Chapter 5

Sophia

"Just take a deep breath. In, out, and remember your calming words."

I opened one eye to peer at Tori. "I don't have calming words."

"Then use mine. Repeat after me. Sangria. Chardonnay. Rosé."

"Those are just wines."

"No, they're calming words, and you need to be nice and Zen before you go in there, so less sassing, more repeating."

I sighed, absentmindedly toying with the plain white folder on my lap, trying to offset my nerves with positive thoughts. Considering it was the day of my first movie audition, that was easier said than done.

Moira had called me yesterday and had somehow managed to turn my nerves into excitement. She told me a talent agent was going to be at my audition. Lea Jameson was a friend of hers and had agreed to come out for it. Moira also gave me some last-minute words of wisdom that had calmed me down enough to let me get some sleep, paired with some melatonin, but that soothing effect was long gone.

I knew I was only auditioning for a small part. It wasn't going to win me any awards, and it would probably only be a blip in my career in the grand scheme of things, if I actually managed to pull it off. But it was still a real audition. Not an audition for a play being put on in my hometown. Not an audition for some low-budget movie being shot out of someone's backyard. This was my first real audition. I was so close to doing what I felt like I was meant to be doing, yet I couldn't will myself to move.

"Sangria. Chardonnay. Rosé."

"Good. Don't let them know you're nervous. Just take a deep breath. Just breathe, Soph."

"I am breathing. If I weren't breathing, I'd be dead right now."

"Shut up and breathe deeper."

Following her advice, I managed to steady my breathing, and felt the latest wave of nerves start to ebb.

"Better?"

I opened my eyes and nodded. "Much."

"Good. Now, get in there and knock their socks off. Show them what we Midwesterners are made of. And no, it's not corn."

"And on that note, I'm leaving." I rolled my eyes at her before getting out of the car, shutting the door behind me with a shake of my head. I looked up at the imposing, modern building where auditions for Kidnap My Heart were being held and took another deep breath.

"Here goes nothing," I muttered, walking towards the revolving glass doors. I hesitated before stepping inside, wondering if I was in over my head here.

A honk snapped me out of my thoughts. I spun around and saw Tori watching me. I gave her a thumbs up to reassure both her and myself. She leaned over and stuck her own thumb out the passenger window. I couldn't help but smile. Even if this audition was a total bust, I knew Tori would be there to help me cry it out and eat my feelings afterwards.

With one hand on the glass and the other clutching my folder, I pushed aside my unease and made my way inside. I had no idea where I was going from there, but luckily, the receptionist was able to point me in the right direction.

I opened the door and walked into the lobby, where a couple of people were already seated. Judging by their uneasy expressions and inability to sit still, they were likely hopefuls waiting for their own audition.

I didn't make it very far before I ran into something hard. The folder I was holding fell from my hands, and I just barely managed to catch it without spilling any of its contents.

The same could not be said for the plastic cup of Starbucks coffee the rock I'd run into had apparently been holding. It fell to the floor, its contents splashing the bottom of my legs. At least it was just iced coffee. A trip to the emergency room wasn't exactly how I wanted to end my day.

"Watch where you're going," a masculine voice snapped.

I started to apologize until I looked up and saw who it was that I'd run into, my face immediately dropping as recognition set in. Was the universe playing a cruel joke on me? How was it that in a city this big, I kept running into the one person I wanted to avoid?

The apology immediately died on my tongue, mostly because of his attitude, but also partly because the idea of apologizing to him left a bad taste in my mouth. I bit back the retort that nearly followed in its wake, instead moving away from the puddle of coffee that had pooled at my feet and ruined my poor, poor shoes.

He followed my gaze to the floor. Unfortunately for him, my shoes weren't the only casualty. "Great. Just what I needed today. What are you even doing here?"

"I don't know. What are you doing here?"

He didn't need to know why I was there, although I would've thought he could put two and two together. Sometimes I forgot he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal.

"Can you just answer a question without redirecting it for once?"

"Can you stop asking me intrusive questions?"

He gave me a flat look. Out of the kindness of my heart, I decided to humor him for once. Well, sort of.

"Hmm, let's see," I said, scratching my chin with feigned confusion. "'What are you doing here?' Well, I'm in the waiting room for the private auditions of Kidnap My Heart, so what do you think I'm doing here?"

Realization finally dawned on his features. "You're auditioning?"

"Ding, ding, ding."

Before Christian could respond, a quiet voice interrupted us. "Um, I can clean this up for you." A girl who looked to be in her early twenties stood in front of us, a nervous giggle escaping her lips as she spoke, her eyes never leaving Christian's as she twirled her light brown hair with her free hand.

