PERMANENT - Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 5 - Mission Accomplished

Tuesday 12.33pm

I opened my eyes to see the sunlight pouring in to my room, and quickly shut them again. A few minutes of lying in silence with my eyes closed won't do me any harm. But wasn't it weird that the sunlight in my room was on the completely opposite side than it is most mornings? I opened my eyes again and sat up, staring at the patch of sunlight. I grabbed my phone from the bedside table and looked at the time. 12.33pm, and 2 missed calls from work.I had overslept big time.

I've only had this job for less than a week, and I'm already slacking. I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, throwing my phone back on the bed as I ran. The bags under my eyes definitely didn't tell me I was ready for work, let alone face a new day, and I was far from the polished superstar that I expected myself to be. I thought that with getting a big movie role, I would become some sort of beautiful butterfly instantly, but here I was, standing barefoot in my shitty bathroom, the same damn caterpillar that I've always been.

//

I pulled up in my usual parking space outside the studio, and my rushed driving skills meant I took up 2 parking spaces instead of 1 – I guess I was that asshole today, but I didn't have time to people please. I slammed the door shut, running out and locking the car behind me without looking.

Jenny, the woman behind the desk didn't even question my presence in the building anymore, and buzzed me through straight away. "Jim! Jim I'm so sorry I'm late I completely overslept – I got in so late last night I didn't even realise," He looked at my panicked, and quite frankly, messy, state and laughed. "Actually I called you to say you didn't need to come in today. We have someone we wanna work with today so you can take the day off – go over lines, whatever." Jim said, preoccupied with the papers in his hands. "Oh," I breathed "that's a relief I guess. I wasn't even close to being ready today." I said, rubbing my temples, then looked up. "You gonna talk to Leo soon? I think we really should get on that if we want-"

"No need," he interrupted "he called in early this morning and accepted the role." My mouth dropped, and I shook my head in disbelief "and it wasn't even the casting agent that called either, he called in himself, personally, can you believe that? Huh, that kid continues to surprise me." He chuckled to himself once more. I felt more than proud of myself for my accomplishments last night. To convince Leonardo DiCaprio of his next career move in just under 10 minutes was an achievement and a half.

"So wh-what now? When can we start rehearsing?" I asked. "We have a month until we fly out to set in Baja, and in between now and then we have to get all your costumes fitted completely, and ideally, you should be familiar with your lines. Let us worry about the rest." Jim walked over to the phone, already dialling when he spoke, "Come in on Thursday, you'll meet Leo and you can get acquainted." If only he knew of last night's meeting. "Then you can meet the rest of the cast."

"But I'm free to go now?" "Yeah yeah you're free to go see you on Thurs- Oh hi Leo? Hi I've just received your files....." He was already on the phone. To Leo it seems. I walked slowly out of the building, taking time to appreciate my surroundings. The sun shone brightly in the sky, and the trees swayed with the breeze. I wondered if I would ever stop seeing this place differently, if it would become boring. I hoped not.

//

Slamming the door shut behind me, I trudged through my apartment and plopped myself down on the couch. I looked at my answering machine, but it was empty. Jake's napkin was still lying on the coffee table, untouched from last night, so I debated it over. With work constantly on my mind since the second I moved here, it meant that I had barely any time to make proper friends apart from Aaliyah. Jake seemed like a nice guy. Self-assured, yes, but in a weird graceful way.

I picked up the napkin and rang the number, waiting on each ring. He picked up after 5 rings "Hello Jake speaking," "Hi Jake it's Penelope. From the bar last night?" "Penelope, how wonderful to hear your voice again," he purred. Was I blushing? I couldn't be. "So your friends didn't come, no?" I could hear him smiling over the phone. "Yeah he came, smartass" I shook my head, grinning. "Oh he came?" "Well yeah he...." I stopped, finally catching up with the innuendo. "Wooow Jake you're a real funny guy," "Then how about this funny guy takes you to dinner. Say 8pm? Friday? I'll pick you up." I had to give it to the guy – he was a skilled ladies' man, whether from experience or just natural charm I wasn't sure. "Okay. Yeah let's do it. I'll send you my address when we get off the phone okay?" "Then I look forward to it. It's a date." "Yeah...guess it is," "See you soon Pen." "Bye Jake." He hung up.

I have a date. I have a very exciting job. I have some big paychecks coming my way and I have a co-star that is known and loved by every single girl on the planet. Maybe things were looking up. And maybe they'd stay up this time.