by Calista King
When she'd gotten to the audition, Laila had been tempted to turn right back around. It looked like everyone and their mother had turned up for the open casting call, but Laila Greer was nothing if not determined. She'd already gotten Theresa to cover for her that morning just so she could come to the audition, and there was no way she was going to give up so easily. It wasn't every day that an opportunity like this arose, and she had to take advantage of it while she could. So Laila got in line and waited her turn.
She finally got to the front and registered her name and then was ushered into the large waiting room, or as she liked to think of it, holding area, where she sat and waited. And waited some more. All told, she had sat in that hard fold out chair for over four hours. It hadn't been a complete waste of time though. Laila had been able to indulge in one of her favorite pastimes--people watching. The specimens on display today had been truly something.
Laila watched the young girls being bullied and simultaneously encouraged by their pushy stage mothers, the prima donnas who thought they were hot shit, looking at everyone else with a frown on their faces like they'd smelled something bad, and the complete novices who just moved to New York with dreams of making it big.
Then there were the ultra competitive types who would do anything to win. She had a name for women like that--Tonyas. They were just like that ice skater, Tonya Harding who had her rival's knee caps busted to knock her out of a competition. Laila wouldn't be surprised if these Tonyas would stoop so low themselves. She made sure to steer clear away from them.
She didn't know what to expect from this audition. It was an open call so she hadn't gotten a script or anything. Laila always had a couple of monologues she'd memorized and rehearsed for her auditions--a comedic and dramatic one. Laila didn't like to feel unprepared. She always liked to be in control, and doing everything to prepare for this audition had given her a sense of comfort and control.
When Laila's turn finally came, the young woman led her down a cramped hallway in front of a double wooden door. She pushed it open and stepped aside for Laila to enter. Laila walked past the woman into the room. There was a long rectangular fold up table, behind which sat three people. In front of that table was a single chair. Laila stood in front of the three people and smiled nervously.
She looked over the three of them--two men and one woman. The woman was in her mid to late 40s, with a short blunt bob cut that reminded her of Anna Wintour. What struck Laila was that she was wearing large round sunglasses, even though they were inside.
The man on her right was in his early 30s and looked skittish. He was constantly moving and doing something with his hands, like he couldn't just sit still. He had curly dark brown hair that hung over his brow and wore large black frame glasses that made him look like a mixture of a hipster and a giant fly.
The last gentleman was older than the other two, Laila guessed in his fifties. He had a large belly and a shiny bald head that reflected the light from the ceiling. Laila was disappointed that Peter Travis himself wasn't there, but then she didn't really expect him to be.
All three of them looked completely bored and irritable. Laila knew she had one chance and she wasn't about to go messing it up. She handed them each a head shot and a copy of her resume which they scanned over quickly.
"Hello, Ms. Greer," the woman began.
"Please call me Laila," Laila said.
"Yes, my name is Margaret Smalt, I'm the casting director for this film. These two gentlemen are Eddy Graves and Harvey Jackson, the assistant director and producer. We're casting today for the part of Anita who is a young divorcee. Here are a couple lines we want you to read. We'll give you a few minutes to familiarize yourself with it," she said.
Laila took the sheet of papers and scanned over it greedily, not seeing any of the words printed on the sheet. She had to close her eyes and remind herself to breath, before opening them again. This time, she read the lines trying to get a feel for the character. After the first read through, Laila felt much more confident. Those early jitters were ebbing away and Laila fell back to her training and practice. I can do this! she said to herself. Finally after another read through, Laila felt confident enough to begin. She looked up and faced the three and gave a smile. "I'm ready whenever you are," she said.
"Harvey will be reading with you," Margaret said. "Please have a seat on that chair over there."
Laila sat on the chair and began reading her lines. She gave her all into those short lines, infusing them with emotion and depth. After she was done, she closed her eyes for a second and reveled in her success. Deep down, she just knew she nailed it.
Finally she opened her eyes and looked up at the group behind the table. Their expressions were no longer bored. Instead, they looked like they had just discovered something wonderful. The fidgety man, Eddy Graves, finally sat still and watched Laila with a small smile on his lips. Laila then turned her attention to the casting director and noticed her furiously taking down notes on the sheet of paper before her. Lastly, Laila glanced over at Harvey, her reading partner and the producer of the film. He nodded at her and gave her a wide smile.
"Very well done, Laila," he said. Then he turned to Margaret and whispered something in her ear, which caused her to nod her head furiously. After their whispered conversation, they turned back to Laila and told her they would be in contact with her shortly. Laila walked up and shook each of their hands before being led out of the room again by the young woman.
She had a little extra bounce in her step and couldn't help the giant grin that was plastered on her face. Laila just knew she got the part. She felt it in her bones, there was no doubt about it. Once she was led back to the waiting room, the young woman turned to her and finally gave her a smile.
"We'll give you a call early next week," she said and reached out her hand to shake Laila's.
Laila took her outstretched hand and shook it. "I look forward to it," she said.
