N: this was a original story i had started and abandoned due to lack of inspiration. So i'm throwing it over here to fiddle with it as an ongoing ff. Don't expect rapid updates as i am still working on other books and trying to survive life in general. I will be slow to update as i'm still recovering on many levels from a horrible car accident, needless to say my mind and body will pull me away from writing as i get better. That and the books are taking top priority, this story will be the break i take to just not think about the complex plotlines of the two books. Anyways, its xmas time and i have books for sale on amazon! Get a few for yourself, friends, family, that one co-worker you somewhat like, but just go and look for Sydney Gibson on amazon and click add to cart! Anyways, read on and enjoy!
Chapter 1
The new house was still empty. Nothing had arrived yet aside from the few boxes in the master bedroom and random kitchen things dropped off by my mother yesterday before I landed late. Even empty, the house still felt cozy but spacious. The old maple floors and oak trim made the Tudor house feel like a warm hug, a warm much needed hug.
The rental house sat on the outskirts of Nottingham, England. A choice made by my mother and I when the studio greenlit this next project. Figuring it was cheaper to rent a house than find a small apartment near the sound stage. Granted I was still three to four months away from starting any principal photography, I still wanted the escape from the west coast and the overbearing media thrusting me back into the spotlight as rumors leaked about the next great movie I was to make after a year-long hiatus. All of it combining into a strange overwhelming pressure that drove me across the Atlantic and away from the white noise of living in Hollywood.
Now standing in the library, bare feet on the cool wooden floor, I peered out the window onto the large green back yard. It was early spring in England and everything was in varying shades of green. A vast improvement on the concrete jungle of Los Angeles I was used to where everything was neon and shades of grey.
Wearing the same baggy and holey jeans I wore on the plane, topped with a faded black t-shirt with my one of my favorite bands logo faded in the center, I looked nothing like the recycled photos still being used from last year's Academy Awards. All primped out in a designer dress, designer makeup and my long blonde hair in a snazzy up do. That woman still graced the covers of beauty magazines, or the trade papers when the rumors started but I remained in the shadows. Hiding from the camera, preferring to stand behind it and maintain some form of privacy.
Hearing the quick footsteps coming from the front entrance, I turned away from the large empty bookshelves I stood next to, the sunlight catching in bursts over my short, bleach blonde hair. My newest assistant appeared in the doorway, grinning at me. A tall, English girl with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, Elizabeth "Effy" Winchester, had been "assigned" to me by the studio. I didn't refute her coming on board as my production and personal assistant after seeing her extensive resume, but I was still feeling her out after a month of meeting one another.
"Excuse me, Ms. Lewis, the first of your appointments has arrived." Effy's grin dropped to a genuine smile, the girl was always smiling, and held out the thin folders I knew held head shots, resumes and carefully written bios. I nodded slowly, taking the folders from her, "Did you set them up in the den?"
"Yes ma'am. I have also asked them to bring the audition tapes from the L.A casting call."
I smiled lightly, Effy was most certainly efficient and always seemed to know what I wanted before I asked for it. "Thank you." I took in a slow breath, "Who do we have up first?"
Effy reached for the thin folder on top of the stack in my hand, flicking the cover open she pointed at the head shot of a young woman staring up at me in a professional yet causal pose. I glossed over the image and flipped it to read the quick details of the actress, Effy continued on as we walked down the hallway to the den, "Rose Edwards. Twenty three, blonde soap star on NYC 5th Avenue."
I turned the photograph over, glaring at the cookie cutter blonde hair and blue eyed girl grinning a full mouth of bright white veneers. I groaned when I recognized who she was and closed the file, cutting off Effy reciting the girl's multiple talents, "No." Handing the file back to her.
Effy took it slowly, "She came recommended by the studio. One daytime Emmy, some stage experience in college."
I shook my head, "No. It's not her."
Effy nodded, "I understand Ms. Lewis, but at least meet the girl. She has been quite eager since she arrived, and the studio did pay for her travel expenses."
