The Beginning

Ch 1 - The audition

Everyone scrambled to pull her off of him as his hands shot straight out in shock. His eyes were the size of salad plates with a hint of "Help!" behind them. The director chuckled before trying to get the woman's attention. It was only 10 a.m. and Keanu was ready to end this day of chemistry reads.

First, there was the woman who reeked of patchouli. Her eyes were glazed over and she couldn't pronounce his name. "Key-nu?...Kay-nu?...Canoe?," she snorted with laughter before jumping to a narrative of how weird names are and who decided we needed three names, anyway? The director's assistant handed her a bag of Doritos and guided her out.

"I'm all for a good toke, but," the head writer, Mark, looks at his watch, "it's 8:30 in the morning."

Next was a bigger name, who shall remain unidentified for legal reasons, of course. She brought an entourage. To a chemistry read. Keanu introduced himself to her and stretched out his hand to shake hers. She just stared at him and wrinkled her nose. In terms of chemistry, this was about as hot as a popsicle.

Now this third one, the studio favorite, "sure to turn some heads" with her legs that went on for miles and her pinup girl figure. She was certainly attractive, he couldn't deny, but the book didn't match its cover. Keanu struggled to feign interest in her story about acting class at the community college before she was "discovered" by the studio executive in Victoria's Secret at the mall. He caught himself staring at the wall and pinched his thigh hard under the table. You know how scary these can be, give it your best, he reminded himself before straightening in his seat and clearing his throat.

Her performance evoked the emotional response of undisturbed bath water: flat, transparent, and tepid. When it was time to fall onto the ground together, though, she pinned him like she was battling for a WWE belt, shoving her tongue down his throat despite a scene that called for no kiss.

Jan de Bont waited longer than necessary to call it quits, clearly amused at her takedown of Keanu, who stood strong at 6'1 and had gained twenty pounds of muscle to prepare for this role as SWAT officer Jack Traven. She stood up, straightened her micro-mini skirt and swayed her hips toward the door, tossing her blonde hair and shooting him another hungry look before walking out. Laughter echoed against the walls while Jan drew a large, red X through her name.

The director's personal assistant was taking orders for lunch when there was a knock on the door: Rap, tap-tap, rap, tap.

Rap, tap, Keanu thought as he completed the familiar rhythm of Shave and a Haircut in his head.

Jan's assistant opens the door and in walks an unfamiliar face with a mousy brown bob and bangs falling into her doe-eyes. 

He stands with Jan to greet her, extending his hand. "Hi, I'm Keanu Reeves. I'll be playing Jack Traven."

"Sandra. Sandra Bullock," she returned with a twinkle in her deep brown eyes. Her head reaching to his chin, she looks up at him, then down at his hand before slapping it like an old basketball buddy might do on the court before a pickup game.

Eyes squinted, he stares at her hand, unsure what just happened. With rapid recovery, though, he slapped the back of her hand with the back of his own on its return. Spunky, he thought, as he finished their secret handshake. He motioned toward Jan, who took her headshot out of her hands and placed it on the table.

She is wearing a baby doll dress with small flowers and a white tee-shirt underneath. On her feet are converse high tops. In the middle of the room is a folding chair and nothing else. It's on her to make them believe she is on this "bus" while tossing out some clever one-liners from the character, Annie. No last name, of course. Women rarely are given last names in movies.