The Sheikh’s American Love - A Box Set Read online

  All at once Riley remembered the audition; she had put it so firmly out of her mind, convinced that there was no way she would get a part, that when things had gotten busy she had forgotten that it had even happened. Riley’s heart beat faster and her stomach twisted with dread; if it was someone from the casting department calling to ask her to come in for another reading then she was well and truly out of consideration after missing five attempted calls.

  “Well, shit,” she said, frowning down at her phone. Why would they call so late at night? “I would think even the most out of touch casting director would figure that most actors have ‘real’ jobs,” Riley muttered, briefly letting her irritation at the timing of the calls overcome her disappointment at having missed them. Riley sighed and started to put her phone back into her pocket, resigned to the fact that she most likely wasn’t going to hear anything more from the production company.

  Just as soon as she had the phone in her pocket, however, it began to buzz again, and Riley’s heart stuttered in her chest as she fumbled to get it back out. The same number flashed across the screen, and Riley bit back a shocked, jubilant yelp at the luck that anyone would try and call her again after getting her voicemail five times.

  Riley took a quick breath to steady her voice, tapped the ‘accept’ icon on the screen and brought the phone to her ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Riley Townsend?”

  The sound of a woman’s voice filled Riley’s ear and she tried to decide in a flash whether it was the woman she’d seen at the audition or someone else.

  “Yes, this is Riley,” she said quickly.

  Just then the door to the back of the restaurant opened and Jenny—one of the other servers on duty—poked her head out.

  “Riley, get your ass inside! We’re flat out in here!”

  Riley grimaced, glancing in Jenny’s direction for an instant. She held up one hand, putting up her index finger to indicate that she would be one minute.

  “Riley, it’s good to finally reach you,” the woman on the other end of the phone line said. “I’m pleased to be able to tell you that we were so impressed with your audition this afternoon that we’ve decided to offer you a part in our new movie.”

  “That’s wonderful news!” Riley nearly jumped on the spot, excitement surging through her body. “I’m so glad to hear it.”

  “There’s something more that I have to tell you, but this is something you need to keep under your hat for the foreseeable future,” the woman said slowly.

  “Of course, of course,” Riley agreed, glancing at the door in a mixture of nervousness and excitement. She had to get back to work—but she’d gotten a part! A real part in a film!

  “Today’s audition was…slightly misleading. The project we want you for is very hush-hush, and we wanted to be able to hire a mixture of unknowns and little-known talent without attracting big names at this point.” Riley’s heart beat even faster; even a small part in a larger film would be a boon to her CV. “The film we’re actually casting for is Galaxy Wars 3.”

  Riley’s hand went numb and she nearly dropped the phone. The Galaxy Wars films had been some of the highest grossing in movie history; she would have thought that the casting for the third production would be entirely closed—available only to people who were already well established in the industry, even for bit parts.

  “That’s—wow,” Riley said finally. “That’s amazing.”

  “I’m sure you can understand the need for secrecy—we don’t want anything leaked,” the woman continued, and Riley nodded, even though she knew that the woman couldn’t possibly see her. “We’ll need you to keep the details of the role completely to yourself.”

  “I can absolutely do that,” Riley told the woman.

  “The role we want you for is a minor one, but we will require you to be on-set for several months during the filming, which starts in two weeks. Do you think you can manage that?”

  “Can I?” Riley heard her voice take on a slightly squeaking note but couldn’t restrain her joy. “I am more than happy to accept,” she added. “I will absolutely be there and ready to film in two weeks.”

  “Thank you very much,” the woman said. “I’ll note your acceptance here, and we’ll get in touch with the contract details shortly.”

  “Thank you again,” Riley said, breathless with amazement. “I—I really appreciate the chance to be part of this production.”

  “You’ve earned it,” the woman told her. “You really made waves at the audition today. We were very impressed.”

  Riley finished the call as quickly as she could, aware, in spite of her excitement, that there was still a packed dining room only yards away from where she stood. She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and darted through the door, hurrying towards the dining area.

  Jill stepped out of the office and scowled. “I told you two minutes, Riley,” the older woman said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “I’m so sorry,” Riley said. “But it was an emergency.” She had to suppress the urge to gush about the details of what she’d just been told to Jill. “I’m heading back onto the floor right now and I won’t have another break tonight.”

  “At least not until after closing,” Jill said, with only a modicum of leniency in her voice.

  Riley nodded and hastened out into the dining room, dusting off the front of her uniform and her apron before plunging through the door.

