Tainted Perfection [bxb]

Chapter 18 - New Apartment, New Girl

Music - Buy The Stars by Marina and The Diamonds

•••

Tony

"Wow, this is a lot smaller than I thought." Jack looked around the apartment as soon as I let him in our soon to be ex-home. "The new one's definitely an upgrade."

"I'm not sure if I should bring this couch or not," I said as I ran my hand over the couch's leather upholstery. "Maybe I should get a new one?"

"Keep it. It still looks good." Jack told me and decided to check my room. "You need to get a new bed though. Do you even fit in this?"

I nodded and sent him a smile. I replied, "Yeah, you're right."

"Well let's get started." Jack looked over the boxes and decided to carry the biggest one which contained our oven and Joanne's sewing machine.

I finally lifted the TV and signaled Jack to follow me downstairs. I heaved a content sigh as we began to move downstairs. "Big day today."

"And a bigger apartment." Jack chimed in.

"This feels like I'm now finally moving forward..." I told him then continued, "With the diner and...well, escorting, I was stuck. Everything felt stagnant."

Jack replied, "You're still young, Tony." When we finally laid the items in the van, he continued, "Besides, you're talented. It's always the talented ones that go far."

I cackled and shook my head while we made our way back to the apartment. "So far my talents didn't work for every single casting I attended," I spoke.

As we reached the apartment, there was a young lady waiting outside the door. When she looked in our direction, she smiled and began walking towards us. "You're Anthony Summer, right?" She asked.

I looked at Jack before returning my gaze to the woman. "Yeah," I confirmed as I nodded.

The lady reached out her hand in which I politely acknowledged with a handshake as she introduced herself. "Melissa Wright, I'm an intern from the EHM network." She said. She then continued, "I came here to talk to you about Inside the Outsider."
It took me a few seconds to make sense of what she was talking about. When I did, I started to feel anxious, yet, I didn't want to jump to conclusions and assume. Before she could continue, I invited her in and asked her to make herself comfortable on the couch. "Do you want a glass of water?" I offered and she nodded.

"I would've called you but you didn't put a telephone number in your form so I had to drive my way here." She told me. "It looks like you're moving, thank goodness you're still here."

I returned with a glass of water and handed it to Melissa. When she noticed my shaking hand, she sent me a smile. "So the actor who's gonna play Harrison is currently facing rape allegations. The network decided to recast him since the show has not really aired yet." She explained. "They said you originally auditioned for Adam Hopkins, but the casting director decided you fit Harrison's character more so you get to be an understudy."

I could hear Melissa's voice but somehow her words had not registered in my mind yet. I knew my heart was beating heavier than it usually should and all I could understand was that I was cast as an understudy. I felt Jack rubbed my shoulder and when I looked at him, he sent me a reassuring smile.

"So yeah, congratulations, Anthony, you get the part," Melissa announced with a warm smile.

"Oh my god, congratulations, man!" Jack beamed and he again rubbed my shoulders in excitement.

The news had not sunk in yet. I knew I was cast as the lead actor for the series, and all I could think of was the many times I went to castings for whatever acting gig that was available only to go home without booking anything. Except maybe for that time they cast me as Leonardo DiCaprio's butt double. But I couldn't jump in joy, cry in excitement, or even faint. I could only give a toothed grin. I'm gonna be on TV.