Chapter Five
1651 Words
Chapter Five
That night, I can’t sleep again. This time it isn’t the fact I live in a dollhouse that is bothering me. Jon has called me to ask if I can come in tomorrow to get a head shot taken. He has been able to call in a favor so I can even get it done for free. Is he this nice to all his clients?
I want to ask Kathy, but after seeing how weird the two of them had been with each other, I decide against it. Maybe I am imagining it, but it feels as if there is some awkward tension between the two of them. Kathy had dropped me off and told me she was meeting some friends for dinner, so I didn’t get to ask. Would I ask if I was able to?
Jon’s voice on the phone gave me goose bumps again. It is naïve to think that he is being nice to me because we have some sort of connection. There is no connection – I just want to jump his bones. I sigh and roll over, covering my face with my pillow. In the distance, I can hear sirens. A few apartments down, I can sometimes hear people yelling. Not a dream home by any means.
Somewhere in this city is a nightlife that entire movies are based off of. Movie stars with no concerns are getting VIP bottle service and talking about their next blockbuster movie. There is no way that can be me, right?
Do agents say they see potential in all their clients or only when they truly mean it? It doesn’t help that Jon is so attractive. There is absolutely no way I can violate our professional relationship in hopes for a date. I probably just need to get laid.
I finally fall asleep. I dream of my daughter. I wake up in the morning in a cold sweat.
>>
“I want you to look as if you are gazing out in the horizon at your destiny.”
“What?” I reply as the photographer snaps photos. “Is my destiny some tangible thing I can hold?”
We are thirty minutes into trying to get a decent head shot of me, and I am feeling over it. The photographer’s directions for each picture are growing increasingly vague, and I feel out of my element. I had thought the entire thing was going to be quick, like having a high school photo taken.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. Jon has gotten a woman to do my makeup and hair. I feel unlike myself, as if I can be anyone I want to be. However, the photographer’s ridiculous instructions are making me hyperaware of everything.
“Let’s take five,” he finally says, lowering his camera. “Your aura is all wrong.”
“What the f**k is an aura?” I mumble to myself through clenched teeth.
Jon walks over. He is dressed casually compared to yesterday and has a bemused expression on his face. My heart does a flip.
“Jon, where did you find this guy?” I whisper.
“I called in a favor. He normally doesn’t do head shots.”
“You think?”
Jon laughs. “He’s trying to make it big. He’ll take what he can. We’re going to get head shots plus some other photos I can use, too. It’s a win-win, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”
“It does not feel like it.”
“Come on, let’s grab a coffee.”
I follow him over to the small table that has been set up with some food. The guy who is doing the lighting is cramming a donut in his mouth as he talks on his phone. The makeup artist is gossiping to the photographer about seeing a celebrity at some club named Underwater Nosh last night. What a name.
I borrowed Kathy’s car to get here. It took about an hour to get twenty minutes to the tiny studio. I had asked her if she wanted me to take a cab but she refused. I am pretty sure she is hung over from wherever she went to last night.
Lost in thought, I don’t even hear people greet the man who has just come in. I pour myself my coffee, trying to shake off my tired state. I really need to sleep better. If I get regular acting jobs, I might have to get up at 4 a.m.
“Rich, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Jon says, although his tone sounds stiff.
“I heard someone was using my studio today for some new talent and I wanted to scope it out for myself.”
“Did you.” Jon replies. It is meant to be a question but comes out more like a tone of annoyance.
I realize just then that I am the “talent” and turn around to see who owns the studio. I am facing another handsome man. Is there any other kind in Hollywood? He is the polar opposite of Jon. His hair is a light blond and he wears a tan suit. His blue eyes are bright and gorgeous, reminding me of the ocean.
“I’m Rich.”
“Jenny. Hi. You said you own the studio?”
We shake hands and he nods. “Yes. I own quite a few on this side of town.”
“Among other things,” Jon mumbles.
