Kitabı oku: «Splendid Passion», sayfa 2

III A hell class

April was almost gone. Trees were already green, spring was almost gone and summer was in the air. Selena was kind sick of her job, of her boss and she was not in the mood not even for her acting class. She was not in the mood to stay in a dark place, she wanted to see sun, green and butterflies, running in the parks and maybe someone to date. Soon she would have be 26 and she have not found her soul mate yet. This melancholy was deeper when the spring was arriving, when couples were everywhere. And yet, for her, the time did not arrive. The true is that she did not do so many efforts to find a soul mate. She always had the sensation that if it has to happen it will. She knew that the right man was out there and she will meet him eventually. Meanwhile she was trying to enjoy life and…her class. At work she was already a little star:

 Are you going to play in movies? Her colleagues always asked her

 It is true that you take classes with Mircea Marin and Mihai Bohalteanu? God, I should apply too.

Selena made some colleagues to apply for this class and this gave her a 25% off which was nice, but she did not care so much. She was more worried about the gossips about her at the office.

She started to enjoy more the classes and she had the impression that Mircea liked her. She knew very well that he was married and she should not think about him that way, but every time he looked at her, or talked to her she felt the butterflies in her stomach…

Even if she was trying to hide her embarrassment and her emotions, he seemed to understand and did not try to push her away! On the contrary, he was answering to her looks and her whispers, like they understood each other, like they knew their feelings. She was not convinced, he could not trust him, he could not trust men these days...She wanted to be able to speak with him in private but there was never the occasion to do it. They were never able to be alone.

Mihai classes became very practical. At the beginning the did a lot of theory about theater and cinema and what all that means, he was smart, she had to change her mind about him, and he was very handsome. Of course girls were always crazy about him and always behave like dumbs. She felt disgusted a little bit because she did not approve this kind of behaviour where you give up you dignity just for an autograph. And almost all the girls in the class were like that.

One day, he called her because was her turn to tell something:

 Now it is your turn, girl with the moon name! and he smiled.

At the moment, Selena did not know how to behave: it was a compliment or irony the thing he said about her name? His look did not show anything. He was an actor, of course. Everything was easy to hide when you had that kind of talent.

Full of emotions, she sit on the chair in the middle of the room. 30 people were looking at her. What could she tell? Something funny, but what? She did not want to make fun of herself; mostly not in front of him… at the end she told a story that happened to her in a trip... something very embarrassing and terrible that made all the people laugh hard and Mihai answered her with a nice smile:

 Nice, our beloved with moon look. Continue to go on trips. Trips are amazing and useful, I mean I just hope not all of them are going to be like your story but still, it is nice!

Everyone laughed. Oh God, she did not want to tell anything else in public like this. It was humiliating. Why did she need this class? So someone would just make fun of her?

Moon look??? What the hell does it even mean? And the commentaries about the trips? It was not her fault that someone indicated her the wrong airport and she had to cross all the city of Milan to find the good one. It was not her fault, it was a terrible experience and she could have told something else, she could have invented an adventure or a lover…

She decided to not bother too much about this, and even if he is going to make her mad she will just avoid his classes. Anyway she was already giving up about being an actress. Everything seemed complicated mostly with these kind of teachers, cold, arrogant and critics. Even if she wasn’t dying about the “Mr Teacher”, theater and cinema class became her favorite one. She liked it because she was free, she could express herself and live different situations, she could experiment new feelings and explore everything in a way she never did; but she didn’t like Mihai and because of that she wanted to challenge him, to take down his ego.

Every time they had different little games: moving, synchronizing, attention etc. Apparently it was very important to be a team. “Teamwork” was the magical word that Mihai always used and he wanted everyone to understand that. It was important to communicate, to open up and to not be afraid to seem ridiculous. Not be afraid to express. Being creatives and originals.

He encouraged them to free themselves and be able also able to criticize.

One day, Mihai asked them to express their creativity with a song. It was a hard challenge.

Full of emotions, Selena sang like a star, she had fun and she surprised even the teacher. He looked at her with a less icy look, and for her was enough.

Another time, they had to dance on a song that was already chosen. Selena choose “Umbrella” of Rihanna. She danced in a sexy way and she even used an umbrella to do some moves. At the end she invited all her colleagues to dance with her and at the end of the song all of them applauded. Everyone looked at her with energy and in that moment she felt a genius. Selena felt wonderful. She liked improvising. Maybe was the only thing she actually liked. She was happy because she was feeling free.

