With His Consent (For His Pleasure, Book 13) (9 page)

They would implode and take her down with them.

Was Lydia going to be yet another example in a long line of ticking time bombs that would go off and destroy Scarlett’s hopes and dreams in one instant?

Scarlett and Kallie weren’t close enough to survive this kind of disaster. If Lydia embarrassed and humiliated Kallie now, Scarlett would end up taking some of the blame, even though she’d been trying to protect Kallie.

But perhaps it had been a mistake to try and diffuse the Lydia situation. Scarlett didn’t want to have to placate Lydia and live in fear of what this girl might do in the future.

Staring out the window was getting her nowhere. She didn’t know if she’d call Lydia back or not, but right now she just wanted to forget about the whole thing.

So Scarlett went and ate some cold, two-day old pizza and watched TV. Then she went online and read some of the gossip about Bridge and Tunnel.

The movie was starting to hit the tabloids, especially after the brawl at the club had been reported in The Post. A whole slew of online bloggers and sites had repeated the gossip and now regular people were starting to take interest in the project.

Scarlett didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing, but Bryson’s picture was circulating the Internet and there were message boards discussing his looks and the black eye he got and his status as a first-time writer/director of such a big budget Hollywood film.

As she sat on her computer, scanning through all of the various websites, Scarlett experienced a growing sense of unease mingled with excitement.

This movie was going to be talked about and eventually one day they might know her name as well as Bryson’s. Probably not, as she was just his assistant—but if they ever started seeing one another…

And that’s when Scarlett shut her computer off. She knew that fantasizing about a relationship with Bryson was just wrong.

Whatever had happened between them the previous evening was just a mistake, and it was for the best that they’d stopped before it had gone too far.

But as she continued to think about Bryson, despite knowing that there was no sense in it, Scarlett finally had the thought:

Was it possible that things between her and Bryson had already gone too far?

***

The morning of the auditions, Scarlett was up early, dressed in a sensible black pencil skirt, fitted red blouse and black high heels. As she put on subtle gold eye shadow and clear lip gloss, she couldn’t help but wonder if Bryson would think she looked smart and sexy.

Once she was fully dressed and everything was in place, Scarlett grabbed her purse, slid her notebook into it, and then and walked outside the apartment and began walking to the train station.

She smoked a cigarette quickly as she walked at a fast pace.

Not thirty seconds after leaving the building, she heard a voice calling her from behind. The voice was familiar, and yet instinctively, something inside Scarlett said,

“Run, just run. Get away from this person. Pretend you didn’t hear them call your
name.”

But the voice was getting closer, and louder, and more insistent.

“Scarlett? Scarlett? Hey!”

Unable to pretend any longer, Scarlett turned in time to find Lydia walking towards her.

“Lydia,” she said, forcing a smile on her face and trying to pretend she was glad to see her. “What are you doing here?”

“There’s a great little breakfast place down the street. I was actually on my way to eat. I had no idea you lived in the area!”

Scarlett could tell Lydia was lying, but decided to ignore it. She was clearly dealing with a stage five clinger, and one who had blackmail material on top of it.

“What a coincidence,” Scarlett smiled. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get back to you yet, I’ve just been so busy.”

Lydia laughed maniacally and waved her apology off. “Don’t be silly. I know you’d have called me back if you could.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

There was an awkward pause. Lydia flipped her hair. “So, what are you doing now? Something fun and exciting, I bet.”

“Not really.” Scarlett tried to think of a good lie. “I’m just meeting Bryson for some movie stuff.”

“Auditions, right?”

Scarlett thought about lying, but if Lydia really did have information, she didn’t want to risk getting on her bad side. “Yeah.” She rolled her eyes, like the auditions were going to be boring. “How did you know?”

Lydia grinned. “A little birdie told me.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to be late for them. So I’ll call you tomorrow or the next day and we can maybe set up a time to hang out?” Scarlett asked, taking the last drag from her cigarette and dropping it to the cement.

Lydia watched it fall, and wrinkled her nose, like she thought the fact that Scarlett smoked was disgusting. But then her delicate features arranged themselves into a bright smile. “Or maybe we could hang out now,” Lydia said. “I’ve got time. I don’t have to go to breakfast.”

