Staying Power Book 14 in the Action! Series (3 page)

Alex waved for the young man to show the
director in. Alex stood up, shaking nervously.

An older man in his fifties, with white hair,
clean shaven, wearing glasses, and a business suit, reached out his
hand as he entered the room. "Alexander, I'm George—"

"Ford. Yes. I know who you are." Alex shook
his hand and ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "I'm…I'm
just getting my makeup removed. I…"

"Carry on. Go right ahead."

"Have a seat." Alex gestured to one of the
few chairs that were in the room. The director sat down.

Alex did as well and his assistant continued
to help him remove the nails.

"I have a film script in mind for my next
feature, and well, I thought of you, Alexander."

Alex's jaw dropped. Moving from a nighttime
cable channel to a movie screen? He never thought it would ever
happen. "Me?"

George smiled sweetly. "Yes. You. I will, of
course, be in touch with your agent, but I wanted to meet you
first, and discuss whether you'd be interested."

The nails were removed and Alex's hands were
wiped off quickly. Alex asked, "Can I just take these contacts and
teeth out? I feel as if I can't see or talk."

"Of course!"

Alex made sure his hands were clean and took
out the contacts, placing them into the case his assistant was
holding out. Then Alex tugged off the teeth, also handing them to
his assistant. "Thanks."

"No problem." He got a discreet thumbs up
from his assistant as he left the dressing room.

Alex looked at his reflection quickly and
continued to wipe at the edges near his hair, getting the white
makeup off.

He finally stopped fussing and swiveled the
chair, facing Mr Ford. "There. Okay. I think I can function as a
non-vampire now." Alex laughed, a giddy nervous wreck.

George reclined on the chair, crossing his
legs. "Let me give you the gist of the storyline."

Alex was so excited he was never going to
refuse his first part in a major motion picture, was he?

"You will play the role of a young street
musician, living on the handouts of the tourists and locals in
Rome."

Rome…Alex felt dizzy with excitement.

"This young, innocent man gets caught up with
an international spy…an older man, who has sex with the young man
as a trick."

"I…I get to play a gay man?" Alex was
elated.

"Yes."

He knew before asking that this was not porn.
George Ford the famous director did not do porn! He did
blockbusters!

"Wow." Alex ran his hands back through his
hair. "I…I'm so flattered."

"Can you do an Italian accent?"

Alex gulped. "Sì, signore, grazie."

"Do you know how to speak Italian?" George
appeared stunned.

"Um. No. That's pretty much it." Alex
chuckled.

"We'll hire someone to help with the nuances
of the language. It's not going to be in Italian with subtitles,
but, of course, you need to convince the audience you have a
legitimate accent."

"Yes! Of course."

"We've only just begun the location scouting
and pre-production. If you think it's something you might be
interested in doing, I can send you the script so you can read it
and think it over."

Knowing he was about to jump on this man, hug
him and offer to do it for free, Alex calmed down and nodded. "Yes.
I am interested."

"You'll be gone for a couple of months
filming on location."

Alex looked into the man's stare through his
glasses and was slightly put off guard. Of course, the first person
he thought of was his husband, Billy.

"We'll make sure there are no conflicts with
this television schedule, and I've already had a chat with Will
Markham and he said the contract you have with the show is
non-exclusive when it comes to film and theater. So your agent,
Adam Lewis, did very well for you."

"Yes." Alex was still stuck on being away
from Billy for two months.

George stood, holding out his hand. "I think
it will be a pleasure to work with you, Alexander. My daughter is a
huge fan of your show and she's the one who suggested I ask you to
audition for the part."

"Wow. That's really nice of her. Thank her
for me."

"Can I get one of your autographed pictures?"
George pointed to a stack of promo headshots on the table near the
mirror.

Alex twirled around on the swivel chair and
picked one up, searching for a pen. George calmly handed one to him
from inside his suit jacket pocket.

"What's your daughter's name?"

"Frances."

Alex wrote, 'To Frances, all the best to a
wonderful fan,' and signed it. After he wrote it he felt stupid,
but it was too late. Standing, Alex handed the pen and photo to
George.

