Page 16 of Such a Good Girl

“Bad bitch season,” Violet repeated.

“Bad bitch season,” I echoed, the warmth of the liquid courage the wine provided breaking through the wall of insecurity as I repeated the words in my head over and over like a mantra.

ChapterFive

WEST

When I walked into my office, the casting agents that the studio sent were already there. Spread across my desk was a pile of headshots of beautiful actresses, most of which I recognized instantly.

“Thanks for agreeing to meet here,” I said, sitting behind my desk. These meetings were so boring and unproductive. I was tired of carting my ass across town when nothing was moving forward.

I was too busy for this shit. I’d repeatedly described to them exactly what I looked for in a leading lady forLook At Me, Darling, and they’d failed to produce the woman I was envisioning.

So far, at least. I still held out hope, even if it was minimal.

“Of course, West,” Randy, the CEO of Face Forward Casting, smiled politely. I could see in his eyes that he was as irritated with me as I was with him. “We think we have some really good prospects today.”

“We’ll see,” I shrugged. I looked down at the photos, sliding them around as I studied them. There were eight of them and I discarded six immediately. “I know that the studio wants you on this project, but I don’t need a casting agent. I plan on auditioning and hiring all the actors myself.”

Randy was obviously prepared for this, because he didn’t so much as blink.

“We are just here to support your project. It’s actually common for an auteur such as yourself to cast roles in a small budget film. But I want you to know that there are tons of actors and actresses, that you probably haven’t even thought of, who are eager to fill your roles.”

I rolled my eyes, sighing as I looked at the headshots that were spread out before me.

“No, no, no,” I said, shaking my head. They were too tall, too short, too thin, too clean. I looked at the other two for a few minutes before discarding them as well. “These aren’t right. Do you have any others?”

“Well, there is one more. But I wanted you to see these, first.”

“Well?” I asked, my patience waning. “Who is it?”

With a sigh, he reached into the file resting on his lap and pulled out another head shot. He slid it across the desk upside down, with an apologetic expression.

“The studio is really lobbying for this actress to be the lead. They’re getting very aggressive about it, actually. They’ve hinted at pulling the funding.”

“It’s not their call,” I said. “It’s in the contract. It’s my fucking movie!”

“And that’s why they’ve only hinted so far. But you don’t want the studio execs unhappy if they’re the ones controlling the purse strings, West.”

“I understand,” I said, flipping over the photo with growing annoyance.

Danika’s face stared back at me.

“Absolutely not!” I said, standing up quickly and heading for the door. “We’re done here. Next time, do a better fucking job of listening, Randy!”

“West! Just talk with me, please. We need to make a decision soon,” he replied. “And they think casting Danika is a genius move. Considering your recent break up, with you two playing the lead roles, the chemistry would be off the charts. The natural promotion that would happen on the internet gossip sites would mean we could save a lot of money on marketing. Money that could go right into your bank account, West. Think about it.”

“Fuck that. I don’t give a shit about the marketing budget. I won’t work with Danika, Randy. Tell the studio that I’ll find my own leading lady.”

“If you don’t find someone acceptable, they’ll do it for you,” he warned. “Or, they’ll make me do it.”

“Fuck you, Randy,” I declared, before opening my office door and walking out.

Frustration and anger seemed to be my constant companions these days. I felt my blood boiling as I went to find Theo and Rian.

I found them seated at a table in the packed club, watching a group of applicants they’d called in to audition. We’d lost a few waitresses lately and we were doing cattle call-style tryouts tonight. We tended to be ruthless during the hiring process, putting the applicants through a rigorous interview and a difficult trial period before ever giving them jobs permanently.

I stopped by the table, taking in the room full of fresh talent. There were plenty of gorgeous girls with waitressing experience anxious to work for us. Several young women spotted me and blushed. They flipped their hair or pretended to pick something up off the floor to get my attention.

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