3. Josephine

3

JOSEPHINE

I can flirt with Luca Devlin, Mr. CEO of Luca Brisco Studios, all day long with no regrets. The likelihood of things going beyond flirtation and a kiss at an audition is slim. However, I take my job and reputation as an actress seriously.

The way he stepped in to read with me was wonderful. I can tell he has some experience and he should, as a movie producer. But, giving me the role simply because I upheld his lie to that federal agent seems like trouble. It doesn't help with that kiss being great, too. What if it's the kiss that got me the role? This won't be a casting couch situation. I refuse.

The role I'm here for versus the role Luca's ready to offer me has to have repercussions. This isn't as cut and dried as the director loving my audition out of the dozens of people who read for the same part. Maybe I'm overthinking it.

"I'll reach out to you once I know what I want to do or if I have any questions, Luca," I tell him with a timid smile.

He reaches into his pocket, pulling out his phone, and tells me. "Give me your number and I’ll text you so you have my private number. Text me, call me, tell me once you're ready to be my leading lady."

"You are relentless."

"No, I'm persistent. Take care, Josephine. I look forward to running lines with you, my Cadence, my siren of the sea." He flashes a grin, confident I'm going to take the roles, and walks out of the room.

Once I step into the corridor, Daphne and Austin are standing there, both wearing ridiculous grins. Daphne's eyes beam with excitement, holding the script in one hand and reaching out to grab my hand with the other.

"Jo, you have no idea how rare it is to get Mr. Devlin out of his office to watch auditions. This is a great sign. You already have the look, and after that read, I'd say you got the part."

The smile spreading from cheek to cheek pushes me to hug the woman. The honesty in her face tells me she genuinely believes in my talent. However, I still have to ask, "Did Mr. Devlin tell you to give me the role?"

Austin interjects. "Even if he did, you still have the talent to carry the part. We're not making Academy Award winning material here, Jo. It's a straight to stream, scream queen, monster flick. If you don't want the part, we won't cancel the rest of the auditions we have lined up. But my advice is, take the part and put your talent to use."

I offer a timid grin. "Thank you both. I appreciate you taking the time to see me. I guess, send me the details, shoot dates, wardrobe fittings and everything else."

"Perfect." Daphne beams. "We'll reach out in the next few days to confirm the schedule. Thanks again, Jo, for coming in and reading with Mr. Devlin."

Austin and Daphne walk off, talking amongst themselves, while I make my way back out to the reception area. The attraction between me and Luca shouldn't matter. There's a hint of doubt that wonders if they would have picked me had he not been there. Or, perhaps Jett's right, and my brother's stinky socks truly are lucky.

The steady pulse of my phone vibrating pulls me out of my head. I hope it's not Duke to ruin my afternoon. Fortunately, it's Monique, the person who got me this audition in the first place.

"I got the part," I tell her before she can say hello.

"Of course, you did. Are you still at Luca Brisco?" she asks. "I'm on the Parliament Studio lot about to head to lunch. You want some free food?"

"What kind of question is that?" I laugh.

She giggles and gives me directions to get to her. A walk through two massive parking lots has me near the set of a movie. A high-speed chase is underway as I near the area behind the cameramen and equipment. I see an entire area is roped off as Monique trots over to me with a takeaway tray in her hands. Her mohawk lavender hair sides buzzed short makes her perfectly bronze tan pop in the late morning sun. With one arm extended, she pulls me in for a hug before putting the tray of food in my hand.

"Come, follow me to my trailer," she commands, pulling me toward a quieter area of the set outside of the actual studio building.

"You get a trailer?" I ask.

"It's not much but being first on the call sheet has its perks. So, how was it? You must have knocked it out of the park to get offered the role on the spot. I'm so happy for you. I'll be in the front row for the premiere."

"Slow down, Mojo." The name only a few people from our childhood days together get to call her, sounds so much louder in her trailer.

The space is about the size of a walk-in closet, but all the trimming are nice and cozy for the leading actress. There's a loveseat, a vanity, and a high stool for her to do hair and makeup.

I plop onto the small couch while she opens up another tray of food. As we eat, I tell her, "Mr. Devlin read lines with me for my audition. What do you know about him?"

"Luca Devlin?" she asks between bites. "Um, pretty much a straight shooter. I've only worked on two of his projects, but I've never met him personally. His reputation is better than most of the sleazebags in the business. He read lines with you?"

"Yeah, and we kissed. It was part of the script, but there was something, I don't know, exciting about him. He's got this energy, this charisma, and even though he's the guy in charge, he can be silly, dramatic."

"You sound smitten s that must have been some kiss.” She grins. “Seriously, Jo, that's great. It's about time you stop letting Duke scare you away from looking at other guys."

I roll my eyes. "Don't even get me started on him."