Rich either doesn’t hear him or ignores him because he goes on, “I’m also a casting director. I used to work with Jon before we went our separate ways. You didn’t tell me you had such a beautiful new client though.”
I feel butterflies in my stomach. Is this guy flirting with me? In front of everyone? No way. He said he is a casting agent. Maybe he just likes what he sees. Maybe I’ll even get lucky and he’ll cast me in something.
“Jenny is new to the business but I think she has something real to offer the casting agents here. Something different.”
Rich’s eyes scan my body. “Looks like it.”
I can feel heat rising to my cheeks. He is flirting. I open my mouth to respond when the photographer, apparently bored of hearing about Underwater Nosh, turns and claps his hands. “Back to work!”
I am back in front of the camera. Jon mumbles something in the photographer’s ear, whose enthusiasm dims as he goes and gets a chair for me to sit in.
“Apparently we have enough shots for my own portfolio,” he says in a low voice to me. “Sit. We’ll get your head shot now.”
I look over at Jon and mouth the words, “Thank you.”
He winks in reply. I turn my head quickly, sitting down. He is just playing around with the wink, I tell myself, as my stomach gets butterflies again. I can feel Rich’s eyes on me as well. Two good looking guys both watching me get my photo taken. It is perfect. If only I felt more confident in my poses.
It doesn’t take long for the photographer to get my head shot. Apparently he cares more about building his portfolio rather than what he was actually hired to do. I can’t blame him. I have gotten the head shot for free because of the favor Jon has called in. I do have extra photos on top of it.
Once we finish, I hesitate walking over to Jon. He seems to be in a serious conversation with Rich, who is cute and clearly interested in me. No matter how much Jon gives me the shivers and goose bumps, he is still my agent. Going after him would be foolish, given our professional relationship.
But Rich on the other hand? If he wants to flirt again, I am considering flirting back. He is super cute, after all, and focusing on a new guy might make any fantasies brewing in my head over Jon to vanish.
With all this in my mind, I decide to head over to the two of them. Jon sees me first and falls silent as Rich looks up.
“You did great,” Jon says. “I’m going to get everything organized and start putting my feelers out there for an audition. I’ll send you the photos, too.”
“You should send her information my way, too,” Rich says, his eyes still on me. “I might have something for her.”
My heart thrums. “Really?”
“A beautiful thing like you? Be stupid not to.”
“I’m heading out,” Jon announces. “I’ll talk to you later, Jenny.”
I say “bye” and watch him go. Does he care about me talking to Rich or am I imagining that, like Kathy being odd?
“You looked great today.”
I snap out of my thoughts to look at Rich and smile. “Thanks.”
“You new in town?”
“Yes. Just moved here recently.”
“How are you liking it?” He moves an inch closer to me and I feel a tingle go down my spine – something about him seems like a bad boy.
I can feel my old urges kicking up. Bad Jenny.
“I haven’t really seen much of it,” I admit, batting my eyelashes at him. “I heard the photographer and the make-up artist talking about some club named Underwater Nosh? I don’t know what that is.”
There is a noise behind me of someone coming back in the studio. Probably the photographer. Rich is looking directly at me, a slow smile spreading across his face.
“Underwater Nosh is the hottest club in the city right now. Highly exclusive.”
“Oh,” I reply. “I won’t be getting in there any time soon then.”
“Maybe not. Unless I take you.”
My eyes widen. “You take me? Are you sure?”
“Of course. Consider it a date. I’ll show you around and you can show me around.”
Yes, clearly a bad boy. My type completely. No, I amend in my brain, my old type. I am not supposed to be into these sort of guys anymore. But would it really hurt seeing the hottest club in Hollywood?
“Great,” I reply. “It’s a date!”
Rich smiles. When I turn around, I see that it was Jon who has come into the studio again. His face is blank but it is obvious he has overheard us making plans. I snatch up my purse and head toward the bathroom, my face grows hot.
It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. He is your agent.
- Writer
