Chapter 7: Colliding Forces
"Sophia, calm down," Tori said, shaking me violently. I wasn't sure how that was going to help me calm down, but I was in no position to argue about something as trivial as that when my brain was going on overdrive with all of the possible outcomes of my first big movie audition in Los Angeles. "You can't go in there like this."
"I can't," I said, wiggling out of her grip. My voice had taken on that whiny, annoying quality I usually hated. "I've never been this nervous in my life." I hugged the plain white folder containing my headshot and resume, trying to offset my nerves with positive thoughts. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure anything could offset them that day.
Mrs. Franklin, the wine-loving teacher that had recommended me for this audition, had called me yesterday and had somehow managed to turn my nervousness into excitement. She told me a talent agent was going to be at my audition. Mrs. Franklin was a friend of Lea Jameson's and had called her to let her know she had a good candidate for her. Mrs. Franklin also gave me some last-minute words of wisdom that had calmed me down enough to practice, but that soothing effect was long gone.
Despite my mental reminders that I was only auditioning for a small part, my nerves just wouldn't budge. This wasn't some play being put on in my hometown or some low-key movie being shot at a run-down set. This was a real Hollywood audition. I was so close to doing what I felt like I was meant to be doing, yet I couldn't will myself to move.
"You can't let them see you're nervous," Tori said. "Just take a deep breath.... Just breathe, Soph."
"I am breathing. If I weren't breathing, I'd be dead right now."
"Shut up and breathe deeper."
Following her advice, I managed to steady my breathing, which did calm me down considerably.
"Better?"
I nodded. "Much."
"Good. Now are you ready to go knock their socks off?"
"Are you kidding? I was born ready," I said. I didn't feel as sure of myself as I was letting on, but at least I could make it seem like that was the case.
Tori beamed at me. "That's what I like to hear. Now, go! And don't forget to be your charming self."
"Who else would I be?"
"I don't know," she said in an exasperated tone. "Just go!"
I laughed and exited the car, shutting the door behind me. I looked up at the huge L.A. building where auditions for Kidnap My Heart were being held and took another deep breath. "Here goes nothing," I muttered, walking towards the building. I hesitated at the entrance, wondering if I was in over my head here.
A honk snapped me out of my negative train of thoughts. I spun around and saw that it was Tori. I gave her a thumbs up, showing her that I was fine. She stuck her own thumb out the passenger window and I couldn't help but smile. Even if this audition was a total flaw, I knew I'd always have Tori to lean on.
Clutching the silver door handle in my hand, I pushed aside my unease and opened the door.
I followed my instincts as I made my way around the building, somehow managing to find where I was supposed to be. I had left my apartment early to make sure I'd have enough time to find my way to the audition room and was still pretty early by the time I found it, but I figured it was better to sit there for a bit than to be late and miss my slot.
I walked into the lobby where a couple of people were already seated. Judging by their nervous expressions, I figured they were probably hopefuls waiting for their own audition.
As soon as I walked in, I ran straight into something hard. "Sorry!" I cried. The folder I was holding fell from my hands, and I just barely managed to catch it without spilling any of its contents.
The same could not be said for the cup of Starbucks coffee the rock I'd run into had apparently been holding. The cup fell to the floor and splashed the bottom of my legs. I was just glad it was one of their cold drinks or there would have been a serious problem here.
"Watch where you're going," a masculine voice said.
I looked up and saw who it was that I'd run into, my face immediately dropping when I saw who it was. Of course. Of course it just so happened to be the one person I'd been trying to avoid.
My apologetic reaction faded just as quickly as it had surfaced, thanks in part to his attitude. "Why don't you?"
"You're the one who ran into me," Christian said, looking down at his spilled coffee scornfully. "Can someone clean this up? This is a mess!"
"If you hadn't been standing right at the entrance, this wouldn't have happened," I said, choosing to ignore his last demand, knowing it would only onset an argument we'd already had.
"No, if you had been watching where you were going, this wouldn't have happened," he said.
"And if you had been watching where you were going, instead of blindly walking backwards right into the entrance, this wouldn't have happened," I threw right back. I could've done this all day if I didn't have an audition to get to.
"I don't have to do anything. That's your problem, not mine."
Was he even listening to himself? Did he honestly think the world revolved around him? I shook my head. "You're unbelievable."
For once, I actually wasn't the problem here. He was. He was in prissy celebrity mode, and it wasn't pretty.
"How am I the unbelievable one? Thanks to you, I spilled my coffee. Speaking of coffee, why hasn't this been cleaned up?"
Angry Christian was somehow even worse than normal Christian, and that was saying something. He sounded like he was on his man-period. At least he was the only one who looked like a dick here. He was the only one yelling, while I was trying to keep it down.
"How about we reenact this?" I suggested, taking a few steps back. "Just stand there and do whatever you were doing when I ran into you."
"I was texting," Christian said, waving his iPhone at me.
