Body Packaging #3: Cutting Room Floor

Malibu

“I feel like I’m seeing double.” Cole Majestic playfully undressed the two picture-perfect identical twins who had recently concluded a special project for him.  His ultra-modern beach house provided virtually no clues about its owner’s personality.  He appeared completely carefree as he took turns pleasuring both women while they all giddily sipped champaign and gobbled crackers topped with mounds of Beluga caviar. There was absoutely no limit to his sexual appetite.  However, there was much more going on behind his classically handsome face framed with thick salt-and-pepper hair than simply carnal lust.

If he had allowed himself to lose track of his ultimate mission, Cole might have forgotten about the two o’clock screen test that he had scheduled for yet another unknown actor.  Without experiencing the slightest remorse for pulling away from his morning ménage à trois, Cole Majestic got dressed and prepared to locate the next piece of his puzzle.  He watched as the two stunningly beautiful young women suddenly dropped to his floor as if they had passed out.  The poison he had cleverly concealed in their caviar had taken effect right on schedule.

Majestic called for his clean-up crew to dispose of the twins’ bodies.  He opened the top drawer to his desk and retrieved a rather intricate miniature movie set.  There were several tiny figures each of which was accompanied by hand-painted portraits that were no larger than his thumbnail.  Majestic glanced down at his watch.  He had to get going if he was going to make his next appointment.

Kyle Wyatt sat with his fingers interlaced on his lap. He had been preparing for this day his entire life—from acting in school plays to bit parts in obscure productions.  Fresh off the bus from Spokane, Kyle had stumbled upon a tiny ad in a local paper advertising screen auditions.  Kyle knew he wouldn’t be auditioning for a major role.  But this could very well be the break that he could parlay into stardom.  He would do anything it would take to become famous.  He looked around the rather large waiting room.  He was fiercely determined to land this role.  Surprisingly, as he looked around to size up his competition, he saw no one except for the office receptionist.

“Mr. Majestic will see you now.”  The rather nondescript woman in her late twenties mechanically opened the door behind where she had been seated and walked Kyle down a sterile corridor until they finally reached a sound stage.

Cole Majestic’s charismatic smile immediately put Kyle at ease as he walked inside the black hole of a room.  “Come on in, Kyle. I’ve been expecting you.”  Majestic stood up from his director’s chair. He had already seamlessly shifted mind-sets from his last sexual encounter to his rather special casting needs.

“I can’t tell how you excited I am to be here.”  It was either land this job or Kyle knew that he was literally out on the streets of LA .

“Sit down, Kyle.”  Cole handed him a copy of a rather carefully crafted script.  He began taking detailed notes as Kyle walked across the stage.

Kyle watched the camera’s enormous lens. He couldn’t make out the face of the man behind it who never once stepped away from the camera.  “I’m very honored to be here, Mr.Majestic.”

He wore the practiced smile of a man used to breaking crushing news on a regular basis.   “Let’s try a screen test.  Shall we?”

Kyle was so petrified of screwing up the works that he just nodded.  He watched the cameraman cue him to begin delivering his lines.

Majestic scrutinized Kyle’s performance in ways that most casting directors could not even begin to fathom. This novice was auditioning for something far more pivotal than a walk-on role for a television pilot or even a part in a green-lighted major motion picture.  He waited until Kyle concluded.  “So, do you have family here in LA, Kyle?”

“No. Just me.  I actually don’t have any family any more.  My parents were killed in a plane crash several years back.”  Kyle wondered why this man was asking about his family.  In any other situation, he would have avoided any discussion about his past.  But this was different.  This was his dream.  He answered all of Majestic’s questions without any hesitation.

“You have a great look, Kyle.  Very clean cut.  Versatile.  We can use it for a number of different parts.”  Majestic was just confirming facts he had already researched from Kyle Wyatt’s appearance to his family background.

Kyle felt as if his heart skipped a beat. “You think?”

Majestic nodded.  “If we sign you, there will be plenty for you to do.  Of course, you probably realize a lot of the film that’s shot ends up on the cutting room floor.”

“That’s fine with me.”

He felt his phone vibrating.  “Excuse me for a moment, Kyle.”

“Sure.”  Kyle looked at his own reflection in a small hand mirror placed on a table near where he was standing.  Not too shabby.

Majestic moved out of earshot.  “Did you get the hairdresser?”  He tried to reign in his temper. “What about her cousin?”  He hung up his phone and reattached a smile to his face for Kyle’s benefit.

“I think I’m getting the hang of these lines.”  Kyle’s face brightened.  He felt like his whole world was opening up.

“Sit here, Kyle.  I’m going to take a few minutes to review your screen test and I’ll let you know what we come up with.”

“You can make a decision right here.  Today?  That would be awesome, sir!”  He couldn’t control his excitement.

“We aim to please.”  Majestic sped out of the sound stage with his cameraman’s work product in hand.  Cole Majestic knew that his decision alone would determine whether Kyle Wyatt landed the role of a lifetime.  Or whether he ended up on the cutting room floor—a lifeless corpse.

© Jennifer Strauss 2011. All Rights Reserved.