"Oh. Thanks," he said, mercifully tearing his attention away from me.

The girl started to mop up the mess, her cheeks turning more and more red by the second as she worked around Christian, who seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he was in her way. Either she was too scared to tell him to move, or she didn't actually want him to.

"Is there a problem here?" a woman asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. In reality, I didn't know how long she'd been standing there. I'd done my research, so I knew who she was the moment I saw the strawberry blond hair and brown eyes. Nora Harding. She was a director whose niche seemed to be rom-coms, which meant Kidnap My Heart was right up her alley.

She walked over to where Christian and I were standing, accompanied by two other women I didn't recognize. They were probably either assistants or producers, if I had to guess.

Just as I told her "no," Christian said "yes."

"Well?" She raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow, an inscrutable look on her face. "Which is it?"

"There's no problem here," I said.

"Tell that to my coffee."

I rolled my eyes, momentarily forgetting where I was and who else was in the room. "I will gladly give you $5 to buy a new one if it means you'll shut up about it." I was pretty sure someone as rich and famous as Christian didn't even carry $5 bills, much less have a need for them, but if it got him off my back, I was willing to sacrifice my own coffee money.

Luckily for me, Nora now looked more amused than anything else. "You're here to audition, you said?"

I was about to reply when a tall woman with a sleek, black bob walked in, dressed in black from head to toe. She strode over to join our impromptu circle when she saw us.

"Lea. I almost thought you wouldn't make it."

"I got held up in traffic," she said, stuffing her phone in her purse, which was also black, of course, because aesthetics. She looked over at me. "And you must be Sophia Hastings." She held out a hand with a small smile.

I focused all of my attention on giving her a firm handshake, hoping to give the illusion that I wasn't completely in over my head here. "That's me."

"Moira has told me all about you. She spoke highly of you, don't worry. Am I just in time then?"

"You are. You're up next, Sophia," Nora said, nodding her head towards the room I'd be auditioning in. My stomach sank when she turned to Christian. "Christian, why don't you tag along? You don't have anywhere to be, do you?"

His eyes widened, as if he'd been caught in a compromising position. "Uh..."

"Blake's not here yet, and I'm assuming he somehow talked you into coming here."

Christian seemed reluctant to answer. "He did, but I'm not auditioning."

"I'm not asking you to. Still, I'm sure you can spare a few minutes and tag along."

Christian let out a quiet sigh but nodded, following us into the room. I tried to appear cool and collected on the outside, but on the inside, an alarm was going off. For what possible reason could she want Christian to come along if not to audition? The role I was going for was a girl who hooks up with the male protagonist. What if he got that role and I, by some miracle, got the part of Natalie? My stomach churned at the thought.

I must have looked as queasy as I felt because Lea walked over to me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "You'll do fine," she said, confirming my suspicions that she'd sensed my distress. "Just take a deep breath and let go of that tension in your shoulders."

I let out the breath I'd been holding in and nodded thankfully.

The auditioning room was mostly empty, except for a few decorative plants, a huge, shiny black camera in the corner, and a lengthy, white table at the front of the room. There were papers strewn all over the table in what appeared to be an organized mess, along with a few laptops. There was already a man sitting at the table and another walking around. Nora and the two women who were with her took their seats at the table. I walked over and handed them the folder containing my resume and headshots, while Lea and Christian stood beside the table. Lea looked impassive, while Christian looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Nora and one of the other women walked over to where Lea was standing, initiating a quiet discussion that even Christian didn't get to be a part of. While I desperately wanted to know what they were talking about, I couldn't exactly go over there and ask. Whatever the conversion was about, it was short-lived. With one last nod to Lea, Nora walked back over and took her seat at the center of the table.

And then we were off. Rachel Collins, the casting director, told me the audition would be taped and asked me to slate myself, i.e. state my name and the part I was auditioning for. "My name is Sophia Hastings, and I'm auditioning for the part of Natalie."

Natalie was only in one scene in the movie and didn't even get a surname. Her purpose was pretty much just to show what a womanizer the male lead, William Knight, was. I hadn't read the book yet, but Tori had filled me in on pretty much everything I needed to know. Even though Natalie wasn't my dream character, I was still ready to put everything I had into this audition.

"Christian will read the lines of William Knight," Nora said, looking down at her computer.

I felt my eye twitch involuntarily, but I didn't say anything. I certainly wasn't in any position to argue with her or any of the others.

Christian, on the other hand, had no trouble voicing his concerns, and for once, I was glad to hear him speak up. "There must be someone else who could read those lines."

