Production In Progress

Chapter 2

"Excuse me, is it too late to audition?"

The large man poked his head in through the door, slowly stepping into the room and looking over us. The director and I looked at each other before shaking our heads and sitting back down. The man made his way towards us and handed us his resume before going to the front.

"Hello, my name is Chef Hatchet. I'm here to audition to be the co-host for the reality TV show Total Drama," the large man spoke, "I feel like I would make a great fit into the role."

"So, looking over your resume here that you have a lot of experience in the restaurant business," said the director, looking up from the papers.

"Yes, I do. I've been the head chef of Baratie for four years. Before that, I was a sous chef for Burger Kingdom for five years," Chef spoke with confidence.

"With the experience that you have, how come you're trying out for this role?" I asked.

"I've always wanted to be on the big screen when I was a kid, so when I saw your ad in the newspaper, I knew I had to try out," Chef answered, with a big smile on his face.

I couldn't believe how much talent this guy had. Looking over his resume again, he had a lot of experience in his field, but he had the same dream I had. Becoming a star. Looking up at him, he had so much confidence for coming out today, he probably knew he wouldn't get the part but he still made an effort to try, which was quite admirable. Turning towards the director, I had him a nod of approval before facing forward.

"Well, it seems like we made a decision," the director gets up and walks towards Chef, holding his hand out, "You got the part. Congratulations!"

Chef's faces lights up with excitement as he shakes his hand.

"Thank you so much, I can't wait to work with you," Chef says excitedly.

"We'll have you start Monday with our host so you two can get to know each other since you guys will have a sharing role," said the director while pointed back at me.

I waved slightly at Chef who looked over at me excited.

"Sweet, thank you. My information is on the resume for you guys to contact me," said Chef as he started walking towards the door, "Thank you so much again."

Chef exits the audition room, leaving the director and I inside. The director walks back over to the table and starts gathering his things.

"So, why did you want him as your co-host?" he asked.

"I can't place my finger on it, but there is something about it that I think would be great for the show," I answered.

"And what might that be?" he asked curiously.

"I'm not sure. I guess we'd just have to wait and see," I said, heading towards the door, "I'll see you Monday?"

"Yup, I'll see you later," said the director, waving goodbye.

I left the office and started walking down the hallway, thinking about Chef. He seems like a good fit for the role and had tons of passion, but there was something else that brought me to pick him. A reflection of my younger self in him, one with confidence and excitement no matter what.

**********

The weekend rolled by fast and soon enough, Monday morning was dawning. Putting on a nice blue sweater and some jeans, I headed out the door and to the office. Not only would I be with the costume department trying to find the main outfit for me to wear during the show, but I would also be seeing Chef again.

Finding a spot in the crowded parking lot, I hurried inside, walking past interns and writers hard at work. I reach Room 268 where the costume department was being held for the time being and opened the door. Some of the directors were in there, along with some interns making concept drawing of a few outfits for me, and a few others finish sewing one of them.

"Good morning, Chris!" shouted one of the directors in my direction.

"Hey, good morning," I said, closing the door behind me.

"You came in just in time. We got a few outfits made for you to try on. Hopefully if one of them is the one, we can start filming the proposional tape so we can start going through the audition process," the costume director said excitedly.

"Great, I can't wait to start."

"We'll start with dress rehearsal once Chef gets here. That way the two outfits go together well. Until he gets here, we got donuts and coffee in the break room if you want some."

"Sure, thanks."

The costume director went back over to the interns to check over some of the outfits, while I put my stuff down at the table and walked out the room. I started heading down the hallway towards the breakroom, walking passed a multiple busy rooms. I opened the door to the break room to find it empty, donut cases half empty and a few box coffees left on the counter. Grabbing a nearby napkin, I grabbed a jelly filled donut and started making coffee the way I like it. Hearing the door open behind me, I turned around to see Chef walking in, outfitted in a beige shirt and black pants.

"Oh hey, um Chris, was it?" Chef asked.

"Yeah, that's me, nice to see you again," I said, turning back to my coffee.

"Yeah same, it's nice to see one familiar face in here," said Chef, grabbing a chocolate covered donut.

After adding in the milk and sugar to my liking, I turn to look at Chef while drinking some of it.

"It looks like we'll be in the costume department today," I say.

"Oh really? That sounds like fun!" he said, taking a bite of his donut.

"Yeah, they're just waiting on us to start," I said, chugging the rest of my coffee.

"Oh, well we better get going then," Chef said, eating the rest of his donut.

Cleaning up our mess, we headed down the hallway to Room 268 together. Looking up at Chef, he seemed very excited to be going to the costume rehearsal. Me on the other hand didn't really care how it went. It was just costumes, how exciting could that be? Entering the room, the costume director waved us over to him.

"Hey Chris, we are just about ready to start," the director said before looking over at Chef, "Oh, you must be Chef! I'm the costume director for the production, I can't wait to work with you today."
"Great! It's an honor to meet you!" Chef said with a smile.

Chef and the costume director head over to the table where they're making some of the costumes. Chef was flipping through some of the concept art with the director, while I stood by the entrance, admiring from afar. Chef seems so happy to be doing such a small task like that, while I couldn't care less. There surely is something about him that impressives me.