"Thank you. I'll be in touch through your
agent."

Alex nodded, watched him leave, then plopped
down on his chair and blew out an amazed breath.

~

Lt Billy Sharpe sat at his desk at IAG, the
Internal Affairs Group, of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Cleared recently for being involved in an on-duty shooting, where
Billy killed the suspect, he was thankful to have a job, let alone
be back at IAG.

Even though Billy had been at the incident as
a hostage negotiator, he got swept up by his old SWAT team and
their unbridled enthusiasm to get into an apartment and rescue the
hostages. Unfortunately, only one hostage survived, a four-year-old
girl. Not only did Billy take several bullets to the vest, he was
taken off duty during the board review and the agony of feeling as
if he had been run over by an eighteen wheeler was his constant
reminder of the lives he could not save.

Four months and a lot of healing later, Billy
was again the ally of the police on the department whose actions
were being judged, and weeding out the heavy handed morons who were
making a bad name for the men and women in blue.

"Sharpe," his name was called.

Billy looked up from his paperwork pile to
one of his co-workers.

"Captain's list is up."

Billy jumped to his feet and raced around his
desk, his heart beating hard in his chest. He heard the co-worker
laugh and Billy stood at the bulletin board and scanned the names.
"Fuck!" he yelled in joy, then covered his mouth, since the word
was not politically correct anywhere except maybe the streets.

A pat on his back came soon after. "Congrats,
Lieutenant. Or, should I say, Captain Sharpe?"

"Number two! I fucking made it to number two
on the list!" Billy pumped his fist into the air.

"Yup, get ready to leave."

"Yes! Yes!" Billy hated working IAG and
anything had to be better than this.

He took his phone out of his pocket and
scrolled the list. Pushing the 'call' button, Billy walked back to
his office, grinning with glee. He got voicemail. "Alex! I made
number two on the captain's list! That means I'll be promoted any
day, Baby! Champagne and lobster tonight, on me!"

Billy sat at his desk and couldn't wipe the
grin off his face.

~

Adam Lewis tapped at his computer keys in his
office in downtown LA.

"Adam?" Natalie Cushman, his assistant,
rapped her knuckles on the door and her head poked in, showing her
dyed dark purple hair, pierced lip and tattoos running up her neck.
"You're never going to believe who's on the phone."

"George Clooney," he joked.

"Close! George Ford!"

Adam was about to make a snappy retort then
asked, "For real?"

"For real!"

Adam picked up the flashing phone line
without hesitation. "Mr Ford? Adam Lewis, what can I do for
you?"

"Adam Lewis…" George said as if he were the
one who was impressed. "How is the world of spoiled rotten talent
treating you?"

"Fine," Adam said laughing, having no idea
this man was so personable and nice, always imagining him as the
Hollywood elite who would sooner turn up his nose to an agency like
Adam's – one who had an unfortunate past history of criminal couch
practices when the former owner was still alive. "What can I do for
you, sir?"

"A wonderful script came across my desk
recently and the lead role would be perfect for Alexander
Richfield."

"Alex—" Adam felt his insides jump in pure
glee. "Well, I am very interested to see the script."

"I already have a currier on their way and
it's attached to an email as well. Of course, Alexander needs to
read the sample for his audition. Can we arrange for him to come
for an audition today?"

"Today…" Adam thought about Alex's
obligations with the cable show and checked his watch. It was after
five on a Friday. "I can call him and see what his schedule is
like."

"I was just at the studio and spoke to Will.
Alex is done with his scenes for the day."

Adam was speechless. Alex would be the first
client of his that moved from television to the big screen. So not
only was this wonderful for the young man, it was a huge move up
for Adam as well.

"I also ran the plot for the film by
Alex…"

Adam's jaw dropped, and then he regained his
composure. "I have a feeling Alexander already agreed."

George laughed. "He didn't hate it."

Adam couldn't stop smiling.

"Okay, Mr Lewis, I'll let you get back to me
on Alex's audition. It's at the Ford Studios in Burbank. I know I'm
not giving you a lot of time for him to memorize his sides, but we
would really like to solidify the cast as soon as possible. You
know the PR machine."