"This is why I called you in here," Nora told him with an impatient sigh. "You were already here, and I thought it would be perfect."

"I already told you I'm not auditioning. I don't know why Blake even asked me to come in the first place."

By Blake, I assumed he meant Blake Grey. Those two were pretty much always together, from what I could tell, at least when Christian wasn't with his flavor of the week. And yes, I would be the first to admit I knew too much about Christian's life, mostly thanks to Tori, but also partly thanks to my own masochistic curiosity.

"You don't have to audition, Christian," Rachel said. "Just read a few lines, okay?" She handed him a copy of the audition scene.

Unfortunately for me, that was all the fight he seemed to have in him. With another sigh, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Okay."

"Alright, let's start."

Christian and I got into position, standing in front of each other while still keeping some distance between us.

"I have to go, babe," he began.

"What? Can't you stay a little longer?" I stuck my lower lip out in a pout, taking on the most whiny, annoying voice I could muster. I was surprisingly good at it, which made me wonder how often it came out without me realizing it.

"No. I'm sorry, baby. I really wish I could. I'll call you sometime, okay?"

Even though he was just reading the lines, he didn't do it with the monotone Tori often used when she was helping me practice. I still wasn't sure if it was just that boring to her or if she really was that bad an actress.

"Sometimes?" I asked in disbelief. "Willy Bear, I am tired of hearing 'sometime' and 'maybe.' I want something real. I want to hear some sort of commitment from you."

He didn't reply.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Listen, Natasha –"

"Natasha?" I cried, stumbling back a little as I recoiled from his words. "My name is Natalie!"

"Shi – sorry. Sorry, Natalie. Listen, I don't think we should hang out anymore."

"Is that what you think this is?" I let out a loud, angry breath, my hands shaking at my sides. "Hanging out?"

"I thought I was clear with you from the start. Natalie, I just... need space. Yeah, space. Sorry. Besides, you deserve a real relationship. Not... whatever this is."

"No. I will wait for you, Willy Bear," I said, trying to appear as intense as I physically could, considering how ludicrous this character was. I mean, she called him Willy Bear, for Pete's sake. "We could have a real relationship one day. I'll wait as long as I need to."

He wrinkled his nose. "I don't think you want to wait that long. Besides, you'll probably be old and wrinkled by then, and I wouldn't want you, anyway."

My face scrunched up into a scowl. If this wasn't just a read-through, this would have been the part where Natalie jumps up and heads towards her closet for her softball bat.

His eyes went wide as he started backing away from me. "Uh, this has been fun, but it's over, and I'm leaving. Bye."

With that, the scene was over.

Rachel smiled at us. "That was great, guys. It felt very natural, even without the blocking."

I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips. It hadn't felt natural to me at all, so I guess I'd done something right if that's the impression she had gotten.

"Although... Sophia, could you do another scene?" Nora interjected slowly.

"I wasn't aware Natalie was in another scene. Do you want me to do a monologue?"

"No, she isn't in any other scenes. A monologue won't be necessary, either. I want you to read Emma van der Bilt's lines. Christian, would you keep reading Will's lines?"

My eyes were the ones that went wide this time. She wanted me to read Emma van der Bilt's lines? Emma was the female lead. The mere thought made butterflies erupt in my stomach. Still, I tried not to let it show and went along with her request, even though I had absolutely no idea what was happening.

I walked over to the table again, where Rachel handed me a new sheet of paper. I surveyed the scene on my way back to the center of the room as Rachel looked through the folder with my resume and headshots, silently reviewing its contents.

"Just do the same thing you did for your first tape," she said. "Except this time, let's try adding some of the blocking. You don't have to do everything motion for motion. I know this is the first time you're seeing this script. Just stick to the basics. Improvise if you want. This is totally casual. We're just seeing what happens. Let's start."

I nodded and locked eyes with Christian. "I'm going to run into you again for the start of this scene. Don't spill your coffee on me this time."

He rolled his eyes. "Just go."

I pretended to walk into the room looking for Christian. When I didn't find him, I turned around, prepared to check somewhere else. That's when he materialized behind me, and I ran into him again. "I was just looking for you," I said with a laugh, steadying myself as I took a step back. But he didn't say anything. He just stared at me. After a few more seconds of silence, I faltered. "Uh... Will?"

His mouth tilted upwards a little as he finally answered. "I'm staring. I know. I can't stop staring."

I tried to focus on anything but the way he was looking at me. I knew he was just acting, but I guess he hadn't gotten this far just because of his looks. He was convincing enough to make me uncomfortable. Unfortunately, my attempts to focus my attention elsewhere led to an assault on my nose. He was standing so close that I noticed something that smelled like cologne, but stronger. Was I imagining things? It was starting to burn.

