When I Dream of You: A Valentine's Day Romance

by Marcella Swann

  She had thrown herself back into work because she knew she had a tight deadline, but she couldn’t get Devon out of her mind. The longer she stayed in New York, the more she yearned for him. She longed to be with him again but she was losing hope.

  On Friday, she went straight to her office. She had the files put together of those that were going to have a call back and she needed to let Francisco know the ones she had chosen. She carried them to his office and knocked on his door.

  “Come in,” he bellowed.

  She opened the door. He looked up and almost grimaced at the sight of her. “Hello,” she said.

  “Yeah ... this better be important,” he said. She walked into his office and put the papers down in front of him. “I have the resumes of the people that I’m going to be calling back in for a second audition. I thought you might want to look over them.”

  He picked up the pile and started to fumble through it. “What’s this?” He tossed the papers down on his desk and looked up.

  “Um ... I’m not quite following,” she said. “It’s the headshots and resumes of the men and women that are getting a call back. I thought you’d want to see them.”

  “This is nothing but a dog’s breakfast,” he said. “I expect more organization.”

  “I’m sorry. This is how I work. I can put it together in a more organized state, but I just wanted to show you the ones that are getting the call back.”

  He looked up at her. “Just call them in for tomorrow. You handle fixing those up. I will meet with each of them to make sure I agree with the cuts.”

  “Tomorrow is Saturday.” He looked up and shrugged.

  “Your point?”

  She frowned. She didn’t realize this was going to be a Monday through Saturday job. “I just assumed we’d be off,” she said.

  He sat up straighter at his desk. “You will work Saturday if you have to. We have a job to be done and we’re not going to rest until it is. I hope I’m clear on that.”

  “Uh...yes. Thank you.” She picked up the papers and left his office. She was infuriated to think that he would criticize her work. She bypassed her office to get to Sylvia’s desk. “Will you please call in everyone in this pile? Francisco would like to meet with them tomorrow.”

  Her eyes widened. “The director wants to meet with the first round of call backs?” she asked.

  “That’s unusual?” she asked. She didn’t know how Francisco worked things and she figured that this was just his typical role he liked to play.

  She nodded. “Normally he doesn’t meet with everyone until the final cuts have been made.”

  “Oh.” Aria frowned. “Then perhaps he just wants to check up on my work,” she said. “Either way, please call them in for tomorrow. It’s going to be a busy day.”

  “I will.” She picked up her phone and already started to dial the first one on the list as Aria went back to her office. She sat down at her computer and tried not to get emotional over her brief encounter with Francisco. Him seeing her weak wouldn’t help anyone. She turned on her computer and tried to get on with her day, but the fact that she felt her life was falling apart was slowly working back into her mind. One week down and eleven more to go. It couldn’t come soon enough.

  Chapter 21

  Devon entered The Lion’s Den and looked around the dimly lit club. Many familiar faces were in the crowd. He hadn’t been there in several weeks, but he recognized many people. As he walked through the club, several people waved and patted him on the back, just to see how he was doing.

  He nodded and smiled but it was Aria who was on his mind. He hadn’t called her back and he was doing it for her own good, but he was missing her badly. It made him feel weak, which was why he had decided to go back to The Lion’s Den. This was his turf.

  He went to the bar. “Mr. Prescott ... long time no see. How’s it going?”

  “It’s going well, Matthew. I’ll take a Martini please. Just how I like it.”

  The man nodded and went to work to get the drink made. Devon turned around and saw a blonde he had flirted with months ago standing on the other side of the dance floor. She was leaning against the table and staring back at him, an alluring, inviting look on her face. He gulped and tried to turn away from her.

  She was dressed in a sexy outfit that would have typically left him quivering with need. Now, he didn’t know how he felt about it. Her curves were all in the right places and his body reacted the same way.

  “Here’s your drink,” Matthew said.

  Devon reached in his pocket and pulled out some money. He handed it to him.

  The bartender went off to attend other customers and Devon tried to focus on his drink, but when he looked over to the blonde, she was still staring at him.

  “Oh, man,” he mumbled. He positioned himself against the bar, hoping that he would stop having images of her flick through his mind, but she started walking his way, until she was standing next to him.

  “Devon Prescott,” she said. He turned.

  “Hi,” he said, unable to remember her name.

  She sighed as she quickly caught on. “It’s Erin,” she said.

  “It’s the booze,” he said, nodding toward his drink and half apologizing. “Erin. How are you?” He took a sip from his drink and tried to focus his attention on her eyes, but his mind wouldn’t let him. One look is not going to kill you. She looks delicious in that dress. Take it all in. He grazed his eyes over her curves and he sighed. His body, his muscle memory was urging him to revert to his past ways.

  He looked up when she started to speak. “I’m doing great. Amazing, in fact. Just out celebrating a new promotion.”

  “That’s great. Congratulations. Matthew, get this beautiful woman whatever her heart desires. My treat.”

  Erin laughed. “Whatever my heart desires.” She snickered and turned to Matthew. “A scotch on the rocks, please.” She then turned to Devon. “And you.”

