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“Chloe, can I ask you something?” Adam said.
I blinked and nodded. “Sure, what is it?”
“Was it always your dream to become an actress?”
“No.” I smiled. “I wanted to be a hairdresser like my mom.”
“So how did it start?”
Before I could answer him, the waiter approached and took our order. If the older man recognized me, he was polite enough to not say anything.
“I went to school with a guy whose mom owned a small modeling agency. She spotted me and Faith and for a while when we were children, we worked as models. You know, doing commercials for shoes, vitamins, children’s clothes, and so on. It was easy money, and then later I acted in the high school play and loved it. The attention I got, all the compliments…”
“When did you get your first movie role?”
“Oh, that was right after my senior year. I truly believed that all the agents would be lining up to sign me on, but the movie was crap and my performance wasn’t too good either.”
“So then what?”
I shrugged. “I worked as a waiter and went to a bunch of casting calls. Eventually, I landed small roles in movies that made me able to get an agent. Jane has opened doors for me and helped me play the Hollywood game.”
“What is the Hollywood game?” Adam asked.
“You don’t want to know.”
Adam leaned back and folded his arms. “Tell me.”
“Okay,” I breathed and put my napkin on my lap. “I’ve officially dated other celebrities because it benefitted my career, but in real life we couldn’t stand each other. My agent has fabricated scandals to get me on the magazine covers and I’ve done private casting calls that made me feel dirty.”
“What do you mean, dirty?”
“Before I had my breakthrough, I was asked to come to a very famous director’s house for an informal chat. When I got there, two older men were there as well. They were introduced to me as producers, and all three of them asked me questions about my willingness to play certain scenes. They were looking for a talented new actress who understood the craft of acting and wouldn’t mind putting herself out there.
“Of course I told them I was that woman.” I took another sip of my water and cleared my throat.
“Something happened that day.” Adam’s voice grew deeper and he clenched his jaws.
“They told me there would be a few nude scenes and it was crucial to them that I was comfortable in my own skin.
“When I assured them I was, they said, ‘Good, then you won’t mind undressing so we can determine if you have the right body for the movie.’” I grew quiet and fiddled with my hands under the table, feeling Adam’s eyes burn my skin.
“I stripped down and stood naked while they walked around me, discussing my body.”
“Did they touch you?” he asked with deep frown lines across his forehead.
“No, not that night.”
“But you got the role?”
“Hence the famous shower scene,” I said dryly.
“Did they touch you another night?” Adam’s voice was deeper than normal, and he moved in his seat as if he couldn’t sit and listen any longer.
“The director came to my trailer after we shot the shower scene and he made a pass on me.”
“And?”
“And he was thirty years older than me and gross, so I turned him down.”
