Spencer pulls the door open and holds it for me. I walk inside and rub my hands together to warm back up. We decided to walk to Rose’s work… which was fine, but it’s really cold out today. I guess it did give me the chance to wear my new coat, which was magnificently warm, but I wish I had gloves.
“We need to get you some gloves,” Spencer says.
“You read my mind… I was literally just thinking that.”
He winks at me and we walk deeper into the store. One of the women folding clothes near the back sees us and starts to walk in our direction. There’s two other women working, but I don’t see Rose.
“Can I help… wait… aren’t you....”
“Yes,” Spencer says.
She squeals and runs to the back of the store. It’s funny how often this happens when we go somewhere that employs girls my age, but I never seem to tire of watching it happen. Spencer just shakes his head and laughs. He sees it as part of being an actor and almost never shies away from the attention or signing autographs. I think the thing most people don’t know about him is that even though he’s famous, he never loses sight of who he is… which is amazing.
A few seconds later all three employees of the store descend on us. Spencer stays calm as they throw endless questions at him for a couple of minutes. He calmly answers them one by one, trying to let them take turns asking.
“We are looking for Rose,” Spencer says, jumping in as soon as there is a break in questions, “is she here?”
“You know Rose?”
“No… but Amy does.”
They glance at me, but their attention is back on Spencer in less than a second.
“Rose quit.”
“She told me she put in her two week notice,” I say, “but that was less than two weeks ago.”
“Wait,” one says, “are you the girl that convinced her to quit and move to L.A.?”
“Sort of. It wasn’t my intention… I just told her to follow her dreams.”
“The manager was pissed… so that was Rose’s last day and we haven’t seen her since.”
“Do you have her phone number?” Spencer says.
“I do,” the girl who greeted us says.
“If you could give that to us… that would be great. We also need to buy some gloves.”
The two other girls go back to folding clothes. The girl helping us takes her phone out of her back pocket and scrolls through her list of contacts until she finds Rose’s number. I take my phone out of my purse and create a new contact while I wait for her to find the number. She holds out her phone and I copy it over.
“Thanks,” I say.
“Gloves?”
“Yes.”
“Follow me.”
We follow her to a display near the register. They have a decent selection of gloves, most of which are just plain brown or black leather. There are a few different gloves in the plaid design that would match the shirt I bought when I was last here, but they seem a little too busy for my taste.
“How about these?” Spencer says.
He pulls down a pair of black leather gloves with a fur cuff and hands them to me. I slip my right hand inside the glove and wiggle my fingers around. They fit perfectly and they feel quite warm. I flip over the tag and raise an eyebrow. Half the price I paid for my jacket… for a pair of gloves.
“How do they feel?”
“Amazing… but I don’t need anything this… fancy.”
“What kind of fur is this?” Spencer says.
“Mink,” the sales girl says.
He nods and I hand him the gloves to put back on the display.
“We’ll take them.”
Spencer hands the gloves to the girl and we follow her to the closest cash register. I’ve learned never to argue with him about buying me expensive things. I’ve never asked him to buy me anything, so as long as he’s doing it because that’s what he wants to do… I don’t think I should feel guilty.
I take out my phone and text Rose while Spencer pays for my new gloves.
Rose, it’s Amy… I stopped by the store you worked at, where we met like ten days ago… but they said you were let go that day. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I got you an audition for this movie that’s filming here in Chicago… but they need you to audition at five today. Call me or text me as soon as you get this so I can get you the details and a copy of the audition script.
By the time I put my phone back in my purse Spencer is done and he is holding the gloves out to me. I take them one at a time and pull them on my hands. They really are quite nice.
“Thank you,” I say.
“You’re welcome.”
He leans in and gives me a quick kiss before we head to the door. As soon as we are outside I’m ever so thankful for the gloves… the wind has picked up and my hands feel toasty.
“Did you text Rose?”
“I did.”
I take my phone out of my purse to see if she texted me back… but there's no reply.
“Nothing,” I say.
“Maybe try calling her?”
I pull up her number and hit call. It rings once before an automated recording comes on.
“The number you're trying to reach has been disconnected.”
“Her phone has been disconnected.”
“Huh… that's weird.”
It is. Someone my age going without a phone is almost hard to believe. Imake sure the call has ended and get ready to put my phone back in my purse.
“Let me see your phone.”
I hand it to him and he turns around.
“I'm going to go make sure the number is right.”
“Do you want me to come?”
“No… it's fine.”
We're only a few hundred feet from the store. I find the closest bench and sit down just as he reaches the door and disappears inside. A couple of minutes drag by before he emerges and starts jogging back toward me.
“You got the number right… so they gave me her address.”
He hands my phone back and I pull it up on the map.
“It looks like it's a twenty minute walk… do you want to get a cab?”
“I don't mind walking,” he says, “I'm liking the weather… but we can get a cab if you're cold.”