I ran my hand over my short hair, still getting used to the lack of length, I mumbled, "Fine. But it's not her." I knew why Effy had brought up the travel expenses. The studio would not be happy if I shoved the girl they paid to see me out the door without so much as a hello. I had to still play the game sometimes even when I really didn't have to.
Effy, pushed the door to the den open, holding it for me to walk through. She fell in step behind me, "Good morning, Ms. Edwards." The blonde girl sitting and fidgeting in the large leather chair, sat up straight and I watched as her eyes widened when they settled on me. "I would like to introduce you to Ms. Lauren Lewis."
I walked over to the girl and put on my best manners, smiling like I had learned to on the red carpet and shake her hand. I moved to sit on a small couch across from the girl, curling my legs underneath my leg, I accepted her folder once again from Effy. Clearing my throat, I opened the front page and pretended that I was looking at it for the first time, "So, Rose, tell me what would you bring to the role of Annie?" I glanced up at the girl, watching the gears grind in her head as she tried to come up with the perfectly worded response to why she should get the lead role in my next movie.
I kept the smile on my face as I zoned out while Rose recycled the same speech I had heard a hundred times already. Fake, forced, and nowhere near the honesty I was looking for. There was a gaping lack of the raw talent I was looking for. Rose Edwards was definitely a no.
Two hours, and five women later I was bored out of my mind.
All of the women had acting skills ranging from Julliard trained actors to waitresses who had flirted with the right Executive Producer at lunch in a diner in Nowheresville, USA. None of them fit what I was looking for in the female lead of my movie. None of them embodied Boliese "Annie" Booth. Tough as nails Army nurse serving during the Blitzkrieg years of World War Two.
I did end up casting one of the women in the supporting role of Annie's best friend Bernadette, but the rest I dismissed politely after hearing their rants and raves over how amazing I would be to work with.
When the last girl finally left, I let out an exasperated sigh, turning to Effy, "The next round, can you have their bios forwarded to me by dinner? I need to get moving on casting the leads. Rehearsals are due to start sooner than I would like." I leaned forward on the couch, reaching for the bottle of cherry coke I had set on the table, dropping my legs out from underneath me to stretch them, "Also, kindly tell them all I don't need to have my own resume repeated back to me."
Effy chuckled as she scribbled in her notebook, "You didn't enjoy hearing, Oh Ms. Lewis, two-time Academy Award winning director, once for original screenplay and that everything and anything you touch turns to gold?"
I rolled my eyes, standing up to move out of the den, "I will be upstairs working on unpacking the rest of the boxes."
Effy smiled as she hustled out of the den, promising me she would be back by dinner time with the next round of actresses vying for me to pick them.
I strolled through the house, swinging my coke bottle from my fingertips. Reflecting on how much my life had shifted in the last three years. Yes, I was Lauren Lewis, the most popular and sought after film director in Hollywood right now, it wasn't my ego speaking for me, it was the hard facts the media had thrown across all the headlines year after year. I had been thrust to the top tier of names alongside Spielberg, Scorsese, Ridley Scott, Clint Eastwood, etc. All male directors who respected me as much as I respected them.
I had also become Hollywood's princess of the media outlets. Something that bothered me from day one and finally pushed me into hiding over the last year to re-group before starting my next film. I had lost myself in the bright lights and desperately needed to find Lauren again. The Lauren who was almost a police officer in her hometown of Boston. The Lauren who was a huge science fiction nerd who always wrote stories or screenplays as a hobby and got lucky when the studio executive at Spielberg's production company stumbled across my blog. Becoming intrigued by one of my female homicide detective stories and optioned for me to turn it into a screenplay.
I was hired and after winning my first academy award and learning the business, the director of that film took notice of my natural talent with a camera and had me work with him on his next film. I was credited as assistant director on that film and was soon given the go ahead to direct one of my own film screenplays on a tiny budget. I took it without hesitation and "Cold Water's Edge." won me my second Academy award for Direction. I was shocked at the idea my silly, sappy love story of two lovers separated by time would have struck such a chord with anyone at all. But it did and I was soon set into my place as Hollywood royalty. A strange place for a nerd like me to end up in after less than two years of getting my foot in the door.
