Hollywood Lies (2 page)

“I’m Julie. Nice to meet you, Mr. Maddox,” she says.

It takes me a moment to stand up and take her hand. “Devon.”

As Julie leads me through the huge building, through complex hallways and upstairs, she keeps up a steady stream of words. “I think it’s great you were able to meet today. You should’ve seen some of the other guys who auditioned for the part. I’m not supposed to tell you, but you’re at the top of Cole’s list of contenders.”

My stomach tightens again.

“It’s between you, Graham Butler, Marcus Scott, and Alexander Smith.” She throws me a sexy, little smirk over her shoulder before she pushes open a door. “You’re the last to audition.” Julie turns and walks into the room backward. “Don’t look so scared.”

I move my eyes from the pretty assistant’s smile and focus on the room. It’s a cross between an office, a library, and a music conservatory. I thought maybe I’d be dumped in generic waiting room, but this looks to be the inner sanctum of Collette Stroud herself. I’m not sure I could be any more nervous than I am now. Even though I tend to keep to myself, I’ve always been confident. Enjoying solitude and being shy aren’t the same thing, but right now I feel completely inadequate standing in this room.

“Wait here, please. Cole and Liliana will be in shortly. Would you care for anything to drink?”

Mouth dry, I croak out, “Water.” I mentally chastise myself as she leaves for not adding a
please
or
thank you
. Bad manners never landed anyone a role. At least, I didn’t think so.

Too jittery to sit, I wander around the room and run a finger over the spines of books, and pick up pictures in which Collette Stroud smiles widely with a variety of other famous people. I graze a hand over the baby grand piano and talk myself out of sitting down to play. Instead, I move to the guitars and other stringed instruments hanging on the wall.

They are all expensive-looking, but well-worn. Collette is known to be a musical genius. She played at Carnegie Hall, the JFK Center, and the Royal Albert Hall when she was only a kid, but then changed professions at the tender age of eleven when she was cast in a lead role of a Disney film about a child violinist. In the twenty-two years since then, she has been in major movie after major movie, blockbusters and independent films, and has more awards than any other actress her age.

Also, she’s hot. She may be older than me by a significant number of years, but no one can deny how attractive she is.

I stroke the lower bout of a Gibson guitar, then run my fingers up the fret board, over the strings. I love playing the guitar, I just wish it was easier for me. My fingers are just a little too short to move over the frets and strings with ease.

“Here’s your water,” Julie calls behind me.
 

Her voice startles me so much I nearly knock the guitar from the wall. I try to settle the guitar back onto its hook. My neck craned, I see all three women have joined me.
 

“Your agent says you’re quite good,” I hear Collette say. “You should play it.”
 

“Uh . . .” I start, then take a deep breath and turn all the way around to face the Hollywood heavyweight. I have to be confident. I have to be suave. I have to nail this meeting. A slow smile finally curves my lips in response to hers.

“Your water.” Julie extends the bottle to me again.

“Thank you.” Although I take the water, my eyes never leave Collette’s. She is more beautiful in person than in pictures or on film.
 

Her hair is the exact color of a flaming sunset, her eyes the palest green I’ve ever seen, and her body is like that of a woman captured in marble by the master artists of old. Her beauty has never been a secret, but I didn’t expect a goddess to be standing in front of me. It seems unfair to the rest of the female population that she has more than her fair share of beauty.

“Wow.” The whispered word is out of my mouth before I can stop it. My face heats up in embarrassment, but I swallow hard against the stupidity that comes naturally. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I say when I remember myself.
 

Collette turns the edges of her lips up and pretends not to have heard the awe in my voice. “I keep all these here in my office just in case musical inspiration strikes while I’m working on other projects. Are you sure you won’t play?” she asks.
 

“Oh. Oh, no, thank you. Maybe another time.”

“When you’re not so nervous?” It’s the first time Liliana speaks.
 

