Read Online Falling Into You by Lauren Abrams - Free Book Online

walk in, there he is , sitting on the couch under a blanket .
    “Your agent called,” he states in a monotone . “Said to wake you up and have you call him whenever you get home. Your phone was off or something.”
    It’s probably the longest conversation we’ve had in ten years, and I do n’t respond at all.
    I nstead , I gi ve him a long, even stare. He’s shriveled up and gotten smaller, and is nothing more than a shell of an old man. I nod my head, and he sighs and retreats under the blanket. I can’t offer anything else.
    I move quietly into my old room, which looks exactly the same as when I had left. There’s nothing of me in this room, just pieces of furniture and picture windows overlooking New York . I had stopped thinking of it as home as long time ago, and the nearly empty room reflects that. My bags had been shipped by the studio, and they’re sitting neatly in the corner of the room.
    After flopping onto the bed, I look at my phone. 17 missed calls and 28 text messages . Had I been gone that long ? I glanced at the time. 3 am. Apparently, flip flops had been more distracting than I realized .
    I thumb through the messages. Sam had sent a few.
    9:49 W ord, man?
    10:26 U at Sophia ’s? Bad news, son.
    1:33 Call me.
    There were t wo from Christine, one of which included a picture. Against my better judgment, I decide to open it. She’s unbuttoning her shirt, showing one of her perfectly rounded breasts (a boob job was practically an entrance requirement for Sampson) and giving me what I think is supposed to be a sultry look . C sumthing u lik?
    No. There was nothing there that I liked. Maybe there was something that could serve as a temporary distraction, but there was nothing I liked about her . Not the fake hair or fake boobs or the trashy message. I sh ake my head, clearing it.
    All the rest of the texts are from my agent.
    They want u .
    Who wanted me? I start thumbing through the list more quickly.
    James Ross movies. Audition. James Ross.
    This was the part that I was sure I had never even been in the running for in the first place. The part I hadn’t even been able to admit that I wanted. The part that would make me certifiably famous.
    I call my agent, Mar cus, my hand shaking as I dial .
    He rushes immediately into a diatribe . “Chris. Where the fucking hell were you? You need to answer your goddamn phone. Fuck. This is James Ross. The big time, and you’re off fucking anything that breathes. No girl is bigger than James Ross.” I don’t offer a response, because I’ve learned that it’s better not to interrupt Marcus once he really gets going. “ Here’s the deal— Alan’ s in New York at the end of the week and he wants to get this thing cast right away . You used to know Alan, right? Wasn’t he a buddy of your dad’s at some point? ”
    He was.
    Marcus keeps going. “ Maybe we can use that. I sent the script in the overnight mail to your apartment . One of the producers saw that piece of shit movie that you did about the submarine, so they asked to see some of the dailys from A Fairy Tale . This is a direct quote—Someone in casting thinks that ‘ you have the right blend of masculinity and charm for the part. ’ They probably also think that you’ll show the fuck up on set when you’re supposed to. I am having serious doubts about that part of it after this whole fucking I don’t answer my phone business. ”
    “ Sorry.” I wasn’t , really . I had enjoyed the conversation at the diner too much to be sorry that I hadn’t picked up the calls.
    There was a pause so I continue . “ Marcus, I know we talked about the movie, but I thought they wanted… ”
    He cut s me off abruptly. “They want to stick to what made the first round so successful— a mostly unknown lead who’s good-looking and young enough to keep pumping out these movies for another decade or so. It’s made for you. It’s yours. And it will mean a shitload of money for both of us . You need to nail