My second film, "Heavenly Redemption." a science fiction, murder mystery, romance movie broke box office records and swept the Academy Awards, effectively sealing my fate and concreting my place with the greats. I had more money coming my way from the royalties from the film, expansive amount of fame and all the freedom I could ever dream of, and as much as I loved it, I hated it.
I was always followed, questioned, and photographed. My past all the way from high school to right before I signed my first contract was pasted all over the tabloids. Everyone who called themselves a journalist commented on how I was still a little gangly from my days working at the local pizza place in my hometown. That no amount of makeup could really make me more glamorous and up to the standards glitzy fame demanded of one in their world.
It all became overbearing and frustrating, taking the shine off of being heralded as a true artist and a new film visionary. Hard to believe anything while being called plump and plain every other day in front of the world. It changed me and I became very hard, very private and known to be a hard working director that didn't fool around when my time was wasted. I was fearfully respected and bordered on being kind like Spielberg and a hard ass like Kubrick. I didn't care, I knew my crew loved me because I treated them with respect and only asked for them to give me their best. The actors I worked with would never spout a negative word about me, I had made many of their careers while making mine and it was a strange dedicated loyalty. Yes, the media thought I was a frigid bitch, but it helped maintain my privacy and I didn't care what people thought of me.
It was this opinion and being overworked from the last film that I disappeared a month after my last Academy Award win. I claimed it was to work on my next script, which was partially true, but I wanted to find the happiness in myself outside of the bright lights and big city. I began working out, traveling, falling in and out of what I thought was true love with various women I met in my travels. I became different and more confident in who I was, changing my inside it my outside and finding balance. I did eventually finish the script in between long holidays in Italy and France. A love story I had started writing right before I left Boston. Set in World War two, the main character was an American Army nurse and the film followed her epic search for love in the middle of a world at war. It would start with her falling for a dashing RAF flyboy and how he is everything she thinks she wants and needs, but then begins to develop to feelings for the quiet British female doctor she works side by side with every day at the same hospital in war torn London.
The script was given a green light the moment I set it down on the producers' desk. There was no hesitation by the studio executive in regards to the lesbian relationship theme, saying that it was time these stories were brought to the mainstream audience. Oddly enough, the studio told me that they were already expecting a film like this from me since I had been shoved out of the closet as soon as my face hit the tabloids.
That was another thing the tabloids ruined for me, my relationship. I had a girlfriend at the time I was starting to climb the ladder to fame. We lived together in my tiny apartment in Los Angeles and I had to quickly own up to the tabloids and correct their lies with my blunt truths as they shoved cameras down my throat. Soon my sexuality was forgotten as my work spoke for myself. It also helped that I continued to live privately and what would resemble as normal. I didn't party, I didn't date around, and I didn't spend my money on crazy things. I worked religiously and only spent my money on a new house with a nice sedan in the driveway. I literally bored the paparazzi that hid in front of my garbage cans so much, they moved on after a week.
Now here I was, thirty four years old, living the perfect dream. Single, rich, talented and yet I felt the gap of never having ever really been in love. Like the grand sweeping love I was famous for writing about. Something that shocked interviewers considering I had written some of the most incredible romance stories to ever grace film and gave the world hope love was real and worth fighting for. And yet, I had never experienced it the way I had my characters experience it.
Pushing the door open to my massive bedroom, I chuckled to myself, love was something I had given up on a long time ago. Gave up after my Boston girlfriend who moved to L.A with me, left me for the lead actor in my second movie. She married him six months after my second Academy Award win. Last I read, they now lived in Santa Barbara, expecting their second child.
So, yes, I gave up on love after that. Realizing I could only write what I wanted and accept never having it.
