Lights, Cameras, and Fake Action

Maggie

"Cut!"

It was as if the walls of the four-sided room were getting closer with each breath I took. It was like the air in the room was leaving.

I quickly blinked as the casting director blatantly cut off my performance. Disinterested, he spun a pencil around his finger and scribbled notes. Next to him, the assistant fidgeted with her nails. After a couple of seconds and a sigh, she lifted her head, not meeting my eyes.

"Thank you for your participation, umm," She squinted at the paper in front of her for a few seconds, "Magnolia? Yeah, um, we'll contact you if you manage to get the role. Have an amazing day."

The word "if" had an edge in the way she said it like she was suggesting that once again, I wouldn't make it.

My heels clanked as they hit the floor as I left the audition room, embarrassed.

As I walked into the hallway, I stared at the actors and actresses waiting for their names to be called. One girl gripped her paper as she mouthed the words for an audition. Another girl boldly sat up straight, and I knew she was confident in herself. I could see it in the way her shoulders didn't slouch, or the way her eyebrows didn't crease like everyone else's. It was either that or she was just an amazing actor. Another girl calmly sat as if she were reciting her lines in her head, while another aggressively shook her leg and fidgeted with her fingers.

Tears pricked my eyes, and soon the people in front of me turned into blurry figures. The corridor to the exit felt like it went on forever. I pushed the door open hard before sprinting to my car. I felt a drizzle on my skin. Or was it a tear?

Things were difficult.

As I gripped the steering wheel, the tears dripped down my face and onto the car seat.

At this point, would I ever make it?

Would I be stuck living this life forever, having constant auditions, just to work at a cafe and return to an empty house?

At this moment, it was just me and the clouds. The clouds reached their limit until they realized they couldn't hold it all the rain anymore, releasing their tears on my windshield.

No, I thought. I'm not going to just sit here and cry.

I've already been through the last three years of doing this on end. I can't give up now.

So then I blinked the tears away and drove to my shift at the cafe.

˙✧˖°📷 ༘ ⋆｡˚

After standing at the counter and handing orders for hours, the buzz at the cafe slowly dwindled until there was no one else but me left. I walked to the window and flipped the "Open" sign backward.

Just one more hour left, I told myself, And then I can go home.

What will I go home to?

Even the empty cafe is louder than my house. At least now I am comforted by the low buzzes of the cars and the conversations of the people passing by outside. At least I have them.

Riiiiingggg.

Weird, I thought. No one usually calls me.

I glance up from the floor and run to my phone on the counter. I don't recognize the number on the screen, but I pick it up anyway.

"Hello?"

I heard the voice of a tired female. "Hi, is this... Magnolia Bennett?"

My heart jumped for a second, thinking it was one of my auditions calling me back and telling me that I made the role.