One day, Mihai propose a game that Selena liked more than the others.

 Now we are going to do something to concentrate. We will pretend that we are alone in the room during ten minutes. Nobody is in the room, nobody is listening to you. What are you doing ? How do you behave? Do whatever you want, but be careful: focus on being alone even it is not true. Be yourself, like you are chilling home!

Interesting, was thinking Selena. Pretending to be alone…simple but hard. What would she do if she was alone? She would look on the walls? How would she behave? She closed her eyes…she imagined herself home…She walked then to the desk and he opened the computer. All the others were still. Then someone sit on the ground. A boy started to speak out loud, but Selena didn’t care what was that about. A girl was doing her manicure, another one started to sing then continued out loud. Someone was pretending to be in the shower. A girl started to act like she was in the kitchen. Interesting. That’s how we behave when nobody is watching. But what was she doing when she was alone? It was very simple : she was watching a movie or listening to music! She laid on the chair, then she found a movie on the computer and she didn’t do anything special. She tried to look as natural as possible. Her colleagues were more agitating, they were dancing and walking and she was just in a corner without doing anything. She was watching the movie and she started to not see any more the others around until she felt a hand taking down her feet from the desk. It was Mihai, on the other side of the desk looking at her with no expression on his face. Selena looked at her feet weirdly.

-This desk is so slippery; I can’t even sit as I want!

She ignored Mihai. She put again her feet next to the computer but as soon as she did it, he pushed again her feet on the ground, in a brutal way. She almost felt.

Cursing him in her mind, she didn’t say anything this time; she took her computer and sat on the floor, making noise with her foot. She sat next to the window, in a secure position. He couldn’t make her fall again. But her heart was fast beating, who knows what he was going to do again. He would touch her again? Her leg was hurting.

Mihai didn’t want to let her alone, it was pretty clear. He came close to her, next to her face and…he just stayed still. He was staring at her with intensity, who the hell knows what was in his mind. She was kinda scared but she tried not to move. She even tried to ignore him by watching her movie even if the action there was almost ending. Even if she was pretty mad she was trying to ignore him so badly, what else could she do? What if…

She took a facial tissue from her pocket and she pretended she was catching an annoying fly. She “hit” his face with the tissue and she had a good time doing that. After she came back on her computer, but he was still there. Damnit!

Finally he went away.

 The ten minutes are over. Thank you all!

 You saw, he smiled, what does it mean being yourselves, pretending you are alone and do your normal things even if there are people around you. That happens too on the stage : you have to face yourself, you need to say a line or do something, avoiding the fact that someone in the audience is doing noises. You need to focus on the stuff you need to do even if you are aware of people around you. Then he turned to Selena:

 Good job, moon name. You didn’t let people know that I was in front of you. You even found a nice replica. I loved when you hit me; even if you wouldn’t have shown the fact that I was upsetting you. Anyway, good job.

He did a short break and then he asked:

 What was the movie about?

Selena froze. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She had no idea what the movie was about, she watched like ten minutes but she was too distracted about what was happening around her.

-Yeah, you were watching the movie, he said. Meanwhile everyone else was exaggerating the movements, you did the most natural thing ever: watching a movie. Only that people are very careful also to the action, don’t you think? He smiled. But he didn’t expect an answer from her so he leaved her alone. Finally.

One day, Mihai seemed more worried that ever. He was always thoughtful, not able to focus, he was elsewhere. She was getting used to see him in different moods every day. At the end of the class he asked Selena:

 Darling, you with the moon name…what about a role in a movie? Don’t be scared, it’s nothing special, but it could be a beginning.

He analysed every her move to see a reaction. Selena looked at him trying to understand if she heard well. She? In a movie?

Mihai continued:

 I know you don’t have experience…But sometimes is not so important. I don’t know why, but I see you very well in a movie. You are made for the screen, but not for theater. I like how the light falls on your eyes…

Selena was scared.

 Mihai! Do you have any idea what are you saying? Me, in a movie? In a real movie? Not even in my wildest dreams I saw this coming.

She didn’t expect that in real life, not from him at least.

 Selena darling, he said with a soft voice, I’m sure this is surprising for you. But don’t be scared. It is just my idea, and maybe I’m wrong. If you accept though, you have to do the casting, and from there we will see.

