Settling Down [KJ Apa]

Chapter Eight

"Thank you all for coming." I say to the thirteenth group of young men we've already seen today.

The search for our titular character, Holden Caulfield, has been hard. The men are either verbally just not there, or there just wasn't a connection with the character.

I sigh as I glance to my phone. It's been laying there, buzzing non-stop from notifications coming in. I groan as I excuse myself to check up on what is going on. I grab my phone, not even having to press the lock button since my screen has been lit up all round.

"Holy crap." I breath out as I read the top notification.

"What's going on?" Joanie, the casting director on my left, asks frowning.

"1914 made the shortlist." I giggle happy.

"What?"

"No way!"

"Congratulations!"

I'm hugged from every side as I take the credit that comes with. They finally let me go as I grab my phone. I snap a photo of the closed script in front of me and put it on Instagram with the caption:

How crazy is this? Working on #thecatherintherye casting and #1914 just got nominated for the Oscars. Thank you to my very dedicated actors and crew! It wouldn't have happened without you.

I send it out in the world and turn my phone off. I focus back on the matter in front of me as the next group of men streams in. My assistant distracts me for a moment to sign the press release for my Oscar statement.

"Alright, state your name, age and the role you will be auditioning for for the camera and continue immediately with the scene you have prepared." I speak up, my eyes still on the press release.

"Hello, my name is KJ Apa. I am 23 years old and I'll be auditioning for the role of Holden Caulfield."

________

"Well, I would say that was awkward, but it was beyond awkward, right?" Lucy, my assistant, breaks the silence.

KJ has just left the room and we've taken a 10-minute break to regroup before choosing a shortlist for callbacks.

"I should've known he was going to audition." I rub my face in agony, "I can't let him have the gig."

"Even though he was by far the best until now?"

I groan, "Why does this have to be so difficult?"

"It's natural, Georgia. Working together with an ex-boyfriend can bring strains on relationships and friendships, especially when you have a pool of common friends. Which is your situation right now. But you can't sabotage his career either."

"I know, I know." I sigh, ruffling my hair, "I'm going to have to make the hardest decision of my life about this."

"And you'll make the right one, as long as you think with your mind and not with your heart." She hands me a cup, "And here's your coffee."

"Thank you, Lucy."

She leads me to the room we've been holding auditions and I join the casting director Joanie and Martin to go through the auditions.

"Alright, so we have a ton of applications and only a few that were good enough for callbacks." Joanie starts our meeting, "Let's start with the first batch. So we have Dante Norris, Sean Whitt, Manuel Gonzalez, Xavier Morganson and Tim Fray. Any thoughts?"

"I didn't feel the connection with Dante and Manuel." I start, "Xavier, on the other hand, had some potential."

"Yes, he was the one that connected the most with the character."

"I agree with you. He's a little different that what I'd imagined as embodiment of Holden, but he could bring that particular je ne sais quoi to the table."

"He could be great as another role as well."

"Whom I really liked, aside from this group, was KJ." Martin nods and I freeze.

"Yes!" Joanie smiles widely, "He could be perfect for the role."

She scans his portfolio and her eyes stop at his list of previous jobs.

"Oh, he was on Riverdale. So, you worked with him before, Georgia?"

I clear my throat of the lump that had been forming, "Eh, yeah. Just for the month I've worked there."

"Is he any good? Like, did he listen well? Could he be an asset for the movie now?"

I sigh, knowing I won't be able to sabotage anything with them loving his performance.

"He's good." I nod, "A great actor to work with."

"Okay." Martin grins enthusiastically, "Then let's put him on the callback list."

We continue digging through the audition tapes and applications until we formed a callback list with 20 potential Holdens. I bid my goodbyes to Joanie and Martin, exhausted after a long day. As I exit the office, the sun is setting between studio buildings. I admire it while walking to my car. But my mood quickly makes a 180° when I see KJ leaning against my car. 

"What are you still doing here?" I ask to not create an awkward silence. 

"I wanted to apologize." He pushes himself off my car, "I should've known that you would be the director on this movie and I promised you to stay away from you, and I should've never auditioned anyways."

"KJ, it's okay." I smile dryly, "I could never stand in the way of an acting job. Besides, Martin thought you were great. We all did."

"Really?"

"Yes. You did an amazing job. And you will be on the callbacks."

He exclaims a shriek of gratitude and pumps his fists in the air. He does a few turns before he faces me again, his happiness disappearing a little.

"Are you okay with this though?"

"Yes!" I freak out a little, "Yes. We are in the same business, which means we have to tolerate each other and have to be able to work together."

"Quite mature, George."

"Work and past personal experiences separated, Keneti."

"Right..." He nods sadly, "Well, I'll be seeing you on callbacks, right?"

"100 per cent."

He walks away and a little part of my heart breaks off again.
How can I even be feeling this way when I have my perfectly imperfect life?

__________

Why hello there, my dear sweet readers!

It has been a long time since I have graced your Wattpads with an update, but here it is! You see, life has been a little busy, and I've been working on a million stories, and you know, just being a student.

Alright, so a few things have happened since my last A/N, so here's a little overview:
1. As of today, Hooking Up has over 44K reads and around 500 votes! How crazy is this? So thank you all for reading and continuing to trust me with this.
2. I am right on schedule with this story! Which means, the story is going according to plan and I hope you guys are loving it.

So anyways, thank you for your trust and I am confident that this story will see its finish line!

- Tess