Hollywood Domination

Chapter 5 Cooking Up a Ploy

Dave Johnson, when Jenny Jane had noticed him, he had already frequented Hollywood Star for three consecutive days. He would arrive at 2 pm every day, have a cup of coffee, make a few phone calls, sometimes look at a few documents, and then disappear into the building across from the Hollywood Star.

He looked to be in his thirties— beginning to bald, a bit overweight, and dressed very casually. He always wore a jacket and different styles of corduroy pants, looking like a down-and-out agent that could be seen all over Hollywood, too poor to afford a decent suit. The other top waitress at the Hollywood Star, Jessica, had a bad impression of him because Dave had clumsily tried to flirt with her but was ruthlessly rejected.

Jenny Jane and Jessica chatted about him once.

It was their break time, and Jessica went to smoke in the alley. Jenny followed and Jessica handed her a cigarette, which Jenny took and played with but didn’t smoke.

“He’s probably a small agent who came to fight for roles for his actors.” Jessica blew smoke rings and nodded toward the six-story building across the street, her tone showing a hint of envy and, of course, some jealousy. “There’s been a lot of bitches coming in and out of there recently.”

In Los Angeles, the entertainment industry is a major pillar of the economy, and the office building across from the Hollywood Star is rented by Time Warner’s television production department. It usually has a normal flow of people, but at specific times of the year, it gets pretty lively, and business at the Hollywood Star will also see a small peak.

The specific time generally refers to the planning stage of a new TV series, which usually takes place between May and June for the fall TV lineup. After the script outline is approved by top management, the production department begins to assemble the crew. Besides the main actors who have mostly already been cast, there are many supporting roles that need auditioning. The location area of the Hollywood Star is fairly close to Hollywood but the rent is relatively cheap, making it a cost-effective option for renting an office building for auditions.

“It’s time for auditions.” Jenny simply said, putting the cigarette in her pocket. “Why don’t you try your luck?”

The reason why Jessica settled for the Hollywood Star was that it was close to Time Warner’s audition location, and she saw this as the starting point for her road to success. However, she had worked there for a year and had not been able to successfully connect with any casting department head except for a few security guards across the street.

Without a person in charge, you cannot enter any director’s casting selection range. If you try to submit your resume and auditions without permission, you will only be kicked out by security. Jessica wasted a year of effort and had to give up her efforts to break into the TV drama industry. In recent months, she has been actively applying for jobs as a print model and has contacted a modeling agent.

Jenny’s mention brought up memories of her unhappy past, and her face darkened, “You don’t smoke?”

“My shift is about to start,” Jenny explained. Jenny Jane sometimes smokes, but Chen Zhen does not.

Jessica didn’t listen to her explanation, “If you don’t smoke, just give it back to me.”

Jenny shrugged and handed the cigarette back to Jessica. “I have to go in. Hey, Jessica?”

Jessica raised her eyebrows at her, her expression still cold.

“I know you have an audition next week. Here’s to wishing you success” Jenny raised her fist and Jessica’s expression softened as she reached out and fist-bumped her.

“You too, babe.”

Jenny smiled and turned to walk into the restaurant. After about five minutes, she saw Dave push the door open and went over to greet him instead of Jessica. “Hi.”

Dave was obviously looking for Jessica, and his response was somewhat absent-minded. “Hi.”

Jenny handed over the menu, while Dave absent-mindedly browsed it several times, but Jenny didn’t mind. The longer she stood next to Dave, the clearer she could read the words on the folder, even though they were upside down and only half of them were pulled out of the briefcase. Jenny, or Chen Zhen, had a pretty good skill of reading upside-down text.

Thanks to her ex-husband, in order to break or prolong the pace of her ex-husband’s affair, Chen Zhen practiced this skill and eventually became proficient to the point where she could silently read any words in her peripheral vision.

She mainly used this skill to sneak a peek at her ex-husband’s phone.

It seemed that Jessica had hit the jackpot this time. Jenny thought as she read the few lines of English again: “May 13th audition schedule, Office 1, “Buffy the Vampire Slay…”

She didn’t need to finish reading to know that this was the new season audition schedule for WB TV’s hit show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” According to the filming schedule, Buffy should be starting filming in July. In May, some regular roles for the season would be selected in advance, and some script adjustments would be made.
Then, after the main actor’s return in July, filming could begin immediately.

There must be a reason why he had such a document and came over every day. He couldn’t just be a simple actor’s agent. He should be the casting director of Buffy, or even higher up, the screenwriter or producer of the Buffy crew. If she could establish a relationship with him, getting a guest role in the TV show should be an easy thing.

