Forever and a Day Read online

  She shushed him, “Everything is ok. I’m sorry about earlier too, I really wanted to do it but I wanted to hurt you back. I—I’m sorry.”

  Xander could only blink back in surprise at her admission.

  Evie got up, walked over to the counter and picked up a brown paper bag, returned to him and held it out, “Here are some snacks. Now get your bags and go. Text me your itinerary, I will pick you up. Hurry up, go!” Evie urged and walked him to his bags. As he picked them up, she gave him a kiss on his cheek, “Did you remember to staple your information sheet to your head shot?” Then shot him a raised dark eyebrow.

  “Yes. What? How—how did you know that?” Xander stammered.

  “I’m your wife it’s my job to know. Now go!” She gave him a push towards the front door.

  Xander opened the front door and saw Eric’s gray Mercedes E350 parked on the street. He turned to Evie and leaned in for a kiss, surprisingly she let him kiss her on her lips. He thought it was odd as the only time she would kiss him on the mouth is during their Saturday morning ‘time’. “Uh, I love you.”

  “Love you too.” She smiled a little smile at him and slowly closed the door.

  Xander shook his head all the way down the wet brick path to Eric’s waiting car. He saw the trunk pop open and he quickly deposited his baggage and got into the car.

  The first thing out of Eric’s mouth was, “Who won?”

  Xander eyed his friend giving him the once over: His flaming red hair was parted at the side like some fifties clean cut kid. His pale freckled face was full and his paunch was getting noticeable. He was not good looking by a long shot, but he looked younger than his real age. Xander shrugged at him, “Don’t they always?”

  “You got that right buddy boy! That’s why I am twice divorced!” Eric laughed and accelerated the car away from the curb.

  “I was ready to call you and tell you I had to quit…” He watched as Eric shot him a dark look, “then Evie came in and took the phone away and told me I was going to go and do the best I can…”

  “She made the right choice, I would have dropped you.”

  “I know…”

  “On the bright side, she didn’t flip me off.” Eric turned to Xander and winked, “Does she not know, that I know what ‘Malaka’ means?” Eric made a rapid jerking motion with his fist.

  “I am sure she does…” Xander smiled at his friend.

  “Well I am glad you worked your shit out. I have bills to pay, you have your business, and this is mine. Now, if you were out there making me rich…”

  “Yeah, you’d offer to hold my Johnson while I pee.”

  Eric snorted, “Of course and I would have my trusty tweezers in hand to help you find it.”

  “Bastard.” Xander chuckled.

  “So are you and the wife going to be ok?” Eric asked seriously.

  “Oh my God, there is heart in that soulless body…”

  “Fuck you then!” Eric laughed. “Ok, truth?”

  “I think so.”

  “Ok, now that problem is dealt with, down to business…”

  “Uh… well there may be one more thing.”

  “Fuck, now what?”

  “Halo Raines…”

  “What about her?”

  “Remember the story I told you when I was on her film set?”

  “Yeah, she was checking you out or something?” Eric turned and eyed his actor, “What else did you not tell me?”

  “It wasn’t important at the time… I, uh well kinda felt something when she was staring at me and… uh.” Xander began tapping his fingers on his knee.

  “Uh, what?” Eric snapped.

  “Hell… she came up to me and I turned my back on her and walked away.”

  “You did what? Oh for fucks sake Xander! Fuck!” Eric yelled.

  “Hey! It’s not like I ever thought I’d see her again… trust me she won’t remember some random extra from two years ago!”

  Eric nodded and stared ahead at the highway for a long moment then turned back to Xander, “Fine, I agree on her not remembering you… if she does, she could so blacklist your ass if you pissed her off. What the hell is with this ‘I felt something’ bullshit’?”

  Xander looked out the window as the gray skies raced by, “Do you remember my birthday party the night before filming on the Halo Raines set?”

  Eric looked blankly at him then nodded his head, “Yeah… Evie was acting all weird and shit.” He winced, “Oh, fuck. That’s the night when she took Athena and left you…”

  “Yeah… well the next day when Halo kept staring at me it was like I was suddenly standing in front of her… getting lost in those blue eyes.” Xander sighed and shook his head clearing the memory.