"I do." Adam checked his email files, found
the attachment and began printing it. "Let me call Alex and get
right back to you, Mr Ford."

"George, please…and thank you, Adam, I think
Alexander will be a very good addition to the cast. He's got a
reputation as a very hard worker, and a true professional."

Tears burned Adam's eyes. He was like a proud
father hearing that from a man as well respected as George Ford.
"He is, George. He's one of the most amazing young talents I
know."

"I agree. Okay. Let me go and hopefully I
will see you soon."

"Thank you. Bye." Adam hung up, heard the
printer spewing out its ninety pages of script and was stunned.
After digesting the call he picked up his phone but before he
dialed, Natalie called to him, "Alex on line two!"

Adam picked up the phone and said, "Alex?" He
heard a scream of pure joy as Alex whooped and celebrated on the
other line. Adam laughed heartily and dabbed at the tears in his
eyes.

"I want it, Adam!" Alex laughed. "I don't
care what the script reads."

"Alex, calm down. I am printing it now. Let's
not be stupid. I know it's exciting and I'm sure the script is
wonderful…"

"Adam!" Alex kept laughing and dabbing his
eyes with his sleeves. "I have an audition to be the star in a
George Ford film. Duh!"

"He wants you to read tonight. Let me look at
the script and your audition dialog…hold on."

Alex checked his phone for messages as he
waited, and noticed Billy had called. He put the phone back to his
ear when Adam came back to him.

"Okay, the film is called Bedtime
Stories."

Alex heard him sifting through paper.

"Are you at a computer?"

"No. I'm in my dressing room. I just finished
a scene and was wiping off my makeup when he showed up."

"Okay. Shit. How do I get you the audition
script?"

"I'll just drive to your office."

"Okay. Come here. I'll help you memorize it.
There are only five pages. You'll be fine and he'll let you read
from it since it's such short notice."

"What time does he want me there?"

"He didn't say. I wanted to touch base with
you first. Look, come here, let's read the scene and then call him,
okay?"

"Okay!"

"And, Alex?"

"Yes, Adam?"

"Don't speed."

"Now you sound like Steven and my hubby."
Alex smiled at his reflection, still seeing some cake makeup on his
skin.

"See you soon."

Alex hung up the phone and continued wiping
the makeup off, leaning close to the mirror as he did, the phone to
his ear. He heard Billy's message and gaped at his reflection.
"Captain? Oh, my God!" Alex hurriedly dialed Billy's number but he
got Billy's voicemail as they played phone tag. "Billy! I'm so
happy for you! Cool! You are my hero." Alex tossed out the makeup
wipe and said as calmly as he could, "I'm going to go to Adam's
office before I come home. I have a possible role in a film. But I
have to audition…tonight. So, let me get to Adam's office, read the
script and call you then. Love you, and congrats, lieuten— I mean,
Captain Sharpe!" Alex hung up and took off the costume. He
hurriedly jumped into his jeans and shirt and slipped on his shoes,
then made sure he had his wallet, keys, and phone and barreled out
of the room, right into Charlotte. She gasped and stopped
short.

"Sorry." Alex made sure she wasn't hurt.

"It's okay, Alex. You have a right to be
excited. So? Headed to Ford Studios to audition?"

"Yes!" Alex scrolled the numbers on his phone
as he walked off.

"Good luck, cookie! Break a leg!"

"Love you, Char!"

"You, too!"

Alex jogged to the exit as he dialed his
father's phone number. He got his voicemail, also. "Dad, I'm headed
to Adam's office now. I may have a chance at a movie role. So he's
going to help me memorize the lines and then go with me to the
studio. So, wish me luck!" Alex hung up, not wanting to tell his
dad what he was up for…yet.

He waved at Buddy, the security guard, as he
left and sprinted to his car in the parking lot.

~

The last quarter mile run for Mark was
brutal. Steve keeping a quick pace beside him, jogged in just his
gym shorts and sunglasses, that was it. Mark had his hair in a
ponytail, a baseball cap on his head, wearing a tank top, which was
now drenched in sweat. At least it wasn't ninety degrees. Summer
was finally waning in Southern Cal.