“Done. Now listen, I’ve done this before. Transitioning to acting doesn’t have to be that big of a change. We will shepherd you through this like the best of them have done.”
“I don’t know that I want to change career paths, Vern. I just want to play River Phoenix if they are offering.”
“They are offering, and who knows where it will go. I saw your audition tape and you were good, Cas.”
“You more or less have to say that.”
Vern grunts instead of responding. “I’ll send the contract over for you to look at. There is one other thing, though.”
“What other thing?”
“They are also asking if you would write the soundtrack. Like two or three exclusive songs—think Eddie Vedder forInto the Wild.”
They want what?I feel myself pace by the windows. “That’s. . .unexpected. Did you know that was even an option?” I ask.
“Honestly, no. But, if you think about it, it could be killer. Get with Steven, see what he says.”
“Steven. . .” I trail off. Vernon means Baylor Mann. It’s not a secret that Baylor writes songs under the name Steven Hale, but one has to search out that information to find it. Not only that, but everyone in the industry knows Baylor as Steven. He performed under that name, too, back in college. Steven Hale is the name that is on the songs he writes for me, never his real name.
“Yeah,” Vernon says. “They want the dream team. You guys writing and preforming an album for the movie. And they are willing to pay for it, too.” His voice gets quiet, serious. “I’ve never tried to be one of those agents to tell you what to do, Cas. You have a good head about the business. Surely I don’t have to tell you how big this would be? The marketing possibilities alone?”
I’m quiet a moment, soaking in the news. Too long, maybe.
“Cas? You do know how big this could be, right? A starring role playing River Phoenix? Writing the music? I don’t have to remind you how well biopics have been doing at the box-office—”
“You don’t have to remind me,” I cut him off. “I’m just taking it all in.”
“Listen. It’s a lot. Even for a star of your caliber. Think about it. Talk to Steven. But, you’d be crazy not to do this. Promise me you will try and get him on board.”
“Promise,” I say without thinking that one through.
When Vernon says his goodbyes I turn my wide-eyed gaze to Nix.
“I heard every word of that,” she says as I sit down on the couch, having now paced all through the suite of rooms during the call and all my limbs feel too heavy for my body.
I don’t know how long I sit like that, too many thoughts clambering in my mind to be heard. Like the rush of a big crowd in a big stadium.
Eventually, I notice a guitar in my hand. I hadn’t even registered picking it up, or strumming an old song, one Baylor wrote back in the beginning calledThe Long Way Down. I did the music, but every word is his.
It was popular when I recorded it for my first album, with more of a cult following than the mainstreamMidnight Blue. The song is slow, with a haunting chord choice fueling the lyrics. More often than not, when my hands start to play of their own accord, they go to this song.
I blink back up to Nix. I have no idea how much time has passed with me just playing this song over and over. “Sorry.”
She sits by me, her hand stilling mine on the strings. “Don’t be. I know how you process, Cas.”
I knock my shoulder against hers, both so tired and so overwhelmed I just feel like crying on my best friend’s shoulder.
“Cas?” she asks with my face buried against her shoulder, after I get myself under control.
“Yeah?”
“You could. . .”
I push myself up and still my hands on the strings instead of playing through another time.
“I could what?”
She looks at Caleb for a moment and I hold up a hand. “If you have something to say, say it, Nixy. We are family, right?”
