The two finally found their way back to the waiting room and reclaimed their seats. They spent the rest the wait watching YouTube videos, reading comments and Tweets, and drinking coffee. Eventually, when it started to get late, Justine fell asleep with her head in Toby's lap. He didn't dare to move when he realised she was sleeping, but watched her instead, gently stroking her long blonde hair and thinking about the night they'd spent together. He felt a pang in his chest when he remembered what she had said about being friends, but then he recalled her wanting him to hold her, and the heat between them when he tickled her and when she jumped on his back. He gazed at her sleeping face, so peaceful and content, and made up his mind to tell her how he felt after they finally did their auditions.
About an hour went by before Justine began to stir. Her eyelids fluttered slightly and she yawned, stretching her arms above her head.
"Hey, sleepy JJ," Toby breathed, tickling her chin playfully.
"Hey Tobes..." She replied, yawning again. "How long was I out?"
Toby looked at his watch.
"About an hour or so," He said. "I don't know how long before we're seen, there's still loads of people left..." Justine sat up and looked around the room as well.
"Well, you never know... We might get lucky," She said, doubtfully.
Finally, the numbers in the room dwindled until there were just a few people left. The director popped his head around the door, peered at the final few candidates and sighed tragically. He looked down at the list in his hand and coughed to get everyone's attention.
"Toooooby Turrrrner!" He droned, watching for his next victim.
Toby stood up, straightening his t-shirt and running his hand through his hair once again.
"Break a leg, Tobes," Justine said as she gave him an awkward one armed hug, for the director had his other arm and was dragging him away.
"I'll see you afterwards, JJ," Toby shouted to her, trying to put as much feeling into his words as he could while being dragged along by a manic director. "You'll be great!" He gave her one last wave before he was shoved into the room to await his fate.
"Hi!" A rather excitable woman with lipstick on her teeth sat in the middle of the table at the far end of the room. "I'm Shelley, the writer." She gestured to the aggressive looking man on her right. "This is Don, the choreographer, and you already know Steve, the director," The bandy legged man came and sat on her left, kicking his shoes off and placing his feet on the table.
"We're just waiting for your partner to come along. Then we'll decide what script you'll be reading," Steve added, sighing dramatically and looking at his wrist, which was completely bare. Several minutes went by in uncomfortable silence. Toby fidgeted in his seat, biting his lip nervously. Eventually they heard the door open and a breathless young woman run in.
"Sorry I took so long, there was a mix-up and I was sent to the wrong... Toby?"
He finally turned to look at his partner.
"JJ? What're you doing in here?" He stood up and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into a hug. As he hugged her, he whispered in her ear so the crew couldn't hear. "Thank God you're here; it was beginning to get awkward." She laughed and he let go of her reluctantly, taking a seat in one of the two chairs set in front of the table. The director took his filthy feet off the table and leaned forward to get a good look at them both. The other two leaned in and he murmured something to them, too quietly for Toby or Justine to hear. After a few seconds they all sat back, grinning at the pair.
"Right, guuuuys," Steve said, shuffling papers in front him. "We've decided what scene you'll be doing... We want you two to do... The rooooomance scene," He winked playfully and handed them the script papers. "I'll give you a couple minutes to look over it, but one rule. NO CONFERRING!" He adopted a look of dead seriousness, clenching his jaw so tightly his face reddened. Justine and Toby were both slightly taken aback, but ignored the weirdness - They were used to it after all.
They read over the script pages they'd been given, trying take in as much as possible. All was silent in the room until the last page, when Justine cleared her throat loudly.
"Um, it says here that the two characters are supposed to kiss..." Her heart fluttered nervously at the thought of it.
"Yes, they do. But remember, it has to be real. Just like a movie," the director said.
Justine stole a quick glance at Toby, who was rather offended that she had pointed it out, as obviously she didn't even want to kiss him when she was acting. He sniffed and kept his eyes on the script, avoiding her gaze.
Eventually, they started their scene. The crew watched in awe, impressed by the natural chemistry the two had together. Toby and Justine walked around the room, each playing off of the other's reactions. They became closer and closer together as the scene grew more heated, finally standing almost nose to nose as it reached its climax. Toby turned away and sat back down, still in character, placing his head in his hands. Justine walked to him and bent over him seductively, tilting his chin up towards her. "I'll see you later, sweetie," She whispered and leaned in towards him, their faces centimetres away from each other.