Unlike Any Other (Unexpected #1) by Claudia Burgoa

pay some rent and become your roommate?”
    My offer had only one of two answers, yes or no. I wouldn’t lose much if he said no. If he said yes, I had a pretty awesome eight bedroom house until he kicked me out—a sanctuary.
    “Hmm, I guess we could do that.” He scratched his left eyebrow. “There’s one important thing for you to know. No, a must do. Please don’t make any noise before ten in the morning or talk to me before I have a cup of coffee. I’m not a morning person.”
    A strange warning because I had no idea what would happen if I woke him before ten.
    “Agreed, unless it’s an emergency. Then I’ll have to drag you out of bed.”
    “Fine.” He sat on the bench of his piano and fidgeted with the keys. “You should buy the house, now that you’re going to be famous and all that. You and that chick Abby can create your nest here.”
    I could see a family in this house. Growing up with one big family—two brothers and two sisters, made it easy for me to think about having one of my own. I wasn’t sure if Abby was part of the equation yet.
    “I’ll buy it if I recover my investment or land a new role.”
    Abby, or whomever I wound up with, could wait longer.
    “The movie is going to be big,” Christian declared.
    I envied his confidence. Hell, he didn’t have a reputation or money to lose. He was a musician; he’d be forgiven if the movie didn’t make it.
    “You should let me introduce you to some of my friends, they’ll connect you to the right people.”
    “This will sound ridiculous,” I confessed, “but if I decide to stay, I want to make it on my own.”
    This contradicted my plan of giving up and going back home. My desire to stay and try to become a consolidated actor had been the combo between the quality of the movie I had just filmed and my new found passion for acting.
    “I’m just introducing you, not helping you skip auditions,” he pressed. “I’ll invite you to a party or two and you can work your magic, whatever that is. You must have some shit because in this industry that’s what gets you to a door. If it works, great; if it doesn’t, at least you tried.”
    He told me to choose any room I wanted, except the master room that belonged to him. I chose one that had an ocean view. It was a step up from Omaha and from any other home I’ve ever lived in.

1987
    For three straight weeks, we continued filming the movie. By the fourth week, the cast thinned with only a few scenes left. Since most of the cast had lived in Los Angeles, they drifted away as they were doing their own thing. It was better than spending their free time watching the rest of the actors shoot their last lines. I did the same while I wasn’t filming; I started to hunt for an agent.
    Several times I tried to catch up with Abby, but she was unavailable. Occasionally, I thought someone pulled a string to take her away each time I got close to her. From auditions to trips, we never found the time to have a meal during those last weeks filming.
    One night, I arrived at Chris’s after a long day of shooting, training, and having dinner with a prospective agent. Yes, I was still on the search for an agent. The first thing I did was call Abby, as she told me she’d arrived from New York earlier that day. After the fourth ring, her answering machine picked up.
    “You know what to do.” No name or greeting, only the beep after those five words.
    “Abby, this is Gabe Colt.” I ran a hand through my hair, loosened my tie, and continued. “I wanted to make sure you made it back, and check if you wanted to grab a meal this weekend. Give me a call, I’ll be at home lounging and reading a few scripts.”
    After I hung up, I headed to my room, the last one on the left facing the ocean. When the windows were open you could listen to the waves crash against each other and the shore. The scene made me want to land a part in any blockbuster movie, line up a few modeling gigs, and make enough money to pay for