Page 20 of Seven Minutes In Heaven
“Even without that. I could tell that the casting and movie directors weren’t feeling my performance.”
“It’s ultimately not up to me to decide. They might consult me since I’m one of the producers, but beyond that, I’m the screenwriter. Whoever plays the lead female only must fit a fixed set of parameters I wrote up months ago. All four of you auditioning today did that, which was why you got the callbacks. After that? It’s up to the directors and the head producer.”
“You’re not making me feel any better.” Here came the nausea again. Instead of being sick, however, Claire was convinced that she might simply pass out for a nap instead. What better way to pretend that this conversation had never happened? “Because it’s not only about that one movie, you know? It’s about my whole career. It’s not enough to ride on the name of Ronald Finn.”
“I believe it. I grew up in this town, too. Nepotism is a powerful thing, but it can only get you so far if other powers are at play.”
“Do you know about the powers at play with me?”
Jake leaned forward, most of his food and drink untouched. “Don’t you know them?”
Claire hated how much she shivered to have him so close again. Because they weren’t shivers of discomfort – they were shivers of arousal, anticipation, and bad, bad ideas. “I’m the granddaughter of a famous Hollywood legend who made bad deals and made the wrong people angry before he died.” Ronald had clung to a past that no longer existed by the time his twilight years caught up to him. Every time someone dared to suggest to Ronald that he take his company in another direction to keep up with the times and making money, he retaliated by doubling down and making terrible business decisions. The only reason the family hadn’t gone broke was because the company was sold at a pivotal moment, and the royalties for Ronald’s most famous movies were still decent.
Claire sighed.
“I’m not the best actress in the world. I’m good, but I don’t hold any grand delusions that I’ll win a ton of awards and have directors fighting over me to be in their billion dollar franchises. That’s not even a little bit realistic. I want a decent career to enjoy for the rest of my life.”
“It’s good to be realistic.”
Oh, shut up.“I thought that by getting engaged to your father I could secure myself. Not just my career, since I doubt your father is going to be gung-ho about letting me do whatever movie I want. You know what? I also wanted to secure myself financially. There, I said it. I don’t trust my own inheritance or my ability to make enough money on my own. Do you know how much money I’ve made from my career so far?” Claire didn’t wait for Jake’s guess. “Sixty thousand, and that’s since I was eighteen seven years ago. Most of that money was for modeling and a couple of reality shows about kids of the rich and famous.” Sometimes Claire stumbled upon clips on YouTube. What a wonderful way to relive her youth as a dumb teenager.
“I don’t envy your position.” Jake didn’t say anything beyond that.
That wasn’t good enough for Claire. “What aboutyourposition? Do you find it enviable?”
“What in the world do you mean?”
Claire shook her head in disbelief. “You’re the son of Hollywood royalty.Recentroyalty. You were given everything. Your mom’s good looks, your dad’s head for business… and every opportunity they both could afford to get your foot in the door. I know what my grandfather’s name has done for me, but even I can’t fathom how good you’ve had it with your parents. I’m not saying you’re a bad scriptwriter atall,Jake, but do you think you would’ve broken into the business at such a young age if you didn’t have you parents’ connections?”
“No,” he quickly said. “I don’t. If you don’t think I’m thankful…”
“It’s not about what I think. It’s about whatyouthink. Because you still have the hots for me, which is why you whisked me away from the audition and are now tormenting me!” She pushed away her half-finished lunch and leaped up from her seat. Before Jake could say a word, Claire rushed to the windows, where the LA landscape sprawled before her.
She glanced over her shoulder. Jake remained in his seat at the table.
“You’re right,” he admitted. “I do still have the hots for you, as you put it. You’ve put me into an impossible position. I’m trying to make it right.”
“How?”
Jake stood. His carefully controlled movements made his dress shirt wrinkle against his shoulders and chest, and his trousers crease across his thighs.Damn me for noticing that!Claire tapped her forehead against the window.
“You’re wrong if you think that party was the first time I ever saw you, Claire.” Jake remained a respectful distance, but the pull between them intensified, as if the more passionate they became, the stronger the connection between them grew. “I knew who you were before we met. Before my own father announced that he was marrying you.” He tapped his fingers against his table. “You rememberLove in the City,right?”
“Of course I do? It’s the only real lead role I have.” Five years ago. Her stint on the reality show earned her the lead role in a B-movie about bumbling teenagers falling in love in New York. Claire had been convinced that it was the official start of her acting career. Instead, the movie was universally panned and her agent almost dropped her. Claire didn’t have a real movie role again for two years, and it was as a woman who only appeared in flashbacks, totaling ten minutes out of a ninety-minute film.
“I love that movie.”
Claire scoffed, her arm rattling against the window and her sweaty hair sticking to her cheeks. “What? Don’t be silly. That movie was crap.”
“That’s what the reviewers said after it was released, but you really enjoyed making that film, didn’t you?”
“Only because I thought it was the start of something great.”
“You can see your happiness in the film. You can feel it. I’ve watched that movie so many times, that I’ve used characters like yours as inspiration for the ones I write.”
He’s got to be kidding me.It was almost insulting, really. How stupid did he think she was to believe that? “You’re only saying that. There was nothing special about the character. She was stock. A trope. Like all of them.”
“Maybe so, but it was your performance that made me think of it so highly. There’s something special about the right talent and the right character coming together. I always wanted that to happen with my own movies.”
