“Don’t tell me I’m not the finest-looking bum you ever saw!” Warren replied.
“Ok, I won’t tell you,” laughed Bridget, who wore a pair of jeans and a tight grey sweater that had the effect of making Warren feel just a little light-headed. He tried to shake it off. As they continued down the street Warren saw a scrawny-looking black man in ragged clothing leaning against a wall. One eye was eye clouded over, as if to match the gray in his hair. He held a bottle of wine in a brown paper bag in one hand and an empty cup in the other. “Spare some change?” the man said as they approached.
“What are you talking about, Smiley?” replied Warren in astonishment.
Smiley examined them more closely, with shock and confusion on his face. He jumped up and took a quick step back. “Holy cow! Warren? What they done to you, man?!” he shouted.
“Easy, Smiley. I told you I was a movie star!” said Warren with a wry smile.
“Come on, man! You ain’t no movie star! Where’d you get them fancy threads? You been stealin’, I know it!”
“Don’t worry, Smiley, it’s legit.”
“It don’t look right, you bein’ all fancy an’ such,” said Smiley, shaking his head before he took a good long swig of wine. “You done scared me, man.” He rubbed his mouth with a sleeve and squinted in Bridget’s direction. “Who’s the pretty lady?” he asked.
“This is Bridget,” Warren answered.
Smiley moved forward and bowed slightly. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Bridget answered.
“See you around, Smiley,” said Warren. He reached in his pocket to pull out a few bills and dropped them in Smiley’s cup before they moved on down the sidewalk.
“You’ve got friends all over, don’t you?” said Bridget.
“Sometimes that’s the only thing that keeps you sane on the street. Your friends are your family.”
“What about your real family?” Bridget asked. “Do you ever talk to them?”
Warren cringed slightly. Bridget had obviously hit on a soft spot. She watched his expression, searching for clues as he considered how to answer this one. In the end he decided to say nothing at all. At least for the time being. “Where should we eat?” he asked instead.
“This place looks like it was made for you,” she answered. They stood in front of an old 50’s diner, with a bright red neon sign reading “Mel’s Drive In.” Through the window they saw clean white tables trimmed in gleaming chrome, with black chairs and red vinyl booths. Waitresses in red and white cotton dresses moved past with trays of burgers, shakes and fries. Warren pulled the door open. He remembered the last time he’d attempted to patronize a restaurant, but this was different. He was better dressed and in good company. Nobody here could tell he was homeless. He breathed in deeply. Everything was ok. A young hostess showed them to a table.
As she slid into their booth, Bridget was enjoying herself already. She smiled warmly when the hostess handed her a menu. Just being out in public at all was a huge improvement over her typical nights at home, eating dinner all alone. Besides that, she had a lot of questions for Warren August. Maybe she’d finally get some answers. Bridget had a history of speaking her mind. Sometimes she just couldn’t help it, though she knew she should approach this situation with caution, especially after the way things had gone the previous night. Driving Warren away was the last thing she wanted to do. “What should we order?” she asked, looking up from her menu eagerly.
“I don’t know. I’m not used to having a choice,” said Warren. He read through his options. There was a long list of burgers; the Mel Burger, Sunset Burger, bacon, avocado or veggie burgers. There was a tuna melt, French dip, smoked ham and cheese. Steaks, chicken, or Mile High Meatloaf. It was all a little overwhelming.
After a few minutes, a waitress appeared with a pad of paper in her hand. “Are you ready to order or do you need some time?” she asked.
“I’ll have a Sunset burger, please, with fries. And a chocolate shake,” said Bridget.
“Make that two, thanks,” said Warren.
“You got it.” The waitress took their menus and moved on.
“I’ll bet this place is a lot better than the usual slop,” said Bridget.
“The usual slop is better than nothing. Most of the time,” he answered.
“I wonder” said Bridget, considering what a life of hunger must be like.
“Have you ever gone with nothing?”
“Me? No way. It may not look like it, but you’re looking at a girl who can eat.”