"Oh boy, what did he do now? Wait, let me guess, he wanted his girlfriend to babysit and he'd pay her your child support payment because she watched Jett."

"I wouldn't put it past him, but no. He said he wants to terminate his rights. He's filing the court documents tomorrow."

"If he does that, it means he's no longer responsible for Jett, financially or otherwise right?"

I nod. "Yeah, but somehow, I feel like it's a trap. He's up to something."

"Or maybe this is his last-ditch effort to shirk his responsibilities as a parent. He's always been a piece of shit. He's made it perfectly clear over the past eight years he hates being a father to Jett. He’s probably doing it because your Dad isn't around to force him into doing the right thing."

"I think you're right. He said something about a job offer, and that we're not going to get in his way."

She laughs with a shrug of her shoulders. "Move Bitch! Get out his way. Seriously, fuck him. I hate that these words are even coming out of my mouth but give him what he wants. Let him terminate his rights, unless you need the child support? I'll help watch Jett those few weekends Duke is supposed to have him."

"You're a lifesaver. The money Duke sends covers odds and ends for Jett but giving it up is fine if I don't have to deal with him ever again. I might need to take you up on watching Jett more often. Luca offered me the lead role in some horror flick. Starlight of the Sea? Ever heard of it?"

She scoffs. "Heard of it? I've been waiting for the casting company attached to it to start looking for submissions. It was hyped up for a bit, but then, crickets. No production schedule or anything came out. I figured it got shelved. I'm supposed to finish filming all of my scenes for this project next week and if, wait, did you call him Luca?"

"He insisted that I do. It was only after we kissed, he told me to call him Luca. He also told me I'd confirm taking the role in the next two days. There's something wonky about the project. A federal agent busted into my audition, shouting about Starlight, and Luca told her I was his lead actress."

Monique gets out of her seat to wrap me in a hug. "This is great! What a fantastic fucking day! You get Duke out of your life and you land two roles. You are living the dream, girl. So, how about a little, 'I scratched your back, you scratch mine’?"

"I don't know if I want the Starlight role, Mojo. Leading actresses work stupidly long hours?—"

"But we get paid a ridiculous amount of money for those long hours," she says, cutting me off and backing up.

"What about Jett? I don't want to leave him stranded at school if a shoot day runs long or something."

She huffs out a breath, running her perfectly manicured nails through her lavender strands. "Girl, are you listening to me? I said I'd help out. Besides, we can find an after-school club or something near here. Jett will be nine soon, he can start riding in taxis, public transit and all that."

I laugh at that. "Absolutely not. There are too many lunatics out here to let my baby ride anywhere by himself."

"We'll figure it out. We always do, right? Maybe Luca will help out since he wants you specifically for the role. That must have been one hell of a kiss."

I nod because it was a hell of a kiss; two kisses to be exact. "He did say he can try to work around my schedule. What about this federal agent? She's looking into the movie to make sure it's real or something."

"As long as your paycheck is real, Jo, mind your business. Your business is acting so act like you want this job, and then plug me in as your supporting actress. We get paid by the day. So even if the fed lady shuts us down, we're going to get paid for the work we've already shot, right?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

She sighs. "Look, think about it. We can take a chance. Let's do one day and see if the vouchers are real, make sure a SAG rep is on set, really make sure it's legit before we're filming weeks for nothing."

"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him, I'll think about it."

She grins a toothy grin as she pinches my cheek. "That's all I want. Oh, shit, I gotta get back to set. Hang out here. I should be wrapped soon and we can go get Jett to celebrate."

That's exactly what I do, leaning back to get comfortable as Monique dashes out of the trailer. I hang out, scrolling through social media, and trying to ignore the heavy decisions weighing on my mind. At some point, I call Jett and tell him the good news. He's as excited as Monique is when I tell him about booking two acting jobs in one morning. He accredits the socks, of course.

Once her day wraps, it's in enough time to fight traffic to pick up Jett from school. Dinner at our favorite seafood restaurant is delicious, and the perfect way to celebrate the luckiest day I've had in a very long time.

Dinner ends with Monique going home before eight, since she has an early start tomorrow. Me and Jett head home to find the lights are on in the house. My heart races at the idea of someone rummaging through our belongings and taking what doesn't belong to them.

"Stay in the car, Jett," I whisper and nudge him backward.

"Why?"

"Because there's someone in the house. I'm going to call the police. Now, stay in the car."

"But Mom, I have Collin's lucky socks." Jett replies without an ounce of fear and hops out to run up the pathway.

"NO! STOP!" I shout and run after him.

The sound of my heart thumping against my chest drowns out every concern racing through my mind, and every command shouting from my mouth. Jett darts up the four steps and through the front door. Tears stream down my cheeks as I think the worst, chastising myself for not holding onto Jett tighter.