SLEAZE: A Hollywood Comeback Story (Book #1)

Chapter 12

I left the office that evening with a smile plastered on my face and a spring in my step. Not even the bumper-to-bumper traffic flooding the streets or the conversation that I'd had with Michael on my way out could bring down my spirits. I switched on my car's radio and hummed along to the beat of the latest pop song.

Although it had nearly killed me to ask Phil-that arrogant, self-entitled prick--for help, today marked the first time that he'd followed through on a promise that he'd made to me in the three years that I'd known him. A part of me wondered if he was helping me out because he felt guilty for taking over my role as our fraternity's president but another part thought it was possible he'd grown up a bit since I'd last seen him. Either way, after explaining the situation with Sophie to him, he'd promised to call his dad about the casting notice. Meanwhile, I'd sat at my desk biting my nails down to bloody stubs as I waited for my cell phone to ring.

The call didn't come until five minutes before I'd been due to clock out and the first note of my phone's default jingle prompted me to cheer so loudly that Michael burst into my office looking alarmed. I flashed a thumbs-up at him as he stood frowning in my doorway while Phil told me that Mr. Thorne wasn't making any promises, but he would give Sophie an audition and a fair shot nonetheless. Grabbing a pen, I circled the following Wednesday on my desk calendar with three excited red lines and scribbled the words, "Frosting audition!" in the cramped space that remained.

As soon as I hung up, Michael demanded, "What the hell was that about?"

"Guess who just got Sophie an audition?" I grinned at him and his jaw dropped in disbelief.

"You're joking."

"Don't sound so excited," I said, getting to my feet and gathering my belongings from around my desk.

I slipped an arm into a blazer that had been hugging the back of my chair and stretched the kinks out of my back, cringing at the sounds my spine made. What a drag. I was only twenty-one and already working in an office was turning me into an old man. At this rate, I'd probably be two minutes from death by the time I turned twenty-five.

"On the one hand," Michael said as he thoughtfully stroked his clean-shaven chin, "I feel like I should take you out and buy you a beer. On the other, I'm pissed that you're making this so easy for her."

"How am I making anything easy for anyone? I'm just doing the job you gave me."

"Your job wasn't necessarily to do it well, Parker." Michael shook his head. "You remember the contract she signed-hell, you're the only reason that contract exists. Do you really think that I want to get stuck on babysitting duty once you go back to school?"

"There was never any rule that you'd have to take her on as a full-time client, was there?" I patted my back pocket to make sure that I had my keys and then clocked out for the day, switching my computer's monitor to sleep mode.

"No, and I could fire her tomorrow if I really wanted to. Still, since she first signed the agreement, some things have come to light that have made me fairly certain she'll find a way to hang around if she can."

"How?"

Michael raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Have you met her attorney? Don's a pit bull with a law degree. The minute he steps foot in this office-and if I tell her that I'm not taking her on, you'd better believe he'll be here in ten minutes or less-my head will be rolling on the ground and Sophie will be the latest addition to Geller and Klein's permanent talent roster."

"In that case, maybe you should try to, you know, be nice to her, or something," I said, hoping my comment sounded more innocent than the thoughts behind it.