I somehow refrained from commenting on the ridiculousness of his statement. Even though it took everything I had, I did it. "Okay. Now, I was walking inside the lobby and I looked down for a second. Then boom." I ran into him, just like I had a minute before. "We collided. Now, Mr. 4.0, why did we collide?"
"Because you weren't paying attention to where you were going."
I exhaled loudly. "No. We collided because I looked away for a moment and you were on your phone walking backwards. Do you know what that means?"
"What?"
"It means we were both at fault." It was actually kind of sad that this had to be explained to him in detail. That spoke wonders about him and his ability to take responsibility for his mistakes. "Of course you were the one texting, so it was mostly you."
"I'm perfectly capable of texting and walking at the same time."
"Considering you just ran into me, I beg to differ."
"What are you even doing here?" he asked, finally changing the subject to one that didn't involve snippy little back and forth remarks. Except it kind of did because I couldn't help myself when it came to him.
"What are you doing here?"
He didn't need to know why I was here, although I'd assumed it would be obvious. Sometimes I forgot he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal.
"Can you just answer a question the first time around? Or is that impossible for you?" he asked.
"Can you just quit asking me intrusive questions?"
"All I've done is occasionally ask you innocent questions," he said, sarcastically adding, "I'm sorry if that's too much you for you."
"No, you ask stupid, intrusive questions and then you wonder why I purposely give you stupid answers."
Christian took on a defensive tone. "My questions aren't stupid," he said.
"Hmm, let's see," I said, scratching my chin with feigned confusion. "'What are you doing here?' Well, genius, I'm in the waiting room for the private auditions of Kidnap My Heart, holding a folder in my hand, so what do you think I'm doing?"
Realization finally dawned on him. "You're auditioning?"
"No, I just like to hang around these auditions for fun. Of course I'm auditioning."
It wasn't until then that I realized we had drawn quite the crowd. Everyone in the room was looking at us. There seemed to be more people in the room than when I'd first walked in.
"Um, I can clean this mass," a girl that looked to be in her mid-twenties said. My guess was that she was an assistant or something. "It's no problem!" She giggled nervously, her eyes never leaving Christian's.
"Finally," he muttered.
The girl got down on her knees and used some paper towels to wipe up the mess.
"Is there a problem here?" a woman asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. In reality, I didn't know how long she'd been standing there. With her strawberry blond hair and light blue eyes, I recognized her immediately. I'd seen her in a few interviews following the release of some of her bigger hits. Her name was Nora Harding and she was a well-known director. She had directed some of my favorite rom-coms, which led me to assume she was the director of Kidnap My Heart.
She walked over to where Christian and I were standing, accompanied by two other women I didn't recognize. They were probably either assistants or producers.
Just as I said "no," Christian said "yes."
"Well?" She raised an eyebrow. Her face was hard to read, so I couldn't tell if she was angry or upset or just neutral. "Which is it?"
"Yeah, there is," Christian said, looking at me with disdain. "She's being a brat."
"What?" Way to throw me under the bus when it had clearly been a back-and-forth thing. He wasn't that innocent. "Why can't you just accept that you're partly to blame in all of this?"
"Because I'm not to blame," he stressed.
"We've been over this," I said, forcing myself to appear calm when in reality, I wanted nothing more than to strangle him and destroy his vocal chords. "Why can't you just get it through your... engorged head?"
"Do you see what I'm saying?" Christian nodded over at me. "Do you see what I'm dealing with?"
Nora didn't look very sympathetic to his cause. It must have been my lucky day, because she actually looked more amused than anything else. I thought for sure she would've been angry or annoyed with me. I was fighting with a well-known actor, after all, one she had worked with several times already. "You're here to audition, you said?"
I was about to reply when a tall, dark-haired woman walked in.
"Lea," Nora said. I assumed by Lea she meant Lea Jameson. "I almost thought you wouldn't make it."
"I'm glad I did," she said. She looked over at me and added, "This must be Sophia Hastings."
"Your teacher told us all about you," Nora added. "Nothing but good things, don't worry. And it looks like you're up next."
She started to walk towards the auditioning room and I nervously followed. My stomach sank when she turned around and said, "Christian, why don't you tag along? You don't have anywhere to be, do you?"
"Well..."
"Blake's not here yet, and I'm assuming you came for him."
"I did," he admitted reluctantly.
"Then I'm sure you could spare a few minutes and tag along."
Christian quietly sighed but followed us into the room. I acted calm and professional on the outside, but on the inside, I was freaking out. For what possible reason could she want Christian to come along? What if she wanted him to audition? The role I was auditioning for was a girl who hooks up with the main character. What if he got the role of the main character and I, by some miracle, got the role of Natalie? My stomach churned at the thought.
Must not throw up. Must not throw up. Must not throw up.
Was it too late to run out and skip my audition? Something told me if I did, Tori would run out of the car and drag me back inside by the hair.