icon on the screen and brought the phone to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Riley Townsend?”
The sound of a woman’s voice filled Riley’s ear and she tried to decide in a flash whether it was the woman she’d seen at the audition or someone else.
“Yes, this is Riley,” she said quickly.
Just then the door to the back of the restaurant opened and Jenny—one of the other servers on duty—poked her head out.
“Riley, get your ass inside! We’re flat out in here!”
Riley grimaced, glancing in Jenny’s direction for an instant. She held up one hand, putting up her index finger to indicate that she would be one minute.
“Riley, it’s good to finally reach you,” the woman on the other end of the phone line said. “I’m pleased to be able to tell you that we were so impressed with your audition this afternoon that we’ve decided to offer you a part in our new movie.”
“That’s wonderful news!” Riley nearly jumped on the spot, excitement surging through her body. “I’m so glad to hear it.”
“There’s something more that I have to tell you, but this is something you need to keep under your hat for the foreseeable future,” the woman said slowly.
“Of course, of course,” Riley agreed, glancing at the door in a mixture of nervousness and excitement. She had to get back to work—but she’d gotten a part! A real part in a film!
“Today’s audition was…slightly misleading. The project we want you for is very hush-hush, and we wanted to be able to hire a mixture of unknowns and little-known talent without attracting big names at this point.” Riley’s heart beat even faster; even a small part in a larger film would be a boon to her CV. “The film we’re actually casting for is Galaxy Wars 3.”
Riley’s hand went numb and she nearly dropped the phone. The Galaxy Wars films had been some of the highest grossing in movie history; she would have thought that the casting for the third production would be entirely closed—available only to people who were already well established in the industry, even for bit parts.
“That’s—wow,” Riley said finally. “That’s amazing.”
“I’m sure you can understand the need for secrecy—we don’t want anything leaked,” the woman continued, and Riley nodded, even though she knew that the woman couldn’t possibly see her. “We’ll need you to keep the details of the role completely to yourself.”
“I can absolutely do that,” Riley told the woman.
“The role we want you for is a minor one, but we will require you to be on-set for several months during the filming, which starts in two weeks. Do you think you can manage that?”
“Can I?” Riley heard her voice take on a slightly squeaking note but couldn’t restrain her joy. “I am more than happy to accept,” she added. “I will absolutely be there and ready to film in two weeks.”
“Thank you very much,” the woman said. “I’ll note your acceptance here, and we’ll get in touch with the contract details shortly.”
“Thank you again,” Riley said, breathless with amazement. “I—I really appreciate the chance to be part of this production.”
“You’ve earned it,” the woman told her. “You really made waves at the audition today. We were very impressed.”
Riley finished the call as quickly as she could, aware, in spite of her excitement, that there was still a packed dining room only yards away from where she stood. She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and darted through the door, hurrying towards the dining area.
Jill stepped out of the office and scowled. “I told you two minutes, Riley,” the older woman said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I’m so sorry,” Riley said. “But it was an emergency.” She had to suppress the urge to gush about the details of what she’d just been told to Jill. “I’m heading back onto the floor right now and I won’t have another break tonight.”
“At least not until after closing,” Jill said, with only a modicum of leniency in her voice.
Riley nodded and hastened out into the dining room, dusting off the front of her uniform and her apron before plunging through the door.
As she got back to work, Riley tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she had not only managed to make an impression on the casting department for a major production company, but that for the first time in her life, she had landed a role in a film that her whole family and all of her friends back home would be able to see. She wouldn’t have to send a YouTube video of her performance to someone because whatever commercial she’d been on wasn’t targeted to their area; she could just tell them to go to the theater when the movie came out and they’d see her on screen.
She had been outside long enough that a few of her tables were beginning to become impatient, but even as the late dinner crowd—notoriously the most demanding and frustrating patrons of the evening—filled her tables, Riley felt as though she was walking on air.
It was much easier to keep her polite server-smile on her face as a sweat-shiny, overweight man in a bad suit demanded to be given extra hollandaise without paying the surcharge, knowing that in two weeks’ time she wouldn’t be working at the restaurant anymore—at least not for several months. The budget for a film like the final Galaxy Wars movie would be such that even with a small part, she would be able to pay her bills the entire time without having to take a single shift. She would put in her notice as soon as possible—two weeks would be just enough time to be polite.
Riley shook her head to herself as she turned to go back onto the floor another time, thinking of the joy she would feel when she was finally able to call her mom and tell her that she had a part in a major blockbuster film.
Jill gave her another scowl as Riley paused at one of the tables to make polite conversation with a patron; normally the older woman approved of the servers connecting with patrons, since that tended to result in higher checks at the end of the night—but it was so busy that Riley knew Jill was more focused on the two or three tables waiting for her than the one table she was talking to.
I could walk out right now, Riley thought absently, picturing the looks on everyone’s faces. With a guaranteed part offered to her on a major film, she had enough security that she didn’t even need the few shifts between that night and when she started filming. It would serve them right, too; Riley thought about the times when she’d gotten raked over for being a minute late or on the rare occasions that she’d messed up an order and had to make a correction.
Riley decided against the little act of spite just as quickly as it occurred to her; it wouldn’t be fair to stretch the remaining members of staff any thinner than they already were. Even if the management at the restaurant treated her like trash from time to time, Riley couldn’t bring herself to do something that would ruin the whole evening for everyone.
Finally, the dining room began to clear out and the servers on duty started on side work as unobtrusively as possible while the last patrons finished their meals. Riley considered waiting until she’d gotten home to type up a letter of resignation, but when the last of the customers left and the doors were locked, she decided that there was no time like the present. Besides, if I wait until tomorrow, they might try and claim that I have to work out a full two weeks from my next shift.
Riley saw Jill retreating to the office and, making up her mind quickly, followed the older woman back.
“Can I have a word, Jill?”
“How’s your side work going?” Jill asked, looking at Riley skeptically.
“I’ll get it done in a minute,” Riley assured her. “But I wanted to tell you that I need to put in my two weeks’ notice.”
Jill’s eyes widened. “I know I gave you an earful earlier, Riley, but tonight was a tough one,” Jill said quickly.