The gesture didn't go unnoticed by everyone else in the room. Once the young woman had left, Laila turned around and saw a sea of angry and jealous faces looking back at her. She gathered her jacket and made her way out of the building. Laila knew she had crushed about 100 dreams in there, but she didn't care. It was finally her time to shine.
Finally something good had come her way. She felt like she could scream and shout from the rooftops. She wanted to tell everyone--her friends, her aunt and uncle, Corinne, Andreas. Suddenly, Laila stopped in her tracks.
Andreas? Where did that come from? she wondered. She barely knew the man and already he was popping into her head at a moment like this. But Laila couldn't deny it. She had thought of him, first actually. She'd thought about him last night and this morning too, when she was supposed to be focusing on her audition.
It was crazy that he was already so embedded in her thoughts, like she'd known him all her life. She just knew he'd be so happy and proud of her for landing this role. He was the one who told her she was destined for great things. It was in part due to his encouragement that she had had the confidence and determination to stick it out and give it her all. Having someone believe in her was such a confidence booster.
Laila wondered what Andreas would say when she told him about her audition. She was almost tempted to head into work early that day just to let him know the good news, but thought better of it. It would look too suspicious for her to go in early just to talk to a guest. No, she decided that it would be better to wait until her shift started at 6pm. She just hoped he'd be around and not on a date or have other plans. Laila was just about to head into the subway station to head home to change and grab a bite to eat when her phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey, Laila, it's Corinne."
"Oh hey Corinne, I was just about to call you."
"So how'd it go?" Corinne asked, cutting to the chase.
Laila smiled, remembering her audition and feeling that familiar sense of excitement again. "Oh I don't know," Laila said trying t
o sound sad. "I think I did all right, but you never know with these things."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. " Corinne said.
"Psyche!" Laila shouted. "I nailed it C! They practically offered me the part right then and there!"
"Shut up! Are you serious? You got the part?"
"Yeah...well, not yet. Not officially anyways, but they were all impressed by my audition. They said they'd give me a call next week."
"Oh wow! Congratulations Laila!"
"Thanks girl. By the way, how did your audition go? I didn't see you there today."
There was a brief hesitation on the other end before Corinne spoke. "Um well...I actually didn't go to the audition today."
"What? Why not?"
"Cause Hector was uh...in one of his moods and...I just...I didn't really want the part anyways," Corinne said.
Laila knew exactly what type of mood Hector had been in, and she felt angry that he had kept Corinne from trying out for the part. Not that it made any difference now, since she was sure she got the role, but still! Hector was always trying to hold Corinne back from achieving her dream and living up to her potential.
He was dead weight, living off his girl, while he lounged about all day hanging out with his friends. It reminded her too much of her relationship with Marc. She felt angry for Corinne, but knew nothing she could say would make a difference. It hadn't made a difference whenever her friends had tried to warn her about Marc. She had to learn the truth about him on her own and it was the same with Corinne. She had to learn the truth about Hector's deadbeat ways herself.
"Oh well, I'm sure there'll be other parts and auditions," Laila said, trying to sound cheerful.
"Yeah, besides, you already got the part so it would have been a waste of time for me to go anyways," Corrine said.
"True true."
"But Laila, I've got to go now. We'll talk more about it when I see you again."
"Sure thing," Laila said.
Laila hung up her phone and slipped it into her pocket. She was feeling so excited and giddy, she decided to walk back to her apartment where she'd celebrate with a quick ham and cheese sandwich before changing to go to work.
When she got into the hotel, she put her things away before walking up to the front desk. Theresa was there along with Jenna, a new girl. Theresa was on the phone, but she pinned Laila with an expectant look. Laila gave her the thumbs up, which made Theresa smile at her brightly.
"Tell me everything!" Theresa said, once she had hung up the phone.
"I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm pretty sure I got the part," Laila gushed.
"Get out! Oh my God congratulations, Laila! I knew you could do it."
"Thanks, Theresa."
"So what did they say? When do you start filming?"
"I didn't get the part yet...officially. They said they'd call me next week to let me know, but Theresa, you should have seen their faces. When I was done reading, it looked like they were just dying to sign me right then and there."
"Oh I'm so happy for you!" Theresa said. "Just don't forget about us 'little people' when you make it big."
"Yeah right, as if you would ever let me," Laila laughed.
"I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you, Laila," Jenna cut in. "My cousin's friend's father is a casting director and from what I hear, they say that to everyone. He says that if they were really interested in someone, they'd have already scheduled them for another read through before they left the building."
Jenna's words felt like a bucket of cold water being dumped on her. Both she and Theresa turned to look at Jenna, who stood there staring at them nonchalantly, as if what she just said wasn't a slap in the face. Theresa narrowed her eyes and glared at Jenna, and it looked like she was trying to burn a hole through the girls head.
"Thanks so much for your input," Theresa said icily. "You are such a doll."
"I'm just saying, you might as well be prepared for disappointment. That way if they really do call you back, it'll be a bonus," Jenna said defensively. She sniffed and turned her head away petulantly. Theresa looked over at Laila, then to Jenna's back and rolled her eyes as if to say, "what a dumb ass."