Although Jenny was a bit hesitant about such a “playing with fire” approach, it was only because she had a lousy goal of dominating Hollywood. In reality, for a waitress like her, resources like this simply could not be missed no matter how they were obtained. Even if she wasn’t interested in TV shows, she could ask him to introduce her to industry friends to find an agent, or directly introduce her to a small extra role in a Warner Bros. movie crew…

This was when she began to pay attention to Dave. Over the next few days, she subtly figured out Dave’s full name and confirmed his identity from the phone calls he received. Because of the 2012 hit movie “The Avengers,” she had a deep impression of Joss Whedon and did some research. One of Joss’s representative works was the charming “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and Dave’s calls mentioned Joss’s name several times.

This was a good resource, for it to have fallen on the Hollywood Star could be said to be a matter of fate, or it could have been the result of Jenny’s multifaceted efforts: There’s a reason for the numerous amount of Hollywood drifters —After occupying an advantageous location, it would definitely be possible to have opportunities nearby, however, recognizing and seizing them would depend on the individual.

Jenny Jane didn’t try to curry favor with Dave, she just chatted casually with him which was as it was normally in restaurants. Waiters often chit-chat with customers to get better tips.

For the first three days, Jessica was the designated server for Dave. On the fourth day, Jenny only greeted him. On the fifth day, they talked about the weather, and on the sixth day, they talked about Dave’s dog. On the seventh day, they talked about Jenny’s audition.

Now Dave was used to being served by Jenny. On the eighth day, they talked about Jenny’s imaginary audition. Jenny told him it fell through and that they had found the “pretty face” they were looking for.

“Oh!” Dave sympathized.

Jenny gave him a strong smile, “If you want to encourage me, just tell me that I would have been a good pretty face.”

Dave laughed, “Dear, you’re more than just a pretty face.”

Jenny put her hands on her hips and pretended to be angry. Dave raised his hands in surrender, “Okay, okay, you would have been a good pretty face.”

Jenny put her hands down and they laughed together. “Thank you, I feel more confident now.”

That day, Dave left a 30% tip.

On the ninth day, Jenny asked Dave if he was going to work here in the future. Dave told her he lived in New York and this was just a short-term job. He was going back next Wednesday. But he still didn’t reveal what he did for a living.

There were six days left until next Wednesday.

Jenny’s smile is as usual— not in any hurry. She wasn’t that desperate that she’d cling to any opportunity.

Calculating the time, on the tenth day, she greeted Johnny and took a day off, using the two weeks of accumulated leave.

On the eleventh day, Dave arrived half an hour earlier than usual, looking restless until he saw Jenny and smiled.

“Hi.” Jenny still smiled at him. “Same as usual?”

“Yesterday, Jessica served me.” Dave blurted out, his tone somewhat accusing as if Jessica wasn’t one of the reasons he came here in the first place.

“I had the day off yesterday.” Jenny chuckled. “Hope you weren’t treated poorly.”

Dave made a non-committal expression, and Jenny returned to the bar, bringing him an extra muffin with his coffee.

“Consider it on the house for yesterday.” She said, winking at Dave. “If you need anything, just call me.”

When it was time to pay, Dave still gave a 30% tip. He was nervous, but still looked Jenny straight in the eye. “You said I could call you if I needed anything.”

“Yeah,” Jenny replied.

“But I don’t have your number.” Dave said, stammering. He quickly explained, “How can I call you without your number?”

Jenny had been throwing this pun into Dave’s ear every day. It can be said that she had already done the work to build up this tall staircase, and now he only had to walk down the built staircase yet he was scared and stuttering to come down it?

This man was so innocent and cute, Jenny couldn’t help but laugh. Now, she really liked Dave a little.

“Should I say ‘I’m glad you finally asked’ or ‘Oh my god, I never expected this’?” She pulled out a pen, but stopped halfway, putting on a thoughtful face.

Dave stuttered, “Of course the former, oh please, it has to be the former.”

“You don’t have to be so nervous.” Jenny chuckled and left her phone number on the receipt. “If you need anything—”

She gestured with her hand, making a ‘call me’ hand sign by her ear.

Taking her coffee cup and the plate of muffins, she started walking back. She noticed that Dave’s gaze remained on her until she disappeared behind the bar.

“He asked you out?” Johnny gossiped. “Tell me you turned him down— look at him, he’s a loser, he’s not good enough for you.”

Jenny just smiled and said nothing.

That night, Dave called her to ask her out to dinner.