“She should,” Jen replied, walking over to grab Danny from Josh’s arms. “Kiki just told her Mr. Barker wants to donate to the theater.”
“Wow!” Ginny said, coming over to sit down. “That’s amazing! Marilyn is gonna totally be thrilled with you!”
“Hmm, I hadn’t thought about that,” I said. “But she probably will.” It was a comforting thought; my boss was a really cool lady, totally dedicated to the theater and our kids. I wished she would see through more of Grayson’s kissing up, but I really liked the idea of impressing her myself. Maybe this would give me a shot at getting more of the creative assignments.
There was a loud knock on the door. “Come in!” I hollered. The door opened to reveal Matt and his brother—Kiki’s husband, Eric. I rolled my eyes. “Matt, you spend the night here four nights out of week. You don’t have to knock on the door.”
“I’m trying to be respectful,” he said. “For all I know the two of you regularly hang out in your nighties having pillow fights when I’m not around.”
Jen snorted. “Like that ever happens.”
“Jennifer,” he replied, putting his hand over his heart. “Please do not kill my dream.”
“Pig,” she muttered, but walked over to kiss him hello all the same.
“Okay, Kiki,” Matt said, his arm around Jen. “You told me this was an emergency. What’s going on?”
“Well, I have really, really awesome news!” she said. “Daddy is working on this deal with a developer to add a hotel to the new casino.”
I wrinkled my nose a little bit. I was not really a fan of the Detroit casinos. They depressed the hell out of me, to be honest. Any time I had been inside of one I was overwhelmed by the number of poor people sitting there throwing their money away in the hopes of changing their situation. Detroit had enough problems without adding institutionalized gambling.
“So anyhow, the guy wants Daddy to do a little market research, find out the kind of thing people our age would be looking for in a high class casino hotel. So Daddy asked me if I wanted to get a group of my friends together and go do some research.”
“What do you mean, research?” I asked.
“I mean, the seven of us are going to stay in a swanky hotel!” Kiki said, literally bouncing on the seat now in her excitement.
“Where’s there a hotel like that around here?” Matt asked. “That your dad doesn’t already own, that is?”
“There isn’t,” Kiki said, her voice rising in volume with each word. “That’s why he wants us to go…” She paused for dramatic effect. We all stared at her. “To Vegas!” she cried.
There was silence in the room for a minute, then Jen let out a little yelp. “We’re going to Vegas?”
“Yes!” Kiki cried, jumping up from the couch. “The developer got us three rooms at an awesome hotel right on the strip. He wants us to go for a long weekend and come back to tell him all about it. Isn’t that amazing?”
I stared at her blankly. It did sound amazing. It also sounded expensive.
“Kiki,” I said, feeling uncomfortable. “This is really awesome and everything; a free room sounds great…but I don’t think I could afford the airfare or gambling money.”
“Don’t be silly!” Kiki cried. “Daddy has a jet, you know that. And this is totally for business so I’m allowed to use it. And the hotel will give us comps for the casino. The whole point is for us to have a great time so we can report back to Daddy and his partners what we liked.”
“Holy shit,” Ginny said. “Are you seriously offering us a totally free trip to Vegas?”
“Yes!” Kiki said, sounding relieved that we were finally catching on. “Well, I’m not. Daddy and his partner are.”
I just stared at her for a minute. Vegas. I had never been farther west than Chicago. And then it had only been to visit Jen at college, staying in her cramped little dorm. Nothing at all like what Kiki was offering.
“I can’t believe you guys aren’t more excited,” Kiki said, starting to pout. “Are you worried about the money? That’s it, isn’t it?” As a wealthy heiress, Kiki had a very hard time understanding why the issue of money so often made the rest of us uncomfortable.
But this…like she said, it wasn’t like she or her dad were just giving us a trip to be nice. Business people must do stuff like this all the time, right? I mean, not that I knew too many business people. But weren’t they always spending money on this kind of thing?
Jen had gone on Mr. Barker’s jet a few times, for work. She said it was the most amazing thing, total luxury and swank. And then we would get to spend the weekend in a suite in Vegas. I could only imagine what kind of place we would be going to. I hadn’t been on a trip in so long, and I’d never been anywhere so cool.
I felt a sudden flash of excitement, and before I knew it, I was jumping off the couch to hug Kiki. “This is amazing!” I cried. I saw Jen look at me in surprise. Hugging Kiki and jumping around in excitement weren’t really my style. But I didn’t care. We were going to Vegas!
“Seriously!” Ginny cried, jumping up too. Danny, seeing her reaction, started clapping. Ginny also wrapped her arms around Kiki, who seemed overjoyed at our response.
“Oh my God, we’re going to Vegas, baby!” I shouted.
I looked over and saw that even calm, collected Matt was looking excited. He gave his brother Eric a high five and hugged Jen.
“Josh, why the hell aren’t you excited?” Ginny asked accusingly. I looked over and saw that Josh was sitting on the couch, a rather disappointed look on his face.
“I won’t be able to go,” he said softly. “Sorry, Kiki,” he added, looking up at her. “But there’s just no way I’ll be able to get a Saturday off.”
