Read Beneath His Darkness (Healing Hearts #3) for Free Online Page B

romanticized him as the second coming of Christ in the TV, movie, writing, you name it, category.  Most people in this business do.
    I understand the hype.  He started college at eighteen like most teens do, but he was never ordinary.  He went to school for business management, but while he was there, he took classes for producing, directing, lights and sound, casting.  Hell, he even took acting classes and helped with the sets and costumes.  He made it his personal mission to learn every aspect of the film business.  There is nothing he can’t do when it comes to making a TV show or movie.
    Actors flock to him, producers and directors beg to work with him.  It’s kind of awe inspiring because of how difficult he is to work with.  He watches all auditions, has the final say on the actors for any show or movie he’s written, and even scouts talent himself.  He picks locations.  Basically, he’s the shit and has the last word on everything.  Still, people line up for miles to work with him.
    The last person waiting to meet me is Jagger Abel, the director.  I shake his hand and say my hello, making sure it’s a firm handshake.  I don’t want to give off any sign of being weak.  All my research on him led to finding out that he comes off as a nice guy, but under that cowboy hat and those boots is a guy ready to exploit any failing one may have.  He’s quick-witted and even quicker tongued.  I’ll be sure to watch myself around him.
    Eddie walks me back to the center of the room and shows me two strips of tape.  “That’s where you stand to start,” he says.
    I nod my understanding and hand him the script.  He gives me a look of confusion.
    “Don’t you want this?”
    “I’m good,” I say.
    I watch him smirk.  He thinks I’m about to fuck up this audition.  Little does everyone in this room know, I have a near photographic memory.  I spent the first ten minutes reading through the script, the next ten minutes reading it a second and third time.  By thirty minutes in, I was working on putting emotions to the lines.
    It’s not a lot to memorize and every prospective actor was given at least an hour to prepare.  That’s not normal for auditions, but I’m coming to find that Eddie Carmichael does things very differently.  He wants to make sure he sees the best auditions.
    “Tuck, you ready to go again?” he asks over his shoulder.
    Tucker jumps from his chair and walks toward me.  I smile.  This audition became easier the moment I saw what the scene was.
    I take a second to get myself into character.  I tell myself I’m looking at Micah, Tucker’s character, and I’m Quinn.  I easily flow through my lines, feeding off Tucker, putting everything I have into my performance.
    I let hatred burn through my words.  Fire blazes in my eyes.  My stance makes me feel several inches taller, more intimidating.  Tucker acts back against me and I thrive on it.  I want him to see that I’m just as good as he is, better even.
    “Holy shit!  That was awesome.  I would have thought you really had it out for me if we knew each other,” Tucker says, smacking me on the shoulder.
    It takes all my energy not to smack him back.  I mentally have to yell at my hands to stay by my sides and scream at my fingers to stay straight.  They want to clench into a ball and fly toward his smiling face.  Instead of letting my knuckles connect with his mouth, I simply say, “Thanks, man.”
    “Thank you for your time, Mr. Andrews.  We’ll call you by the end of the week if we’re interested in a second audition.”
    I want to laugh at how calm and professional Eddie is.  They’ll call if they’re interested in me.  What a joke.  I can see how impressed they all are.  I know a call back is in my very near future.
    I thank Eddie, making sure, for a second time, I don’t gush over him, and wave to the others in the room.  Davyd winks at me and I know I’ve just found my inside to get whatever