I let out a soft sigh, setting my cherry coke down, I moved to the stack of boxes filled with books. I busied my mind and hands with unpacking my collection of science fiction and history books. Silently hoping the next group of actresses Effy handed me would inspire something in me. That one of them would perfectly embody Annie, or come close to the one woman I had initially written the role for so many years ago. I wanted one of them to inspire me to hire one of them and get back to work like I so very much needed to.
XXXXXXX
The next two groups of actresses did nothing to inspire me. Soap stars, stage stars, the hottest in Hollywood, down to the local girl just hired by the studio who had a ton of talent. Every of them sat one by one in my den and read over lines, then told me that this was a dream role in a dream job.
All of them fell flat.
By the end of the week I was ready to give up and possibly look at re-casting the lead actress as a lead actor. Moving away from the original theme I had started with and move it towards a dashing man chasing the beautiful doctor. It was frustrating and I was losing patience and interest in even bothering with the last round of actresses Effy had arranged for me to see.
I found Effy in the den, primly dressed in her usual skirt and button down. I soon realized that it didn't matter what time of the day it was, Effy was always the consummate professional and would not bend even if I told her she could wear sweatpants to work. I shuffled in the room, having dressed in ragged jeans and a t-shirt after getting out the shower, I was far from in a good mood. I had been up too late the night before dealing with timelines, production budgets, and studio needs that compounded my frustrations.
I took the offered cold bottle of cherry coke from Effy and flopped onto the leather couch next to her.
She shook her head, smiling at me, "Breakfast of champions, I see."
I smiled, "I'd need two doughnuts to make that a true statement." I opened the bottle, taking a large sip, "I would drink coffee, but I hate it and mornings." Setting the coke off to the side I turned to the folders Effy was flipping through, taking notes. "Who do we have today?"
Effy sat back and away from her notes, "We have four girls. Evelyn Martin, indie film star. Katey Johnson, the next big up and comer. Star of that horrible romantic comedy that released last weekend. Reese Somerset, singer turned actress and lastly, Bo Dennis. Washed up cult TV star whose only been in one movie in the last seven years."
I had been half listening to the names until the last one snatched my attention. I turned to Effy, "Wait, Bo Dennis? SciFi cult star from the show, Worlds Unknown?" I pointed at the file in Effy's hand, she nodded as she handed it over to me, "The one and only, Ms. Lewis."
I felt my jaw twitch when I set my eyes on the head shot in the file. It was an older head shot of Bo Dennis, grinning her million dollar grin as she peered up at me. It was a promotional shot from the show and I knew it well. It was the same one that hung up above my writing desk for years after I had it autographed. Now it was shoved in a box deep in the basement of my parent's basement back in Boston.
I stared at the chocolate rich eyes of Bo, zoning out into strange memories when Effy's voice brought me back to the moment, using my first name, "Lauren? Is there something wrong?"
I shook my head slowly, setting the folder down on the table, "No, not at all." The old memories of a day where embarrassment ruled and fueled my drive to be who I was now, surfacing faster than I could swallow them down. I started to chew on my bottom lip when Effy spoke again, "Is there something wrong with Ms. Dennis' resume?"
I laughed lightly, looking up at Effy, thinking back on the first and last time I had met Bo Dennis, "She's actually perfect, Effy. Perfect because I wrote this movie for her. And completely wrong at the same time, because I wrote this movie for her." I grabbed my bottle of coke, squeezing the plastic hard, "Then I found out how big of a self-absorbed bitch she was."
The look on Effy's face told me she knew there was a story behind my mild outburst, once she was failing to hide how eager she was to hear it. I leaned back, sighing hard and rolling my eyes, about to indulge my new assistant on a story I had kept tucked away for years. "It was about seven years ago when I met Bo Dennis at one of those SciFi comic book convention things."
