us side to side. “You’re going to be great,” he assures me in a soothing rumble.
“Thank you,” I mumble against his shirt. “What are you working on today?”
He takes a long, deep breath before answering, so I can already guess what he’s going to say. “Andrew wants to get together and jam over at Vinnie’s. Alvin’s supposed to meet me there.”
“Good.”
“We’ll see. I’m sure he’s dying to pump me for information about Pamela.”
I open my mouth and he presses one finger against my lips. “Nope. The less I know, the better.”
“Well, she did warn me to get hitched quick so I can have a piece of all your publishing royalties when I catch you in bed with our maid.”
He rolls his eyes. “For fuck’s sake. He really breaks everything he touches, doesn’t he?”
“I have a feeling she was a little messed up before Andrew. Why else would any woman date him?”
“Good point.”
I poke him in the chest. “Aren’t we a perfectly smug couple?”
He leans down and rubs his nose against mine. “Smug as two bugs in luuuv,” he sings.
“Oh my God.” I slap my hand against his chest and snort with laughter.
When I can finally breathe again, he’s grinning at me. “I love making you laugh.”
I hug him tight again and he rubs his hand over my back. “Do you want me to drop you off?”
“No, I’m going straight to work after the audition. It’s at the studio. Everything is on the up and up.”
He releases me and grabs a notepad by the phone, jotting down a number. “That’s Vinnie’s house. Call me if you have any issues. If I’m not back by the time you get home, send a search party.”
“Very funny.”
My happy mood lasts all the way to the audition.
What am I doing here?
They specifically asked for me. I’m not showing up with a bunch of other random actresses vying for a part.
Once I’ve given myself a little pep-talk, I head inside.
The assistant to the casting director takes my headshot and resume. “We’re so happy you’re here, Mallory.”
“Thank you. I’m excited to learn more about the show.”
Settle down. Stop being a kiss-ass.
Thankfully, she doesn’t seem put off by my eagerness. She hands me a thick script and asks me to follow her, stopping in front of an unmarked white door. “We’ll give you some time to go over the script. Don’t worry about memorizing everything perfectly. Just get comfortable with the material.”
“Sure.”
She opens the door to a plain room with a table, a few chairs, and a couch against one wall. I curl up on the couch and dig into the script.
First day of school:
Brittany’s beat-up clunker tooling down the highway to school.
Brittany driving. Her brother Christopher in the passenger seat…
I read through the scene. Other than Brittany’s brother being an annoying pompous know-it-all, she seems to have a good life. I can do this. I can be Brittany from Nebraska. I showed up to Hollywood completely clueless too and now here I am reading for a Scout Southgate show.
In the next scene, Brittany waxes on about her love of cornfields to her new super-snobby friends. Seems like a strange thing for a teenage girl to be homesick about, but Nebraska is different than where I grew up, so I accept my character’s quirk and move on.
By the time I reach the end of the script, my heart’s thumping. I want this role. I flip back through it, considering how to deliver the lines. There’s limited direction in the script. What interpretation will impress the casting director?
The woman I met earlier returns. “What’d you think?”
“I love it.”
She smiles at me warmly. “Good. Scout wants you to read with Colby. Follow me.”
I swallow hard. I hadn’t expected to read in front of the executive producer today. I thought maybe they’d film the audition and show it to him later.
Mr. Southgate approaches and holds out his hand. I’m at least a few inches taller than him and almost have the urge to bend down so we’re at eye-level. “Thank you so much for coming in, Mallory.”
“Thank you. I’m really happy to be here.” I snap my mouth shut before I start gushing about how I’ve watched almost all of the shows he’s produced over the years. That they were some of my mother’s favorites. There’s plenty of time to make a fool of myself later.
The casting director and a few other people whose names and titles I immediately forget also introduce themselves.
The actor playing my brother, shakes my hand next.