“Walking is fine… my hands are nice and warm now.”
He smiles and takes my right hand in his as we start to walk. Neither of us says much of anything during the next few minutes, which is fine with me—it's nice to just do something with Spencer. That and it gives me a chance to run through my lines, in my head, for tomorrow's shoot. Thankfully the last few days have gone a little more smoothly… Ethan seems to have finally started learning his lines, which I have a feeling is the direct result of Jim embarrassing him repeatedly in front of the entire crew during the first week. I guess there's something to be said for the way Jim works… it seems he's exactly the kind of director Ethan needs to work with.
“What are you thinking about?” Spencer says.
“Not much… mostly about the movie.”
“How's it going? You really haven't talked much about it since the first couple of days.”
“It's going… it's all right, I guess.”
“You don't sound so sure.”
“It's just different than working with Dex… that's all.”
Spencer laughs and squeezes my hand.
“Every director is different… and Dex is one of the best. Not just at the films he makes, which is true… but he's also amazing at working with actors and treating them in just the right way so that he can get a great performance out of them.”
“That makes sense… it's definitely not that way with Jim. It's like he has his way of doing things and everyone has to fit into that mold… or there's going to be hell to pay.”
“Yeah… I've worked with directors like that before. It's not that much fun.”
A gust of wind blows my hair into my face and I sweep it back behind my ear with my left hand.
“No… it's not.”
“Just remember this is still a job. It's an amazing one… where we get paid very well for what we do. Sometimes in life you have a boss that you don't like, but that doesn't mean you don't do your job to the best of your ability. There's also the added bonus of time. Even if you hate working with a director, most shoots are going to be over in like eight to twelve weeks. That's nothing compared to what some people have to deal with at their jobs.”
“You're right… it's really not that bad.”
He squeezes my hand again and smiles at me.
“It's nice to be here with you,” he says.
“Thanks for coming… I know it's crazy to fly here for us to spend one day together, but I couldn't stand the thought of not seeing you for another day.”
“I'm glad I'm here.”
I look up at the tall buildings as we continue to walk. They might not be impressive by some people's standards, but growing up where I did it's amazing to see buildings like this on a daily basis. It's very cool and makes for an interesting city, but I'm not sure I could live in a place like this… it feels crowded and a little overwhelming. I guess maybe it's one of those things a person could get used to over time, but there's a part of me that will always be a small town girl.
“What are you thinking about?” Spencer says.
“Oh… nothing really.”
I turn my eyes to him and smile.
“You looked far away.”
“I was just thinking about what it must be like to live in a city.”
“L.A. is a city.”
“I know… but we don't live in a downtown area… and it seems more spread out than this.”
“Yeah… it's different. This reminds me more of New York.”
I look at my phone to check the address and then at the building we have stopped in front of.
“This is it,” I say.
It's a newer looking building that rises only six stories from the street. It looks almost dwarfed by some of the buildings behind it. We walk up to the door, which I pull on… but it's locked. Spencer scans the list of names with each person’s button on it.
“Here we go,” he says.
“Did you find her?”
“No… it's all last names, but I know how we're going to get in.”
I wrinkle my forehead. How are we going to convince someone to let us in if we don't know anyone in the building? It seems like that's the reason for these types of setups… to deter people from entering the building who don't live there or aren't good friends of those who do.
Spencer presses one of the buttons and waits for a few seconds.
“Hello?”
It's a woman's voice coming through the speaker.
“Hi,” Spencer says, “I live right above you… and I seem to have lost my key for the front door. I was hoping you could let me into the building.”
“Oh… sure… of course.”
There's a buzz from the front door and Spencer pulls it open. We walk inside and head for the elevator.
“How did you know she would let you in?”
“Her last name was on a slip of paper… she just moved in and they haven't put a proper one in. It's likely she doesn't know her neighbors yet… so it was worth a shot.”
I shake my head as he presses the up button on the elevator. I have to give him credit… it's very clever. If he wasn't here I would have been pressing every button and asking if anyone knew Rose and what apartment she lived in. It would have been a considerably slower process and I'm not even sure it would have yielded the same results Spencer was able to achieve in the matter of ten seconds.
“I know,” he says, as we step onto the elevator, “I'm clever.”
“You're a lot of things.”
We get out when the elevator door opens and walk down the hall until we come to the apartment that matches the address the girl in the store gave us. Spencer rings the bell and we stand back while we wait. The door swings open and a middle aged woman is standing in front of us. She looks distraught… like something is really wrong. I can tell she’s Rose’s mother just by looking at her, they have the same facial features and the same hair… she just looks twenty-five years older.
“Yes?”
“Hi… my name is Amy… I was wondering if I could speak to Rose?”
She frowns at me before looking me up and down.
“What do you want from her? She’s never mentioned anyone named Amy to me.”