  “So that’s why you walked away?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t dare look into her eyes again. I was afraid…” Xander shivered.

  “Fuck! So what’s going to happen if you see her? God dammit all Xander!” Eric hit the steering wheel hard with both hands.

  “Eric, that was then. This is now, trust me it will all be good.” He lied.

  “It better be! I worked my ass off to get you noticed for this. Two nights ago, it came to my attention that they were re-auditioning for this role. Fortunately for us I happen to ‘personally’ know Susie Selmer, the casting agent for the film. I called in all my markers for you on this.”

  “Thank you…” Xander trailed off.

  Eric sighed when he pulled up to the airport-parking gate. He rolled down his window, pushed the red button and accepted the ticket. He began the upward spiraling trek to the parking lot at Portland International Airport. He found a spot near the elevator and turned off the car.

  “Eric? You can’t ever tell Evie any of that.”

  “Sure.” He sighed.

  “By the way, did you ever tell Evie I lost a role because I didn’t staple my information on my head shot and it got lost?”

  “Ha! I’d have loved to burn your ass on that one with her, but no. Although, I do remind all my clients to pay the extra cash and get their info printed on the fucking back. All because of you buddy boy!”

  “Weird…”

  “That is some radar Evie’s got… better you than me!” Eric chortled then pointed at Xander, “Ok then, convince me that everything is going to be ok with Halo Raines as I still don’t get it. You’ve been around a bunch of hot actresses…”

  Xander turned to face his agent, “Tell you what, you ever get a chance? Look into Halo Raines eyes then you tell me.” He paused and looked out of the front window, “I’ll be fine.” He looked back to Eric, “Hell! As you already know my day job can be intense. I can keep my cool. I already did once with her. I’ll be fine.” Xander said trying as much to convince himself as well as Eric.

  Eric cleared his throat quietly, “Xan? I have to ask… you carrying a torch for Halo Raines?”

  Xander heard the question and felt his ears get hot, “No. I have a family to take care of Eric. No worries.” He met his agent’s slate blue eyes, and struggled to do his best to act as honestly as he could.

  “If it were anyone else I wouldn’t believe them.” Eric replied after a few long drawn out moments, “I need a check for four hundred and thirty dollars and yes I rounded it up.”

  “Jesus H… you add your agent’s fee on top of that too?” Xander exclaimed as he pulled out his checkbook, “Who do I make it out too? Oh yeah the devil himself…”

  “Ha, ha, funny man. Too bad this isn’t a comedy you are reading for.”

  “Hey, I’m the one with a soul…” Xander said smiling.

  “Fuck you too.” Eric laughed. “Enough with the funny shit. You leave at 8:10 and arrive at LAX at 10:32. Here is the good part, you can kiss my ass later for it too… they will have a driver waiting for you when you land. They are showing their appreciation for the last minute call.”

  “Wow! That’s unheard of for a nobody like me.”

  “Fuck!” Eric shouted, “How many times do I hav
e to tell you to stop talking like that! You want that role? You decide you are the best motherfucker for it. You know why? I’ll tell you! You are up against a heavy hitter on this one buddy boy.”

  Xander held his hands up as if he was surrendering, “Ok, ok! Just don’t tell me whom I am up against. I want to go in clean and level headed.”

  “There’s my Xander!” Eric reached over and patted Xander’s shoulder firmly then reached behind the seat and handed him a thick manila envelope. “Here is your itinerary, script and ticket. I booked you into the Best Western, down from their office. Study your ‘sides’ on the way down. I know you will do good.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Just so you know? This film is predominantly being shot in the South Pacific. Sorry.”

  Xander sighed, “I hope you know a good divorce lawyer…”

  Eric held out his hand, rubbed his forefinger and thumb together, “My check already?”

  “Here take your booze money and have a shot of tequila for me. I’ll need it.”

