Page 15 of Seven Minutes In Heaven
Chapter 6
Oh, my God. Do I say anything?Claire stared at him, gobsmacked. She didn’t recall seeing the name Carter anywhere on the production company’s roster!
Maybe she was seeing things. Shehadthrown up, after all. Maybe it hadn’t been nerves. The flu? Why not have a hallucination right before her audition?
“Uh, hi…” Claire ignored Jake and focused her attention on Scott. They nodded to one another before Claire gave the shakiest wave she could manage. “Thank you so much for calling me back for the second round. I’m looking forward to showing you what I can do.”
“Pleasure to have you, Claire.” Scott briefly introduced the other people at the table, including Jake, who desperately avoided eye contact with his future stepmother.He must have known I was auditioning… why is he here? Did he really write the lines I’ve been memorizing for the past month?Unlikely. It may have been his story, or he might have typed down the final words in the script, but most major motion pictures went through at least three or five different hands before the final draft was produced.Okay, so this isn’tmajor,and he’s known for writing indie films, but… really?
A man tapped her on the shoulder. She realized that she had been spacing through the introductions and totally missed the male lead ready to begin the chemistry test with her.
“Oh!” Claire placed her purse and sweater down on a chair and shook the actor’s hand.Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?She recognized Wes from a few other movies that had come out over the years. He was the kind of hot, semi-talented actor who was casted for his growing star power more than his ability to win awards for his acting skills.I mean, he is hot. Look at him.Chiseled chest in a V-neck, cleanly shaven face, and a coif of jet-black hair that made him look more rugged than he would ever be.Don’t know about you, Wes, but I think we have some chemistry here.
Claire glanced at Jake, who had his nose deep in his script.
“Claire Finn.” She offered him a genial grin. “Looking forward to it, Wes.”
“Are you Ronald Finn’s kid?”
“His granddaughter.”
“Damn. This is Hollywood royalty here, Scott!”
Scott smiled. “Let’s start with the meet-cute outside of the mechanic’s. I know it’s hard to pretend when he looks like this right now, Claire, but pretend Wes is covered in car grease and wearing baggy overalls that haven’t been washed in a month.”
“Remember,” the director jumped in, “you’re a spoiled heiress who would never give Wes a second look on the street. He’s repulsive.”
“Thanks,” Wes said, garnering a few chuckles in the room.
They got into position as soon as a casting assistant pointed to a chair meant to be Claire’s car. She pretended to drive it while Wes tossed a plastic wrench into the air and looked as aloof as possible.
“Go,” the director said.
Claire spent ten seconds pretending to be fed up with her tampered car. The script said that a female rival of Claire’s had fucked with her car so she would be late to a soiree.Like I don’t know how to act like a pissed off heiress!Claire merely had to tap into her own childhood experiences going to private school in Beverly Hills and dealing with the other children of Hollywood royalty.Gag!If nothing else, she would nail the character.
Could she nail the male lead?
Since she wasn’t in an actual car, Claire had to pantomime getting out and slamming the nonexistent door shut.That stuff’s added by Foley later, anyway!She played up her foot-stomping, shawl-tossing, and tantrum-throwing while whipping off her sunglasses and marching up to Wes and his plastic wrench.
“Are you the mechanic?”
He stopped playing with the wrench, looked past her, and eyeballed Claire’s chair. “Are you the one with a broken-down car?”
“There’s something wrong with it. There’s something wrong witheverything!” Boy, wasn’t that the truth? Claire could already feel the second wave of nausea ready to ruin her day. “Can you fix it? I don’t care how much it costs, I…”
Wes shoved her out of his way. “Is that a 1973 Corvette?”
“I guess. I don’t know. Who cares? Can you fix it?”
“Who… cares? Lady!” Wes’s soap opera bit parts came out in full force when he looked like he had been personally offended by Claire’s betrayal. “This is a delicate machine that must be taken good care of. Doncha get it? You’re up here driving it like it’s your common car!”
“Can youfixit?” she demanded through gritted teeth.
“You’ll need to fix your attitude before I can do anything for you.”
They had a small face-off, Claire’s nauseated countenance going up against Wes’s furrowed brows.
“Cut!” the director called. “That was good. Now let’s see the first kiss scene.”
