With Daphne’s blessing secured, Rosalie wasted no more time and decided to take Mark to the audition.
Before that, though, she first had to handle a stack of paperwork for him: registering for a Social Security number, getting a medical checkup certificate, and applying for a minor’s entertainment work permit.
It took her the entire day, with Daphne’s help, to get every last form processed.
**[Sunlight Points: 28]**
Watching the number climb over the course of the day, Mark couldn’t have been more pleased.
*Just as I thought, collecting points is way more efficient outside than cooped up at home.*
Rosalie and Daphne had taken good care of him the whole time, with the stroller’s sun shade blocking most of the direct light.
But as long as any part of his body caught even a sliver of sunlight, even through clothing, he could still collect points.
The next morning, Rosalie and Daphne took Mark by cab to Tenda Ad Company.
The agency wasn’t far, tucked near Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard.
Half an hour later, the three of them arrived and stepped inside.
A long line had already formed in the lobby, nearly a hundred people deep.
Almost all of them were women, and some, like Rosalie, had strollers of their own.
“There are this many people here?
Are they all auditioning for the same formula commercial?”
Daphne looked genuinely startled.
“Probably.
Let’s get in line before it gets any longer.”
Rosalie, on the other hand, wasn’t the least bit surprised.
She wheeled the stroller to the back of the line.
Competition in Hollywood was brutal.
Even the smallest background role in a show or film could draw in a swarm of hopefuls fighting over it.
This particular commercial paid about the same as a background gig but required far less effort, so of course it had drawn a crowd.
Naturally, only extras like Rosalie would bother competing for pay this modest; no working actress with real credits would waste her time here.
“Hey!
Rosalie, didn’t expect to run into you here!”
While Rosalie stood in line, a Latina woman in heavy makeup and a rather revealing outfit sauntered over, greeting her with an air of smug superiority.
“Emily?”
The moment Rosalie recognized her, her face darkened.
“You’re auditioning for this too?”
The two of them had arrived in Hollywood around the same time, and being close in age and looks, they’d ended up competing for the same roles more often than not.
Neither had come out ahead consistently, and the resentment between them had only deepened over the years.
At one point, Emily had rallied a group of her fellow countrymen to spread rumors that Rosalie had slept with a third-rate director named Andrew in exchange for all her background roles.
That rumor had brought the director’s wife, Oona, storming after Rosalie, and the two of them had gotten into a screaming match that turned physical.
Cornered and humiliated, Rosalie had been forced to move out of her old place and into the cheap apartment she lived in now.
With history like that between them, Rosalie had nothing but contempt for Emily.
“Of course!
The pay on this one’s too good to pass up.”
Emily gave a smug little laugh, raising her voice just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
“You didn’t already sleep your way into this one with the director, did you?”
Everyone else in line turned to stare at Rosalie the moment the words left Emily’s mouth.
And the second they got a good look at her face, wariness and concern flickered visibly across their expressions.
“Say one more word like that in front of my son, and I will rip that filthy mouth of yours right off!”
Rosalie’s expression turned murderous as she stepped forward, ready to make good on the threat.
The old Rosalie might not have reacted quite this violently.
But now that she was a mother, she found she had zero tolerance for anyone slandering her like that in front of Mark.
“Are you insane?”
Emily flinched at Rosalie’s ferocity, stumbling back a step.
She clearly hadn’t expected Rosalie’s temper to have gotten this sharp, ready to throw hands over a single comment.
If the two of them caused a scene here, security would likely toss them both out on the spot, ending any chance either of them had at the audition.
“You lunatic!”
Emily spat the insult and put more distance between them.
Rosalie took a couple of sharp breaths, letting her anger cool by degrees.
From his stroller, Mark narrowed his eyes, quietly studying Emily as she took her place further back in line, committing her face to memory.
After nearly a year of being doted on and cared for by Rosalie, Mark had truly come to accept her as his mother in every sense.
And Emily had just made the mistake of slandering her right in front of him.
He wasn’t about to forget that.
After an hour of waiting, it was finally Rosalie’s turn.
She and Daphne, pushing the stroller, walked into the audition room and found two men and two women seated behind a long table, along with a handful of staff milling around. Visit novelping . com for the full chapter.
Rosalie glanced at the nameplates lined up on the table and quickly pieced together who everyone was: the ad agency’s manager, the formula company’s manager, the shoot’s director, and a child welfare officer.
Under U.S.
law, any commercial requiring an infant on set had to have a certified child welfare officer present, in addition to the guardian.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Rosalie Payne, a professional actress.
I’ve previously appeared in—”
Rosalie started to walk them through her resume.
“Ms.
Payne, you’re here to audition for the mother role in the formula ad?”
The director seated in the middle, Caleb Bell, cut her off impatiently, getting straight to the point.
“Yes, sir, that’s the role I’m here for.”
Rosalie glanced over at Mark in the stroller and continued, “And I’ve also brought my son.
I’d like him considered for the baby role in the commercial as well.”
“Oh?
You’re going after both roles at once?”
Caleb’s interest visibly perked up.
“Would you mind bringing him out so we can take a look?”
Everyone else who’d come in that day had shown up for either the mother role or the baby role, never both at once.
Rosalie was the only one going after both.
She nodded, and Daphne lifted Mark out of the stroller.
Any other baby, dropped suddenly into a strange room full of strangers, might have burst into tears on the spot.
But Mark simply sat quietly in Daphne’s arms, his deep blue eyes calmly taking in everyone in the room.
“Oh my god, this child is gorgeous!”
“He’s so cute, he’s basically an angel!”
“This is honestly a work of art!”
“…”
The staff around the room gasped the moment they got a proper look at Mark’s flawless little face.
Even the four judges at the table, visibly worn down from a long day of auditions, sat up straight all at once.
Julia Harrington, the formula company’s manager, in particular, couldn’t tear her eyes off him, practically glowing.
“Ms.
Payne, what’s your son’s name, and how old is he?”