“I guess we’re in the right place, then.” Warren surveyed the people who sat at the tables around them; a family with two young kids playing with their food; a middle-aged couple on a date; a group of young people crammed into a booth on the other side of the room, making as much noise as they could and reveling in their freedom.
Bridget followed his gaze across the room. “Don’t you sometimes feel like everyone else in the world is having all the fun?” she asked.
“Not tonight,” Warren said, but then he felt a rush of embarrassment at this admission.
Bridget didn’t seem to mind. She smiled in return, enjoying herself as well. “So what do you think of the actors’ life so far?” she asked.
Warren rubbed his hands together. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. At first it was just a game. You know, like I was getting away with something. Every time I got to eat lunch I felt like I was putting one over on them.”
“And now?”
“It feels like they’re expecting an awful lot.”
“But they’re offering you a great opportunity in return.”
“Yeah, I know…” Warren looked at her with doubt in his eyes.
“So what’s the problem?”
“I guess I’ve learned not to trust things that sound too good to be true.”
“Maybe it is true.”
“I’d like to believe that.”
“You can’t very well spend your life in fear of success. I mean fear of failure is one thing, but jeez, sometimes you’ve got to relax and appreciate the good things!”
“I’ll try to heed that advice.”
Bridget scanned his face looking for clues; his well-tanned skin, his rugged features and his deep, piercing eyes. It was those eyes that made her shudder. Even before they cleaned him up, when his face was hidden by a dirty, scraggly beard, the eyes still shone through. Inside them she saw great beauty, and yet great pain. “You know Warren, sometimes you just have to go for it. You have to lay yourself out there and take some risks if you ever want to achieve anything,” she said.
“I think I know a thing or two about risks,” he answered.
Bridget looked him over a little longer. Questions swirled in her mind, but she was hesitant to ask them. She didn’t want to frighten him away. The waitress swept past, placing two chocolate shakes on the table. “Here you go, Sunset burgers coming up,” she said as she moved on.
Bridget lifted her shake to her lips and took a sip. “You know, the first thing we should talk about is getting you an agent.”
“Do you have an agent?” Warren asked.
“Me? No. Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because…they’re not that easy to get. Not a good one, anyway.”
“Then why do you think I could get one?”
“You’ve got an offer on the table. Any agent in their right mind would want a piece of that.”
“A piece of what?”
Bridget laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you sorted out.”
With these words, a wave of gratitude passed over Warren. It was much like the feeling he had in the clothing store the day before, when a complete stranger handed over a few extra dollars. There was kindness in the human race, if one had the humility to accept it. He lifted his shake and took a long sip as they watched each other across the table.
Outside on the boulevard they walked slowly side by side, taking their time. Neither of them was in a hurry for the evening to end. Bridget had learned a little more about Warren over dinner; that he’d grown up in New Orleans, the son of a retired Army Sergeant and a music teacher. He had one older sister, Dorothy. Bridget was still no closer to understanding why he was homeless. As they walked along, she kept an eye on the mix of tourists and hipsters roaming the sidewalk. “I’ll never get used to this place,” she said.
“Then why do you stay?” Warren asked.
“Just like all the other poor slobs I suppose; chasing the dream. Unfortunately, to the people out here I’m merely a walking piece of furniture, consigned to the background. Back in St. Louis I was the toast of the town, if you can believe that,” Bridget sighed, thinking back to her life on the stage. Things were hard there, too, but at least she’d had respect. In Hollywood she had nothing. She was embarrassed to admit that she’d expected more. She’d thought things would be easier for someone with talent. She was no longer so naïve.
“Do you ever think about going back?” Warren asked.
“What, and give up this life of poverty and humiliation?” Bridget laughed.
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“No, I suppose not,” she said. “Honestly, I think about going home all the time. But then, without our dreams we’re nothing. What’s the point of living otherwise? You might as well shrivel up and die. Only sometimes it feels like that’s exactly what I’m doing, day by day. You need to have a thick skin in this town. Every rejection takes a little more out of you. Sometimes I wonder how much I have to give before they’ve bled me dry.”
“Is it really all such doom and gloom?”