  As she got back to work, Riley tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she had not only managed to make an impression on the casting department for a major production company, but that for the first time in her life, she had landed a role in a film that her whole family and all of her friends back home would be able to see. She wouldn’t have to send a YouTube video of her performance to someone because whatever commercial she’d been on wasn’t targeted to their area; she could just tell them to go to the theater when the movie came out and they’d see her on screen.

  She had been outside long enough that a few of her tables were beginning to become impatient, but even as the late dinner crowd—notoriously the most demanding and frustrating patrons of the evening—filled her tables, Riley felt as though she was walking on air.

  It was much easier to keep her polite server-smile on her face as a sweat-shiny, overweight man in a bad suit demanded to be given extra hollandaise without paying the surcharge, knowing that in two weeks’ time she wouldn’t be working at the restaurant anymore—at least not for several months. The budget for a film like the final Galaxy Wars movie would be such that even with a small part, she would be able to pay her bills the entire time without having to take a single shift. She would put in her notice as soon as possible—two weeks would be just enough time to be polite.

  Riley shook her head to herself as she turned to go back onto the floor another time, thinking of the joy she would feel when she was finally able to call her mom and tell her that she had a part in a major blockbuster film.

  Jill gave her another scowl as Riley paused at one of the tables to make polite conversation with a patron; normally the older woman approved of the servers connecting with patrons, since that tended to result in higher checks at the end of the night—but it was so busy that Riley knew Jill was more focused on the two or three tables waiting for her than the one table she was talking to.

  I could walk out right now, Riley thought absently, picturing the looks on everyone’s faces. With a guaranteed part offered to her on a major film, she had enough security that she didn’t even need the few shifts between that night and when she started filming. It would serve them right, too; Riley thought about the times when she’d gotten raked over for being a minute late or on the rare occasions that she’d messed up an order and had to make a correction.

  Riley decided against the little act of spite just as quickly as it occurred to her; it wouldn’t be fair to stretch the remaining members of staff any thinner than they already were. Even if the management at the restaurant treat
ed her like trash from time to time, Riley couldn’t bring herself to do something that would ruin the whole evening for everyone.

  Finally, the dining room began to clear out and the servers on duty started on side work as unobtrusively as possible while the last patrons finished their meals. Riley considered waiting until she’d gotten home to type up a letter of resignation, but when the last of the customers left and the doors were locked, she decided that there was no time like the present. Besides, if I wait until tomorrow, they might try and claim that I have to work out a full two weeks from my next shift.

  Riley saw Jill retreating to the office and, making up her mind quickly, followed the older woman back.

  “Can I have a word, Jill?”

  “How’s your side work going?” Jill asked, looking at Riley skeptically.

  “I’ll get it done in a minute,” Riley assured her. “But I wanted to tell you that I need to put in my two weeks’ notice.”

  Jill’s eyes widened. “I know I gave you an earful earlier, Riley, but tonight was a tough one,” Jill said quickly.

  “Oh, no, it’s not that,” Riley said, smiling slightly. “I get that it was a busy night and normally I never would have even taken the call, much less taken more than a couple of minutes.”

  “So what’s the story?”

  Riley shrugged, blushing slightly without knowing why. “I’ve been offered—well, it’s a more secure, full-time opportunity,” Riley said, remembering that she wasn’t allowed to provide any details—no matter how much she might like to tell the icy front-of-house manager that she was quitting for a role in Galaxy Wars 3. “And the job starts in two weeks, so…”

  To Riley’s shock, Jill’s cool demeanor dissolved even further, and the older woman looked genuinely saddened.

  “Well, if you’ve found a better opportunity then obviously you need to take that,” Jill said, nodding. “I’m glad you’re able to give me notice.”

  “You’ve been good to me here,” Riley said, smiling. “I thought it would only be fair to give you the chance to get someone new hired and at least partially trained before I go.”

  “I appreciate it,” Jill said, smiling slightly. Riley’s shock at the emotional display from her supervisor deepened as the older woman moved to hug her. She was so surprised that for a moment all she could do was stand there and accept the embrace; a second later, however, she wrapped her arms around the older woman’s shoulders to return the hug. “And of course, if things don’t work out at your new job…”

  “I will reapply and hope you haven’t hired someone better than me,” Riley finished, smiling at Jill.

  The manager nodded and hesitated for just a moment before turning to continue her trek back to the office.

  “Get back to your side work already,” she called gruffly over her shoulder, and Riley moved to obey, smiling to herself.

  FOUR

  Riley had thought that the two weeks between getting the call and the first day of filming would drag; instead, as she got ready for her last shift at the restaurant, she stared at herself in the mirror for a moment and tried to understand how the days could have gone by so quickly.

