Attraction - a fraudulent marriage

15. pitfalls

I felt a twinge of annoyance at my attitude. I had no reason to sit here and be bitter when my irritation had to do with something entirely different. I'd gone here with the intent of thinking about happier things, not sit and whine even if it could be fun from time to time. I'd had a friend in drama class who had loved to pick on other people's acting skills. She'd been terrible of course, which had made it all rather hilarious, but perhaps not in the way she'd intended.

Another guy entered the stage. His white T-shirt appeared to shine beneath the lights, and it fell perfectly off his shoulders, allowing shadows to hint at a body that could tempt me any day. At least it would have had in the past.

He bestowed us all with a winning smile, white, perfect, and certainly calculated to perfection. He was a charmer, and he knew it. I sat back in the black plastic chair and studied him closer. His gestures were precise and measured as if he were entering his character before uttering the first words. There was something regal in his new poise, and I waited for a king to start addressing his loyal servants. It was kind of amazing to see the transformation from a regular guy to someone entirely different despite the torn blue jeans and tattooed forearms.

"Begin, please." The director seemed to have perked up slightly. Perhaps she wasn't as hopeless as I'd thought.

I heard him inhale—a slow breath readying a man for battle. A general. The smile on my lips tasted of victory.

He addressed us all. "I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop."

I didn't recognize the words, but the way he delivered them held all my attention. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. I'd been right to come here.

****

"You're not going to try?"

I started in my seat. The only guy in the room who could act had sneaked up on me, claiming the spot right next to mine. He placed a hand on the back of the chair in front, leaning casually with an air completely different from the aura he commanded on stage. Up close, I could see that he had faint traces of old piercings. One on his nose, one below his lower lip.

He smelled of danger. Intoxicating.

"Nah, I'm not sure this is my crowd. Mostly here to kill time anyway." I tried to wave off the pheromones without being too obvious about it.

"Odd place to kill time."

"True. What was your scene from? Didn't recognize it."

He showed off that perfect line of teeth fit for a star in the making. "It's actually a speech from Martin Luther King Jr."

I'd never heard of anyone reading anything like that at an audition. My nose twitched while I watched amusement playing across his features. I wasn't sure it was such a great idea to invite more conversation.

"Cool." I said it anyway, even though I shouldn't have. Rolling the ring around my finger, I inched back as he inched closer.

"If you want to kill time, we could always do something else."

I thought about going back to the apartment, imagining a scene where I lay on the floor once again, staring up at nothing while life passed by outside. It wasn't like me to sink deeper when I needed to climb out of the pit.

"What do you suggest?" It was a dangerous question. A leap out into the unknown, but then, when had I ever been afraid of a challenge?

"It's Saturday. A couple of friends messaged me from a bar a few blocks from here. You should join."