"I know we weren't supposed to see each other until tomorrow, but I was looking forward to meeting my future castmate," says Jade, moving towards us and looking at me.

She pulls her big black sunglasses down to the end of her filin nose and breaks me down from head to toe. She's prettier than the picture on her resume. She's tall, tiny. Her long, loose blond hair is slightly wavy on the tips. She wears a wide and transparent beige tunic, letting appear her black bra and shorts in jeans very short. Her outfit ends with brown boots that go up to his knees.

"Hi, I'm Jade," she said to me with a big smile, holding out her hand.

"Jade, I have not yet given you a definitive answer about your participation in the film," reminds Gibson.

She pouts, drops the hand I was about to squeeze and puts her attention on him.

"My little Gibbs... listen, you know that I am perfect for this role, you said it yourself!" she replied. You said we need to do the chemistry test again. I'm here. He's here. Let's do the damn test now!

She seems to have character and to be very ambitious. I admire that quality.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We've just come back." With the jet lag, I would prefer to postpone the reading until tomorrow, replies the writer. Hero needs to rest.

"Oh... I can... well, if it's possible... we can read, I stammer, if that's all right."

"Great!" said the actress, who took me by the hand to train me towards a quieter corner, away from the office.

By the way, she grabs a copy of the script and drops me to take a seat next to me. With reluctance, Gibson follows and hands me a few sheets of the script. It's true that it's been a long trip, that we're in a whole different time zone, but I'm motivated to try it out with her. I like her spirit.

"You're going to read the scene," begins Gibson in a haunting tone, leafing through the pages of his copy.

I think he's having more trouble with jet lag than I am, it seems.

"Ah! The scene where Brody will speak for the first time to Violet." So Violet is sitting in a corner of the common room, away from the other residents. She's pissed and mad at everyone. Brody is sitting at a table, eating. He's intrigued by this young woman. He wants to know more about her. He decides to get up to go see her. Go ahead.

I take a few steps back, to give the appropriate space to play the stage, while Jade sits and looks away. I'm clearing my throat before I start. I'm breathing deeply, to focus on Brody.

When Gibson shouts "Action", I walk up to her and stop at a certain distance. I look at her a little before I speak. She pretends not to notice me.

"Hi," I said in an insecure voice.

As she turns her head towards me, I see her raising her eyes to the sky before putting them on me. I look briefly at the rest of my text. She's looking at me.

"Welcome, I will continue with a half smile."

She looks at me from head to toe, always that angry look on her face.

"My name is Brody."

She turns her head again, acting like I'm gone. I decide to sit next to her. I pretend to be embarrassed. I rub my hands frantically.

"You'll see, it's not too bad here. The meals are not disgusting and the doctors are..."

She looks at me again, and this time I can read a deep boredom.

"What made you think I wanted to talk?" She cuts me off, raising my shoulders.

I am taken aback by his question.

"Uh... it's always nicer to spend time with someone than to be alone, I answer without much conviction."

"I'm not a nice person, so leave me alone," she said.

I looked at her for a few moments before I got up and walked away. When I turn her back, she lingers on me before staring again at the void in front of her.

"And cut!" cried Gibson.

We come out of the skin of our characters and go to join him. He has a thinker look on his face.

"Yeah," he said. "It's not bad. We'll try another scene: the one where Brody and Violet come back from their little nocturnal getaway." You enter the establishment, trying not to make any noise, always in the euphoria of the moment.

I was glad to hear him say that he liked it. I had not played a role for years and I was afraid of being a little rusty. I'm starting to trust myself again.

I take a look at my script to find the scene in question. Fortunately, there are not many dialogues to memorize. However, everything will happen in the gestures and the look. We put ourselves in place before he shouts "Action".

We sit at the back of the room and we bow. I take Jade's hand. When the signal is given to us to play, we pretend to sneak into a building looking around us. We laugh discreetly. A few steps further, we straighten up, "being out of reach of the eyes of the supervisors of the center", as stipulated in the scenario. We are always laughing, trying to catch our breath.

"I can't believe it! It was really great, I exclaimed by putting my hands on my hips."

"Yes, that's crazy! I didn't think you'd follow me," she says.

I stop laughing little by little. I do the same thing. We fix ourselves. A slight smile remains on our faces.

"And now, what do we do?" she asked.

I put a hand on her cheek and caress her tenderly. She closes her eyes to appreciate my contact. Gibson is circling around us, capturing our looks, our gestures, our reactions.

"You have upset my world, Violet," I whisper, looking at it in love.

She opens her eyes, an air of panic runs through her face. As I approach her face, I am disconcerted by her sudden change of mood. She hastily releases my hand from her cheek. She wants to say something, but restrains herself. There is distress in her eyes. Instead, she turns her heels and goes in the opposite direction. Helpless, I watch her go.

"Cut!" repeats the writer.

I'm shaking my head a little bit to get my head straight. It was a powerful scene. Gibson doesn't say anything. He's applauding us instead. Jade hops on the spot clapping her hands, a huge smile on her lips, while I just laugh.

"So there... it was... on another level!" he exclaimed. "You bluffed me!"

Jade and I share an accomplice look. She approaches the writer.

"So I think it's official, isn't it?" she asks.

Gibson gives me an accomplice look before reporting it on the actress. I can't help but smile, knowing what will happen.

"Jade, you have the role of Violet!"

She starts screaming and jumping like crazy. She sweats happiness. She turns around and jumps into my arms. I give her back her hug, very happy she got the part.

"You have to go and celebrate," she shouts. "I'm paying for my drinks!"

******