Page 2 of Cast to be Mine

“But I have to deliver my lines with pizazz.” I wiggled my fingers over the steering wheel, the tiniest jazz hands I’d ever done.

“Say it.”

I groaned and did what she asked.

After I was done, I glanced at the screen to make sure the call was still connected.

“Loretta?”

“That,” she said. “That’s the whole reason I took you on and it’s the whole reason I haven’t dropped you even though you are, and I say this with love, the most stubborn client on my list. That was damn good. That was the fire they want to see.”

The brake lights ahead flickered. Somewhere in the wall of cars a horn sounded. We moved again, the right lane flowing. The temptation would be to push my way into that lane, but I knew better. They’d be at a standstill soon and I’d cruise on by.

“They put everybody on tape, right?” I asked.

“Every single read, and the director watches every single tape personally, which I know sounds terrifying, but it’s actually the good news. It means it’s not about who had the best blowout. It’s about what’s in your eyes.”

I pushed up my sunglasses and looked at my eyes in the rearview mirror. Did I have the right eyes? I didn’t know what eyes the director was looking for. Should I have put on more eyeliner? Less? Shit.

“Why didn’t you tell me he’d be looking at my eyes?” I muttered.

“They always look at the eyes,” she said.

“Great. Something else to obsess over.”

“You know…”

“Don’t,” I warned. “Don’t say it.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“You were going to say the thing you say every audition. And the answer is the same as it’s been every other time.”

“All I’m saying is, if you’d let me put your real name on the submissions, you’d be the leading lady. You have the talent. You just need a door to open. The Sterling name does that. It doesn’t get you the role but opens the doors. Lists get shorter. Rooms get bigger. Callbacks happen. It’s not cheating, it’s marketing. Your father spent thirty years building that name. It’s sitting there like a key to a house you already own and you won’t use it out of spite.”

“It’s not spite.”

“Out of principle, then, fine, but principle doesn’t pay your rent. Principles don’t make you a co-star with Jack Montana.”

“We’ve been over this,” I said on a long sigh. “If I walk into a room as Grace Sterling, I never know why I’m really in that room. I want to know if I got it because I’m good or because I’m Gordon Sterling’s daughter. If I use his name, I’ll never really know.”

“Grace, you’re talented but this business is all about who you know. I hate to admit it, but some of those young men and women waiting tables are better actors than half the A-listers, but no one will ever see them on the big screen because they don’t have connections. You have talent and connections.”

“I need to do this myself, Loretta. On my own merit. As Grace Stone.”

She was quiet for a moment. The traffic inched forward again. I could see the tow truck now, pulling a crumpled sedan onto its flatbed.

“You’re making my life a lot more difficult,” she finally said, but there was warmth in her voice. “But I get it. I do. And look, if you land this role and do a good job—which you will—other offers will come rolling in. And it will have nothing to do with your father.”

“That’s the plan.”

“Just promise me you’ll go in there and be yourself. The prepared version of yourself, not the over-prepared robot version.”

“I promise.” I glanced at the clock on my dashboard. Nine forty. Still plenty of time if this mess cleared up soon.

“And, Grace? One more thing.”

“Yeah?”