Page 20 of Billionaire's Second Chance

Harry’s shoulders drooped. He averted his eyes from mine and frowned.

“I should be in the audition hall,” I said and walked away.

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll join you there.”

I turned. “That’s not important. You can remain here to handle the media crisis.”

“There’s no handling this, Damon. Only a new lead cast would help,” his voice drifted off behind me.

***

I walked in. Cole was doling out his verdict to the actress on stage.

“Could you give it more soul? The—” He paused as soon as his eyes caught mine.

I walked on, my back straightened with my head held high. Cole didn’t speak until I had sat down. They had left my seat empty, with Cole and Carl flanked on one side, Agatha on the other.

Cole turned back to the actress on stage. She hadn’t delivered. The hall still reeked of poor performances and mediocrity.

I picked the list of actors in front of me.

“Good morning.” Carl nodded curtly.

I couldn’t care less.

“Are these all the actors?”

He glanced at Agatha. She, in turn, eyed the sheets of paper in front of her.

“No, there’s still a couple more.” She sounded a little nicer than usual.

“Well, let them in.” I looked at my watch. “I don’t have all day.”

Picking a lead character shouldn’t be easy, but a second audition drained whatever little fun was left. It had been two hours already. Unlike the last time, there had been glimpses of hope from some actors, butshewas yet to show up.

I loosened my shirt cuffs and crossed my arms.

A wide-eyed actor, possibly in her early twenties, walked in. She whispered her greetings and waved hands that barely left her side.

Cole squared his shoulders.

“What’s her name?” he asked Agatha.

She forced a smile and wove her fingers together. I glanced at the door.

What’s taking her this long?

“Do you know why you’re here, Cassie?” He asked.

Even better. He could take up the questioning. This mess was as much his fault as it was mine. Him and everyone else at the desk. These conversations wouldn't be necessary if they agreed with me when I picked Ava.

I turned to my phone. A picture of a sheep wearing lipstick welcomed me. Above it was the caption,"The Lion King if Damon picked the cast."

It wasn’t funny. I returned to the actor on stage.Another weak performance.

The memes worsened. Some were repetitive, others slightly original. They all reeked of spite.

But Harry was right. Posts about the new movie had increased, and talks about Lily Rae and I had decreased. They wanted to know who the lead actress would be. Perhaps, I could use this in my favor. A pretty face to splash around billboards and replace the memes making the rounds online.

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