She was shaking; she felt she needed to sit.

 Good…good Mihai, and what is the movie about?

 The name of the movie is “Lorelei”. It is a modern variant of the legend. Do you know this legend?

Selena sad yes, still thinking that she was dreaming. She had idea what was about but she wasn’t sure. It was a sad legend about a blond girl and I tragic love.

Mihai was walking with his hands behind his back telling her about the movie:

 It’s a fantastic story but with realism in it; the love blooms between Lorelei, the princess of Rein Valley, and a poor guy. At the beginning he is charmed by the blond and fascinating Lorelei, but then he is intimidating by her beauty and richness and he abandon her for a village girl, poor as him. Lorelei full of suffer is passing her days next to the lake singing about her pain. One day, when her lover was passing on the boat next to that lake, he sees her and he gets distracted. He loses the control of the boat and he dies in the lake. This time, Lorelei is suffering way more and she decides to suicide herself to kill the pain. I know, Mihai said, the story is really tragic maybe too much for you, but you should go anyway at the casting.

 Okay Mihai, I…I audition for which role?

 Lorelei’s one, of course!

 Lo…Lorelei? You mean…the protagonist??? But… why do you think I could be good for this role?

 I don’t even know myself, he said preparing to go. Sorry, but I don’t have time. He took his coat and other stuff and before he left he said to her:

 Maybe because you have a lot of interesting and contradictory things…Like attraction, a dreamer look and you have a femme fatal in you…Please tell Emilian if you’re going to the casting. Maybe you’ll be famous! And then he left.

At night, in her bed, she wasn’t able to sleep. She just keep thinking about the movie. The protagonist? What if Mihai was just joking? She had no idea how acting in a movie was about.

Two days have passed and she was still thinking about it. To go or not to go? Anyway she will not be chosen. And with this thoughts she went to the casting, full of emotions.

Despite she thought, the crew was very nice to her. She didn’t have to do so many acting stuff. They just asked her to walk, to sit, do adopt some melancholic gesture, and be dreamy ecc. She read some lines from Lorelei and she liked it. The only thing was that the movie was not a big budget movie: the director and all the actors were debutants. The interesting thing was that the movie was going to be filmed in the Rein Valley. The other girls were normal girls like her, and others more famous. She was happy it wasn’t a super production because she didn’t feel ready for something so important.

After one hour she finished and she came back to work. The casting was easier that she thought she did a great job. She didn’t say anything at work to her coworkers. In a few weeks she would have had the answer. They will not chose her, that’s sure. She liked the story though. And she felt happy because Mihai pushed her to do this.

More the days passed, more Selena was thinking about Mihai. At work she was more distracted than ever. One time she realized she was assisting to the wrong conference. Another day she almost felt and with two glasses of water on her boss. She had to apologize a lot and she stayed more at work that night hoping that her boss will notice that. Another time she did so many photocopies that they had to buy it new. Headaches and fights with Andreea. She felt so clumsy. She didn-t know what to do anymore. She had to be more careful. She started the day by asking herself what would happen to her again. All this time she wasn’t able to not think about Mihai and his crazy decision on proposer her the leading role in a movie. Why did he do that? For him, she was just a stranger at classes. He could have recommended a million of actresses with experience, why her??

When she went at her class, it seemed that something changed: her colleagues knew something? Selena felt a little bit like crap because she was the only one to know about the casting. And now everyone will hate her.

Two weeks later and still no news about the movie, like it didn’t even existed. Selena returned to reality and to her office job life. But she was still thinking about the casting. The crew liked her. She did pretty well there. If they would have given her a chance, what she will do? Will she have time to go filming? Mihai gave her already the solution: she would have asked pay free vacation. But Selena thought about her boss reaction and she was already feeling sick.

Days were passing and Selena was thinking if she would ever know the result about the casting. One day the phone rang:

 Selena? Hi!

 Emilian, that’s you? Hi…

 Selena, I hope you have champagne next to you. Lorelei’s role it’s yours.

Selena couldn’t speak. She lost her word and instead of happiness she felt scare. She couldn’t believe it. It was even real?

She went to class scared as hell, hoping that everything was a joke. She needed a lot of courage to get in the classroom, and next to the door Emilian greeted her and all her colleagues started to applaud her.

 Good job Lorelei!

 Success in your new career!

Mihai came to congratulate too.

