“I love it! This is going to work, Frankie. It has to.”
* * * *
“All set?” Frankie asked as they stepped off the elevator on the sixth floor of the Bronson Hotel.
“As ready as I'll ever be,” Johanna replied. “Do I look alright?”
Frankie eyed her appreciatively. “You're beautiful. You look so stylish.”
Johanna's eyes narrowed. “Don't I always?” she teased.
Frankie laughed. “Of course.”
“And you look very sexy and appealing yourself. Thank you for wearing a dress and heels.”
“It's for a good cause.” She smiled. “Now let's find Room 606.”
As they made their way down the hallway, Frankie was amazed at the décor. “I feel like I'm high royalty.”
Johanna squeezed her arm. “And you are. Just remember that our company is Macon Pictures, my name is Roxanne Simons, Roxy for short, and you are Alex Jones.”
“Gotcha, Roxy,” Frankie replied. “With all these names we've had lately, I'm bound to forget my real name.”
Johanna chuckled as they finally reached Kristin Robbins' room. She knocked softly on the door. The door immediately was opened.
The woman must have been anxiously awaiting their arrival, Frankie thought, since Johanna had barely brought her arm back down to her side.
Kristin smiled expectantly. “Please come in.”
Frankie's eyes made a quick sweep of the room. The main room looked like a lavishly decorated living room. She noted two doors, to the right near the entrance, which she assumed were closets, and before the main room, which Frankie realized was a bathroom. Two doors to the left off the main room Frankie assumed led to bedrooms. She glanced around hoping to see some signs that a baby resided with Kristin, but the immaculate room showed no signs that Kristin had a child. Frankie wondered if the baby was in one of the bedrooms or if Kristin had hired a sitter for the afternoon.
“Can I get either of you anything?” Kristin asked as she led them to a beautiful seating area near the large floor to ceiling window which ran the entire length of the back wall.
“No, thank you,” Johanna replied as she seated herself on the sofa.
“Nothing for me, either. But thank you.” Frankie took a seat on the opposite end from Johanna. She watched as Kristin seated herself on one of two matching easy chairs. She was dressed in a casual dress, which surprised Frankie. She'd thought Kristin would have dressed to the hilt for the meeting. Kristin's long blonde hair was tied back and she wore sandals on her feet. Her delicate looking hands had perfectly manicured nails. Up close, she was shorter than Frankie had realized. She was a beautiful young woman. That was a fact that couldn't be denied. Her voice was soft. Frankie had assumed Kristin Robbins would be loud, obnoxious and full of herself, but she was the complete opposite. Frankie almost felt sorry for the hoax they were playing on the aspiring actress.
Kristin looked down at her attire. “I wasn't sure how to dress, since you said this was informal,” she said hesitantly. “Would you like me to change? It'll only take a minute.”
Johanna smiled warmly. “No, you're fine and yes, this is an informal meeting.” She set her purse on the floor near her feet. “We have a business meeting later this afternoon or we would have also dressed more casually.”
“I was surprised that you wanted to meet here instead of at your office.”
“We would normally do that, but once we saw your commercials we wanted to get in touch with you immediately,” Johanna replied.
Frankie grabbed a file and one of the recording pens from her bag. She clicked the pen on.
“This is my co-producer, Alex Jones,” Johanna began and paused while Frankie and Kristin exchanged greetings. “As I said, we saw the local commercials you made and were very impressed with how you come across on camera.”
Frankie noted the slight blush on Kristin's cheek as the woman folded her hands in her lap. “As Roxy told you on the phone, Macon Pictures is going to produce our first motion picture. We believe it'll be a blockbuster. We've been searching for months for the perfect actress to play the lead. This movie has the potential to make you a star.”
“Thank you. That would be a dream come true. All my life I've dreamed of an acting career.” She bit her bottom lip. “Can I ask a question?”
“Of course,” Johanna replied.
“Why aren't you seeking an established actress instead of an unknown?”
“We're a small independent company. Even though we have backing from some major investors for the picture, we are looking for some fresh new talent. Every established actress was once an unknown. If this movie does as well as we think it will, you could become an overnight sensation. At the very least it will give you a decent paycheck and a credit to add to your portfolio,” Johanna said.
“We do need you to be available for a screen test if you're on board. If not, then we'll thank you for your time and continue our search for our perfect lead,” Frankie added.
“I'm definitely on board,” Kristin quickly said. “When is the screen test?”
“In the next week. We'll let you know as soon as we talk to the film crew. We know they're going to be as impressed with you as we are.”
“That's if I actually do get the part,” Kristin said hopefully.
“You'll do fine.” Johanna gave her a brief synopsis of the movie. “As you can see this picture is close to my heart.” She blinked rapidly.
Frankie sat listening. The actress was at it again. She admired the way Johanna pulled a story out of thin air, especially since that was one angle they'd forgotten about in their quest to meet with Kristin. Johanna had managed to tell a story that modeled