Scarlett just stared at her, unsure if Lydia was joking or not. “How can we hang out now? I’ve got—”

“Auditions, I know.” Lydia smiled sweetly. “You can bring me with you. Just like you promised me you would. Remember?”

“I said I’d include you whenever possible, but I’m nobody, Lydia. I can’t just invite you to these auditions. I’m barely invited myself.”

Lydia’s eyes narrowed. She took a deep breath, looking down momentarily.

When she looked back up at Scarlett, there was a frightening intensity in her gaze.

“Scarlett, I’ve really tried to be nice to you. I gave you that hideous contract and agreed to lie for you, because you asked me to. Of course I still desperately want to tell Sean and the rest of the world what a fraud Hunter Reardon is, and how he’s sexually subjugating Kallie when everyone else thinks he’s such a hero and prince.” She shuddered. “I mean, he’s kind of committing a crime against her. It’s like sexual…
slavery
or something.”

“Hold on a second—”

“But I’m keeping quiet, because we’re friends,” Lydia interrupted. Her eyes told a different story. Her eyes were absolutely threatening. “The thing is, I’m starting to wonder if we really are friends. I mean, I call you and you never call me back. You blow me off.”

“I’m not blowing you off.”

“And if you aren’t my friend, I don’t see why I should keep my mouth shut about what a whore Kallie is and what a pig Hunter Reardon is. I think maybe her family should be made aware.”

Scarlett felt nauseous. “Just let me make a quick call and see if you can come with me, okay?”

Lydia brightened. “Sure. You pull some strings, girl.”

Scarlett nodded, half-grimacing as she took her cell out of her purse and turned away to make the most embarrassing call of her life.

A moment later, Kallie answered the line. “Hey, stranger.”

“Hey,” Scarlett replied.

“Everything okay? You’re coming to the auditions today?”

“I am. And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. See, I ran into Lydia just now and she was hoping to tag along to the auditions with me if possible.”

“You mean Sean’s Lydia?”

“Yup.” Scarlett turned and glanced back at Lydia, who smiled and gave a big thumb’s up.

Kallie was silent for a long time. “I really can’t imagine why you would think that’s appropriate, Scarlett.”

“Well…it would be such a cool...like a favor to me…” her voice trailed off, because she couldn’t find the words. The embarrassment was killing her.

“Is she pressuring you to bring her with you?” Kallie asked.

“Maybe just a bit.” Scarlett bit her lip. She needed another cigarette ASAP.

“Listen, you just have to tell her no. There’s nothing for her to do here. I mean, this is a professional audition for a multi-million dollar film. It’s not like we’re going clubbing or something.”

“I understand. But maybe she could just come and hang out in the waiting room?”

“Scarlett, you’re putting me in a very weird position.”

“I know. And I’m really sorry about that.”

“Give me a second. I need to talk to Hunter. This is crazy.” And then it sounded like Kallie dropped the phone.

Scarlett was beginning to sweat a little, and her pulse was racing. This was like a nightmare that wouldn’t end. Maybe she really should just let Lydia go off and do whatever damage she was going to do now, and get it over with.

But then Kallie came back on the line. “Fine, just bring her with you. She can hang out in the waiting room, but only if she promises to be quiet and leave everyone alone to do their jobs.”

Scarlett breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Thank you, Kallie. That’s awesome.”

“People are there to do a job, not to entertain her. Tell her that, okay?”

“Okay.”

And then Kallie was gone and Scarlett was hanging up the phone and digging out another cigarette to calm her frayed nerves.

Lydia walked closer. “So, what did she say?”

Scarlett looked up. “She said, of course you can come by.”

“It sounded like she didn’t want me to come,” Lydia said, sounding suspicious.

“You only heard one side of the conversation.”

“I could tell you stuck up for me,” Lydia smiled. She put her hand on Scarlett’s arm. “Thank you for being such a good friend.”

“Come on, we better get a move on,” Scarlett said, turning and walking again.

“This is so exciting!” Lydia squealed.

***

By the time they arrived at Hunter Reardon’s production offices, Scarlett thought she would rather throw Lydia out the window than spend another second in the woman’s company.

