Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
What is wrong with me?
I really need to focus on this audition. Who knows how many people I’m competing with for the role of Finlay, amateur sleuth? That number could be in the hundreds.
Before I reach the correct floor, I give myself a quick onceover in the reflective wall of the elevator. I wore a red sleeveless turtleneck tucked into a short, loose, flowy skirt. My hair is loose around my shoulders in a riot of waves. I square those shoulders now and step through the doors as they roll open.
I stop, surprised to see the hallway empty, instead of other girls who received callbacks like me. It’s not possible that I’m the only one here for a meeting, right? If that’s the case, I should be overjoyed, right? I want this part.
Or do I?
My pulse is racing, but not in an excited way, it’s more nervous.
Nervous that I’ll get the part and be sent to Los Angeles?
Away from Dusty. My Dusty, who is waiting back at the apartment, probably pacing the floor. We made love so many times last night, my throat is scratchy from screaming. I have chafe marks all over my body from his scruffy jaw and I wear them like a badge of honor, my mouth swollen from kisses, nipples sensitive from being sucked so often. In fact, I wouldn’t mind being back in bed right now, instead of walking down this unfamiliar hallway. He told me stories about the farm last night in the dark of my bedroom and I want more of them.
I want to know everything.
Suddenly, a door opens up ahead and a man pokes his head out.
It’s the casting director—a man in his fifties, salt and pepper hair. He might have been handsome at one time, but he has the look of a man who possibly drinks too much, his complexion red, his eyes bloodshot in the corners. “Ah, there she is. Hello Bianca.”
“Hello,” I say, forcing myself to give a dazzling smile.
“I’m Peter Cannon,” he says, shaking my hand. “You remember me from the casting calls, I’m sure.”
“Yes, of course. It’s lovely to see you again.”
He looks pointedly at my breasts and my hips, but I hold on to my smile. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for casting directors to look over girls like a piece of meat. And thankfully, he gestures for me to enter the office. When I walk inside, I have to stop myself from gasping. It’s incredible up here, the city laid out in the sunshine, light glinting off thousands of windows, a giant, green park running through the middle of it all.
Not as majestic as the farm looked the morning I snuck out, all shrouded in silent mist, but nice enough.
Peter comes up behind me and lays a hand on the small of my back, causing my entire body to stiffen, but he only guides me to the chair facing his desk. Once I’m seated, he takes his spot behind the glass piece of furniture and folds his hands on the surface.
“You must feel very lucky, considering over four hundred girls auditioned for the part of Finlay. Whoever lands the part is going to be on billboards, interviewed by Kimmel—not to mention quite an expansion to her bank account.”
I’m disappointed that he isn’t talking about the character herself. What a great artistic opportunity she would be to play. But I smile and nod. “Yes, I realize being cast as Finlay would launch whoever you chose. Whoever could play her best, of course.”
“Sure, that’s part of it,” he laughs. “We want to find a good actress.” After studying me for a moment, he leans back in his chair. “I guess you could say I have an unconventional method of discovering acting talent.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” He smiles in a way that makes my stomach sink, my skin clammy. “If a beautiful girl like you can fake it with a man like me, you can certainly excel on screen.”
I’m going to be sick. Does he mean what I think he means?
Is he asking me to sleep with him for the part?
“Um…” I stand up on shaky legs. “I-I…I don’t think—”
Peter stands, too. “I’m talking about running some lines together, Bianca. You’ll have a love interest on the show, if you’re cast. If you can pretend I’m a twenty-year-old hunk while we’re reading through the script, you could have this in the bag.”
“Oh.” I sit back down, but I’m still shaky. “I see.”
This doesn’t feel right.
Suddenly, the couch in the corner of the room is way too close.
“Before we go through some lines, Bianca, I have some questions for you. Just a few personal items to check off the list.”
Doing my best to get ahold of myself, I nod. “Sure, please ask away.”
He smiles, looking down at the planner in front of him. “Do you have any problem relocating to Los Angeles?”