INT. WAITINGROOM. DAY.

The room wasn’t very large; there was an espresso machine in one corner and ten chairs lining two walls. Several women were seated, some nervously looking at the script in their hands, a couple glancing out of the corner of their eyes at the others and one with a bored expression flicking through a magazine. All of them were young, none of them older than twenty three. A woman with a clipboard entered through one of the room’s two doors, scanned her list of names, and called out,

“Cynthia Tomes?”

The girl put the magazine in her purse, rose and followed the woman and the clipboard back out through the door.

The door opposite opened hurriedly and a girl rushed in. She was patently out of breath. Everyone looked up at her. Blushing, she closed the door behind her quietly and then slipped over to a chair in the corner.

She was pretty with a slight frame and small features, her hair was smooth and a rich red. She had non-descriptive blue eyes with dark eyebrows and lashes. She’d pulled her hair into a ponytail in a desperate attempt to save time before rushing out the door and pulled on a brown jean blazer to hide her wrinkled shirt.

The door opened again and the woman and clipboard reappeared. “Holly Woods?”

The newcomer leapt up. “Present!”

The woman looked over her clipboard at her. “This way.” She waved towards the doorway.

Running a hand along the top of her head, as if smoothing her hair, Holly hurried past the woman. She found herself in a large room. There was a long couch at one side and several armchairs next to it. A camera was placed along the other side. Sitting on the couch were two men and in one of the arm chairs a thin, woman, with grey-speckled hair and a clipboard of her own.

The younger of the two men smiled at Holly and indicated one of the chairs. She sat down.

“Miss Woods,” the man said with a smile, “I’m Abel George, the director. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Kate,” he gestured towards the woman, “Has told us so much about your previous audition. I can without hesitation say I know exactly who she’s rooting for.”

Holly shot a small smile in Kate’s direction.

“And this,” continued Abel, gesturing to the man beside him, “Is Victor McCall. He’s one of our producers.”

“It’s good to meet you,” murmured Holly.

McCall was older. He looked somewhere in his sixties. He wore a three-piece suit, had grey hair and a lined face. He smiled back.

“What Kate’s told us about you already has us very excited,” continued Abel. “I have a couple of quick questions before we go ahead if that’s alright.”

“What would you like to know?”

“Looking at your resume here you don’t have a whole lot of experience; a couple of commercials and I don’t see any acting training on here. Is that correct?”

Holly shifted nervously and nodded. “I’ve been taking classes since coming out to LA, so for about six months, but my interest in acting is fairly new.”

“Okay,” Abel nodded to himself. “Well the character we’re interested in you for is Katie Woodward. She’s very young, very naïve. The fact that you haven’t done a lot of acting might work in your favor here. Are you at all familiar with the book?”

Holly nodded. “I read it after the last audition.”

“Great, well here’s the script for the boat scene. I’ll go over it with you once. I’ll read Charley’s part, and then we’ll do the screen test.”

**********

INT. HALLWAY. DAY.

Holly hurried down the hall, a spring of excitement in her step. That had gone well. That had gone really well. That had gone fantastically. Can’t get your hopes up though, she reminded herself sternly, they were really positive but there are a whole bunch of other girls coming after you, any one of who might-

“Miss Woods!”

Holly turned around. Victor McCall was hurrying down the hall after her.

“Is something wrong?” she asked worried.

“No. Actually that was a very good audition. Both Abel and myself were extremely pleased.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“I wanted to talk to you. I was very impressed by your performance in there.” He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a business card. “I think you’ve got a lot of talent.”

“Really?” asked Holly, frowning.

“You don’t have to look so surprised,” he laughed, “You’re a very good actress.”

“Really?” She felt a leap of excitement somewhere in the vicinity of her chest.

“Yes,” He shook his head with a chuckle, “Here, my card. If it were just up to me, you’d be our Katie Woodward, without a doubt. And I’m going to push for you.”

“You are? Thank you,” said Holly, stunned.

“I can’t guarantee you the part. I can just guarantee what I’m going to say. I’ve given Abel most of the say on cast and can’t really force anything on him now and there are a couple of other people who’ll be giving their input. However if they do decide to go in a different direction, I’ve got quite a few irons in the fire at the moment and can already think of a number of parts you’d be perfect for. Would you be interested?”

“Are you serious? Of course I’d be interested!” Impulsively she hugged him and then instantly drew back, blushing. “I’m sorry. That’s just so fantastic to hear! You’re wonderful!”

He chuckled again and shook his head. “Nothing fantastic about it. It’s all you. So take my number, I already have yours on your resume, how about I call you later today and we can arrange dinner plans for tonight? I’d love to talk about your career with you.”

“You would?” Holly looked down at his business card. “I can’t believe it. This is just…wow. Completely unexpected.”

“I’ll call in a couple of hours when I’m done here. I should get back now. I’ll see you later tonight.” He turned and walked away. Left alone Holly studied the business card for another five minutes and then hastily finding a nearby restroom, took a moment to flip out in excitement.

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