  “You got it. Now, get out. I need a fucking drink after all this shit then some sleep.”

  “Bastard.” Xander laughed then got out, went to the trunk and retrieved his bags. He started back towards the passenger side as Eric put the car in reverse and quickly backed up coming close to a young couple walking by. Eric rolled down the passenger window and leered.

  “Hey bitch!” He yelled, “That was the worst fucking blow job I ever had!”

  Xander choked in shock and managed to recover and yelled back with a loud lisp “Didn’t have much to work with honey!” Then flipped Eric the finger.

  He could hear Eric cackle as he drove off. Xander turned to head to the elevator and realized a twenty something guy in a brown cowboy hat was sneering at him. He saw the word ‘fag’ whispered to his girl as the cowboy quickly ushered her towards the elevator.

  He had no alternative but to follow them. An uneasy silence ensued as the three of them waited silently for the elevator to arrive. A ding sounded and he let the two enter first. Inside the elevator, he saw the same sneer from the cowboy and it began grating on him. As they descended to the terminal, he continued to get sidelong glances from the cowboy.

  As the doors were about to open Xander quickly turned to the girl and lisped heavily, “Excuse me, I seemed to have left my compact in the car…” He twirled his fingers around his mouth with a feminine flair, “is there anything on my face?”

  The girl squinted at his lips as her cowboy abruptly pushed her out of the elevator. She stumbled out and he caught her by her arm, “Hey! I was just trying to help.” She yelped.

  Xander shot the Cowboy a smile and got a dirty look back as the couple, thankfully, headed in the opposite direction of his airline.

  Check-in was quick and he made it through security just as fast. He walked to the boarding area and grimaced as he neared the departure waiting area. His fellow LA bound passengers took up nearly all the chairs in the waiting area. Eventually he found an open chair and made himself comfortable. He checked his watch and saw he had thirty minutes until boarding. He pulled out the manila envelope and pulled out the thick ream of paper. He flipped to the cover page over and was met by a hastily typed and copied synopsis of the film. After thumbing through it, he began to read:

  Working title: The Throw Away Girl.

  Synopsis:

  The CEO of Ascertain INC's (A pharmaceutical giant) daughter (Heroine) is kidnapped while vacationing in Australia. The leader (Good guy forced by circumstances to go bad) of the kidnappers was a former employee of Ascertain and saw evidence that the company discovered cures to several cancers and has covered up its discovery to the public.

  However, he finds out that the cure is distributed to select politicians and billionaires for political favours and money. The kidnapper’s leader's wife is dying of one of the curable cancers and was rebuked and threatened by Ascertain for his wife's desperately needed cure. The leader manages to employ several mercenary types and monetary backers to aid him in the kidnapping of the CEO's daughter. The abduction is to happen while she is on vacation in Australia, this to force the father to hand over the cure and at least one methodology to cure another cancer as payment for the Mercs and financial backers.

  Timing is imperative as the wife's cancer is progressing to stage 3 and the efficacy of the cure drops to 10% effective rate. All goes bad as the CEO under political, corporate and influential pressure turns his back on his daughter. Effectively signing her death sentence.

  Learning of the failure, all but one of the Mercs bails under fear of being caught and eliminated by the US government. The Mercs attack and leave the Leader for dead to cover their tracks. A lone Merc (Bad guy) charged with watching the daughter (Heroine) on a remote island learns of the failure and decides to take his revenge and exact payment from the CEO's beautiful daughter.

  Will she escape or will she die? Does she end up a slave in the SE Asian sex trade market and have to fight free of her oppressors. What of the dying leader’s wife? What is her role and her play in this game of betrayal, death and intrigue? Stay tuned and find out!

  He thought it must be an early synopsis as it was not complete. It is a big role for him he thought excitedly as he stared off into script. He stopped reading and began formulating how he would portray his version of the evil mercenary: Ok… bad guy, pissed for not paid his due, is greedy, has no care for human life? Nah, not sure that is my type, he decided.

