On the day of this telling William, unexpectedly, got off from work early. Thus not having any plans he decided to take a walk and find a quiet place to sit with a cool drink and enjoy the L.A. sun. His work at the software company kept him pretty busy and usually didn't permit taking an afternoon of like that. But an order he was in charge of had been cancelled at the last minute and, since it was friday his boss had informed him that he could call it a day early.
He stopped home to take a quick shower, put on a pair of Khaki-shorts and a T-shirt, and headed out the door. It was unseasonably warm that day even by California standards. The sun shone brightly, heating the pavement, and William resolved himself to find some shade and sit down.
Walking down the street he didn't know exactly where he was headed. He didn't know this part of the city well and decided to just explore a bit. After walking a while he started to feel hungry and decided to get something to eat.
Looking around he spotted a decent looking place. Through the window it looked quiet inside, a lot of tables being unoccupied. He bought a newspaper from a vendor and headed inside. He entered the restaurant and sat down at a table close to the back wall of the room. In this part of the restaurant he was, to his contentment. the only guest. Not much feeling like idly chatting with anyone, he was happy to be left alone to read his newspaper.
The waiter came to take his order and William ordered a light meal. He started reading the newspaper and after a few minutes the waiter came back with the food. Focused on his meal and his paper, and with his back to the entrance of the restaurant, he didn't notice the two women entering the restaurant. One was a short slender woman with long dark hair and the other a slightly taller woman with blonde hair. Both were wearing skimpy summer dresses generously showing off their legs. Approached by a waiter they conversed with him for a moment. The waiter took a look around him, said a few words, and left. The women then entered William's area of the restaurant. They scouted the whole room and, William being the only presence, landed their eyes on him. The blonde woman turned her head and said a few words to the brunette, who nodded approvingly without taking her eyes off of William. Together they approached him.
Focused on his newspaper William barely sensed the women shuffling up to his table. He didn't notice them until the blonde addressed him, "Hi. Are you Mr. Alexander? I'm Jennie Garth and this is Shannen Doherty." "Hi," the brunette said and extended her hand. William was taken aback at the sudden attention toward him and found himself tongue-tied. His bewilderment that he was suddenly being addressed in a familiar way by someone whom he had never before met, was eclipsed only by the excitement in him that he easily recognized the two women as the two famous actresses from the show Beverly Hills 90210. A show he watched with some regularity for the two very reasons now standing in front of him. As taken aback as he was he still managed to keep a straight face while his mind raced to figure out a response to their sudden introduction. Was he "Mr. Alexander"?
Knowing not to deny them their assumption if he were to keep their sudden, but welcome company, he simply extended his hand and hesitantly responded, "Yes, I am. Nice to meet you." He figured the illusion could last seconds at best, but that even the briefest of interaction with his two celebrity infatuations would be well worth any potential humiliation and scorn.
He shook Shannen's hand and then Jennie's. His conscience told him that he should correct their misapprehension about his identity, but his instincts told him just to play the scene out a few more moments to see what might happen. From the information available to him he deduced that they had been told by someone to meet a "Mr. Alexander" here and that they did not know him beforehand, nor had they even seen him before. If it meant getting to spend even just a few moments in their company he was happy to play that role, even if it was less than completely honest. "Won't you sit down?" he offered to keep the momentum going. They took him up on his offer and sat down across from him next to each other.
Not knowing where he would have begun, he was relieved when Jennie took the lead in the conversation. Looking at him hesitantly she offered, "Can we just say that we're both huge fans of your movie. I can't tell you how many times we've both seen it. We're really flattered that you are considering us for your next project. We almost didn't believe our agents when they told us your people had called and asked for us."
The pieces of the puzzle falling into place, William decided to risk it. Staying as calm as he could, he answered, "Thank you. I'm glad you liked my film. As I'm sure you know it's always important to follow the first success up with another one. So it's a really important project I'm working on now." He looked examiningly at the girls trying to gauge their reaction to his words. Their response would determine if the illusion had been broken.
To his relief Shannen nodded eagerly, "Yes, that's so true. In this town all it takes is one failure and you're yesterday's news," she said, wanting to ingratiate herself with him. The way she responded made William realize that the girls were in fact the nervous ones, not him. He was a Hollywood bigshot and they were merely actresses desperately hoping for a part in his next movie.
Realizing this he adjusted his outward disposition and proceeded confidently, "Now of course, I've got a lot more interviews and auditions to do before I decide who gets the parts, but I'll certainly be sure to consider you both," he said, deliberately sounding dismissive and trying to set up his end game which he had now envisaged.
Shannen and Jennie exchanged a nervous look and Jennie, with some hesitation, responded, "Well, we just want to make sure you know how much we really want to be in this movie. I mean, we're here and we're dedicated." She held his gaze firmly to make her point as clear as possible.
William, feeling he was now in control of the conversation, responded, "I understand, but...I guess my biggest concern is what the two of you would bring to the project. As you both know I like to keep a low profile and stay out of the media limelight as much as possible. I value my anonymity. The two of you, on the other hand, seem to always be the focus of the media's attention, and not always for good things. And I'm just wondering if that kind of potentially disruptive attention is what would be best for the project."
Disheartened by his unkind words the girls were both visibly disappointed. William, seeing in them the reaction he had calculated, then went for it, "Ladies, what I'm saying is that you will have to show great commitment to the project if I am to take a chance with you. So the question is: How committed are you?" The girls shared a glance and sat motionless for a few moments, absorbing his words. They had little doubt about what he was saying. William almost couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. He was almost saying everything per instinct and was surprised at how well his little fib was turning out for him.
After pondering his words for a few moments Shannen made up her mind. She inched forward in her seat, put her arms onto the table and leaned in to William. Looking assuredly into his eyes she said, "I'm VERY committed." She held his gaze long enough to make sure he understood. He nodded approvingly at Shannen and turned his eyes to Jennie.
Being nervous and feeling his questioning eyes on her she looked up at him and, even though she hadn't yet fully made up her mind, nodded, "I'm committed too, Mr. Alexander." It wasn't until after she had spontaneously voiced her intent that she actually decided in her mind that she would follow through on it. To Jennie, this movie was too big an opportunity to pass up.