Invisible(49)

“That’s what Hamish said,” she confirmed.

“He’s right about that. You don’t have to hire me, but you do need an agent, even working with Hamish on this film.”

“He thinks so too. Would you take me on as a client, Mr. Warner?” she asked with wide blue eyes and he smiled. He loved her innocence and her openness. He could see why Hamish had fallen in love with her. She was totally transparent, and utterly beguiling. She made you want to put your arms around her and hug her like a child, but she was a woman too.

    “I’d like that very much,” he responded. “And call me Fred.” They chatted for a little longer and shook hands. She was dwarfed by his size when he stood up, and as he walked her to the door of his office, she seemed even smaller next to him. And yet she was very much a woman, and extremely bright. Hamish had found an absolute gem, in his opinion, and Fred was delighted to represent her. He had a feeling that it was going to be fun, and she’d go far. Hamish had always had an eye for unusual talent, and he had done it again. This was no mistake for any of them. He didn’t know yet if she would write, act, or direct, or all three, but whichever avenue she chose, he was absolutely sure she would be a star, and a very major one, one day.



* * *



—

Hamish was pleased when she told him how much she liked Fred Warner. She said they had mutually agreed that he would be her agent.

“You can’t go wrong with Fred, Antonia. He’s an honest man, and the best agent I know.” Fred called Hamish himself the next day and raved about her.

“She’s smart as a whip, but gentle and polite, and a sweet person. You’ve hit the jackpot there,” he complimented him, and Hamish smiled on the phone.

“I think so too. She’s very discreet and modest and self-effacing.”

“But I think she knows her mind too,” Fred added. “She’s not convinced that acting is the direction for her long-term. She’s very determined to be a screenwriter, and direct like you. You make it look easy, Hamish, although I don’t think Antonia is looking for the easy road, but she finds it more interesting than being on-screen. There’s nothing narcissistic about her.”

    “For once, I wish she had a little more of that,” Hamish said, and they both laughed. “She’s incredible on-screen, and she has no idea that she is, which makes it even better.” They both agreed that she had the makings of a major star, in whichever discipline she chose. Hamish hoped it would be acting, but Antonia wasn’t convinced yet, and he was well aware that she was doing the next film just for him, and had no great desire of her own. She wanted to write, which was another way for her to hide and be retiring. All her emotion would go into her writing, and not her face, which felt much more naked to her, and somewhat frightening. If the audiences or the critics hated her acting, they would be rejecting her as a person. And she had endured that all her life, from her parents. She didn’t want more of that even with Hamish’s protection. But whatever direction she chose, Hamish knew she had talent.



* * *



—

Hamish hired a drama coach for her before he left New York. He wanted Antonia to work with the script. There would be many changes before the final version they shot with, but he wanted the character to become part of her, so that her performance would be seamless when they started shooting in June. She had five months to work on it until she felt more like the character than herself. Great actors spent months preparing for a film, until they had absorbed the character they would be playing. It was part of the skill she’d have to learn, and Hamish was confident she would.

Once Hamish went back to England, he called her every day, and she had all her senior projects to complete and classes to finish successfully before she graduated in May. She and Jake spent long hours in the library studying together, and she stayed well below the radar and avoided the press. The paparazzi were on the lookout for her, and she slipped right through their fingers.

    She and Jake were both already sad thinking about not being together on a daily basis anymore after graduation. He had become like a brother to her. But she was going to England to make the movie, and planned to stay in London afterward to be with Hamish. Jake had promised to come visit her, but that wasn’t the same thing as seeing each other every day. They were moving on to grown-up lives and the next step in their budding careers.

She broke the silence with her father to tell him about the movie she would be filming in June. It seemed only right to advise him, and it was a respectable production and an important role. Hamish even thought she could win an Oscar for it.

Antonia met her father at the apartment to tell him, and Lara was there, hoping to soften things if he didn’t take it well. Antonia’s admission unleashed a torrent of insults, abuse, and accusations yet again. In essence, he told her that if he’d known she was going to pursue a career as an actress, which she had promised not to, he would never have paid for her to go to NYU, and he didn’t want to see her again. He told her again that she was well on the way to becoming a tramp like her mother and it was obviously in her genes. Unlike Fabienne, Antonia had been moderate, proper, moral, honest, and well-behaved all her life. She had never been involved in drug use, been casual or promiscuous about sex, although Fabienne was older when she fell into those bad behaviors, but Antonia had never given him a moment of concern right through college, and that hadn’t changed. She now had a serious relationship, with a highly acclaimed and decent man, and Brandon accused her of sleeping with him to get the part.