Denise looked at the bill she held in her hand, the bright red "past due" stamp embolden across it and let out a heavy sigh. It wasn't the first or even second time she'd received such a letter from the power company and she was pretty sure she wouldn't be paying it this month either.
She tossed it on her small kitchen table and instead of opening another piece of mail, which was sure to contain another such notice, unlocked her phone and looked to see if there were any new auditions from her manager Jason.
She'd come to LA four years ago, like many girls, looking for fame and fortune as an actress, but instead had found the competition for roles far harder than she'd ever thought. She'd been the prom queen, valedictorian, homecoming queen and captain of the cheer squad as well, in her small mid-west home town. Everything had been so easy there, she had no experience like what she found when she arrived in LA.
Dozens of girls all just as pretty as her, just as talented as her, auditioning for the same part. But some were willing to go just a little bit further and work the "casting couch" for all it was worth. She had been horrified the first time one of the sleazy casting directors had slyly suggested a sexual favour in return for a part, but these days she just let it roll off of her and she moved on to the next audition.
Of course, every once in a while she'd gotten a part, something small, sometimes even with more than a single line. But more often than not, her credit read "Hot girl" and nothing more. But even those parts had started to dry up over the last year. Her biggest break had been in a big-budget remake of a cheesy 80's TV show that took place on the beach, where she had played as part of the ensemble cast and received a real credit as well. It had given her enough money to stay in LA longer than she would have otherwise been able to.
It wasn't like she wasn't hot still, at 24 she was in great shape. She worked out every day, watched what she ate and was meticulous with her choice of makeup and clothing. But the truth was that just like when she had arrived in LA four years ago, a new batch of young girls showed up every month, wanting the same parts as she was auditioning for and so the competition was greater and greater and she was no longer the "fresh" face in town.
In fact, she was one of the elders these days, with so many of the friends she'd made in those first few months having given up and left the business. She couldn't blame them of course; Tammy had returned to her home town and her previous glory, Britney had gone back to school and was going to be graduating this year with a degree in business, Laura, well Laura had found love, at least the love of money and married for it.
Laura had been the first to "leave" the group and they had all scoffed at her as she did. They would never compromise in that way, they were all going to make it! But Denise was the last of the group still in LA and by the looks of it, she'd be going back home by the end of the month unless something came up soon.
Unfortunately, her inbox was empty and so she started writing an e-mail to her manager before heading out to the gym.
* * *
Denise pushed the stray strand of dirty blonde hair back over her ear as she pumped on the peddles of the stationary bike, the message indicator on her phone blinking as she did so.
Her hand reached out and she slowed just a bit as she unlocked it and started to read the message from Jason entitled "Got something for you...".
She scanned over the attached script as she continued her peddling, a cheesy romantic flick to be sure, but the audition was for the female lead and it was from a major studio too!
She set her phone down and grabbed hold of the handlebars, pushing hard on the peddles as she mentally started to prepare for the audition.
* * *
Denise sat in the waiting room, it was the same antiseptic white as every other waiting room she had ever been in. There had been two other women there with her who's expression told Denise that they were thinking the exact same thing. Each one went in and sometime later came out until it was finally her turn. The two men inside were in the mid-forties by her estimate and could have been clones of a dozen other casting directors she'd seen over the years.
She had read her lines, gave it her all, and even though she saw one of the men give a genuine smile at the end of her performance, she didn't get her hopes up. As always they thanked her for coming out, told her they'd be in touch in a few days after the director had a chance to review the tapes, and then waved her out the door.
She'd wanted to scream of course, yell at the top of her lungs to give her the part, but instead she'd smiled and thanked them before leaving. At least neither had suggested anything more than the audition and she counted her blessings when she could.
That had been three days ago and she was starting to get worried that nothing was going to come of the audition, yet again. She sat on her couch, her long lean legs extended out on to the coffee table as she impatiently watched her phone. Unable to take it any more, she dialed Jason's phone number.
"Hi Denise..." his cheerful voice came over the speaker.
Denise gave him no chance to continue before blurting out, "Jason! Tell me you've heard something! Anything! You know I really need this!"
"Well, I..."
"I can't take it anymore, why haven't they called? Are they auditioning more people!?! What have you heard?"
"Denise, if you let me get a word in edgewise..."
"Oh... darn it, sorry Jason."
"That's ok. I was just about to call you anyway. They want you to come back for a second reading on Saturday. Can you make it?"
"Can I make it!?!?! Of course I can!" Denise replied enthusiastically and almost squealed.
"Good, I'll send you the address and time. Good luck!"
"Thanks Jason!"
* * *
Denise stepped out of the Uber and frowned a bit, the place was an industrial unit which seemed a little odd, but at least it wasn't the director's home or anything. That was always a big red flag and the last time it had happened she hadn't even gotten out of the car.
It wasn't the first time she'd had to go to an industrial unit for an audition though, and they had been a mixed bag in the past. Usually it was because the film or TV show was effects-heavy and they wanted her to try on some costume or make sure she could perform some stunt. Of course, this film being a romance, she was having a hard time thinking of why it might be this time.
Giving her shoulders a little shrug, she walked up to the unit and opened the door. The windows were completely covered and inside was a small room with a single empty desk, one chair in front of it and one behind, with a note on it. Beyond the desk was another doorway.
The note simply said "Come on in." and so she stepped around the desk and grasped the handle to open the door.
A tingle ran up her arm as soon as her fingers touched the doorknob, her lips parted and she let out a gasp as her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped forward, sliding down the door unconscious.
* * *
