Invisible(40)

    He left in a limo a few minutes later, and the two professors seemed unnerved. They were teaching their students to be creative and not just sell out for commercial success. By then, Antonia had run all the way back to her dorm in tears, and was running up the stairs to her room. No man had ever done to her what Kelly did, or said things like that to her. Jeff had been frightening, but Brian Kelly had been crude and demeaning. She wanted to take a shower, and she kept thinking about his penis sticking straight out of his pants, waiting for her to suck it. He hadn’t tried to stop her or hold her down the way Jeff had, and he wasn’t going to rape her. He didn’t care about her, he had pushed her to her knees on the dressing room floor so she would give him the blow job he wanted. She felt dirty just having met him. He was a disgusting human being. She wondered how many women gave him one, just for the promise of a screen test. Even if she wanted to be an actress, she would never have done it that way.

She was shaking when she sat down on her bed, and was still sitting there when Jake came by half an hour later.

“Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” She didn’t answer as tears rolled down her cheeks, and he came to sit next to her on her bed. “What happened?”

“He’s a pig!” She choked on a sob, and told him what Kelly had done. Jake stared at her in horror.

“He did that? You have to report it to the university. I’m so sorry, Antonia. The guy is sick. I should have gone in with you. I’m not letting you go anywhere alone from now on.”

    “He didn’t pick you,” she hiccupped, “he wouldn’t have let me take you in.” They both wondered how often he did that, and also how often it worked on gullible girls who thought it was the only way to get ahead. “I’d rather scrub toilets in an airport than get work like that.”

Jake wanted her to report the incident to the school authorities, but she wouldn’t do it. “He’ll say it isn’t true, and I’ll get in trouble. I can’t prove it.”

“I’m sure this isn’t the first time he’s done it,” Jake said angrily. “Maybe it’s the only reason he did the lecture. To pick up young women and get blow jobs. Jesus, what a son of a bitch.”

She was shaken for the rest of the day and for several days after. She didn’t even tell Lara about it. It was too disgusting. This was the second lesson she’d had about not trusting male strangers, but she had never thought that a famous producer like Brian Kelly would take out his dick, stick it in her face, and tell her to give him a blow job. She knew she’d remember it forever. And so would Jake.



* * *



—

Halfway through spring semester, Hamish Quist called her on her new cell phone. She was amazed to hear him, and recognized his voice immediately. He had a very distinctive smooth voice.

“I have a project I want to discuss with you,” he said, after they exchanged niceties. “I’m making another movie. We’re casting right now. That little strip of film of you coming out of the forest like a ghost is one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever shot, and the camera loves you. I have a tiny part for you in the next movie. It’s less than one scene. We could do it in three takes like the last one. I desperately want you to do it. You have exactly the look I want.” She hesitated before she answered. The vision of Brian Kelly crossed her mind, but Hamish Quist wasn’t like that. He was a gentleman and she had worked for him for three months last summer with no problem.

    “I’m not an actress, Mr. Quist, and I don’t want to be. I don’t want to be in front of the camera. I only want to write, and one day direct like you do. I have no desire to be an actress. I like being invisible, so no one can see me.”

“Well, God didn’t grant your wish on that one,” he said gently. “You’re a beautiful woman. The world deserves to see you. You look a lot like Audrey Hepburn, or that same feeling, with pale blond hair. You look like an angel, please let me shoot you in one scene.” He was almost pleading with her. “You’ve become my muse since the last time.”

“I can’t. I don’t know how. Is it a speaking part?”

“Yes, but a very short one, just a tiny vignette. I can get a drama coach to get you through it. And I can shoot around your school schedule, whatever it is.” He was willing to do anything to have her in the film.

“Honestly, I’d be terrible in the part. You’d be disappointed.”

“You could never disappoint me, except if you say no. Could we have a cup of coffee to talk about it? I’ll show you the scene in the script. It’s two pages with all one-line dialogue. We can cut it down if you like. I just want the audience to see you, you really do have the face of an angel. It will make the whole movie. Can I see you for a few minutes?” He was begging and she didn’t like turning him down, but she wasn’t going to do it. But she had liked him when she worked for him.

    “Okay, for a few minutes. Are you in New York?”

“I am.” He wasn’t trying to force her. He was trying to convince her by being as gentle as he could. He believed that the success of his new movie rested on it, just like the scene in the forest in the last one. The scenes with her were like little hidden gifts. And introducing an unknown ingénue, especially with her beauty and very distinct looks, would make the movie a smash hit. He’d been thinking about it for weeks.