  He nearly choked down his drink. “Um ... excuse me?”

  She giggled. “I want you. My heart desires you. After this drink, let’s do something about that.” The look on her face turned dead serious and his body grew tense.

  He didn’t respond, just slowly drank his drink. She received hers and she drank it but not so slowly. She put the glass down on the bar. He put his drink down next to hers and turned to her.

  By the way she was looking at him, it would have been so easy to have sex with her in the back. Just like that. Just like the old days. A part of him considered it—wanted it—but thoughts of Aria filled his head.

  “Let’s dance,” he said abruptly.

  She laughed and shrugged. “Whatever you say.” He pulled her out to the dance floor. As he danced, he hardly paid any attention to Erin. He was struggling to understand what was happening to him, why he wasn’t taking what he wanted the way he always had. All he knew was that Aria was still heavy on his mind. It wasn’t over yet. He still had plenty of time to make things right with her.

  ARIA KEPT STARING AT the phone on Friday night. She wanted Devon to call her more than anything. When the phone rang, she was giddy to answer it. “Hello, Devon?” she answered, not even looking at the caller ID.

  “Uh no ... not Devon. It’s Tyler, but I’m going to send you a picture. Don’t freak out. I just feel you need to know the truth. Are you going to look at it without freaking out?”

  She rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed. “Yes. I will look at it without freaking out.”

  “OK. Here it comes. Let me know when you’ve got it.” She waited for the text to come through. When she heard the notification sound, she told him she got it.

  “Give me a second to look at it.” She looked down at the phone and pulled up his message. When the picture came through, her eyes began to glazed over. It was a picture of Devon and a woman dancing and rather closely at that. She held the phone back up to her ear. “Where’d you get that?” she asked.

  “I’m at The Lion’s Den. Chris and I came h
ere for our anniversary and when I saw him, I started freaking out. I just knew that you needed to know what was going on.”

  “Where’s Chris now?” Aria asked.

  “He’s in the restroom. He doesn’t know I saw him. I’m sorry Aria.”

  She shrugged but the room started spinning. She wanted to believe that they had had something special but now it was confirmed that he was out dancing with some woman, while she was sitting in the hotel room wishing he would just call her.

  “Thank you for telling me, Ty. At least now I know.”

  “I wish it didn’t have to be me that told you though,” he said. “Do you want me to go up and punch him?”

  She laughed. She had to admit the thought made her feel a little better, but she didn’t want Tyler thrown into jail. “You better not. Don’t make a scene but thank you for letting me know. I’ll talk to you later ... and ... happy anniversary.” She hung up the phone. That was fucked up, she thought to herself. I even ruined my best friend’s anniversary. As much as it hurt, she knew what she had to do. She had to get him out of her mind.

  That was easier said than done because two hours later, he called her. He got home from the club and he knew that he needed to talk to her. He didn’t want to go another night without hearing her voice and seeing if they could get through to one another.

  However, Aria didn’t answer the phone. He was left with a voicemail. He wasn’t going to leave a message, but then decided that he might as well. “Hey, Aria, it’s me. Just thought I would give you a call. Sorry I missed your call the other day. It’s been really busy. Hope to hear from you soon.”

  When Aria saw the message come through, she listened to it. There was no sign of remorse. It was more like he felt an obligation to call her. She wondered if he saw Tyler and that’s what made him make the phone call. She threw down her phone, determined not to look like some wallflower staying back home, just waiting for his call.

  She turned the light off and tried to go to sleep. She needed to focus on her work. She couldn’t have another day like she’d had over the past week.

  THE NEXT MORNING, SHE awoke not feeling much better than the night before, yet she decided to push through. She got up and made it to work before anyone else. She pulled out the piles of headshots and resumes for all the men and women she had to see that day. She skimmed through them, trying to make sure they were as neat and properly organized as they could be.

  When she heard movement in the hallway, she knew that they were there to get the day started. She took a drink of her coffee and tried to relax. This was the type of work she was good at, so there should be no reason to worry. She heard a knock on her door and she nearly jumped out of her chair.

  “Who is it?”

  “Sylvia. You’re wanted in the callback room, Studio B.”

  “Oh ... OK, Sylvia. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  She looked at her watch. In only ten minutes, they would be flooded with hopefuls, ready to take their shot. She took a breath and headed over to the room. When she arrived, she knocked on the door. “Yes?” Francisco called out. “Come in.”

  She opened the door and stepped in. He was sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in his hand and tapping his foot. “I apologize if I’m late,” she said.

  He looked in her direction. “You’re apologizing? Don’t. That’s a sign of weakness.”

  She snapped her mouth shut. She almost said sorry to that but she instead walked over to the table and sat her things down. “I’ve told the team to have everybody sent to Studio A,” Francisco said, “so I can talk to them ahead of time. Then I’ll have them each go into Studio B one at a time for the formal interview and audition.”

  She nodded. It seemed pretty strange to her how they handled things here, but she wasn’t going to try to change their ways. “Sounds good,” she said.

