Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Not bad,” I say, breathing in through my nose and out my mouth. “Just try to have fun. You’re getting paid, and it’s better than sitting at home and hoping for a call from a prospective employer.”
The door behind me opens, and a red-haired spitfire enters the room. “You must be Georgia.” She shoves out a ring-laden hand my way. “I’m Myla. It’s so nice to meet you. Sutton sings your praises.”
I smile and shake her hand. “Sutton is too sweet.”
“I’m one of the directors on The Invitation, and I’ll coordinate with you and the male lead as we go. Speaking of the male lead, have you had a chance to meet him?”
“No.” I exhale. “I haven’t, but I’d love to.”
She glances at her watch. “I believe he’s in the building.” She places a file folder on the table. “This is a copy of the contract sent to you yesterday. Did you have a chance to have an attorney look at it? I know this is the epitome of last minute.”
Yes, thanks to Jeremiah. “I did.”
“Super. When we get to the signing portion of the afternoon, we’ll bring in a notary and get it all squared away. Do you have any questions? If not, I’ll go find our other actor, and we’ll get started.”
The other actor. That makes me laugh. But, hey, they asked me to do this.
I squash a bubble of nerves from rising in my throat. “I think I’m good.”
“Okay, then grab a seat and make yourself at home. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Great.”
“Welcome aboard, Georgia.”
She gives me a quick smile before darting out the door.
I heave a breath and fall into a chair when she’s gone.
The past thirty hours have been a whirlwind—a nonstop set of movements from when I agreed to participate in this show until now. Contracts, which Jeremiah thankfully had an attorney look over for me pro bono. My hairdresser squeezed me in for a cut and color. I visited my nail tech and had to coordinate with hair, makeup, and wardrobe late last night. Thankfully, since this is fairly low budget and just a pilot, I have the option to create my own looks.
At least I can feel like me in this very non-me scenario.
“Our hero is on his way,” Myla says, bursting into the room again. “And, let me tell you, you lucked out.”
I lift a manicured brow. “Really?”
She sits across from me. “Trust me. This could be a lot worse. He’s handsome and charming. That’s not always the case.”
“That’s a relief.” I blow out a steady breath. “Thank you for telling me that. It helps.”
“Of course. Now, I want to go over a few things with you because Jonah has already gone over these things with your counterpart.” She whips an iPad out of nowhere and turns it so I can see the screen. A bullet point list of items is clearly delineated. “The show's premise is to see if two people can be matched by their search histories.”
The blood drains out of my face. “Wait. You’re not actually looking at my search history, are you?”
“We will need to film a shot making it look like you were one of several applicants and were chosen based on your results. We don’t have to do that today. Actually, we’ll probably shoot that more toward the end so we can angle it to match the scenes you’ve captured.”
Thank God. That’ll give me time to search for regular people’s topics.
“We’ve created a list of scenes for you to film,” she says, pointing at the second bullet point. “Some will be filmed by our crew, and you will film some on your own. We’ll give you cameras and review all of that with you this afternoon. You’ll be required to film confessionals.”
“Excuse me?”
She laughs at the surprised yet concerned look on my face. “I just mean you’ll sit for solo interviews where you’ll record yourself. I’ll send you a list of questions after each scene to get you started.”
I nod warily.
“This is going to be a lot of fun, Georgia. Do you have any questions for me?”
I did, but now my brain feels like scrambled eggs, and I can’t think straight.
“All right.” She glances at her watch again. “Our hero should be coming. We’ll do introductions, discuss any questions you might have, and then we’ll sign the contracts. Once that’s finished, we’ll take you both in separately to film intake interviews.”
“Sounds good.”
The door creaks behind me. Myla’s attention shifts in that direction, and her face breaks into a wide smile.
“Hey, Georgia,” Sutton says, bounding into the room. Her eyes are wild as she sweeps her gaze from me to Myla and back again. “Myla, could I speak with Georgia alone for a moment, please?”
The uneasiness in her voice set off alarm bells in my head. My palms sweat as they grip the arms of my chair, and my freshly painted nails dig into the soft material.