Page 38 of Hollywood King
Fifteen
Heath
I haveto get my boner under control before I start the next round of auditions. A hard-on during a script reading might send the wrong message. A text hit my phone, and the smile I wore when I picked it up faded quickly. Along with the pants problem. Hindley wanting something or other. I didn’t read his message and flipped the phone to face my desk and pushed it away. Cathy fell asleep. I probably wouldn’t hear from her until later. And a movie needed a star in the meantime.
I grabbed my file for today’s auditions and headed down to the room Nelly secured for the parade. Nothing had been moved since I last visited this room, so I took my spot, unbuttoned my suit jacket, and reviewed the intake form for the first actress.
Wait, something about this one…I re-read the form. Isobel Linton. Edgar’s slightly younger sister. I’d forgotten she started acting some time ago. Well, she’d get the same chance as anyone else. Someone knocked on the door a couple times, and then a pale blonde woman with a tall slim frame entered and closed it behind her. She offered me a wide smile and her hand to shake. I took it, and she gave it a good firm grip, which brought her up a measure in my esteem.
“Isobel. It’s nice to see you again. What’s it been? Like fifteen years? You were what, ten?”
She giggled, one of those cute sounds, not the annoying twitter I usually received. “Please begin when you are ready.”
She had barely spoken a word of the script when I stood and gathered my papers.
Her face fell. “I’m so sorry. I can do it again if you like. Or pick a different part to read.”
“No need, you’ve got the part.”
Now suspicion surfed across her delicate brows. “Just like that?”
“Yes. I didn’t need much to see you were perfect for the part. If you’ll follow me back to my office, I can give you more information and start scheduling test shoots with the other actors.”
Suspicious gave way to glee, and another wide smile lit up her face. Isobel was usually the kind of woman I’d have on my arm when I hit the clubs for the usual rounds. But now I couldn’t imagine taking anyone with me but my Cathy.
I led her back to my office. “Is your schedule open, or are you working on any other projects right now?”
She shook her head fiercely. “No, wide open. I can be here whenever you want.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” We entered to find Nelly dusting, as usual, even though she did so only two days ago. “Nelly, I found our actress.”
She glanced over her shoulder. Threw me a look I didn’t want to try and decipher, and went back to her cleaning. I gestured for Isobel to sit in a chair in front of my desk, and I circled to the other side to find the stack of scripts I kept locked up for this project. It had the potential to make me a lot of money.
I passed her the stapled book for her part and tucked the other copies back inside my safe. She started flipping through it, one of her long denim clad legs slung over the other. “I’m excited about this part. I love that the heroine isn’t the typical stereotype of female roles in Hollywood.”
“It’s one of the things that drew me to her character too. The writer is brilliant. Wait until you read the entire project. You’re going to fall in love with all the characters.”
She slapped the pages together and leaned forward. “Are you going to be the director for the film?”
It’s a question I hadn’t decided yet. Certainly, I’d produce the piece, and since I wasn’t starring in it, I wanted to be a part of the artistic side of things. “Well, I haven’t decided yet. But, for now, I’m going to get a press release going, announce your involvement in the film, and I’ll get together with your manager to go over the final contracts and details”
She nodded, stood, shook, my hand, and exited all in a few short seconds. I could appreciate a woman who got down to business. It made life for me easier, at least.
Nelly clucked from the corner of a bookshelf.
“You obviously have something on your mind, so say it.” I prompted. As if she needed it. Another few minutes, and she might pop her top.
“I think hiring Isobel is a bad idea. You two will get photographed together, and the press knows she’s your type.”
My type,I mouthed. “My type, as far as I know, is female. As for the rest…” I shrugged and gave her one of my patented sexy grins.
She threw the duster at me. It hit my shoulder in a cloud leaving a smudge of gray on my jacket. I brushed it off and sat back behind my desk ready to get going on Isobel’s paperwork. I thought Nelly was wrong. It might be good to have someone I know working on the film with me. Less drama in the press if I made it clear Isobel was an old family friend and that’s it.
The paperwork took some time, and I cleared out my email. By the time I glanced up, the sun barely slanted through the curtains and Nelly had left hours ago. I closed out my computer and grabbed my still overturned phone on my desk.
More texts from Hindley. I cancelled them out of my notifications. Nothing from Cathy yet. Would checking on her be too creepy? Showing up at her house uninvited might fall into the stalking column rather than the concern column.
Instead, I’d drive by her house on the way, check for lights, and then call her when I get home. The car sat idling outside the building when I climbed in.