Ginny groaned. Josh had recently started a new job at a local magazine. It was the kind of work he’d wanted to do his entire life, literally his dream job. But he had just started a few months ago and was working his way up from the bottom. His current assignment was to cover weekend events all over the metro area. Saturdays were always his busy day.
“I just haven’t been there long enough to get the time off,” he said. “I’m really sorry.”
Ginny looked like she was going to cry. “That’s okay,” she said. “I’m sure there will be other trips. You guys will just have to tell me all about it.”
“Are you crazy?” Josh asked, staring at her. “Why on earth shouldn’t you go with them?”
“I can’t just leave you here to work while I go on vacation!” she said.
“Oh, yes you can, and you will. No way are you missing out on something this cool just because of me.”
“Josh...” she started.
“Seriously, Gin,” he said firmly. “You’re going. I’ll stay home with my little Danny bud here and we’ll have a man’s weekend. We’ll smoke cigars and watch racy movies and walk around in our underwear. It will be a blast.”
I felt a rush of affection for Ginny’s husband. They may have gotten off to a rocky start, but I loved him for wanting this for her, for trying to convince her it was nothing rather than act like some kind of martyr.
I looked at Ginny and realized it wouldn’t take too much to convince her. She clearly wanted to go, bad.
“Gin,” I told her. “I’m gonna need a roommate. Please come with us and bunk with me so I don’t end up having to sleep in a rollaway bed in Jen and Matt’s room. Please.”
She laughed, then turned to her husband. “Josh, are you sure you don’t care?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “And who knows, maybe you’ll strike it big at blackjack and we’ll be rolling in the dough by the time you come home.”
“So when is this?” Matt asked.
“That’s the best part. It’s next weekend! We’re leaving Thursday—we don’t even have to wait that long.” She took a deep breath. “And I think I would seriously die if we had to wait. Not being able to tell Jen all day has been killing me.”
I was so excited, I managed to not even roll my eyes at that.
&n
bsp; My phone rang, distracting me from the excited plans everyone had started to make. I looked at the screen and didn’t recognize the number. “Probably a bill collector,” I muttered, but was still too excited to care. I headed to the hallway for a little more quiet before answering.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Miss Duncan?” said an unfamiliar male voice. Definitely a bill collector.
“Yes?”
“This is Jackson Coles, from the JCollins Theater team.” I managed to stifle my gasp. This was the man I had read for the night before.
“We were very impressed with your audition last night,” Jackson continued, and I felt my heart start to beat rapidly in my chest.
“We would be pleased to offer you a place at our callbacks this week.”
“Wow,” I stammered, feeling totally shocked. I couldn’t believe they were getting back to me already. And I really couldn’t believe they wanted to see me again. “That sounds great. I would be very interested in attending.”
“Great,” Jackson said. “Let me give you the details.” He read out a date and location and instructed me on where to find the audition materials online. “We’d like you to read for the part of Jillian,” he said, and I felt like passing out. That was the largest female role.
“That sounds great,” I said, barely recognizing my own voice. I felt my hands shaking and I prayed I wouldn’t say anything stupid to give myself away.
“So we’ll see you on Wednesday evening,” he confirmed.
“Absolutely,” I said. “Thank you so much.”
I hung up the phone and stared at the wall blankly. I could hardly believe that only a few hours ago I was cursing Grayson and my mother and feeling so frustrated with everything. Within the space of an afternoon I had found out about a possible sponsor to the theater, the trip to Vegas, and now this.
I walked slowly back to the living room and watched my friends for a moment. Jen was sitting close to Matt, holding his hand while they excitedly talked about the trip. Ginny was bouncing Danny on her lap while Josh sat at her feet. They all looked happy, excited.
I’ve been jealous, I realized suddenly. I never would have thought it of myself. I loved my friends more than anything else in the world. I wanted their happiness as much as my own. But deep down inside I’d been jealous that they were settled, that they were successful, that they knew what they wanted and were on their way to getting it.
Now, for the first time, I realized I just might be, too.
Chapter Five
‘Do you feel nervous when conversing with the opposite sex? It’s a very normal response for many young ladies, and nothing to worry about. If you take the process of finding a mate seriously, then it’s natural you’d have some nerves when you meet the potential Mr. Right. Instead of dwelling on this, do your best to act confident. There are few things more appealing to a man than a woman who is sure of herself.’—The Single Girl’s Guide to Finding True Love
I felt a healthy dose of fear as the callback approached. I tried to tell myself that it was pointless to get worked up about it. Whatever happened would happen and the best thing I could do to help myself was stay loose and try not to feel anxious. Stress would only make my performance worse so it was essential I stay calm.
I told myself that, but it was really hard to actually do.
“This could be it,” I told Jen the night before the callback. She had been running lines with me for the past two hours and I now felt that I was as ready as I was going to get. “I mean, this could be my big break.”
“You can’t think about it that way,” Jen told me firmly. “Seriously, Ann. If you let yourself even think about ‘big breaks’ and all of that, you’re going to freak out. Just treat it like any other audition. I mean, how many of these have you done?”
“Dozens,” I told her, thinking back to all the seemingly endless (and mostly fruitless) auditions I had been on since I first picked up the acting bug in high school.
