"Please don't say that, we really liked your acting, we actually finalized on you as soon as you were done with the second act, the chemistry between you and Megan was great too but the guy who came after you, he was indeed a gay and added more natural element to the role, it was obvious from your personality that you are straight, this is the main reason why we chose him, both you guys were good at acting but he stood out for this reason." Amanda gave him a more clear picture of what went wrong.

"No problem Ma'am, I understand, the natural element is always beneficial to the script as it brings the best out of a person. Also, I am really glad to hear all of this personally from you, till date whenever I was rejected I used to get to know from other people and that too indirectly, so I feel privileged to get the rejection news personally from you" Jimmy tried to sound composed and he even smiled but small drops of tears were forming near his eyes, he wiped away those tears and thanked Amanda again.

​​

"Don't worry, Mr. Morris, you are a very talented actor and you have a bright future ahead of you, I am sure you will get more opportunities to prove yourself." She tried to encourage him.

"Thank you Ma'am, I hope you too will consider me in future if there is any role that you think would suit me." He tried to speak normally hiding the sadness that was flowing through him.

"Sure I will, also Mr. Morris I wanted some advice from you"

"Sure" Jim wondered what advice an amazing writer / director would need from him.

"I am planning to enter the world of acting, as you know I already aced direction, then I entered writing and I am excelling in this field too, so what do you think? Should I target acting next and explore the nitty gritty of the field?"

"Umm Ma'am I am not sure as I have never seen your acting skills, if I see that I can provide you with better advice."

"What are you saying Mr. Morris, you have already seen my acting skills, that is the reason why I am seeking advice from you. Why else will I ask for your advice?"

Jimmy scratched his brain and tried to recollect when he saw her acting, he tried to remember if he saw her acting during the auditions today but no matter how hard he thought, he just couldn't remember anything.

"I am sorry Ma'am but I can't recollect where or when I saw you acting somewhere."

"Just now Mr. Morris, few minutes back"

Jim was even more confused, "Ma'am I am sorry but you are confusing me."

Amanda who was sounding sad and guilty till now suddenly started laughing loudly, "Mr Morris are you seriously this innocent?" she joked with him

"I am sorry but what is happening?" Jimmy was curious to know why Amanda's behavior took a sudden turn.

"After how you acted today, did you really think we would select someone else or anyone else over you?" Now Amanda sounded more serious but it was friendly the way she talked.

"Umm no but some gay auditioned for it and he added a natural element to the role right?" Jimmy questioned her back.

"That was a lie I came up with to convince you that you are indeed rejected"

"Wait, does that mean…" Jimmy couldn't complete his question as now again his heart was pounding fast against his chest.

"Yes it means you are my Rick" Amanda completed his statement in her style.

Jimmy was speechless and he couldn't believe what he heard, a moment back he was damn broken and for a second he even thought it was Megan who said she doesn't want to act with Jimmy because of his earlier behavior, he started thinking where exactly he went wrong but now after hearing what Amanda just said, he couldn't process it, her words were still going on in his mind and he was still in shock.

"Jim, you there?" Amanda asked with concern as there was no reply from Jim and there was complete silence at the other end.

"Yes Ma'am, I am here" Jimmy came back to his senses.

"Please call me Amanda." she ordered him.

"Thank you so much Amanda, I promise I won't disappoint you" He was not sure what else to say.

"I am sure you won't, we really liked your performance, to be honest we wanted to announce the result right after your audition but it would have been unfair to other people who came to audition after you so we gave a chance to everyone but of course no one nailed the character of Rick the way you did."

"I am overwhelmed to be honest after listening to what you are saying."

"You deserve to be"

"Thank you once again"

"Also Jim, we are planning to start the rehearsals soon so tomorrow we held a session for you all to meet each other, so please reach the same theater as today at sharp 10 am tomorrow."

"Sure Ma'am"

"Amanda" she commanded.

"Sure Amanda, I'll be on time"

They hung up the call and Jimmy was overwhelmed with emotions, it was his first real acting role that he landed on, he couldn't believe himself, he actually got the role he had been practicing for, for almost a week.

For the first time in his life everything was falling into place for him, it was his lucky week, on Monday he landed a big project with the Tanakas and now on Saturday he got a role in one of the most anticipated plays under an amazing writer / director.

Jim stood still at the same spot, he was still processing what happened, he was both happy and shocked at the same time because he knew how hard he worked for this role and secondly he wanted a big break which would be possible only if he worked with a good director and played a substantial role. Amanda is a very renowned writer and director, every artist hopes to work with her so he felt lucky to get a chance to work with her.

Jimmy was so excited he had to share this news with someone or he would burst out. He quickly messaged Daniel and Rachel and asked them to come to the lawn area.

Daniel and Rachel reached the lawn immediately and saw Jimmy standing there, his back facing him.

Rachel looked at Daniel and raised her eyebrows questioning him what happened and why did Jimmy call them.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders implying he has no idea.

"Jim" Rachel softly called him and he turned around, he had tears in his eyes.

Daniel got worried but Jim quickly hugged him and cried. Jimmy was so overwhelmed that he had tears and once he saw his brother, he vented out all the emotions he was going through in the form of tears.

Daniel hugged him and rubbed his back, he was very worried as Jimmy doesn't cry until and unless something serious happened, the last time he saw him cry like this was when their mom and dad were in danger. After that day Jimmy never cried again.

"Jim what happened?" Daniel finally asked in worry

"I am sorry, I am just too overwhelmed with emotions" Jimmy smiled between his tears.

"Please tell me what happened?" Daniel was running out of patience.

"The audition that I went for today, I…" Jimmy paused for the dramatic effect and looked at Rachel and Daniel hoping for them to complete it.

"You didn't get it?" Rachel sadly guessed as he was crying.

Jimmy then looked at Daniel who smiled at him and hugged him, "Congratulations on landing the role"

Rachel was confused but then realized those tears earlier were tears of joy.

"Oh my goodness Jim, congratulations, I am so happy you got it, you really worked hard for it." she too hugged him.

"Yeah I just got a call from my director, she pranked me and told me I didn't get it but then revealed that I got the role, that's the reason so many emotions flowed through me, I thought I lost the role, my hard work all went into drain is what I thought and then I got what I lost and that feeling is something you guys, when you think you lost something and you will never get it but then unexpectedly you actually get it, that feeling is the best feeling." Jimmy explained his feelings.

Rachel and Daniel smiled and were genuinely happy for Jimmy.

"This seems like your lucky week Jim" Rachel exclaimed.

"I know right? That's exactly what I thought" he couldn't stop smiling.

"It calls for a celebration, let's tell everyone else." Daniel suggested.

"No no, please Danny not now, I'll surprise them later" Jimmy had other plans in store for his family