  She pulled on her uniform and swept her hair back into the low, smooth bun she preferred to keep it in at work, reviewing the script section she had spent the previous evening memorizing. Her part in the film was tiny, but Riley knew that there were opportunities in any big production to grab a few extra minutes in front of the camera, and that was especially true in a film where a large chunk of the cast would be in special effects makeup. If some of the extras couldn’t be on set on a particular day, or if something came up, Riley hoped she would be in a position to offer herself as a replacement.

  Riley looked around her room, taking a deep breath as she tried to collect her thoughts. How weird is it that I actually feel a little sad about this being my last shift?

  Riley smiled to herself. She’d done all of her laundry over the course of the last few days; she didn’t want to have to worry about anything other than getting to and from the set for at least the first few weeks of shooting.

  Some of her friends had organized a get-together after the dinner shift, to celebrate Riley’s new job, and although it was a Sunday night and she had to be on set early in the morning for makeup, Riley had gone along with the plan.

  “Maybe if I lay my clothes out now, I’ll be able to get enough sleep and still show up tomorrow morning looking professional,” Riley mused out loud.

  She pulled an outfit out of her dresser and set it aside on the chair in her bedroom; even though she’d be put in costume once she arrived, along with having hair and makeup done, she wanted to arrive looking clean, sharp and ready to work.

  When she had no further excuse to dally, Riley hurried down to her car. Pulling out of her assigned parking spot, she thought ahead to her last shift. Since it was a Sunday night, Riley thought it would likely be at least a little bit on the slow side, but it was hard to be sure until the shift actually started. For the most part, Sunday nights didn’t attract too many patrons, but there were rare occasions when people would flood through the doors. At least, she thought as she got on the freeway towards the restaurant, even if it was busy, the night would end earlier than a Friday or Saturday, as the kitchen closed at ten-thirty on Sundays.

  The drive to work went faster than usual, and almost before Riley could mentally prepare herself for the shift, she was pulling into the employee parking lot. She climbed out from the driver’s seat and checked to make sure her uniform was still spotless, her shoes clean, everything as it should be. It was going to be her last shift and she wanted to make a grand exit, and that meant being absolutely on point, since she had already decided against flouncing out in a huff.

  Riley had expected that maybe her coworkers would say goodbye to her at some point during her shift; but she hadn’t believed that anyone, apart from maybe one or two of the staff at Le Roi would actually miss her very much, or notice her departure in any real, substantive way. At first, as she strode through the employee entrance and hurried to clock in for her shift, Riley’s conclusion seemed to be valid; everyone was busy on side work in preparation for the dinner rush to come, and no one even mentioned that it was her last shift.

  For once, everyone who was scheduled for the shift came in, and as Riley began to focus on her work, the restaurant seemed to be running like a well-oiled machine. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if on my last night here, five people called out and a fire started in the kitchen and everything that could go wrong did? Riley smiled to herself as she rolled silverware, shaking her head at the thought. It was definitely for the best that everyone—from the hostesses to the bus boys, the wait staff to the bar to the kitchen staff—was in, and apparently completely focused on their work. Riley had been torn as to whether she wanted to talk about leaving or not—if everyone was too busy to ask about her new job, or comment on her departure, then it would make it easier for her.

  “Hey,” one of her coworkers, Sarah said as the hostesses began seating the earliest arrivals. “Isn’t it your last night?”

  “Yep,” Riley replied, smiling.

  “I would’ve thought you’d skip—I mean after all, it’s not like they can fire you.”

  “I figured I’d do the right thing,” Riley said with a shrug.

  “You’re a better woman than I am.”

  Riley turned away to approach the table that one of the hostesses had seated in her section.

  The first arrivals heralded the pace of the night: busy, but without the kind of frenetic pace that came with a staffing shortage or a long wait at the door. The shift seemed to fly by as Riley trotted between the tables in her section, the bar and the service hatch. Sarah’s comment was the first anyone made about her departure from the restaurant; but by the time half the shift had flown past, at least six other people on the floor with her had said something to Riley about the fact that she was leaving.

  “Please tell me that you’re going
to make time to party it up tonight,” one of the hostesses said, pausing on her way back to the stand.

  “Oh absolutely,” Riley said, grinning.

  “Good! There’s no point in getting a better job if you’re just going to be boring about it.”

  Riley laughed and went to the bar to pick up drinks for one of her tables.

  “You’re starting your new gig tomorrow? What is it?”

  Riley rolled her eyes at the bartender, smiling even more genuinely than usual.