Lydia had talked nonstop during the entire train ride, the walk to the offices, and even up the elevator.

When they arrived in the main waiting room, there was a receptionist who asked their names and purpose for being there.

“We’re with the film,” Lydia said, tilting her nose up.

The receptionist’s brow wrinkled. “In what capacity?”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “We’re on the team. We’re the ones who decide who gets cast and who doesn’t.”

“And your names?”

“Lydia and Scarlett,” Lydia said.

Scarlett licked her lips. “I’m Bryson Taylor’s assistant.”

“Oh, okay. Bryson’s already inside,” the receptionist said, pointing behind her to an open doorway.

“And I’m with her,” Lydia said, making as if to follow Scarlett.

Scarlett turned. “I think you’re supposed to wait out here for now.”

Lydia’s cheeks turned red. “Why would I sit out here? There’s nobody even out here. Am I supposed to make chitchat with the receptionist like I’m waiting to have a cavity filled?”

“Take it easy, Lydia.”

“I’m getting really fed up with this, Scarlett.”

“Just relax out here for a little while. I’ll make sure you meet Bryson and whoever else you want to meet. But give me a chance, okay?”

“Fine.” Lydia stalked over to a chair and sat down heavily in it, her face petulant.

Scarlett went through the door and found herself in a large room with a long desk and a camera on a tripod, pointed towards nothing in particular.

Sitting at the long desk were Bryson, Hunter, Kallie and Barbara Woods from Sony. Scarlett said hello to everyone and sat down next to Bryson at the very end of the desk.

He hardly acknowledged her, as he was deep in conversation with Hunter apparently. She pretended to write in her notebook so she had something to do, while she listened to them talk.

Hunter was paging through the script. “The main issue isn’t really the second act, though.”

“Of course it’s the second act,” Bryson said.

“No, it’s the dialog.”

“I think it’s the second act.”

“You’ve gotten notes from at least three different people on the dialog.”

Bryson folded his arms. “That’s not how I read it.”

“Well, I’m not sure what you’re reading then.”

“Of course I’ve tried to sharpen the dialog, but I saw the main issue as being the second act, and the fact that it drags a little bit.”

“It does drag—because of the dialog between the protagonists. When they’re together, we need to see more spark between them. Otherwise this thing isn’t going to fly.”

“Won’t the actors bring the spark?”

“They’re actors, not miracle workers,” Hunter said.

Bryson fell silent.

Scarlett felt the awkwardness of the silence and wanted to fill it.

But she didn’t really have a chance.

A second later, the receptionist was at the door to let them know that the first appointments had arrived.

There was a flurry of activity. A camera operator came in and sat down next to the tripod and started prepping to record. Kallie passed out headshots and resume copies for the woman who was about to audition.

Then the receptionist came back inside with an African American woman who was probably in her late twenties. She was dressed in skinny jeans, a flowing white shirt, with eye-catching earrings that glinted in the lights and she had a huge, infectious smile.

Hunter glanced at Bryson. “Let me take this from here, since you’ve never done this before.”

Bryson hesitated as if he didn’t agree, but finally just nodded. “Be my guest.”

Scarlett tried to catch his eye to make sure he was all right, but he wouldn’t look at her.

Hunter stood up. “Hi, I’m Hunter Reardon and I’m a Co-Executive Producer of Bridge and Tunnel.”

The girl smiled brightly. “Pleased to meet you.”

Hunter then went around the room and introduced everyone else to her.

While he was doing the introductions, Scarlett studied the woman’s resume. She had been in a lot of stuff, including commercials for Pepsi and Sony. She’d done theatre on Broadway and some bit parts in TV shows like Law and Order and CSI.

“If you could just stand right there,” Hunter said, pointing to a piece of tape on the center of the floor just a few feet away from the camera. “Stand on that mark, and state your name and the role you’ll be reading today.”

“Sure.” Again, she flashed that brilliant smile, which Scarlett found positively endearing. She liked this girl right away.

The woman walked to the mark and stood looking at the camera. “Hi, my name’s Jennifer Willis and I’ll be auditioning for the role of Gabrielle.”