“Damn,” I utter, feeling even more intimidated.
“Should I be worried you’re going to leave me for a richer man?” Cassius asks.
“Of course not. So long as you can get me the part.”
“Oh, I’ll get you the part, but you’re going to have to play along.”
“How’s that?”
“Basically, don’t argue or contradict me. Just follow my lead.”
He climbs out of the driver’s seat and circles around the front to escort me out of the car, then offers his arm for me to take. He’s so old-fashioned. I love it. We walk up to the massive double doors and Cassius raps three times using the ornate brass knocker that looks like the MGM lion. A man dressed as a real-live butler opens it and escorts us inside to where a smiling Barry Behrakis sits on an elegant sectional sofa, wearing business casual clothes and sipping a glass of champagne.
“Adam,” he says, rising to kiss both my cheeks. “I see you’ve brought a friend.”
“This is my manager, Cassius Peacock. He helps me decide which projects to take on.”
Barry smiles, his thin mustache curling sinisterly above his lip. “Seems premature, doesn’t it? I thought you were still at the beginning stages of your career.”
“It never hurts to get a head start on these sorts of things,” Cassius says smoothly. “Wouldn’t want Adam to be typecast early on. Lovely home you have here, Barry. Is it a Hittmeir?”
Barry nods, impressed by Cassius’s knowledge of architecture. I’m not surprised. He knows all the rich people things.
“It is indeed a Hittmeir. Would you like a tour?”
“I’d love one,” Cassius says in his effortlessly posh way. I take note for when I possibly land the role of Tris. “Perhaps one day you’ll be able to afford one of these, Adam,” he says to me with a wink, and I get the feeling we’re now in character.
“Come, let me show you around.” Barry takes my arm. He walks us through the downstairs, which has a reception hall, a billiards room, a lavish lounging area, and a large office with piles and piles of scripts. The bedrooms must be upstairs. I hope to never see those. He brings us over to the full bar and offers to make us both drinks. I tell him champagne would be fine since that’s what he’s drinking already. Cassius declines.
“I’m on way too many meds for alcohol,” he says with a dashing smile. “How about a San Pellegrino?”
Once we’re sorted with drinks, we return to the sectional sofa. Barry sits so close to me that our knees are practically touching. Cassius takes up the armchair across from us.
“Your audition really inspired me, Adam,” Barry says. “It was so enigmatic and raw. I felt like you were channeling Tris’s character so naturally. Tell me, where did you grow up?”
I don’t want to lie to him, and I’m not sure that I could pull it off even if I tried. “Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.”
“Ah, but you haven’t got an accent.”
“Well, sir, I spent my first few months in L.A. getting rid of it,” I tell him in my thickest native drawl.
“Mmmm,” he says. “Outstanding. I so appreciate an actor who’s willing to work hard and make sacrifices for their craft. Not many people know this, but there’s a lot of room for expansion within the show. We’re casting a wide net and filming only the first few episodes. Then we’ll test them with a focus group to see who we may want to kill off and who we may want to expand their roles.”
“Sounds like baseball tryouts,” I tell him.
“For a relatively unknown actor like yourself, there’s a lot of opportunity here.” Barry rests one hand on my leg, and I smile like a doll. “But what does your manager think?” He turns to Cassius as if asking permission to proceed. Damn, I guess the rumors were true.
“Adam is still very green,” Cassius says smoothly. “What he needs is someone who’s established in the business to take him under his wing, to guide him and correct him.”
“Yes,” Barry says, nodding. “I thought the same thing myself when I watched his audition. So much unspoiled talent in need of honing. That’s the type of mentorship I can offer you, Adam.” His hand slides farther up my thigh, his thumb straying to brush against the ridge of my cock. I can’t help but get a little hard. Compliments are my jam. “Such fine bone structure you have,” he says as his fingers brush my cheek. “The camera is going to love you.”
“You think I’ll get the part?” I ask, remembering Cassius’s advice to get the verbal before giving the oral.
“Well, the decision isn’t up to me alone, but I do have a lot of sway.” Barry’s eyes travel over my lips and then lower, to my collar where my shirt is undone to nearly my pecs. I thought it looked silly, but Cassius insisted.Bait,he said. Barry turns to Cassius now. “Adam and I can hammer out some of the finer details if you’d like to leave him here with me. I can have a driver take him home afterward.”
“I’m content to stay,” Cassius says, “but Adam here is very accommodating to whatever you might have in mind. He knows what a unique opportunity this is, and he doesn’t want to squander it. Isn’t that right, Adam?”
“Yes, sir,” I say to Barry, letting my lips fall open. How could he not cast me now? This is probably my greatest performance ever. “I’ll do anything for a part. You only have to tell me what you want.”
