Red Carpet

Chapter 2

Locke adjusted his tie and re-did his shoelaces. He tapped his phone to read the time. He was very early. Good. He had to make a good first impression. This was his first ever table read and he didn't want to make any mistakes. He was excited and nervous at the same time. A wide, aloof grin lingered on his face as he made his way to the front porch.

The venue for the table read was the director's house. Ms. August owned a quaint little house in the suburbs with a beautiful garden. That was her hobby after all. The sprinklers were on over the lawn, the few droplets falling on him momentarily cooling off the summer heat.

He walked up to the door and rang the doorbell and was answered by the maid who directed him to the study. A long table lay in the middle of the room with chairs arranged around it. Another staff member was placing the name tags on the table and placing the scripts. He nodded at Locke and pointed him to his seat. Locke smiled, looking at his very own name plate. He picked up the script.

Falling for Dawn: First Table Read.

Locke had come prepared but it didn't hurt to be sure one last time. He was absorbed into the script when he heard a voice behind him.

'Well, looks like someone beat me to it today.'

Locke turned to the source of the voice. At the door entrance stood the screenwriter, Mr. Hat. Locke greeted him and they exchanged introductions and made small talk while they waited for the rest of the crew to join.

One by one, they entered. Locke cheerfully greeted and introduced himself to them all. Right next to him sat Ms. Iris, who would be playing the role of his on-screen girlfriend in the series. The table read was for the first two episodes and he had more screen time with her in these two episodes which soon follows with their break up scene. She was a rookie actor just like him and he found himself getting along with her pretty easily. Soon the director joined them.

'Right,' Ms. August spoke, scanning the people in the room. 'We have one of our leads here,' she smiled at Locke before continuing, 'Where's Mr. Keeye?'

And as if on cue, someone walked in like the gust of the wind. Dressed in casuals, a white summer shirt and faded blue jeans, Locke almost didn't recognize him. He curtly greeted everyone gathered in the room while taking his seat. His stubble beard was gone and he had blonde highlights through his dark hair which he seemed to have grown out.

'Wonderful, perfect timing!'

Keeye smiled at the director and they exchanged a few words. He sat across Locke, two chairs away on his left, closer to the director and the screenwriter. Ms. August introduced Locke to him and Locke bowed, already intimidated by his presence. Keeye simply nodded at him and picked up his script. That was the only interaction they had during the entire table read session.

As nervous and excited he was, Locke managed to deliver his lines just like how he had pictured them in his head. He and Iris were having good chemistry so far. The director was impressed as well. The two leads, Hunter (Keeye) and Dawn (Locke), only meet briefly at the end of episode 1. The rest of the episode mainly focuses on Dawn's and Faye's (Iris) relationship failing and turning toxic, eventually leading them to break up.

Dawn and Hunter's first meet - Locke turned to Keeye, trying hard to make eye contact. He delivered Dawn's lines, waiting for Keeye to do Hunter's part. And he did. It was perfectly delivered but he barely looked up at Locke. Locke wondered if that was what they called professionalism. Keeye didn't even need to interact with the other person to get into his character. Locke was awed but couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed and self conscious.

The table read soon wrapped up with Ms. August treating them to barbecue. Everyone clinked their glasses which were filled with homemade guava wine (another one of Ms. August's hobbies), 'To the new beginning of Hunter and Dawn!' They cheered.