Alice in La La Land Read Online Free Page A

the camera and usually they were not very good actors.
    The young actor brought in to read the part of the newsroom boss regarded Alice with cool detachment. He was a short handsome guy of the Tom Cruise genus. She wished he'd give her some encouragement; she was drowning here.
    Distil, she thought, distil, and took a big breath.
    'No, it won't be ready by deadline,' she exhaled, close to tears, using her frustration and insecurity to fuel her delivery. 'It's as if my desk is a black hole that everyone feels perfectly comfortable pouring their detritus into.'
    'Then you're fired,' said the actor and Alice could tell his performance style was of the small but hugely charismatic variety that was so compelling.
    He and Alice began to volley through the scene. Alice had no need of the pages now, and was free to explore her character further. As she did so, she gradually became less aware of the many people watching her work. She got up to leave in character, using both her satchel and the little plastic cup as props. She spilt water on her jeans but didn't miss a beat, improvising this moment into the scene and making something unexpectedly interesting out of it. When she launched into the final monologue, she referred to the producer, director and casting people assembled as her co-workers, and even Jonah became the janitor. The reader helped her make these small improvised moments work and she was grateful to have someone so good working opposite her.
    At the end of the scene, Joel immediately stood up to both thank and dismiss her. She couldn't gauge how she had gone and felt herself being hustled out. She reached for her satchel. The reader permitted her a tiny smile and Brad nodded to her vigorously. She realised she had left all her pages behind with their multitude of scrawled notes, and she hoped the people assembled wouldn't read them now that she was gone. There were some quite embarrassing motivational statements included with her character notes, plus reminders to both 'breathe' and 'think'. They may have assumed upon reading them that she had recently awoken from a coma.
    Jonah deposited her into the waiting room, bid her goodbye and collected the Reluctant Kitten who charmingly extended her tiny hand to him.
    'Thank you,' said Alice, but they had already gone. She headed back to the lift, handed in her security pass to the receptionist downstairs and ventured into the parking lot. She had completely forgotten where she had parked her car and spent the better part of the next half-hour looking for it.

2
    'No room, no room!' they cried out when
they saw Alice coming.
    Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
    Alice sat alone in a booth at Mel's Diner eating silver dollar pancakes with maple syrup. It was close to 6 pm. She knew it was an inappropriate time to be eating what was essentially breakfast, but pancakes were what she craved. Fluffy discs of lightly fried batter smothered in butter and syrup were a remedy for just about anything. The intense sweetness of the maple syrup made Alice's forehead sweat.
    She thought back over her big screen test. It was impossible to figure out how it had gone. This was always the way with the crucial auditions. Often you'd come out thinking, 'Yes, that went brilliantly, I'm sure to get that job,' only not to even get a callback. Other times you'd emerge miserable, longing to go back in and erase what you'd done, to find they'd loved it. Earlier in her career, she'd tested for a period drama set in the outback. She was suffering from an allergy that day and had to plaster over a facial rash with concealer. Her eyes were red and watery and she felt that merely showing up was going to be a complete waste of everyone's time. The director had loved her bold choice in giving the character a head-cold and went on to cast her in the second-to-lead role.
    She'd got off to a bad start for Rough Beast Slouching and they'd reined her in for potential hamminess. But once she'd reset