  Xander looked up and stared out of the airport’s large windows, trying to formulate his role. It was raining outside and fall was certainly here to stay he thought. He watched as a jet taxied and began its rollout. He brought his thoughts back to his character: Aloof, yeah that’s more like me… maybe a bit intellectual, needs money, tormented by Halo’s beauty… damn! How and why would he attack her without a lack of remorse? Temper? He shook his head, sighed and let his mind wander into fantasy.

  If it were his choice, he would have his character fall for Halo and help her escape the island. He would help her steal the methodologies from Ascertain. They would sell some of the information and try to disappear together. They would upload the rest on the internet for humanitarian reasons as a payback for an uncaring father. In the end, he would die protecting her from Ascertain’s hired assassins.

  He chuckled at his little fantasy. Better get busy reading my lines he scolded himself with an audible chuckle. He needed all time he could squeeze in to figure out his character, as well as come up at least one secondary persona in case they do not like his first portrayal at the audition.

  He was able to read his part of the script a few times over before his flight called to begin boarding. Double-checking his things, he made his way to the gate. A young, sleepy eyed brunette at check in gave him a big smile and warmly welcomed him as she checked his ticket. He watched her blush as he smiled back at her and accepted his ticket back.

  “Have a good trip Mr. Kostinos.” She said shyly.

  “You too!” Xander caught himself and chuckled to the young woman, “I mean have a good day, I think my day started a bit too early!”

  She casually touched his hand and giggled, “Me too! Thank you.”

  Xander smiled and left the attractive girl still watching him as he walked down the gateway to the waiting plane. At the jet’s entrance, he was greeted by a stern looking Flight Attendant, “Good morning sir. Do you need help finding your seat?”

  He offered her a polite smile, “Good morning, I think I got this, thank you.”

  He groaned as he noticed how narrow the seats were as he made his way back to his aisle seat. If someone else with broad shoulders sits next to him, they were going to be intimate by the time they land he joked to himself. Sitting down he pulled his phone from his pocket. Checking his email, he saw there was nothing new so he put it in ‘Airplane mode’ then shut it down. He retrieved his script and put them in the seat pocket in front of him for later. He looked out of the small window and
saw more of wet and gray. With a deep inhale he made himself relax… he did not care much for flying.

  A young girl’s voice woke him from his thoughts, “Excuse me, sir?”

  Startled, he looked up, “Oh! I’m sorry Miss, was zoned out there.” He got up, let the teen scoot by him and settle into her window seat. “Need help with your bag?” Xander asked pointing to the overhead storage.

  “I’ll keep it under the seat, thanks.” She replied quietly as she put it on the floor and pushed it forward.

  He smiled, sat down and buckled up his seatbelt. Looking out the window, he decided he was getting tired of Oregon’s liquid sunshine and all the damn gray. With a quiet sigh, he prayed for some real sunshine when they landed. As he settled in, he noticed the young lady was having issues with her seatbelt.

  “Uh, Miss? Can I get someone to help you with your seatbelt?” He asked in a quiet voice.

  “No. I think I got it.” She mumbled.

  Nope, he thought. It is all twisted and loose.

  “Miss, these commuter plane’s belts are a pain to tighten. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable by talking to you uninvited, but you should really untwist it and tighten it.”

  Distressed at her predicament she replied, “Ok… uh I can’t unlatch it? There is no button like on the plane I usually fly.”

  “There on the left side, get your fingers inside and pull. Yeah, there you go.” Xander said smiling. He watched her nervously untwist it and she re-latched it and tried to pull it tight. He saw she was failing at it.

  “Miss, it’s really not tight enough. I’d help you but it would be kind of awkward me being a stranger and a guy. Can I get the flight attendant to help?” Xander saw her pretty face turn red.

  “I think its ok, sir.” She mumbled quietly.

  “If you think so Miss… I don’t mean to act like a picky parent, but if the pilot hits the brakes hard you are going to be wearing that belt around your neck. I’m sorry.” He gave her a wince and shrugged his shoulders, “Your call.”

  She sighed and turned redder, “Ok. Sorry to be such a bother.”