I Love You No Matter What

Chapter 14: Ben

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Andrews. We've heard great things about you," Gary says.

"It's great to be here. I'm glad you think my story is worth telling," I say genuinely happy.

Gary makes a face. "I'd want to talk to you about a few changes," he says.

"What kind of changes?" I ask fearfully.

Gary pulls out the script onto his desk. "The main character, Holly, should use music to coop with her depression. Since your sister is playing her it would bring another element to the movie."

"Holly is supposed to deal with her condition with support from her family," I insist.

"Yes, of course, but we should use Faith's talent," Gary says. His brown eyes intensely look at me.

I give a heavy sigh. "Fine. I'll rewrite the script," I say.

Gary smiles. "Thank you for working with me. Are you holding auditions today?"

"Yes. I'll have to use the old script," I decide.

"I will let you get on your way then," Gary says.

I leave his office in a deep funk. I just got in from a flight and I hate flying. The first thing I did was talk to Gary. That didn't give the confidence I needed at all to do this audition. It's bad enough this is my first time being on my own with a big production. Changes have been made to my film, and shooting hasn't started yet. The only good thing is that I get to see my older sister.

Before I go there, I decide to scout out some sights to shoot at. I previously made a few calls to places. The closest one is a track field. Holly's younger brother, Jack, is a track star. He never gets attention because of Holly's condition.

I pull up to the field, it doesn't seem like anyone is in sight, but the gate is open. I go to the gate to investigate. A woman is stretching out on the track. I'm too far away to see her features. I only see her vibrant red hair pulled back in a ponytail.

I walk through the gate to get a better sight of her. The woman looks up when I'm almost on top of her. She gives a startled look before sliding away from me.

I hold my hand out. "Hi. I'm Benjamin. You can call me Ben," I greet as nicely as possible. Even give a smile.

The woman politely shakes my hand from the ground. "Hi, Ben. My name is Anastasia." She has a French accent. One that is rougher than previous accents I've heard.

"Nice to meet you, Anastasia. You have a pretty name," I blurt out. My face reddens.

She laughs as she stands. I can feel my face getting warmer and warmer. Anastasia has on a purple sports bra and black shorts. I feel ashamed of my own body because she has a four pack. I focus on her green eyes. "Thank you. What brings you here?" she asks.

"This is where I'll be shooting a few scenes of my movie. What about you?" I ask.

"I love to run. Someday I'll be in the big leagues," she answers.

"That's great," I say. "I should probably get going."

"I should start practicing. Hope to see you again, Ben," Anastasia says.

I wave goodbye to her as I step inside my car. I drive off to the auditions. Many cars are parked outside the building. I come through the back to not cause attention to myself. Faith and the casting director, Gwen are sitting at a white table, waiting for me. I smile big as Faith gives me a hug.

"So good to see you again," she says. "It's only been two weeks, but it feels like months."

"I know, but you aren't done with me yet," I say. "Let's get these auditions started."