“I… I actually just met her not that long ago… I… I would really appreciate it if you at least let her know I was here. I just need thirty seconds of her time.”
“How did you get in the building?”
I open my mouth as I try to think of a good excuse, but Spencer doesn’t miss a beat.
“My friend, she just moved into the building… she’s one floor up.”
“Irene Prescott?”
It’s the last name of the woman Spencer asked to let us in the building.
“Yes, Irene and I go way back. We were visiting her and Amy mentioned Rose, so I thought we should pop down and talk to her in person. Amy tried to call her, but it would seem her phone has been shut off.”
“And who are you?”
“I’m Spencer.”
He holds out his hand, but she doesn’t reach for it… she instead takes a step back into her apartment.
“Hang on… I’ll go see if Rose wants to speak with you.”
She closes the door and I turn to Spencer.
“Nice work… thinking on your feet.”
“What can I say?” he says. “I’m just that good.”
The door opens again a minute later and Rose is standing in front of us. She looks sad, but perks up a little when she sees me… and then she looks at Spencer. Her face lights up and she looks like she’s won the contest of a lifetime. Rose opens her mouth, but no words come out. She looks back to me and then at Spencer, again.
“Hi,” he says.
“Rose,” I say, “do you have a second?”
She nods, steps into the hallway and closes the door to the apartment.
“I… I… don’t….”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Spencer says, “but you should listen to Amy because she has a wonderful opportunity for you.”
Rose closes her mouth, nods and turns to me.
“I didn’t tell you before… but I’m in town filming a movie. Long story short… they are recasting one of the girls in the movie… it’s a small part, maybe a week or so of shooting… but I thought it would give you a jump start on moving to L.A. to become an actress.”
Her eyes grow wide as she looks at me, but she doesn’t say a work. Rose opens her mouth and just shakes her head.
“Are you… serious?” she says, finally managing to speak.
“Yeah… but the audition is at five and you need to nail it if you want the part.”
“I’ll be right back… I have to tell my mom.”
She opens the apartment door, goes inside and closes it behind herself. Spencer looks over at me and smiles.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he says, “you’re just cute.”
“Yeah? How come?”
“You’ve gone out of your way to help this girl's dream come true… people talk about that kind of thing all the time, but it takes someone special to actually do it. You’ve given her a chance afforded to a select few. I know it’s not a big part… but it has to start somewhere.”
“She just seemed like an honest person who knew what she wanted from life… but there was something holding her back.”
We both turn as the door opens again and Rose walks into the hall. She looks at the ground and shakes her head.
“She says I can’t go.”
“Seriously?” I say.
“Yeah… she says I need to pull my head out of the clouds and start looking for another job. She already took my phone away and shut it off.”
“How old are you?”
“I’ll be nineteen next month… why?”
“Let’s go.”
I take her hand and pull her toward the elevator. Spencer closes the apartment door as quietly as possible.
“Wait… I really can’t go… my mom would kill me.”
“This is your shot, Rose,” Spencer says.
“He’s right. I can’t promise you’ll get the part… there’s ten other girls auditioning. At worst, you’ve got a one in eleven chance of getting it… but I know you’re better than that.”
“You really think I could get it?”
“I don’t see why not,” I say, “if you come with us now and you learn the lines… this could be it. A couple of hours from now you could be an actress who is paid to be in major Hollywood films.”
“She’s right,” Spencer says, “if you get this part it’s enough to get the attention of a good agent who can get you more work. I’m not saying this one film will make you a star, I’m not involved in it so I don’t know the particulars, but this isn’t an opportunity that comes along more than once in a lifetime.”
The elevator door opens. Spencer and I step in, but Rose stands in the hall. I can tell by looking at her face that she’s struggling to make a decision. She looks at the door to her apartment as the elevator door starts to close… and she jumps in. Spencer presses the button for the lobby and we start to descend.
“Thank you,” Rose says, “for everything… I can’t believe this is really happening.”
“Thank me if you get the part… until then just try to focus on becoming Jamie.”
“What do you mean?”
The elevator doors open and we walk toward the front of the building. The walk back to the hotel should give me just enough time to give Rose a rundown of the plot and some insight into the character she’s auditioning to play.
“The role you’re going to read for, it’s for a girl names Jamie. The director is very particular about the characters and how they are on camera versus how he sees them in his mind. You’ve seriously got to nail the audition because he won’t accept anything less.”
She nods and swallows. Rose already looks nervous, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing—I want her to know how serious about the film Jim is because otherwise she might fall flat on her face when she auditions.
“It’s going to be fine,” I say, “you just need to pay very close attention to what I tell you about the character. Just clear your head and focus on creating a picture of her in your mind as I explain what she is like and how she acts.”
She nods. Spencer takes my hand in his as I start to explain Jamie. He gives it a light squeeze and when I look over at him he’s smiling.