Hello Manhattan

She carefully ran her fingers through her blonde locks, rocking back and forth on her heels. The studio’s gravel colored door stared at her in anticipation while Evelyn turned towards her hopeful mother for the comfort that would never come. The Hartlett family was well known for offers of false comfort, and this was no exception to the tradition. Her mother would no doubt offer some reassurance, but Evelyn knew it wasn’t real and hadn’t much meaning. However, she still accepted the hug when arms were stretched out. Comfort was golden; real or not.

It felt like a goodbye to her mother when she needed her. Shelley Hartlett wasn’t stable and a peek of her history would prove that fact in an instant. Anyone who visited their home was very well aware of the alcohol stash she hid in the cabinet above the sink and the pill bottles in the drawer next to the refrigerator. So it was very clear that Shelley needed Evelyn much more than a mother should need a daughter’s support. Of course Evelyn helped her out whenever she could, but she couldn’t pass the opportunity she had been given. She wasn’t going to stay home to make sure her mother wasn’t making bad decisions when the opportunity to live out her dream was literally right in front of her.
“Good luck in there,” Shelley breathed. Evelyn smiled. “You go do your job, and I’ll be off trying to find one of my own.”
“A job?” she asked, gesturing for an explanation.
“I have to support my lovely daughter somehow,” she said, leaving a faint trace of lipstick where she pressed her lips against Evelyn’s concerned face.
Evelyn gave a small wave, watching her mother drive away and not averting her eyes until the ancient vehicle was out of sight. The door continued staring at Evelyn, awaiting her entrance. With one last hair check and adjustment of her pinafore dress, the actress opened the heavy door, nearly losing her balance at the sight of her new home.
Evelyn held her breath and stated her name to the security guard that stood at the entrance, allowing her passage before returning to his gruff stance. She mumbled an expression of gratitude and stepped onto the hard-wood floors.
It seems awfully casual for a serious business. But it was only eight twenty, and rehearsal didn’t begin for another ten minutes. She had been told that the cast would normally spend time in hair, makeup, and costuming, but there would be no filming today, so all time before work began was up to them to spend. Evelyn took the time to take in the studio around her. In one corner was a small group of adults lost in a conversation with wild hand gestures. A couch occupied a group of gossiping girls dressed a bit scandalously and not quite appropriate for the day of work, and a pair of men leaned against the armrest and flirtatiously chatted with the women.
The brunette in the middle stood up and walked toward Evelyn fiercely, the other two girls following very close behind.
“You must be Evelyn,” she said in a mocking sweet voice.
“Yes! It‘s so great to be here,“ Evelyn said brightly as she nodded, not completely sure of her opinions on this girl. She had seemed a bit abrasive at first glance, but once she started talking it all changed.
“I’m Ruby. Come, sit here,” she said, leading Evelyn to the couch and patting the faded cushions. “And I’ll tell you a little bit about this place.”
Evelyn slowly sat down, cautious of this girl’s intentions after a very odd first introduction.
“This is Hollywood, and since you’re new here, you obviously don’t know what it’s all about. The fame of course, but that’s a given. So I’m going to help you out.” Evelyn shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Ruby was making her a bit uneasy.
“There are people here that you don’t want to mess with.”
“Good to know,” Evelyn stated calmly, begging to get out of the situation. “I think I’m going to go over there now,” she said peering over at the table of refreshments that was surrounded by a small handful of people. Ruby turned her head to where Evelyn’s finger had pointed, and responded with a grimace when she’d recognized exactly who was stranding over in that area, pulling Evelyn back down on the couch with a quick tug.
“You know how I just said there are some people that you don’t want to mess with?” Ruby asked, sugar sweet.
Evelyn nodded as Ruby’s facial expression drastically shifted.
“I’m one of those people,” she said forcefully.
“What?” Evelyn began, but Ruby interrupted with an explanation of her own.
“Alright, I’m going to make this very clear,” she said, very straightforward, deeply enunciating her words. “If you want to work here, you must understand a few things.
“First,” she began, crossing one leg over the other, her voice changing into a threatening tone. “stay away from Russell.” she warned, glancing again at the refreshment table, clearly very unhappy about something.
Evelyn had no clue who that even was, so she took the easy route and nodded to avoid a ranting speech. She wasn’t so sure she was going to get so lucky though.
“Next, don’t bother me. Unless we’re filming or rehearsing, stay out of my way and don’t talk to me,“ she said, threatening with a harsh pointing of the finger. “And last, I’m the star of “Hello Manhattan”, and I always will be so don’t mess with me and don’t even try to change that unless you want to lead a miserable, miserable life.” she growled. Evelyn looked around in fear, not sure how to respond to such an unexpected outburst.
“What?” she asked, honestly not understanding what Ruby was going on about. She had just arrived minutes ago, so a temper such as that morally should not exist. Seeing as it did however, she had to try and fathom a reason, but she couldn’t figure out why a lady she had only just met would have such a bad attitude towards her so early on.
“You heard what I said,” Ruby stated simply. “This is a dirty business, and if you want to succeed, you have to be on guard. That’s why I trust no one and because I worry about myself, I am on top.” she said confidentially, a smidge of a smirk on the side of her stained lips.
“Alright.” Evelyn said slowly, trying to understand what was going on in Ruby’s head. “So I can’t be just arrive on top by doing my job better than anyone else?” she asked, challenging Ruby’s strategy.
“No.” she said rudely. “It’s show business honey, and you have to watch your back if you want to win,” she said, patting, Evelyn on the shoulder. “It’s been nice meeting you.”
