showbiz // phan

Escape

Escape // Chapter Ten

"Philip Lester?"

Phil rose from his chair in the waiting room when he heard his name. It was weird, most auditions he went to had dozens of people sitting in the waiting room, but today, it was only him and a guy whose name apparently was Dylan, who looked nothing like him, which was another thing that was quite unusual for his auditions.

He walked into the room in which his audition would take place in. He only had two people sit in front of him, looking at him with interested expressions.

Interested? Usually, they just looked bored.

"So you're Philip Lester?" the lady on the right asked, a middle-aged woman with brown hair. Phil nodded and gave her a short smile. "That's right."

"You won't get a script today. We want to get to know you first, and then decide if you fit the style of the movie."

Phil furrowed his eyebrows. All Jesse had told him was that he was auditioning for a drama movie, other than that he had no idea what this was going to be.

"Okay?" he said, not sure what to expect.

The man on the left side of the woman gave him a chuckle. "You've never been to an audition like this before, I presume?"

Phil considered lying for a second but then realised that would probably be pointless. So, "No, not really," was what he said instead, which made the woman, as well as the man, laugh quietly.

"You don't have to be nervous," she then said and Phil furrowed his eyebrows once again.

"What exactly do you want me to do, though?" he asked and the man smiled.

"We want you to tell us a story."

"A story?"

"It can be anything. Just tell us a story about your life."

His life? What was interesting about his life? Except for...

"Take your time," the woman said and smiled at him. But truth was, Phil didn't need any more time.

And well, what he did next was... tell them a story.

"I... I came to London when I was nineteen," he started, biting his lip in thought before he continued. "Ever since I was little, I had the dream of becoming an actor. Everyone always told me how ridiculous that dream was. And after I came to London, and after I had stayed here for a bit, I started to believe them." Phil paused.

"I started to feel like... like Satine from Moulin Rouge. With my stupid dreams that didn't lead me anywhere and a guy that promised me the money to make it somewhere one day. But I hated it and started to get frustrated. I wanted to give up... But then... I met someone." Phil hesitated before he continued, trying to find the right words.

"He is the owner of a clothing boutique here in London, and we met because he helped me to find a shirt for my grandma's birthday." He chuckled a bit. "It's quite a weird story, actually. A few days later, we met again on the tube but we didn't get much time to talk or anything. However, the universe was apparently trying really hard to bring us back together, because a week later we met in a coffee shop." Phil smiled at the memory. "And for the first time in years, I met someone who believed in me. When I was about to give up, he would take my hand and help me get back up again. And I... I fell in love with him." Again Phil paused, waiting for irritated or maybe even homophobic reactions. But they both just smiled at him, encouraging Phil to continue.