 I told you so…

 Thank you. She felt on fire. I think I owe you a lot, she said low voice. He pretended to not hear her.

 Actually you don’t have the role yet. There are other three girls for Lorelei’s role. Soon filming will start and you will have to understand the role, the character ecc.. Just then they will decide who is better for this role.

She felt better after this news.

 About that…the rehearsals… Do you know how it’s going to work? It’s going to be a busy program? I work, you know…

Mihai looked at her quite serious

 I know you work. You will have to call the crew about that but I’m sure they’re going to find a solution. Plus, you will rehearse here during classes, because I have news: Lorelei’s love it’s going to be me.

This time Selena didn’t know what to say. Him? She looked at him like he was an alien. So…this meant that they will have to act play together??? She, an anonymous, next to the great Mihai Bohalteanu? She felt she couldn’t breathe. She was going to end at the hospital in these conditions.

 I see that you’re more freaked than I thought. You didn’t get used with me, did you? I’m your teacher but I’m going to be also your co-worker now. Don’t freak out, I may seem sever but I don’t bite. Are you okay??? Open the windows please!

 No, no, everything is okay. I just have to realize that I’m going to play in a movie next to a famous actor…I don’t know if I can handle all that. For me… it’s something big…

 Uh, don’t worry, moon name, he said trying to calm her down. Don’t forget, you didn’t get the role yet. You still have to get it. Do you think though that you will find time to rehearse with me? You will have to study the role, to inform youserlf, to see how Lorelei is and understand her character…Do you think you will find time for that? And you will have to get used with me too. It is too much pressure for you?

Now he was provoking her. And he was doing it well.

 It depends…Selena said. My program is really full, if they’re going to ask me additional rehearsals I don’t know how I’m going to do that…I could just in the late afternoon and not until late or during weekends…

 And during night, right? Selena blocked.

 Oh..no. I sleep during the night or I’ll be a mess.

 We will see! He said. We will decide the program soon.

Selena didn’t want to think about it. Her free time will be soon zero…This man would have tiring her so much and she wasn’t even able to think clear because she was feeling like a doll in his hands.

Meanwhile she saw again Mircea. He was still giving a class about television. He congratulate with her with enthusiasm:

 Good job, Sel, you are super! I didn’t expect you to obtain a role so soon, but you’re very talented and I always knew it.

Selena blushed. She didn’t expect that but she knew that he was being friendly and nice, nothing else. But he warned her:

 But be careful, Sel. Be yourself, always. Even if you get the role, you could find difficulties on your way, this job it’s not easy, you know? If you’ll ever need something don’t hesitate to search me.

She thanked him. She felt her heart melting about his kindness, she admired him so much and she was very happy with his words.

The problem now was Lorelei’s role and…Mr Superstar. Rehearsals started the next day. He wanted her to be ready for filming.

 Even if you’re not going to get the role, I want this to be high quality, he said without a shade of a smile. He sees me like an object, she thought.

They started with some relaxing games. In the room they were alone, but she was feeling more stressed than being in front of all her colleagues. Probably because she knew they would have played together and she didn’t feel comfortable about it.

 Selena, what moment of the day you feel the best? Mihai asked.

 Best moment…mmmm

 Yes, when do you feel more relaxed? For me it’s the morning. When I wake up, I go on the balcony. I breathe the fresh air and I plan my day. I drink my coffee; I read the newspaper and my emails. I just pass time with myself. That is a quiet moment. Do you have something like that?

She thought about it but no. She didn’t have something like that.

 Maybe the night, she said. Before I go to sleep….I think what I did during the day and what I’m going to next day…

 Perfect, Mihai said. Imagine that it’s that time of the day. You finished everything you had to do, you can relax.

The rehearsals continued. Selena was reading the script. Her character intrigued her. But mostly, he was intrigued by another character: Mihai’s one. Since they had to spend a lot of time together, she was fascinated by him. His authorial attitude disappeared and at his place there was a relaxed young man with a hot sense of humor. Selena didn’t know what to think anymore. He let her to take breaks all the time. A lot of time they talked about arguments that hadn’t any connection with the movie. They talked a lot about anything like childhood, dreams and about how she always wanted to play in a movie. He encouraged her so much. They they laughed a lot about her clumsiness at work. Selena almost forgot sometimes where she was. It felt like at a picnic in a nice park looking at the sky. She started to think that he was playing a game.

So, one night, before bed she had an idea.