"So.......how did you like the show? See anyone you think is worthy enough to be in your movie?" I asked him, rocking back-and-forth from my heel to my toe, playing the innocent card. He looked at me, then Liam, then back to me, and back to Liam, before settling his eyes on mine and said, "You're school has an excellent drama program. You should all be very proud to attend this school and be a part of such a magnificent play." Yea yea yea guy, we know. Just tell me if Liam gets to live his dream.
"Lucky for me, I did spy one young actor that was talented beyond my dreams. I never would've guessed they could do such an amazing job." This made no sense. I had sat there and told him about how good Liam was. Did he assume I was lying? Did he lower his expectations so he wouldn't be too disappointed?
"Unfortunately," he continued, his voice changing tone, "the person I'm interested in is not who you want it to be." Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Liam is going to be crushed. But I don't understand, who else could it be, the girl who played the tree in the background? She was horrible, and she didn't even have any lines!
"Jessy, I want to extend my offer to you." My body froze in its place, realizing that he didn't want Liam.
"I-I don't know what to say..." It was like I had forgotten how to produce proper words. "Thank you so much for the offer, but I thought you would rather have Liam than me. He's much more talented, and that's who you came to see." I tried persuading him that he had truly made a mistake on who he had chosen.
"No, I have made no mistake. The thing is, when you're on stage, it just naturally flows through you and you contain so much emotion and it's exactly what we want." I could feel Liam squeezing my hand in reassurance and to quietly tell me its okay.
He continued, "And I must say, Liam is a very good actor, but the other problem is that we already have an actor for the male lead in our movie." He seemed sincere, but I still felt like crap.
I turned my head to look at Liam. He didn't notice for the first few seconds, which is where I got to see how he really felt. His face showed the disappointment that had spread throughout him. He was so harsh on himself when it came to acting...I couldn't help but pray that he didn't take it personal. Robbie had said that there was already a male lead, so I'm sure that if there wasn't, Liam would be a shoe-in. He looked down and noticed me, forcing a fake smile on his face. He began to speak.
"Trust me, take it Jessy. This is a once in a lifetime chance to show what you got. You were made to act." I could hear the hurt coming from his voice as he tried to convince me to take. "Well okay. I guess this is really a once in a life time opportunity." I looked down at my shoes, nervous that at any moment I could screw everything up. I raised my head, my eyes becoming leveled with Robbie's. He smiled, grabbed my empty hand from where it laid limply, and shook it with a great amount of force. "Tomorrow is the audition to make sure everyone else likes you. Although, it doesn't really matter, considering I'm the director." He chuckled, releasing my hand mid sentence. "Be there 9 AM sharp. We'll provide you with everything, just bring your talent. I'll text you the address. See you there." He walked away. I could tell by the way he placed his feet on the floor so lightly that he was quite the character himself.
I was speechless, in general and towards Liam. "This is so great, I'm so happy for you! I knew you were a star. Now everyone gets to see what I've had the experience of viewing for the past two months." The way he forced this phony smile onto his face absolutely killed me. He was heart broken. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, feeling the tears pushing their way to the surface of my eyes before spilling onto his shirt. He did the same and wrapped his muscular arms around my waist squeezing me.
"I'm so sorry Liam, I truly am. I didn't know-"
"Shhhh," he cupped his hands around my face using his thumbs to wipe the tears that had dripped down my cheeks. The way he looked at me was inconceivable. Just in his eyes alone, I could tell how much care there was in his heart for me.
Chapter 3
Start from the beginning