She skipped away with her fake smile and her two friends at her side, winking at Evelyn as she moved. Evelyn blinked, wondering if she had only imagined that scenario, and she was very confused at what had just happened. She was interrupted from her befuddled thoughts with a clap of the hands booming in her ears. She turned her head to view the director, Gordon Vonch, standing in the center with his hands locked together, announcing the beginning of the day of work. After everyone’s attention was on him, he began to speak, and everyone listened very intently.
“Good morning. I’d like to welcome our newest cast member, Evelyn Hartlett. Darling, could you come stand here please?” he asked, motioning with his hand for her to scurry over. When she was at his side, he began to speak again. “This is Evelyn and I hope that you welcome her and treat her with respect.” Evelyn stared and grinned, seeing the faces of all the friendly people, with the exception of Ruby, who was standing with a frown, her arms crossed and her foot tapping against the floor.
“So with that, I’ll see you all in the meeting room in five minutes and we will begin our very first read through of this wonderful script that our talented writers have created,” he said joyfully, slightly overdoing the gratitude portion of his announcement. The crowd dispersed and quickly completed their leisure activities prior to entering the meeting room.
Evelyn strolled through the open door and took a seat next to a thin blonde girl, who gave her a sympathetic smile. She was about to ask the reasoning for the pity, but she didn’t have to, quickly discovering why. A fake cough could be heard near her, and the lack of luckiness that Evelyn was encountering continued as she turned around in the chair to find an impatient Ruby standing behind the chair.
“Can I help you?” Evelyn asked politely, and Ruby’s response was less polite.
“Yes, actually. That’s my chair. Has been for a year now.” she said with a very believable smile, but only Evelyn realized the deceit behind it: her mother had been playing that trick for years. A death glare hidden behind a smile was nothing new.
To avoid irritating the crazy woman even more, Evelyn caved in. She was already butting heads with the “star”, and that worsening the relations would clearly not be a very good way to begin her career. So she obliged and stood up, making her way around the table next to a middle aged woman that was dressed far too classy.
Gordon began yet another announcement. “Thank you for taking your seats. Before we begin, here are your scripts for the first episode,” he said, taking the pile of stapled paper and passing them down to the designated actors. “As the very first young adult and teenage centered show, it’s very important that we have these scripts down. Although I have been notified that we have a hit television series, we have been critiqued for having less experienced and less serious actors. So no fooling around,” he said, unraveling a previously unseen trait of gruffness.
“Since, as I’ve already said, we have a new cast member who is less familiar with the plot. Who would like to briefly explain it to her in better and clearer terms than what has already been said?” he asked, looking around for volunteers. With a swift movement, Ruby raised her hand, sucking up to the director who was already well aware that she was very successful and wonderful at playing her part, but in her obsession to be the best, felt the need to flaunt her knowledge even more.
“I will Sir,” she said, in the most polite tone Evelyn had ever heard, sweetness overwhelming the air. Gordon nodded and allowed her to continue.
“Well, there are two storylines going on at once. The storyline of the adults, and the storyline concerning my character,” she said proudly. “As you all know, I play Mara Lordis, who is the love interest of Charlie Zane here,” she said, grabbing onto the arm of a young man seated to the left of her, who eyed her with disgust.
“This is Russell, by the way, Evelyn. The one I was telling you about. He plays Charlie Zane, who is my character‘s soon to be fiance,” she said in her sickly sweet voice. It was amazing how she could produce a threat in a tone of voice capable of speaking to five year old children.
“Mara is expecting Charlie to propose, but then your lovely little character,” she says quite sarcastically, “comes along and distracts him from his perfect plans. Daisy Portland is very interesting. She comes to New York and no one knows where she came from or why she’s there, so my character plans to get rid of Daisy in any way possible before her love life can be destroyed.” she said. “It’s so interesting how much Daisy and Evelyn have in common!” she said. “You know, both of them being the new girls that no one knows anything about.” If only anyone understood the whole truth behind that statement.
Ruby smiled at Gordon, very proud of her summary.
“Ruby, the secondary plot?”
“Oh, right. There’s a bit about a court case after the taxi driver was murdered, and then there’s an affair between my character’s father and a strange woman, which causes so much tension between the adults, and etcetera, etcetera, etcetera,” she said quickly, clearly not very interested in the plotline that didn’t include her. Gordon opened his mouth to speak and correct her, but closed it quickly, realizing that it was no use. When Ruby was finished, she was finished, and there was no use trying to change his mind. Most directors would fire someone so difficult to work with, but Ruby had implanted it into everyone’s minds that she was the reason the show was so successful, and her implications weren’t too far from the truth. And of course, her father was a lawyer, so she had enough influence to get anyone in a lot of trouble if she wanted to. She was very good at convincing.
At Gordon’s instructions, they all flipped their scripts to the first page of dialogue. Evelyn scanned it quickly, taking in the opening scene. It began with the adult characters, which she cared about more than Ruby did, but to be completely honest it didn’t spark much interest in her since she wouldn’t be involved with any of that plot.
She skimmed through the passages until she found Daisy Portland’s name in the left hand column. As she read the witty lines of her character, she realized that she was often paired to speak with Russell, who was apparently the love interest of either Ruby or Mara. She wasn’t sure. But the lines were full of emotion, and the characters seemed to get on a very personal level, which by the looks of things, did not please Ruby one bit, seeing the frown set on her face. Glancing around the room at the expressions on the faces of those she would be working with, namely Ruby and Russell, Evelyn could conclude that this would be a very interesting experience for all of them .