Playing at Forever Read Free

lap.  It wasn’t heavy—not to hold.  But it carried a great deal of substance. 
    He looked down with a tired sounding sigh, his hands resting on the stack of papers. 
    It was his script.  The one thing he’d ever done in his entire life that he was actually proud of. 
    The one thing nobody wanted to touch. 
    He rose to his feet in one graceful movement and angrily tore the stack of paper to shreds, sending it flying over the edge of the balcony and raining down on the pool below him.  A few pieces were caught up in the wind and carried off, toward the mountains.
    Another burst of anger flashed through him and he turned, rushing into the master suite so that he wouldn’t put his fist through one of the many panes of glass that surrounded him.  He at least had enough presence of mind to remember what a hassle that had been last time.  Instead, he paced around the large room, his thoughts muddled. 
    “ Yo , Tom—what’s going on?”  Tommy turned to find his manager, and supposed best friend, standing in the doorway, propping one of the heavy glass doors open as he leaned against it. 
    He radiated confidence.  Success.   Wealth.  
    Of course, Graham had it all thanks to Tommy. 
    “Nothing,”   Tommy responded, shaking his head as he ran his hands through his already-disheveled hair.  Graham wouldn’t understand.
    “Nothing?   So you just decided to let garbage rain down on the pool?”  Tommy laughed morosely.  Garbage.   Well, it might as well be. 
    “It was my script.”  Tommy replied, his teeth clenched.   The other man sighed, shifting his weight so that he was now holding the door open with his hand rather than his shoulder.  It seemed to Tommy an act of frustration.
    “Look, man—Fox is willing to take it.”  He spoke to him almost as an annoyed parent would speak to a spoiled child.
    “But not as long as I’m lead.”  Tommy closed his eyes, trying to maintain control of the anger that was raging through him. 
    He’d come to Hollywood looking for an escape.  He’d come looking for happiness—a new life, a new future.  He’d even found both, and he was grateful. 
    He had struck gold when he was given the lead role in what would become one of the biggest action series to hit theaters since Die Hard .  He’d reprised the role several times, reveling in the stardom and fame that came with each progressive film.  Everyone around him had encouraged him to keep going—to keep bringing in the money and the celebrity. 
    But he was tired of the same roles.  He was tired of the same characters.  Even when he took roles in other movies, they were all the same—the tough macho man out to save the day. 
    Was it too much to ask for something different?
    Apparently so.
    “It isn’t just you.”  Of course Graham was lying.  It was the one stipulation from every studio he’d offered the script to.  They would make the film, but not so long as Tommy was the lead. 
    He’d worked hard on this.  It was his chance to prove himself—to remake himself.  Everyone just assumed that he was a mindless drone, carrying on without an original thought of his own. 
    “Look, Tom.  They just don’t think you’re right for the part.  You’ve written something really deep here—intense.  They don’t think you can pull it off.”  Graham took a step closer and the heavy glass door swung quietly closed behind him.  “I’m not saying I agree with them—but, I mean—really, can you blame them?” 
    “They should give me a chance —”
    “It’s not just your acting they’re doubting , Tom.”  Tommy narrowed his eyes.  “You’ve been all over the tabloids—the drinking, the fighting, the accidents.  They’d be nervous to cast you even if it wasn’t a challenge.” 
    “Isn’t it your job to make that a nonissue?”  The anger was boiling to life inside him.  Who was Graham to say anything?  He’d been right there alongside Tommy throughout all of it!