“You have to convince yourself it’s just like all the rest,” she told me. “You’re prepared, you know your stuff. If you can go in there with a confident attitude and just relax, I think you’ll do really, really well.”
She was right. She usually was. But it was much harder to actually act on.
I pulled up in front of a small theater on the outskirts of the city. I had seen a few live bands here over the years, and somehow I felt comforted by the familiar setting.
This is your turf, I reminded myself. You’ve been working in this city for years now. There’s nothing to worry about.
I entered the building, trying to tamp down the nerves. A sign in the lobby directed me through to the stage area. I could make out a clump of people down by the stage and I headed in their direction.
A skinny man met me in the aisle. I recognized him as Jackson Coles, the man I had read for in my initial audition. He looked busy and impatient and I was very relieved that I was early. “Name?” he asked briskly.
“Annie Duncan,” I said, burying my hands in my pockets to stop them from shaking.
“Good. You’ll go in the first group here.” He gestured behind him to the small group of people waiting by the stage. “We’re just waiting for one more.”
The man handed me a stack of stapled papers before turning away to talk quietly with the woman sitting next to him.
Well, at least they’re welcoming, I thought to myself sarcastically. I took the papers and headed toward my group.
“Hi,” said a girl who looked to be a few years younger than me. She was gorgeous, totally perfect. She had porcelain white skin and long, silky blond hair. I felt intimated by her immediately, though she was smiling kindly at me.
“Are you as nervous as me?” she asked.
I smiled back. “Yeah, pretty nervous.”
“This is my first audition,” she continued, leaning toward me conspiratorially. Great. She had managed to pull a major callback on her first try. Brat.
“Do you think he’ll be here?” she asked.
“Who?”
“Jenner Collins!” she replied, looking surprised that I hadn’t known immediately. “I mean, it is his show, you know? I heard a rumor he plans to actually direct the show. Don’t you think he would want to be involved in the casting?”
“I bet he’s pretty busy,” I said, shrugging. I didn’t need to be worrying about Collins in addition to all the nerves I was already battling.
“Oh, wouldn’t you just die if he was here?” the girl continued, closing her eyes while a dreamy smile lit up her face. I rolled my eyes. “He’s just so gorgeous and successful. I would love to meet him.”
I found myself feeling a little better as Jackson called for us to head to the stage. I may not be as heartbreakingly beautiful, or as young, or as lucky, as the blond girl—but at least I had a bit better sense than to get all star-struck like that.
“Okay, listen up,” Jackson called out. “We’re going to start with some cold readings. We’d like everyone to stand out to the side until we call your name. We might have you read in some odd pairings and we might want to see you in different roles than you prepared for. We ask you please to just go for it and do your best. We’re looking to see how flexible you can be, how quick you are on your toes. We’ll be asking for some more in-depth character readings a little later.”
I was relieved not to be one of the first ones called. The lights on the stage were very bright and the theater seemed to stretch out endlessly behind the seats where Jackson and his partner had set up. I was feeling those nerves return and I was grateful for the moment’s reprieve to gather my thoughts—and check out the competition a little, of course.
The first three actors they called forward were clearly good. The two men carried themselves with that confident air that only comes with true comfortableness. The girl that had read first seemed thrown by the activity. She had been asked to read for an older woman, though she appeared to be no more than twenty-five. I suspected that she had stu
died her lines ad nauseam last night and she didn’t seem to be adapting well to having to read something unfamiliar.
When it was my turn, I was asked to read one of the male parts. Determined not to let it throw me, I made sure to read clearly and loudly. At one point during the reading, I thought I saw another figure join the two in the back, but I was concentrating so much on the unfamiliar lines that I didn’t let it phase me.
The readings went on like that for some time. I was asked to read several more times and I soon noticed that I had read with every combination of males on the stage. In fact, it started to feel like I was being called forward more often than any of the other girls. I wondered if that was a good sign.
“Okay, thank you!” Jackson called out finally. “That gave us a chance to see you all paired up together. Now we want to see you do a bit of improv.”
Yes, I thought to myself. I loved improv. And I was pretty darn good at it, if I do say so myself. There was a group of people that I knew from college who would occasionally hang out at a local comedy club on open mic nights to do improv sets—kind of like karaoke for actors. I enjoyed meeting up with them and having a go at it. Something about the way you had to just jump in—there was no room for anything cerebral, no room for any self doubt. You either did it, or you didn’t. It was a very freeing feeling.
Jackson directed us all to sit in the front row while he called groups up one at a time to participate. I was a little bummed when I wasn’t called first. That’s when it hit me—I was barely nervous anymore! I had, once again, lost myself in the act of performing. It was a good feeling. It made me think that maybe I belonged here.
“I can’t believe he’s here!” the blond girl whispered to me as the first group took the stage. “I mean, I knew he might show up, but to actually see him back there, not even fifteen feet away!”
“What are you talking about?” I whispered back, wishing she would shut up so I could concentrate on the scene on stage.
“Jenner Collins!” the blond girl hissed quietly in my ear. “He walked in while we were reading. Did you see him?”
Three Girls and a Leading Man Page 3