While some people struggled with stage fright, I was

afraid of a brightly colored parrot.

To others it looked cute, entertaining, lively but to

me, it was the stuff nightmares are made of.

For what could be worse than being made to touch it or

have it sit on your shoulder.

I thought I was going to have a heart attack each time I

had to interact with the talking bird.

It even knew my name.

I jumped out when it called me Pat.

The handler, a young man who wore a muted outfit,

trained the bird.

"She's very smart," He told me during the break.

I was unimpressed. My heart raced every time I have to

do a scene with the bird.

I confronted Nam about the whole thing. Once again, she

denied knowing anything about it.

"Maybe they revised the script?"

It took all my courage not to wring her neck.

"You have to fix this," I demanded.

"How?"

"Aren't you my manager?"

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"But Pat, you signed the contract and agreed to all the

terms and conditions." Nam whined like she usually does when

caught in sticky situations.

"I will not let that parrot come within an inch of me."

The sight of it sent shivers down my spine. The flickering

eyes seemed to follow me everywhere.

I was freaked out.

"Pat," Nam's hand was on my bare shoulder.

"Let me see what I can do, okay?"

"Are you going to have that bird killed off?"

She looked shocked by the idea.

"The show was called Birds Of Paradise for a reason,"

The nervous smile added to my anxiety.

"Then do something about it if you don't want us to lose

our jobs."

"Okay, okay. I will talk to the director." She left in a

rush.

It felt like ages before Nam came back. She was smiling

which to me was a sign that the talk with the director was

favorable.

"So, great news." She took the empty seat beside me.

"They're getting rid of the bird?"

"No, Not that."

"Then what?"

"The director agreed to put the bird on a cage," She

looked away quickly.

We have known each other for so long I learned to tell

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if she was holding out on me or not. Somehow, some things

still escaped like this one for instance.

"Nam, what else did she say?" I coaxed

"It would be going off-script."

"So?"

"I agreed with her suggestion that you should have a

workshop."

"A workshop? With the parrot?"

She nodded.

"How are they going to do that?"

"Bow suggested that you bring the parrot home with you

until you get used to it. That was what she did."

"Are you kidding me?"

An image of a bird living in the same roof made my skin

crawl.

"You know I couldn't do that."

"You have to."

"Why do I have to?"

"If you can't pull this off, they will replace you."

I opened my mouth to protest but the words vanished in

my throat like a fire that was quickly extinguished. The

studio, North Star Entertainment, was sought after. It was a

dream to work with them. The award-winning director was also

another reason I wanted to be a part of project. The bird?

Not so much.

"You just made things worse for me," I didn't hide my

exasperation.

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"Pat," The singsong way with which she said my name had

no effect on me this time.

It used to calm me down but now I'm irritated by it.

"Just try it, okay? The bird will be on a cage. If you

need help, the handler will be close by. You can call him

anytime."

"That is not the point."

"I know but wasn't this your dream? To star in a GL

series? You will finally be famous. Don't you want that?"

"I'm rethinking my life choices."

"It will just be for a week."

"A week?" My voice rose two pitch higher.

The other crew standing close by turned to look at us.

"Yes. That was how long your co-star had the workshop

with the bird."

"I can die right now."