when he pushes her away, she pulls a knife,” said Karen. “She’d be prepared.”
    Leah crossed her ankles. Karen’s pink nail polish matched her shorts and lipstick.
    “How about something that puts her at risk, reveals her vulnerabilities? It can be ballsy, but nothing that would really hurt him. Do you think she realizes she’s in love with him?” Simon slid a finger under the back of his baseball cap as he paced.
    Subtle. Simon left his actors a way to save face when he steered them toward a different approach.
    “Subconsciously she does. So it needs to be something passionate.”
    “ If Julia’s wearing a skirt here, it would be easy for her to mark Blake and learn his mind,” said Leah. Her heart thumped in her throat.
    “ A skirt?” Karen looked as though she had smelled some-thing unpleasant.
    Victor raised his eyebrows.
    “The best way to read someone is to do the unexpected. In a wraparound skirt, Julia would be covered but with the potential for exposure, vulnerability, that Blake can see. She could beckon with one hand and threaten with the other.”
    “ Go on,” said Simon.
    “ To mark Blake and claim him, she slides her hand under her clothes and between her legs, then uses those fingers to paint him with her scent. On his upper lip, under his nose. That forces him to react primally; she’ll see how he really feels about her.” She was reluctant to look down at her hands, in case they were shaking. What was making her lose her nerve like this?
    “ Visceral,” said Victor with a nod.
    “ Scent? Do you mean perfume? Or BO?” Karen crossed her arms and legs.
    “It’s a seduction.” Leah kept her eyes on Karen, but she felt Simon’s attention on her. “Julia knows to appeal to the animal brain.”
    “Go on,” he said, his voice a note lower, rough at the edges.
    “ Her other hand has a surprise too,” continued Leah. “Pieces of razorblade glued to the undersides of her fingernails, like knives. They don’t do serious harm unless you hit someone in the eye. She could jab her fingers up under his chin while she delivers her last line, cut him a little. To him it would feel like claws and would come from out of nowhere. I could mark that for you—Julia’s grab and Victor’s block.”
    Simon rubbed his chin. No one spoke.
    “ That’s the sort of thing that’d reach an audience,” he said at last. “After all Julia’s complicated games she finally cracks, reacts emotionally with an animal gesture. What do you think,