  He looked in her direction. “I also don’t like people who tell me what I want to hear.” She met his stare and tried to avoid frowning. She wasn’t sure what he wanted then. She looked down at the folders in front of her, trying not to tell him what she really thought—that he was fickle and impossible to please.

  There was a knock on the door and one by one Sylvia started ushering in the people that were called in. She felt like they were cattle, waiting to pass an auction inspection. They took their seats and each looked around nervously. She felt strange to be part of it. Sylvia closed the door and Francisco rose.

  “My name is Francisco Jackson and I’m the writer/producer of the show that you will be auditioning for. I want to make it perfectly clear that you have not gotten the job. This is merely a formality and chances are only a third of you, if even that many, will make it through to the next round. Don’t get cocky because there’s a long road ahead. Look around you.”

  He paused for dramatic effects. “These are the people you’re competing against. Have I made myself clear? You have not gotten the job.” Several people looked scared; many of them were just children. Aria frowned at his technique and wondered why he thought it would be beneficial to point that out to them. “OK ... now that we have that settled, you can stay here. One by one you will come into Studio B next door and meet with me. If I don’t like you, then you won’t get the job. If I think you’re fake, then you won’t get the job. So keep it real.” He looked down at the papers in his hand and left for Studio B.

  Aria looked to find the people in the room. Many of them had their heads down, not even looking up, like they’d lost their best friend. She didn’t think it was the way to do business but it was how he operated and she needed to respect that, no matter how much she didn’t agree with it.

  Francisco that re-entered the room and waved to Aria. “I need Ronald Gilbert’s file,” he said.

  She nodded and fumbled through them until she came to his file. She pulled it out and handed it to him. He opened it up and frowned. “Is there a problem?” she asked.

  “Doesn’t look any better than the last time. What is all this writing?” he asked, motioning to the remarks on the side of the pages.

  “That’s my way of knowing what I thought about a certain candidate.” She started to reach out and grab the file back, but he held it back from her. “I can let you know anything that you don’t understand. I have an excellent memory.”

  He smirked. “Right. Just try to become more organized. That’s how a person becomes successful.” She nodded. She felt smaller than she had before walking into the place.

  “Ronald Gilbert, come with me.”

  A young actor in the back stood and followed Francisco to the adjoining studio. Aria followed into the audition.

  Francisco motioned to the chair in front of the table. Before he even got situated in his seat, Francisco was speaking. “What makes you a good candidate for the part?”

  Aria wanted to point out that she had already asked everyone that would be walking into the room that very question. Of course, the responses were in notes that he didn’t understand but the fact remained that she could decipher that part for him.

  The guy thought about it but only briefly and then spoke up with his answer. “I have been working hard in this industry, looking for an opportunity just like this one. When it came up, I jumped at the chance. My agent and I have been prepping all week.” He looked at Robert and even Aria could tell that he wasn’t impressed.

  “All right then, you’re dismissed.” The young man turned pale.

  “That’s it?” he asked.

  Francisco stared at him. “Did I stutter?”

  The man quickly shook his head. “No, sir, but I just thought that you would have some other questions and I could read for you. Apparently, I’m mistaken. I look forward to hearing back from you.”

  When Aria saw that Francisco wasn’t going to say anything beyond that, Aria got to her feet. Thanks for coming in Robert. You’ll be hearing from us.” She shook his hand as he stood.

  “Thank you, Ms. Nolan,” he said, then turned to Francisco. “Thank you,
Mr. Jackson.”

  Francisco just murmured his reply.

  Aria sat back down. The silence in the room was uncomfortable. She looked down at her headshots and he wrote something down on Robert’s information sheet. “I think he would be great for the part of Erick,” she said.

  He turned to her. “Too new. We need a more seasoned actor.” He looked down at his sheet. He hadn’t even bothered to listen to Robert read for the part, so she wasn’t sure how he would know exactly what Robert could do with the role. “I need the resume for Caleb Welchel,” he said.

  “All right.” She went back to her resumes and quickly leafed through them. “That’s weird,” she mumbled.

  “Do we have a problem?”

  “Can’t seem to find it.” She quickly went through the stack against. By this time, it was clear that he was starting to lose his cool. Several times she heard heavy sighing, making her even more nervous.

  She went through the stack a fourth time, before she caught it in the middle. The staple had caught on another headshot and she breathed a sigh of relief.

  She pulled it out. “Here it is.” She handed it to him and he looked at her.

  “You know that if you were more organized, that wouldn’t have happened and we wouldn’t have wasted valuable time. Think on that.” She nodded, again feeling like she was no taller than a toothpick and that set the mood for the whole day. By the time she left, it was three hours later than she had anticipated. She went back to her hotel room and felt like she could crawl back into bed. She didn’t know why Francisco had to be so rude. What made things worse was that she couldn’t get Devon out of her mind.

  Aria closed her eyes and tried to put everything out of her mind and fall asleep. She didn’t know how long she had been sleeping when her phone woke her up. She saw Devon’s number flash across the screen and wanted so badly to speak with him—to love him.

  Chapter 22

  After a minute that felt like an hour, she answered the call.