7 years ago-
I had been standing in line for at least three hours. Waiting for the doors to the convention center to open and let in the masses of comic book and science fiction geeks in to swarm around their heroes. I was in my true element, surrounded by nerds, geeks and the world of fantasy. I had been so excited to go to this event for months and didn't even care when my girlfriend bailed on me at the last minute. It would probably be for the better not to have her standing next to me as I lost my cool in front of my favorite TV show actress. Bo Dennis, the star of World's Unknown and the star of one the biggest crushes I had ever had.
I was so focused on my task of meeting her and handing over the screenplay I had written for her, that I barely interacted with the other fans in line with me. Chatting about this seasons story line and what next big movie Bo was set to star in. I could only stand ridged, tapping my bag with the screenplay in it, and recite over and over my planned speech to the gorgeous woman. I couldn't stop looking at the silly picture I had printed out for her to sign, a bold promo shot from last season. Bo standing with authority and sass with her dark brown hair, bold bright brown eyes and a smirk that made everyone swoon. She was incredible, strong and I would give my left leg to get any of my screenplays into her hands.
The line moved steadily and finally I was inches away from her, losing my cool and sweating profusely, I set the picture down and went to dig in my bag for the screenplay.
"Hi, what's your name?"
I felt my breath catch, hearing her voice and hearing it right in front of me. I bit my bottom lip trying to keep myself in check, "Lauren." I pushed the picture in front of Bo, having a hell of time not staring at her and how elegantly stunning she was in person. "I'm a big fan of yours."
Bo chuckled, nodding as she looked at the picture, "I'm glad to hear that, do you want me to sign this to you?"
I nodded, clutching to the screenplay, "Please. I loved you in last season, the way you took Samara to new levels, it was incredible to watch." I glanced down at the thick script in my hands, feeling my nerves rise to ridiculous levels. "It…um…actually inspired me to write a screenplay. A story that I think you'd like and that you'd be great as the lead."
Bo finished scribbling her name, looking up at me with a soft smile, "Thank you, and a screenplay?"
I nodded, setting the thick wad of paper I technically stole from my crappy pizza joint job, "It's a love story set in World War two." I flipped open the first page where I had written a quick synopsis. "I kind of fleshed it all out in this first page, hoping it would grab your attention before having to read tons of pages of dialogue and camera movements."
Bo's smile grew a bit as she picked it up, "Oh wow, are you a film student?"
I shook my head, "No, I work at a pizza place, I just write in my spare time." I found my nerves settling as Bo read through the first few pages, her brow moving in deep interest. "I'm not asking for you to support it, just read it and tell me what you think? I have my email address in the back." I rolled my eyes, I sounded like a legit super creep fan saying that last part.
The brunette grinned, setting the screenplay on top of her bag, "I will take a look at it tonight, and if I like it. I'll see what I can do, Lauren. I'm always looking for new projects." She stood up, reaching out to shake my hand as she held out the signed picture, "It was great to meet you, Lauren, I hope you come to the panel later."
I grinned, taking her hand and feeling my heart race at how warm she was, how kind and genuine she seemed. A rarity I had found in most actors after years of going to cons, screenings or basically running into them on the streets when a movie came to town. "Thank you, and yes I'll be at that panel."
I went to say something else when a handler appeared, ushering Bo off to take a break. She waved at me as she disappeared through the curtain, leaving me incredibly excited and my crush bordering on overwhelming.
Effy chuckled, "That sounds quite a delightful experience. Meeting your celebrity crush."
I rolled my eyes, leaning my head against the leather couch, "It was delightful. I knew I had at make three or so minutes to talk to her before I was moved on, but yes that part was delightful." I sighed, "Then I went to the panel early to get a seat."
Effy raised her eyebrow at me, "I feel this is where the story takes a devious turn."
I chuckled, tipping my head back down, "Yes, to keep it short, I snuck around the corner to go to the bathroom and happened across an open door. It was a green room where they were holding Bo and the other cast members of the show. Needless to say, I poked my head in and watched her hold up my screenplay and throw it in a trash can, laughing with the rest of the cast. Muttering how she was tired of stupid fans shoving their next great film in her face, then went on to curse these public appearances and how they did nothing but make her want to take day long hot showers from all the gross fan hugs. The woman went on to say how she was above such things since she had just signed a contract for that science fiction movie she did that destroyed her career."
