Beck is pulled suddenly out of the deep sleep he had been enjoying by a bombardment of wet, puppy kisses.

"Good morning, Stella..." He chuckles, scratching the dog's ears as she lays down beside him "Can't let a guy sleep in ever, huh?"

He knows it could be much worse, a child would most likely be waking him up much earlier. Not that he would really mind, just like when he doesn't really mind when Stella does it.

"Good morning..." Bianca grumbles, her voice still heavy with sleep as she rolls over to face her husband

"Morning." Beck smiles, leaning over to kiss her gently

He's always been much more of a morning person than she has. When they first started living together, back before they had money to afford the finer things, he was always the one to get up and make breakfast and start the coffee...Bianca would usually drag herself out of bed about thirty minutes later. Beck has always found it cute, especially when she first wakes up and is still the most tired.

"You have that audition today, don't you?" Bianca yawns as Stella makes her way over to smother her with kisses as well "Oh, good morning baby girl. Yes, hello. Hi."

"For Cloverfield Isle, yeah." Beck nods, sitting up "I really want this one, Bee..."

It might be the most he's ever wanted a project since...well, his first big gig back in Chicago. His agent had told him the show is looking for a familiar face, but not someone who is so famous that they will steal all of the attention away from the storyline just by being themselves. Beck thinks that might be him. People will recognize him from the network show he did, maybe from one of his movies, but he definitely isn't an A-list celebrity yet. If all goes well though, he could be. All he has to do is show them how well he can play the part, and that he can play it better than anyone else.

"They'd be stupid not to cast you." Bianca tells him, sitting up as well "Go show them how good you are."

"Okay, I'll do my best." Beck smirks, leaning over to kiss her again "But I still have a few hours before I need to leave...do you want to hop in the shower with me?"

"I guess I can do that." Bianca smirks "But when we're done, we're running lines until it's time for you to go."

As Beck looks around the room of other actors also waiting to audition, he starts to lose a bit of his confidence. They're all around his age, and all decently attractive. On looks and appearances alone, he doesn't seem to be anything special compared to the rest of them. It's going to be their acting abilities that set them apart, and while he's an award-winner...he's also nervous. He'll never forgive himself if he flubs a line simply because he's nervous.

"Hey..." The young actor next to him says "Are you...are you the guy from Windy City Med?"

"Yeah." Beck chuckles, a bit nervous "That's me."

"Holy shit, I knew it!" The man grins "Man, I should just go home now. You were amazing on that show, they're definitely going to give you the part."

"You never know." Beck shrugs

He does what he can to reassure the, what he assumes to be, new actor. It's what he hopes someone would have done for him if the roles had been reversed. However, he will admit it does help his confidence to be recognized and praised.

"Beck Oliver?" A woman with a clipboard appears from behind a door

"Good luck." The other actor says to him

"Thanks." Beck nods, then follows the woman into the audition room

Auditioning is no new process to him, he's been on dozens in the past year alone. It's all part of the acting process. All he has to do is go in, put his best foot forward, and perform the part to the best of his abilities. Everything else is out of his hands.

He always likes to scan the panel of people he's auditioning for. There's usually a casting director, a few writers maybe, a showrunner, whoever is directing if they've been chosen yet. As his eyes dart from person to person sitting at the table, he almost chokes.

Jade West is sitting on the end, a placard in front of her that reads 'Head Writer/Showrunner'. His ex-girlfriend is the mastermind behind this entire project, and she's going to have a big hand in deciding his fate. He's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...but he doesn't really have time to think about it before the casting director prompts him to start.

Thankfully the scene is one he's able to insert a lot of emotions into, really show off his range as an actor. The main character, the one he's reading for, is trying to convince another scientist that they might be able to make time travel possible. If they do so, they can go back in time and prevent an alien attack from wiping out half of earth's population. Of course, there's much more to it than that. Enough to warrant a five-book series that translates to a television show, but Beck needs to work with the portion of the script they had given him. He needs to give a performance that will make Jade forget their history and come to bat for him when it comes time for her and her colleges to debate which actor should get the part.

"Okay, I think we've seen enough." The casting director stops him "Thank you, Beck. We'll be in touch."

He looks over to Jade, she's scribbling something on the notepad in front of her. Beck knows he isn't going to look up at him. They've yet to make eye contact.

"Thank you for the opportunity." He says "I look forward to hearing from you."

When he gets back to his car, he just can't bring himself to leave. What are the fucking odds? He doesn't see or hear from the woman for almost twelve years, and then at the most important audition of his current career...she's the one sitting behind the table.

Behind all of his disbelief, he does feel a small bit of pride. He knows that Jade had always wanted to write and direct, and now it appears that she's going to be doing both. That's amazing for her, and he's happy that things worked out for her the way that she hoped. He had never wished her ill, they just didn't have any reason to stay in contact after high school...so they didn't. That was normal.

He decides he'll wait. One by one actors leave the building and get into their cars, leaving the parking lot without giving it a second thought. Eventually, he sees the casting director leave, and then the series' author, but Jade doesn't. For a moment he's worried that he wasted his time, that she left through another door or that she's going to stay and work late, but then she finally emerges from the building...and Beck emerges from his car.

Jade doesn't look surprised when he starts walking towards her, or taken off-guard, or even mad. Beck decides if anything, she looks a bit confused, but otherwise neutral.

"Showrunner." He says to her "That's...huge. Congratulations."

"Thanks." She nods

There's silence between them, neither really knowing how to continue the conversation from that point. Twelve years is a long time to go without speaking, and it's plenty of time to forget how to make small talk.

"I don't want to be rude or anything, but I really need to get going." Jade finally says "I have a baby at home and if he doesn't get fed on time-"

"Right of course." Beck assures her "I don't want to keep you. I just wanted to say...s'good to see you."

"S'good to see you too." Jade says, although Beck thinks she only says it to be polite