I Love My Side of the Story by Sabrina Lacey

go take my seat next
to Gary and we share a look. When Henrick Von Clauson says excellent work, you feel like you won not one Oscar, but ten. He
only says it a couple times a year, and never to the same person. As soon as class is over, I shoot out of
my seat, thinking, I have to
tell Amber. She said she
was working late tonight, so I’ll go surprise her at her office.
      “Great job,” Gary says, hitting my
shoulder on my way out.
    I
spin on my heels, say, “Thanks Gary. You too!” and take off running.
    “You
want to grab a beer, Josh?” Matt yells after me.
    “Can’t,
Matt. Have to go,” I yell back.

 
    Eighteen Minutes Later

 
 
    When I get there, her name on the
building directory stops me: Amber Monroe
Casting . Pride swells. My girl is a successful casting director on her way
up to the big leagues. Now we’re both on our way! We’re gonna get there together, and it’s gonna be great. I take the
stairs two at a time without losing my breath.
    Inside, she and Annie are in the main
room, shocked to see me.
    “Oh, Josh, you scared me!” Annie laughs.
    “Hey Annie. Sorry.” I look at my girl
and smile, “Hey you.”
    She comes over and kisses me. “Hey.”
    Annie says something and leaves. “See ya
Annie.” I call after her – my eye on the prize.
    Amber and I shoot the shit for awhile,
but all I can think is how I want to push her up against a wall and fuck the
living daylights out of her. As soon as I can, I grab her, pick her up and eat
her out until she’s screaming and grabbing onto my head for dear life. When she
collapses onto me, and I lay her on the chair, it pops out: “I think we should
move in together.” No reaction from Amber. She didn’t hear me because she’s
wrecked. I love it. Well, here’s my chance to back out. Nah. Looking at her, I
know what I’ve always known – I want to be with her. I repeat, “I said I
think we should move in together.”
    I see her stop breathing. One eye peers
up at me. “Excuse me?”
    “I think we should move in together. I
don’t want to live apart from you anymore.” I stand and walk to a framed pic of
her, Jess and Nicole. Huh. Where’s us?
    She springs upright, “Really?”
    I sit on her desk, taking up a fraction
of its gargantuan size. I look down, but see no pic of us there either. “Yeah.
Really.”
    We talk about the logistics and it
occurs to me… “Oh, you didn’t tell me. What project are you working on?”
    “The new Spike Jonze film,” she says.
    Say what??!!! “Spike Jonze? Adaptation Spike Jonze? Being John Malkovich Spike Jonze?”
    “Uh… yeah. It’s my first feature with
him.”
    “Well, he doesn’t do TV, so of course
it’s a feature film,” I explain like an idiot out of sheer brain-splitting
enthusiasm.
    “You know a lot about him…”she says
slowly.
    “Who doesn’t? His films are ground
breaking. The guy is a phenomenal talent.” Impressed and convinced we are both
bound for the big life, I say, “Wow, Amber. I can’t believe he hired you.”
    She gets tense and backs away from me.
“Why wouldn’t he hire me? I work really hard, Josh. And I’m good at what I do.”
      “Baby, no no no…” I reach out, grab her
to explain, “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant it’s an incredible
opportunity. How far are you into casting?”
    As soon as the words leave my mouth, I
cringe. I promised myself I’d never ask her for an audition.
    “Far. Just have a couple women’s parts
to do left,” she says.
    “Oh.” I’m almost relieved, because I
don’t want her to think I’m a mooch.
    “Yeah…” It’s obvious she’s bummed she
didn’t bring me in to audition. Kicking myself for asking, I walk away.
    “Are you leaving?”
    I turn around, surprised. “Yeah. We’re
going to celebrate. This is a big day. My baby and I are moving in together.”
    She’s got a weird expression on her
face, and no top on. “Oh. I should put some clothes on.”
    I grin and run over to her.