"You're beautiful," he whispered, hesitantly reaching out to place his fingertips on my cheek. I fought the instinct to draw back from his touch. "So, so beautiful."

My breath caught in my throat. "You're not too bad yourself."

I did my best to internalize my discomfort, but in the end, my watery eyes, burning nose and itchy throat won out. "I'm so sorry, can I just take a minute?" I stifled a cough, still trying to power through it.

Christian looked slightly taken aback. He paused before addressing me. "Why do you look like you just drank a bottle of hot sauce?"

I just shook my head.

"Oh, come on. You've never been shy about telling me how you really feel before. Why start now?"

I hesitated, glancing over at the others in the room before lowering my voice. "One spray of cologne, Christian. That's all you need. Not ten."

He opened his mouth to respond, his eyes narrowed, but was interrupted. 

"Actually, I have another scene in mind that I think might feel a little more natural. Well, there are several I think you guys could pull off, but we'll try this one for today."

For today? That made it sound like there'd be a tomorrow. It sounded too good to be true, but I wasn't going to be the one to question it.

Rachel handed us each a new sheet, giving us a moment to study it. It didn't take me long to realize why she had chosen it.

When Nora asked the cameraman if he was ready to go, we learned he hadn't bothered cutting the tape. It had caught every second of me struggling to get through that scene. Great.

Shaking my shoulders out, I pushed those thoughts away and focused instead on nailing this final scene. It was the only thing I could do at that point.

"What the hell –" I said, slipping back into character, except this time, it was a little easier to pull off.

"Good morning, sunshine," Christian said. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

I looked over at him in alarm. My surprise quickly faded into amusement. "I'd say good morning, but judging by the boner on your face, I'd say you weren't having such a good one."

Now, this was my kind of character. She had spunk – enough of it to hit Christian's character in the face with a pair of handcuffs, leaving his eye swollen and bruised.

"Actually, I'm having a pretty good morning," he said. "My luck's about to change. You want to know why?"

I didn't say anything.

"You know what? I'm feeling generous. I'll tell you why. I've just successfully kidnapped the daughter of one of the richest men in the country. So face boner or not, I'd say I'm having a pretty damn good day."

"Don't start counting your lucky stars just yet. This isn't over."

He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it, though? I'm not the one who's naked and tied up in a stranger's back seat."

Luckily for my character, by naked, he meant in a bra and underwear, not completely bare. I looked down at myself in alarm, but didn't let it show on my face for too long. "Twelve hours ago, you were the one who was naked, beaten, and lying on the side of the road. I assure you, if your tiny brain managed to figure out how to turn this around in your favor, I can do the same, and it will go ten times smoother."

"A bit overconfident, aren't we?"

My lips settled into a smirk. "Worried?"

"No. I can handle you."

"If you could handle me, you wouldn't have gone to these extremes. Is there any part of me you didn't tie up or duct tape?"

"Yeah, your mouth. Clearly that was a mistake."

Rachel had us skip over a few lines that belonged to the other two main characters, until it was time for our characters to speak again.

"Welcome home," Christian said, the corner of his mouth tugging upwards into a smug smile.

I looked at my surroundings in shock before screaming at the top of my lungs. He flinched at the sound and put a hand over my mouth to make it stop.

So I did exactly what the script said my character did. I bit him. Hard.

He let out a stream of cuss words that would have made any grown woman blush and screamed. "What the fuck, Sophia?"

I let his hand fall out of my mouth and laughed as he stood there and frantically waved his hand around, rubbing it on his shirt to wipe off the spit.

He looked at me through narrowed eyes. "You weren't supposed to actually bite me."

I shot him the most innocent smile I could muster. "Whoops. Must have slipped my mind."

"What kind of an actress are you? For Christ's sake."

"The kind that gets deep into character, of course."

He just scowled at me and shook out his hand again. Meanwhile, Nora and Rachel were engrossed in their own conversation at the table. They seemed amused, occasionally glancing back at the two of us as they spoke, although I wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

I chewed the bottom of my lip, pretending to be fascinated by the sheet of paper in my hand while ignoring Christian's chastising. I already knew I shouldn't have done that. I didn't need him to tell me that. I honestly wasn't sure why I went that far, but when it came to Christian, all self-control seemed to fly out the window.

All I could do was hope I hadn't blown my one shot at this. At that point, I would have been grateful to be cast as an extra.

Hell, I would've taken the role of a tree again.