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The bright early sun woke up Ryan, who had never felt calmer in his life. His role was a small one, but no matter the screen time he wanted the audience to relate, sympathize, and maybe hate a bit.

Ryan gripped his phone and saw two missed calls from Mark. He dialed his number and heard a gruff Bostonian voice that was in the middle of a spiel.

"Hold on, Taylor. First day and you're making a mess. Leave. Sorry. Hello, how you been?"

"Good. Still in New York. I got to do something else though." Ryan looked down at the cheap carpeted floor.

"Has anything come in?"

"Straight to work? Okay. Yeah, some indie work that you might like. I'll send a copy."

"Thanks, Mark. Have to go."

Ryan ended the phone call with brisk formality. He packed up all his things—which was not much—and grabbed a memento from the set: Seth's tie that props graciously gave him. He smiled at the receptionist and gave her his key, then called a taxi to Port Authority. The two-hour bus ride to Somersville was a cold, depressing, and cramped experience that seemed to reflect the anxious mindset he already had. He dialed his friend Ricky to pick him up from the bus stop.

A gray Corolla pulled up, and Ryan opened the car door to see a wide smile from his good high school friend.

"Yo. Nice to see you, Mr. Hollywood. Sorry, there's no red carpet for you to step on." Both friends smiled at the relaxed atmosphere of two friends enjoying each other's presence. Ryan already felt the looming wave of anxiety fade away.

"I'm starving, how about you?" Ricky put his foot on the pedal, and the car quickly sped away from the grim coach bus.

"YEAH. Planet Pizza. As usual."

They stopped at the pizza place, both old friends reminiscing about their high school days and the journey they had gone on. Eventually, Ricky dropped off Ryan at his childhood home, waving him goodbye.

"Tell Tess I said hello."

"Okay." The car sped off, but he could still hear Jamie Foxx's verse from "Slow Jamz."

Ryan braced himself as he was about to knock on the door. His hands shook as he put his fingers on his forehead. He pushed the doorbell and heard a flurry of footsteps coming down the stairs.

It's only been 2 months since I've seen her, but it feels like years. She's my number one supporter and always will be.

The door opened, the sun momentarily blinding the petite Asian woman who had the TV controller in hand.

Ryan immediately hugged her, small tears already forming in his eyes as his mom tried to put her hands to his head.

"You okay, son? I didn't know you were coming, you should have called." Tess shook her head and tipped on her toes to kiss Ryan on the cheek.

"Yeah… I wanted to surprise you," words slipping out like soda fizzing out of a shaken can.

"Well, come on in. Can you help me with the TV? I never know what to do with that thing." They both walked up the stairs to see red, white, and blue balloons and small American flags over the living room. So Ryan sat on the sofa and fixed the TV by pressing two buttons. He heard his mom's light footsteps in the kitchen followed by the sharp beeps of the microwave.

"You need any help?"

"No, come to table, food is almost ready." He walked up and sat at the glass dining table that had some confetti.

"You did a movie on Wall Street, right? So did you play with real money?"

"Ha. No, I just pretended to be an analyst. It was a learning experience."

Tess smiled as she brought out ribs and rice to the table. She loved her son whatever he did and always enjoyed how seriously he took acting, even at school with plays like The Great Toy Escape or Buttons and Spells.

"Where's Dad?"

"In London."

"They make him travel so much." He looked down at the food; the pizza from minutes ago didn't fill him up. As he was eating his mom's food, he kept blinking, trying to keep it together. The warmth of his mom's cooking was something words couldn't express. Her death, the end of his life, the foster care system, and his failed career seemed so distant. In a small city, in a smaller room, he found peace beside a mother whose heart could've held the whole world.

The rest of the day went heavenly. And when he finally went to bed, he had thoughts on his next film.

Let the next movie be about second chances and how there is no set future.

He opened up Mark's email on his phone and saw a bunch of small films offered. He saw The Lucky One (Logan Thibault), Chronicle (Matt Garetty), and The Bling Ring (Zach). He nodded his head, and at the bottom of the email he saw an audition for a film he knew he wanted to do.

Looper. Joe. Audition next Friday.