Although not as captivating as Collette, the younger woman is also pretty. Liliana is gorgeous in that
mysterious and edgy girl next door
kind of way. Her long, blond hair makes me want to run my fingers through it, and I want to know what goes on behind her deep, penetrating blue eyes. Reviewers call her, “The starlet with a million expressions,” and I wonder what
this
expression means.

“Hello,” I say in an unintentional seductive tone.

“Hi,” Liliana returns with a smile.

Liliana, like Collette, had been a child actor. Now nineteen, she was eight when she got her first role in an quirky, independent film about soldiers returning from war and has accomplished so much since then. Being only four years older than her, I’ve used her success as a way to challenge myself and I’ve followed her career as inspiration. Under the scrutiny of the camera and the American public, she grew up a bit awkwardly, although there are no signs of it as I stand next to her.

But now isn’t the time to contemplate Liliana Addison. It’s time to impress, so I decide to be honest. “Yeah, I’m nervous. Terrified, actually. Both of you are kind of heroes of mine.”

My words did what I intend them to do. Both Liliana and Collette look at me with curiosity, obviously wanting me to expand.
 

“The movies you guys make are just . . . well, I mean,
Edge of Night
and
Six Ways
? Those are daring and intelligent films.”

Collette laughs quietly. “You
have
read
this
script, right?”

“Of course, I have,” I say with a bit of confusion.

“Then you know we don’t
always
make daring and intelligent films.”

She has a point. The film I’m auditioning for is geared toward a teenage audience, meant to titillate more than illuminate. I feel like at twenty-three, I’m too old to even star in it, but I’m certainly not going to say that. I need the work. “Well, I . . .”

Collette continues as if I haven’t interrupted. “This business is about compromise. Directing this film is mine, but that’s not to say I don’t like the material. Love stories featuring disfigured young people just aren’t my normal thing.”

“I know.” I try to think of all the ways this film fits a similar mold as some of her previous work. “You like movies that challenge the audience’s perception, and movies with strong themes like drug abuse and mental disorders. And
Tortured Devotion
is exactly one of those films. Nothing challenges perceptions like questioning what love is and who can experience it. And if you look at Maya and Jamie’s characters, they both suffer from some kind of disorder. Maya lives in a fantasy world most of her life, and Jamie is a depressed son of a bitch. When they discover each other, they become obsessed and instead of being addicted to drugs, they become addicted to the love, the
feeling
, of each other.”

The whole room turns silent. I think for a moment I’ve said something wrong.
 

“Wow,” Liliana whispers and looks at me with something like awe in her expression while Collette’s eyes examine me as if I’m a science experiment. Liliana licks her lips.

“Well said.” Collette smiles. She nods toward Julie who is staring at me with a certain kind of hunger I usually only see in bars and clubs when women are beyond tipsy and looking to get laid. It boosts my confidence, and I stand up straighter. “Julie’s set us up over here.” Collette points to the couch and chairs. “You don’t mind if we record the audition?”

“No,” I answer as I sit down. Liliana sits down next to me, while Collette sits in the chair and Julie perches on the arm.

“You don’t mind doing the audition in my office, do you? I know it’s a bit cozy, but I’m here all the time. If you prefer, we could go into my editing room, or the conference room down the hall.”

I feel a bit awkward about how comfortable she tries to make me. Maybe my fear has translated onto my face. I try to shift my expression into something neutral and say, “No, this is fine. It’s almost bigger than my apartment, but I feel good here.”
Jesus, that sounded stupid.
“I mean, I think this is just fine for the audition.”

“Good. As long as you’re relaxed. You’re on a very short list of actors for the role,” Collette says. “That video you sent in was pretty incredible. I was going to ask you what you thought of the script, but you’ve already shared that with us, so tell me why you want to play Jamie.”

I respond with what I rehearsed with Natalie. Although it isn’t as passionate as my words before, I can tell by their nodding and smiles that the women like it.
 