I shrugged, "I was shocked and my entire world was smashed to pieces. My number one inspiration had basically thrown me to the side like I was nothing more than dollar signs for her. I threw the script out and buried it in my hard drive until a year ago. She did however motivate me in anger, and I worked harder to prove her and the others wrong."
Effy glanced at the thick script sitting next to the bottle of cherry coke, "But this script is brilliant, it's going to be a veritable work of art when you're done."
I smiled softly, "It was a thorn in my side, a constant reminder of how fame ruins people and makes them fake." I tapped the top of the script, "I hated this thing for a very long time, until I opened it up and decided that I wasn't going to let a washed up actress drive me away from a project that was written from the heart."
I motioned to the picture of Bo Dennis staring up at the ceiling, "She's completely perfect for the role, but I don't think I can give it to her." I sighed, "She was the first of many stuck up humans in my life that continued to shove me down a few rungs as I climbed higher and higher."
"So, you're going to be mildly vengeful and not give her the role?" Effy glanced at me with a smirk, "Seems to me that you've won more than any idea of revenge you've planned could."
I raised an eyebrow at the younger girl, "Why must you talk sense into a moment of desired emotional retribution?"
Effy grinned, "Isn't that what production assistants are for?"
I laughed, shaking my head, "Fair enough. But we see her last." I picked up Evelyn's resume, "Let's start here, I am interested in hearing this one's interpretation of what Annie should be like."
Effy stood up, "I shall bring her in. Is there anything you'd like?"
I pointed at the half empty bottle of Cherry Coke, "Another one of these please and you to gently remind Evelyn to lay off the admiration speech."
"Of course." Effy walked out of the den, her heels clicking evenly on the wooden floors.
I sat back in the chair, my eyes drifting to the picture of Bo, all of my emotions from seven years ago, boiling up. I was not looking forward to meeting this woman again, especially in an arena where the tables were slightly turned and I could be brutally honest.
A half hour later, Evelyn had flubbed the lines, unable to say tracheotomy without giggling. Katey went a little too hard on the macho aspect of Annie, completely failing to find the softness that was the Army nurse. And Rose, well Rose was an utter failure. She choked over the lines and many times suggested that I move the love interest to a male, not a female.
As Effy escorted Rose back out of the house, I covered my face with my hands, leaning forward. These auditions were going to drive me up the fricking wall, if they continued this way I would have to call the studio and ask them to cast a wider net and that was the last thing I wanted to do. Open casting calls were the worst even if I could find the next great actor in a field of unknowns.
"This way, Ms. Dennis. I apologize that it's taken us a bit to see you." Effy's voice was pleasant and signaled me to recover my composure.
I sucked in a breath and reached for Bo's head shot, pretending to study the facts on the back. I did notice that the woman was only one year older than me, which intrigued me. She was only a year older than me when I stood in front of her, handing over a script.
"Ms. Lewis?"
I drew my eyes up, smiling as I looked at Effy, "Yes?"
She grinned, motioning to the woman standing next to her, "I would like to introduce Bo Dennis."
I held my smile as I shifted to look at the woman. She looked far different than her head shot and from the last time I saw her. Her hair was a darker brown and not the bold black color from the days on the show and done up in a very vintage style. Bo was smiling softly, her brown eyes sparkling with hope and she stood politely next to Effy, wearing a pair of dark green dress pants and a light beige top that fit the era of the forties.
I half smiled, shaking my head. This woman was the only of the group that had bothered to attempt to dress as the character might. Granted it was a very old audition tactic, but I could appreciate it. It showed care and genuine interest in the character. I stood up from the chair, reaching my hand out to shake hers, "Afternoon Ms. Dennis."
