Chapter 2

Jesse listens to what Eliot has to say. He clears his throat.

“Uh, no, Eliot. I don’t have that much time. It doesn’t have to be anything major. Just, you know, something a bit better than whatever you’ve thrown me so far.”

Jesse restrains the urge to slam the phone down. He’s still seething with resentment as he remembers anaudition he’d missed and how Eliot had forgottento tell him about it. Yeah, right, like he doesn’t know how unimportant he is to Eliot. Whatever. The man is still his fucking agent and it’s still his fucking job to find Jesse auditions that he so desperately needs.

“What? What did you say?” Jesse has almost missed Eliot’s next words. “Oh, okay, that sounds cool. Yeah, okay.”

Jesse hangs up the phone feeling more positive than he has for the past several days. The audition that Eliot was telling him about sounds promising though it still doesn’t solve his immediate problem—where he’s going to sleep tonight. The landlord has been unyielding and as of now Jesse is homeless with almost no money to his name.

Jesse turns around and flashes a polite smile as he walks past a guy talking on his cell. He tries to act normal.

* * * *

Trey nods back at the extra walking past him. Trey loves people, and he especially loves getting to know the people he works with. He has noticed—Jason?—on the set a few times, but then, who wouldn’t notice that face?

The man’s gorgeous and he could easily be mistaken for a model. As far as Trey can tell from the few lines the man has had, a good actor as well.

Trey is brought out of his reverie by the woman he’s talking to.

“Oh, yeah, Kimberly. What was that?”

He met Kimberly on the set of Theater Highwhere they both played high school students. He clicked with Kimberly right from the beginning. She’s fun and funny, smart, and cute as a button. They keep in touch with each other, going on the occasional dates even though they’re no longer working together.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll get the role, babe. You’re awesome like that.”

Trey nearly jumps out of his skin when someone suddenly thumps him on the back, shouting in his ear and laughing like a maniac.

“Damn it, Brent!” he yells as he whirls around to see who it is. “No-no-no, Kim. It’s not you. It’s that weasel face Duncan again. He’s jealous of you.”

“What did you say? Is that Kimberly?” Brent laughs as he tries to snatch the phone from Trey. “Lemme talk to her.”

Trey cackles with laughter as he pushes Brent away. “Sorry, Kimberly, Brent was completely overreacting just now, totally embarrassing.”

“Fuck you!”

“Got to go. My boy here wants some attention now. I’ll see you soon, yeah?” Trey clicks his phone shut with a grin and he and Brent pummel each other playfully as they walk back to the set with Brent proclaiming to all and sundry that he would never ever be jealous of anyone who’s close to Trey.

* * * *

Jesse buttons up his jacket, shrugs his backpack up on his shoulder, and bends down to pick up his duffle. As he starts to walk towards the exit gate, his eyes wander towards the row of huge trailers used by the stars and he is suddenly overwhelmed with feelings of envy and self-pity. He knows that in the unlikely event that he gets to use one of the trailers, he wouldn’t need to have another place to crash. The trailer would be more than enough for him. It would be his home, not a mere resting place used during breaks in between shots.

Those rich actors have luxurious condos, and mansions even, places in which they hardly ever stay.

Such a waste…and so greedy, all of them…

He shudders at his thoughts and fights to shove them away from his mind. Damn it, he thinks and smacks himself inwardly. His mom would be very disappointed in him. After all her teachings—he grimaces at this reminder of the reason he left her in the first place.

A loud honk makes him jump out of his skin and an SUV cruises to a stop beside him. The darkened back window slides down and Jesse’s eyes widen in surprise.

Talk about the devil.

Trey Miller.

The actor is one of the big names he’d thought of so sourly just minutes before. Jesse cringes and hopes he doesn’t look too guilty. Oh well, my mind is my own. It’s not like he’s planning to steal from those actors. Or murder them.

“Jason, right?”

“Jesse,” he says, trying not to grit his teeth. Big stars can’t be expected to know the names of each and every single extra or PA on the set. Jesse gives what he hopes is his most winning smile, which may or may not have come out as a grimace.