"She might be right though. I need to be a little more humble. There's no need for me to be bragging to everyone yet when nothing is even confirmed. It'll just make it that much more embarrassing if I end up not getting the part."
"It's your call, but just remember, Jenna's an idiot. She's lucky her uncle knows the manager here or she'd be lucky to get a job sweeping the floors at the Motel 6."
"Shh, she might hear you," Laila whispered.
"Good. Serves her right after what she just said," Theresa huffed. "Oh by the way, you had a handsome stranger looking for you the other day."
Laila snapped her head up to look at Theresa. "What? Who was it?" she asked, even though she had a feeling she knew exactly who it was.
"I didn't catch his name, but he was tall, gorgeous, and had a divine accent with a yummy deep voice and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen and dimples that would melt your heart..."
Laila rolled her eyes at Theresa's dramatics. "Oh please, and people say I'm the actress here," Laila said. "What did he want?"
"He said he was looking for you. Mentioned something about you recommending a tailor."
Laila's face must have registered her confusion because Theresa said, "I know, I didn't buy it either. It was a pretty lame excuse. I think he felt that he might've gotten you in trouble, so he tried to make up a story to take the suspicion off you. You're just lucky it was me and not that bitch Carissa here. She would've ran straight to management."
"There wouldn't be any reason for her to do anything. There's nothing going on with me and Andreas," Laila said defensively.
"Oh Andreas is it?" Theresa said, perking up. "I didn't know that was his name."
"Yeah well, I checked him in the other day. Anyway, I don't know why he'd be looking for me," Laila lied.
"Hey, you don't need to make excuse to me. I say get it where you can, and he is definitely not hard to look at. Just tell him to be a little more careful what he goes around saying and to who," Theresa whispered, casting a furtive glance over at Jenna who was busy filing her nails. "There's some people here you just can't trust."
Laila nodded, not wanting to get into it with Theresa. In truth, she didn't even know what was going on with her and Andreas, so there'd be no point in her trying to deny or admit to anything. There was one thing that was true though, and that was she had to be more careful around him. She couldn't act too friendly and have some co-workers go telling tales to the bosses behind her back. She needed this job too much, especially now since she wasn't so sure she had actually landed the part she'd just auditioned for.
Theresa left soon afterwards, leaving Laila alone with Jenna. She looked at her watch, then looked back at Jenna and released a heavy sigh. It was going to be a long night. The only bright spot was the possibility of seeing Andreas again, but she would have to be on her guard, especially with Jenna standing so close by.
***
Andreas walked into the hotel lobby with a spring in his step. His first few days at work had gone surprisingly well. After that last board meeting, he didn't know what to expect when he walked into his office. Would word have gotten around to the rest of the staff about what went down? Would they respect him? It turned out he had nothing to be worried about. His uncle, bless him, had already smoothed things over so that none of the staff got even a hint of any disagreements or power play among the board and Andreas.
Everything had gone smoothly from there. His uncle had taken the time to show him the ropes and answer any questions he had. Andreas was feeling more confident and optimistic about the future. Maybe I will actually make my family proud, he thought.
The other reason for his good mood stood just 50 feet away from him. He'd been looking forward to seeing Laila again since he dropped her off at her apartment. When he looked at the front desk and saw her behind the counte
r helping another guest, a wide grin broke out across his face. He just stood where he was and watched her for a moment, drinking in the sight of her.
When she finally caught sight of him, she froze for a moment before smiling back at him. Just as quickly as it had come, the smile disappeared from her face. Andreas wondered about it and worried that it might have something to do with him. He walked over to the front desk and arrived just as the other guest was leaving.
"Hello again," he said.
"Good evening, sir. How may I help you today?" Laila answered.
Andreas furrowed his brows in confusion. He didn't understand why Laila was being so formal with him, but a quick glance to his right gave him his answer. Standing there was another clerk, a young woman with bleached blond hair, who looked at him with keen interest. He'd seen that look far too many times in his life. It was the look of gold diggers and fame whores. One that said, "Who is this man and what can I get out of him?"
In fact, the woman was looking at both him and Laila with a speculative gleam in her eyes. Andreas did not like that at all. He'd already felt bad about almost getting Laila in trouble with her bosses, and he didn't want to give anyone else any suspicions. Andreas gave Laila a knowing nod before standing up straight and giving them both his most imposing and haughty stare.
"Yes, I want to change rooms," Andreas said.
"Is there a problem with your current room?" Laila asked.
"There is. I have been harassed with calls non-stop. It has been disturbing my sleep."
"I'm sorry to hear that, sir. I'll have to see what other rooms we have available," Laila said, trying to fight the smile that was tugging on her lips.
Laila typed something into her computer and focused on the screen. Andreas turned to see the other clerk was still looking at him, but there was less suspicion on her face. He gave her a quick nod and perfunctory smile, glad that she had bought their little charade. Her whole face brightened up at his notice and Andreas inwardly groaned.