“Well, let’s start with the reveal scene.”

I look around for my script. I thought I’d set it down on the sofa when I got here, but now I can’t find it. I don’t have any of the lines memorized. “Uh, I can’t . . .”
Damn, I left it in the car
.

“Need a script?” Julie asks, rising to give me her copy.

I take it and give her a faltering smile before flipping quickly to the scene in which Jamie shows himself to Liliana’s character. I clear my throat and begin. “Maya, you don’t know what you’re—”

“Talking about?” Liliana cuts in right on time. “You’ve been messaging me, asking me to trust you, promising me that we’ll meet, and you
never
follow through. You haven’t even sent me a picture! I mean, what is it? Are you, like, disfigured or something? I don’t get why you don’t come out from the shadows and let me see you. I
want
to see you!”

The scene is set in a darkened high school auditorium, so I imagine Jamie hiding in the safety of darkness while Maya stands in the middle of the aisle, surrounded by empty seats. I need to be on my feet, so I grab Liliana’s hand, pull her up, step away from the couch, and place her in the middle of the room while I slink away. I curve my back because I think Jamie would try to keep hidden, out of the light.

“You don’t understand,” I read with inflection. “I can’t send pictures, or meet you at the coffee shop after school.”

“Why? Why can’t you?”

“Because I . . . because I’m . . . I’m not like other boys.”

“Jam–”

“I
am
disfigured, Maya!”

“What?”

“I was in an accident when I was five, and now—”

Liliana cuts in. “You don’t have to lie, Jamie. If you don’t want me, don’t want to be with me, just tell me.”

“I don’t just
want
to be with you. I
need
to be with you. I can’t think of anything else, but I’m not stupid enough to think you’ll be able to love me once you see me.” I pause for dramatic effect before straightening my back and take a step toward Liliana who is looking the other way. “I . . . I want to show you, but I’m afraid.”

“Are you being serious?” Her voice is soft and holds all the insecurity needed for the character.

“Who would lie about this?”

Liliana changes her voice into something a little more snotty. “Lots of people, you know, guys who’ve started something they can’t finish.”
 

“Well, that’s not me.” I pause, then take another step forward. “Here I am,” I say with a strong voice that shows both Jamie’s willingness to prove himself to Maya and his fear of doing so. Now close behind Liliana, I hover my free hand over her shoulders, and just like in the script, she has goose flesh.

“Great. Wonderful. That was . . .” Collette turns to Liliana.
 

The younger woman nods.

Collette says, “Well done. Now, could you both turn to scene ten, where Maya convinces Jamie to take their relationship to the next level?”

Scene ten is where Jamie and Maya touch for the first time. The touches give way to some pretty hot stuff—at least hot for a PG-13 rated film.

This time, Liliana reaches out for my hand, and leads me back to the sofa. Julie follows our movements with the camera. I glance down at the script and read, “You don’t have to pretend to be okay with how I look.”

The softest smile plays on Liliana’s lips as she recites, “You’re beautiful. There’s no scar in the world that can change that fact.”

The dialogue ends and the make out scene is next. Jamie is supposed to be a bit nervous and scared, something I feel myself.
 

Liliana leans in and grazes my cheek with her lips and whispers, out of character, “Relax.”

It’s all I need to toss the script to the side and move my hands to her waist. I pull her closer and kiss her full on the mouth. Liliana Addison tastes delicious, like strawberry shortcake. Her lips are plump and soft. I dip my tongue into her mouth, and it zings as it touches hers.
 

There are no characters at this point. At least not in my mind. It’s just me and this hot woman. I bring her onto my lap and grip her hips as she straddles me. Liliana arches her back and breaks the connection of our mouths, so I lick and suck at her neck and the exposed portion of her chest. Without thinking about it, I put a hand against her breast. I press my palm against her hardening nipple as I tighten my other arm around her small waist and crush her body to mine.