Blondie.
How the hell did she get the audition?
“Anna?” Hailey says and the pretty brunette stands. “We’ll start with you.” She leads the brunette out of the room.
Blondie pours herself a cup of coffee as I slide into the chair the brunette was just in.
We sit in silence, ignoring each other’s existence, and I go through my lines in my head as I mindlessly flip magazine pages. I spent some time online last week checking out pictures and video of Jared Meeks, the actor we’re reading opposite. He’s hot—longish dark hair and sexy stubble, a great smile, shockingly blue eyes, and muscles on his muscles. I’ve lived my moment onstage with him over and over—the house lights down, stage lights up, the delicious sheen of sweat on his body. I’ve practiced my lines a hundred times with that image in my head. I am so ready for this.
It’s a half hour later when Hailey is back. “Bambi?” she asks into the room from the door. I think it must be a joke until Blond Bitch stands and smirks down at me on her way to the door.
“Freakshow,” I mutter with a scowl at the closed door once they’re gone.
I get up and refill my tea. “You want me. I know you do,” I say into the empty room on my way back to the table. I lower myself into my seat and close my eyes, visualizing how I want this to go. I picture myself, smooth and composed, walking onto the stage. Jared holds his hand out and I take it. “It’s my pleasure to meet you,” he says, squeezing my hand gently, and I say, “I’m a huge fan of your work,” and smile. His eyes scan my body and come back to meet my gaze, and I can tell by the appreciative glimmer in them that he likes what he sees. “Shall we take it from the top?” he asks, and I say, “Perfect.” He lets go of my hand, which he’s still holding because, let’s face it, he wants me, and I say, “You want me. I know you do,” like it wasn’t already obvious to everyone in the room.
“Hilary?”
Hailey’s voice cuts through my imagery and I blink my eyes open. She stands aside in the door. “We’re ready for you.”
Was that fast? Or was I just lost in my fantasy for longer than I thought?
I stand and she leads me up a short hall to an entrance marked stage door.
Deep breath.
I step through the door onto the stage and we pass through the curtain. In the row of seats up front is a curly-haired blond guy who reminds me of a mosquito, with bugging eyes behind thick glasses. And next to him is my leading man, Jared Meeks. I smile down at them and fist my hands into my skirt when I feel them start to shake.
No way.
No way I’m going to lose my composure now. I’ve got this. It’s mine if I just hold my shit together.
“So,” Hailey says from behind me, “Are we ready?”
I glance at her, then back down at Jared. “Yeah! I’m ready whenever you are.”
But Jared doesn’t move. He settles back in his seat and leans toward the curly-haired Mosquito Man, whispering something in his ear. They both laugh and I feel all the blood drain from my face. Are they laughing at me? Already?
My eyes flutter up from them, and halfway back, on the right side of the seats, I see Jess. She’s giving me an encouraging “go on” look. I turn and find Hailey looking at me expectantly.
“What?”
She squints at me. “Do you need a prompt?”
“What?” I ask again. What the hell is going on?
“For your first line? Do you need a prompt?”
“No! I know the line. I’m just . . .” I flick a glance to Jared, who’s stretching like I just woke him up . . . or maybe I’m putting him to sleep. I look back at Hailey, totally confused. “I thought I’d be reading opposite Jared.”
“Not today. When we have our girl, she’ll go opposite Jared, just to make sure the chemistry’s right.” She grins. “It’s your lucky day. You get to go opposite me.”
This is so not how I imagined this. But this part is still mine. I’m going to blow their socks off.
I square my shoulders and put on the confidence of a woman who’s about to proposition a man who’s totally off limits (because he’s married to her dying sister), but who she knows can’t resist her. “You want me. I know you do.”
“I do. You’re sexy and strong, and I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
I unbutton the top button of my blouse while Hailey’s delivering her line. “Then take me,” I implore, unbuttoning the second and revealing my red lace bra.
“It’s not right for us to give in to our desire, Tara. There are other people we need to consider. I have to think of Breanna. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt her now, when she’s already so fragile.”
I unbutton the third. “Who cares what’s right. We need each other like oxygen. We belong together.”
Hailey steps closer and trails a finger along the butterflies on my collarbone. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be. The doctors say Breanna only has a few more weeks. Days, maybe. When she’s gone, wild horses won’t be able to keep me away from you. But for now . . .” She trails off, lifting her hand to my cheek.
I grab her hand in both of mine and hold it to my face as a tear leaks over my lashes. “No! I can’t! I can’t wait for you another day. Tomorrow will swallow us whole if we let it.” I lower her hand and slide it under my shirt onto my boob (which would be so much more effective, not to mention enjoyable, if it were Jared’s hand) as I unbutton the next button. “We can either live life scared,” unbutton, “or live life.” I unbutton the last button and my shirt slides off my shoulders to the floor. “There are no other choices.”
Hailey pulls her hand off my boob and scratches her nose. “That was great, Hilary.” She turns to Jared and Mosquito Man. “Is that good, or do we need to do it again?”
Mosquito Man raises a hand. “We’re good with the read. What you singing, honey?”
I slide my shirt back on and spend the next five minutes belting out my most heartfelt rendition of “I Had a Dream” from Les Mis. When I’m done, Hailey tells me it was great and they’ll be in touch.
I scoop up my bag and strut as sexily as I can off the stage. Jess launches herself at me when I get to the bottom of the stairs. “You were so awesome!”
“I don’t know why they didn’t have me go opposite Jared,” I lament.
She shrugs. “It’s the director’s call.”
“Well, his call sucked.” I lean my forehead into hers. “Were you here for the other two auditions? How did they look?”
“The first one was pretty nervous. It took her three tries to get through the read without forgetting something. And she didn’t really act it, if you know what I mean.”
“She kept her shirt on,” I say, knowing without having to ask. Amateur mistake. They want someone with a hot body, you need to show them that’s what you got.
“Yeah. And Bambi—”
“Bambi,” I interrupt, rolling my eyes. “That’s got to be a stage name, right? I mean, any mother who would actually name her kid that should be shot.”
Jess shrugs. “That’s all I’ve ever heard anyone call her.”
I shake my head. “So how did she look?”
“She was way over the top.”
I lift my eyebrows at her. “Meaning . . . ?”
“No bra.”
Shit! That bitch.
I glance back at Mosquito Man, who’s still talking to Jared. He shoves Jared’s shoulder and they both crack up over something, then shoot a glance my way.
“Don’t worry, Hilary. You totally nailed it,” Jess says, and I force my eyes back to her. “I could almost feel the shift in your karma up there. The universe is smiling on you.”