“Oh, I don’t know. There was one audition… but I don’t want to get my hopes up.”
“Go ahead, tell me.”
Bridget’s expression brightened as she thought of the prospect. “It was for the lead in an independent film. I love the director, and I think we hit it off. I felt really good about the reading.”
“When will you hear?”
“I don’t know, any day. I’m hoping for a call back.”
“What’s that?”
“It means they want to see a little more of me. It would be a good sign.”
“Well good luck, I hope you get it.”
“Thanks,” she replied. “So do I.”
“At least you know how to act,” he said wistfully. “You don’t have to just pretend, and hope you get away with it.”
“That’s pretty much what acting is. Playing make-believe.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“You can’t tell me it doesn’t come naturally for you. You just need to relax and enjoy it more. You said yourself it was all just a game at first. You need to keep thinking of it that way. If you take it too seriously, you’re only going to be self-conscious. You won’t be able to get into character.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you get to be somebody else for a while. You leave your own problems behind and maybe try on your characters’ life like a new set of clothes. You get to feel their triumphs and their disappointments. You stop feeling so wrapped up in your own little world and you realize that we’re all part of this universe of humanity. Some people spend their whole lives trying to put up a shield against their feelings. They’re terrified that if they don’t, they’ll get hurt. Actors try to feel everyone’s feelings, so that they’re not so lost in their own; being in touch with the world around them on a deeper level.”
Warren raised his eyebrows. “I’m just trying to get by. That’s all.”
“You may think that you’re only faking it, but there’s more to it than that. You’re tapping into something within yourself. You’re using all of your life experience. That’s what your audience sees. It’s what Kaplan sees. With a little bit of practice, you could really go somewhere.”
“Yeah?”
“You must think so, too, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Warren considered his words. “It would be nice to make the most of this. I’m not very good at regret.”
“If you give it your all, you won’t have anything to regret.”
“Maybe you can give me some pointers. You know, teach me some things.”
“You want me to give you acting lessons?”
“Why not?”
Bridget raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know… I guess I could show you a thing or two. But you’d have to trust me. Acting can be a very emotional experience. You’d have to be willing to let yourself go; to plumb the depths of your soul. You think you can handle that?”
Warren didn’t need to think this over. He’d warmed to the idea of accepting her help, especially if it meant spending time together. “Sure,” he agreed right away. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Whatever I say?” Bridget replied as a mischievous smile crossed her lips.
“I’m completely at your mercy.”
“What if I say, run out into the street and dance around like a chimpanzee?”
“I’d say be careful what you ask for.” Warren smiled himself before he darted onto Hollywood Boulevard. Cars slammed on their breaks and swerved around him. One dark sedan came to a screeching halt a foot away from his knees. The terrified woman behind the wheel stared through the window in a panic. Warren stayed where he was, looking the driver in the eye as he began dancing around in a chimpanzee imitation. “Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo!” he howled while hopping up and down and flailing his arms in the air.
“What are you doing? Get back here!” screamed Bridget as horns began honking all around. Warren hopped back onto the sidewalk.
“It was your idea,” he chuckled.
“I didn’t mean for you to get run over!” she said. “Are you crazy?!”
“I am homeless, you know. It’s a hazard of the business.”
“Well you didn’t have to prove anything to me. I’m happy to give you some acting lessons.”
“Great, when can we start?”
Bridget sighed. “How about tomorrow night?”
“Let me check my schedule.” He held up one hand and pretended to read something written on it. “It looks like I am available.”
“I’d hate to pull you away from anything important,” said Bridget. “Let’s make it eight O’clock. Just try not to get run over between now and then.” Bridget tried to maintain a casual air, but in truth she was thrilled with the idea. There was a lot she could teach him and besides, she had to admit if only to herself, she liked this Warren August character. Despite Charles’ words of caution echoing through her head, she couldn’t help it. Just being in Warren’s presence, Bridget felt a rush of adrenaline. There was no harm in spending time with him, she told herself. They moved on down the boulevard, side by side, past the Dolby Theatre. “You know what this place is?” she asked.