Bo grinned softly, and it lit up the entire room. I clenched my jaw, feeling all those stupid crush feelings rush back. I couldn't refute that the woman was gorgeous and had grown even more elegant over the years. Overall the woman was still stunning and made my heart skip a little like it did when I first stood this close to her.
"Please call me Bo, and thank you for seeing me." She smoothed out her shirt, fidgeting from nerves.
I often didn't notice when people were nervous in front of me, I had grown used to it even if I didn't quite understand why anyone would be nervous to meet me. I was still a nerd at heart that had worked really hard to get where I was. I waved to the couch across from the chair I had been sitting in, "Please have a seat and we will get started." I held up her head shot and resume, "Do you have an updated copy of this? It looks like the head shot is a few years old."
I watched as a slight blush covered her cheeks, "I gave your assistant an updated resume, but not a head shot. I haven't felt the need to get new ones down. I haven't done much work over the last few years to warrant it." Bo sat down on the couch slowly, her nervousness becoming almost painful for me to bear.
I glanced at Effy handing over the updated resume, she gave me a humorous look that almost told me to be nice. I smiled, nodding yes before turning my attention to the resume. Bo was right about her lack of work. Her resume highlight was World's Unknown and that terrible movie she did, then it dropped off to a few guest appearances on top network shows, a few three line parts in movies and the last thing was an airline commercial I had seen once on the inflight screens on said airline.
I read over everything slowly, debating if I wanted to be a hard ass like I had been or take pity on the woman like my lingering crush was telling me to do. I kept my head down, "I'm assuming you read the pages your agent sent to you?"
"Yes, I did." Bo let out a slow breath, "This script is amazing, the character of Annie is unlike anything I've ever read before. She's strong, independent and unique for that time." She paused, looking down at her hands, "I should admit that I was shocked when your production office sent the script to me. I know I've drifted off into the shadows of irrelevance."
I looked up at her, cocking an eyebrow. "Are you trying to cater to my sense of pity?" I had been down this road a million times with actors. All of them pulling out their acting abilities in the audition, hoping I would bite and fall for the pity of a hard working actor just wanting their break.
Bo shot her head up, her brown eyes locking on me as she shook her head, "Oh no, Ms. Lewis, not at all. I'm very aware that my fifteen minutes were up a few years ago." She let out a sigh, looking at Effy and then back at me, "I've made mistakes in my choices. I had an ego that came from the instant fame of being a star of a hit TV show." She paused, looking back at her hands, "I'm not searching for pity."
I smirked when Effy gave me a dirty look. I moved to set the head shot down, "Okay then, tell me why you think you're the fit for Annie before I have you do a read through with Effy here."
Bo nodded, scooting to the edge of the couch, "I can't really explain it, I just feel like reading the script, that Annie was written for me." She smiled softly, "I mean I know that's not the truth, but there's something in her character that I can relate to, and I think that I can take that feeling and run with it. Bring life to the pages and story you've created." She looked at the huge script next to her head shot, "It's a story I can relate to, a messy love triangle where you're unsure where to take your heart. Annie is someone I wish I could be in so many ways."
I stared at the brunette, pouring out honesty that I had not seen in a very long time. I was also surprised that she felt the script was written for her, which it was, but it still surprised me that she connected with the character on that level. I sat in silence for a moment, thinking and hating that Bo was truly the only person that could play Annie, but I didn't want to hand it over to her. I wanted the woman to work for it, sweat over it and maybe it was my own form of revenge, I wasn't going to bend to the beautiful woman sitting in front of me.
Reaching for my cherry coke, I looked up at Bo. "Will you read pages six and seven, Effy will read Nigel."
I sat back in the chair and watched Bo and Effy do the read through. This time I didn't zone out, I actually paid attention to the way Bo moved, the way she delivered the lines and the way she fell into Annie without a second thought. She was completely perfect for the role and no matter what my ill feelings were towards her, she had the part. This movie would not work without her in the lead role.
