Byron

Serena...finally Byron has his Serena...or a Serena anyway. Something in her has changed enough so that she wants to work with him, participate in his films...it seems a lot more has changed about her. "Serena," he sighs, petting her hair. "Call me 'Odessa', you idiot," she snarls, slapping him on the arm. See, that's the kind of thing that's changed...even when Serena used to think he was being an idiot, she would have never said so. "You know, Serena, I've been in this business a long time: you'd do better to keep you own name. 'Odessa' is kind of 'eh'," he advises her, gesturing with his hand. And he wishes she go back to her old look, too: sure she's glamorous now, but Byron never needed glamour from Serena. That's what actresses are for: but then, Serena is an actress now, they're working on a film together. Is this really what he wanted? The script they are working on is a vehicle for Serena, she plays a love goddess. She's told him it's a very ancient story, and she's insisted Byron be her co-star, play her consort. Byron has never been interested in the other side of the camera, but Serena never has either: it's the least he can do to support her.

While he's working on the screenplay, Byron sees an image in the corner of his eye: for a moment he thought he saw the face of the actor he discovered to play Dream, Gavin, on the computer screen. Byron remembers starting that film...what ever happened to it? He's never left a film unfinished before, and that one was really important to him, one he'd always wanted to make. He'd assembled a great cast, they started filming...and then what? It's gets kind of blurry. Lots of things in Byron's memory are blurry, but not his films, he always remembers his films. The Sandman was never finished? Byron feels a keen yearning to finish his film, find out what happened to halt production...just at that moment, Serena comes up behind him, massages his shoulders. "You look like you need some inspiration," she says, pulling him up from his chair, luring him into the bed. Maybe it's wrong of him to long for his teenage girlfriend Serena, her bashful inexperience & tender affection, while he makes love to her now...but he does.

The new Serena is very into her cult of personality: she wants everyone to recognize them everywhere they go, it's important to her that the tabloids speculate on who she is & what she & Byron are working on. "I want them to worship me," she says, and that bothers Byron. The old Serena took things like 'worship' very seriously, she wouldn't toss that word around lightly, and she would never commit such a 'blasphemy' as saying she wanted to be worshipped. But these little things about her, these changes he's noticed, all melt away when she puts her arm in his, leans close & whispers in his ear. He loves her, he always has. He finally has her, he has everything he wanted. He must be happy.