“Hey, Iris. How did she do?”
Hailey’s elated squeal answers me. “Daddy, I’m gonna be a TV star!”
Oh, no … She got the part. My heart sinks into my stomach, and I mourn Hailey’s normal life.
I can’t let her know how much it saddens me, though. I have to act happy for her, even if my heart is breaking. “That’s great, honey! Can you give the phone back to Miss Iris so Daddy can talk to her?”
“Uh huh.” There’s some clattering on the other end, then Iris’s voice returns.
“Sorry. She wanted to be the one to tell you, but I didn’t know she’d scream it into the phone.”
“So, I guess now I sign away her life, huh?”
Iris groans. “Yeah. Sorry. She’s got more auditions to do, too, for the other kid. They want a schoolyard romance campaign, so we’ve still got to find a little boy that the client likes and make sure he’s got chemistry with Hailey.”
Chemistry? She’s four! “Um … okay.”
“Don’t worry, Micah. I’ll be here the whole time.”
“This campaign … She won’t have to kiss the boy, will she?” My poor dad heart couldn’t take it if Hailey’s first kiss was on camera, in front of a whole production crew.
“Oh, no! No, it’s not like that. Fade to black, Micah, I swear. There’s no kissing written in the script, and I’ll be here to make sure they don’t do any rewrites that you wouldn’t approve of.” A gruff voice in the background mutters something I can’t hear, and Iris pauses. “I’ve just been informed that it can be written into the contract if you’d like: No kissing.”
Thank God.
“Well, Micah, I have to go. Mr. Jones is itching to get the rest of these auditions done today. I’ll call you back later, okay?”
“Yeah. Keep me informed.”
My gut’s churning by the time I hang up. “Keep me informed”? Who the fuck says that to their girlfriend when they end a call? More importantly, who the fuck says that tothe woman he loveswhen he ends a call? This whole audition thing must really have me messed up.
I try to focus on the rest of the conference, but my mind is back in California with Iris and Hailey. I want to be there to supervise this audition process and support my daughter. Instead, I’m sitting here thousands of miles away, attending panels that could have been Zoom calls and having meetings that could have been emails.
All of this is stupid. I could have been—shouldhave been home with my girls.
If I’d been home, Hailey would never have even gone to the office with Iris. Iris would never have been put in the position to have to mediate the audition and the contracts. This whole mess is my fault. I could kick myself.
The conference ends for the day around five, but several of the attendees discuss going out for drinks later, maybe seeing some of the nightlife that New York has to offer. I bow out, preferring to go back to my motel room and just shut myself in for the night. I don’t want to party. I’m too fucking old and too much of a dad for that. When you’ve been married, the player life just seems ridiculous and unnecessary. When you’re in love, it’s just dumb.
Why would I want to go out drinking and flirting when I have Iris back home?
Once I’m shut into my motel room, I grab my phone and dial Iris. I want to hear how the rest of the auditions went, and more importantly I want to hear her voice.
“Hey, Micah.” She sounds exhausted. “We’re still at the office. They finally found a little boy for the campaign, but the moms almost rioted when we announced the girl had already been cast. They all thought I intentionally jumped the line. Trying to smooth over that little blunder has been a nightmare.”
Crap. I forgot about the time difference. It’s still midafternoon there. “I’m sorry, Iris. Anything I can do?”
“No. I’m okay. The client’s lawyers are sitting down to draw up the contracts now. You should have an email within the hour for you to e-sign. Then, hopefully, we can go home. I know I’m tired, and I’m pretty sure the magic has already worn off for poor Hailey. She’s napping in my desk chair right now. Just zonked out after they hired the boy actor.”
That hits like a punch to the gut. My daughter is exhausted from working, and she’s not even in kindergarten yet. “Iris?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not making a huge mistake, am I? I mean, these kids have limits on the hours they can work and everything, right? I’m not signing Hailey up for late nights or days on end of shooting?”
“No! Micah, I swear, there are child labor laws out the wazoo to prevent that, plus I made sure they put an even tighter limit on her contract. She’ll be home for dinner every night, and she’ll have allotted time on-set for her workbooks. I even worked in a tutor for her. Pinky promise.”
God, just when I thought I couldn’t love Iris more, she goes above and beyond to make sure Hailey’s safe and well cared for on set before the shooting even begins. “Thanks, Iris. That means a lot.”