When the two women were done, I nodded, keeping my game face on. "Thank you, that was decent." I cleared my throat, taking the notes Effy had taken during the small interview. "I have a few more auditions to do, but I will be in touch with you over the next few days." I glanced at Effy's messy handwriting, she had written she's perfect and circled it twice. I shot my assistant a look, receiving a cheeky wink in turn.
I scowled back, turning to Bo sitting there more nervous than before, "I know the studio has paid for you to stay in England for the rest of the week. Please leave a number that we can reach you at, I will make my decision by the time you your flight heads back to the states." I stood up, picking up the script and the other head shots.
"Thank you, Ms. Lewis again, for this opportunity. I know it sounds cheesy and you've heard it a million times, but I would love to work with you." Bo stood up, issuing the last pleading comments. She suddenly looked down at her hands, nodding, "Thank you."
Effy went to escort her to the front door when I spoke up, no longer to resist inquiring, "Do you remember doing the Boston ComicCon seven years ago?"
Bo looked up, her eyes wide and searching her memories, "I barely do, I was doing endless promotion for World's Unknown and travelling so much I never knew what day it was." She chewed on her bottom lip, "I remember going to Boston, but it was under so much stress from the producer's and the studio." She sighed, "I wasn't exactly always one hundred percent there. I treated them like lines at a bank. Move people in and out with a fake smile and handshake." She looked up, meeting my eyes, "I regret my behavior back then, I was a selfish self-entitled star that should have known it wouldn't have lasted."
I studied the brunette, trying to find any inkling that her acting skills were on display, but all I saw was pure honest regret. "I can imagine, I had attended that event, it was very packed that weekend. I vaguely remember having to stand in line for three hours to meet you."
I watched as brown eyes grew confused and fearful, "You did?" I could almost see her searching her memory to place me there. She wouldn't all she would find was the chubby, plain, nerdy and nervous girl trying to push the script she was now auditioning for. Not the famous director standing before her, holding her possible future in my hands.
I smiled, nodding, "I did." I motioned to Effy to escort Bo to the door, "Effy will be in touch, have a good evening Ms. Dennis."
I turned and walked out of the den and towards the kitchen, letting out a slow breath. I so badly wanted to throw a bad encounter in her face, tell her how big of a bitch she was seven years ago and that I could turn her silly commercial acting career into less. But, I didn't.
Bo Dennis, no matter the bad taste she left in my mouth from seven years ago, was perfect and had just won the role that would change her life.
But I would make it easy for the woman. I was known to be a perfectionist work horse of a director. Not stopping until I had pulled the best out of every aspect of the film I was creating.
"Well that was interesting, Lauren." Effy sashayed into the kitchen, sliding over a small piece of paper with telephone numbers scribbled on it. "You have that poor woman rattled to the point she is probably throwing up in the bushes."
I chuckled, picking up an apple from the fruit bowl in front of me, "I held back. There was so much more I wanted to say, but I guess I still have a heart in this chest of mine."
"Good thing, I suppose." Effy set down a new stack of head shots on the counter, "I can call the studio and have the next batch video conference the audition. I fear the studio is growing tired of flying rejects out here."
Biting into the apple, I shook my head, "Call the studio and tell them to work up a contract and send it to Bo Winter's agent. Also, tell them that I will have the rest of the cast picked by the end of the week."
"Are you saying you've gone against all of your ill wills and chosen Ms. Dennis?" Effy's smirk made me roll my eyes.
"I have yes. But let's wait a few more days, make her sweat it out. When you call her agent, tell him that I want to make the congratulations call myself." I looked up at my assistant, "She's perfect and I hate that."
Effy chuckled, picking up her phone, "And you will make her know it for the next handful of months. I could see the look in her eyes when you brought up that comic con from years past."
I shrugged, "It still bothers me." I turned to head to the bedroom, "I do want to see the look on her face when I tell her the script she won the lead role in was the same one she threw out seven years ago."
"You're a feisty one, Lauren." Effy winked at me, "We'll get along perfectly."
