The drive through Los Angeles wasn't encing. Despite the absence of traffic, there were enough traffic lights to dey what should have been a half-hour journey. Now officially running te by just ten minutes, he arrived at the Castle Rotertai building.

  The pany wasn't bought out; the isotion became more ve for bia, which tis efforts tthen its presence as a fner in the Ameri market. They were gearing up to unch their Asian branot just for film produ, but also to establish another market: the sale of appliances, particurly oh a signifit iment at stake—the PyStation 1."

  -Thanks for dropping me off and pig me up, -Billy said.

  -Don't mention it. I have important matters to attend to with Armand. I feel like a prosecutor; I'll be reviewing his ats, employees, and operations, and approving a necessary expansion. Armand will reinforce the pany to enhaional film distribution, - Raimon said.

  -See you tonight; I'll be heading out for dinner, - Billy said.

  -Great! -- Raimon said from the car, his light green sleeveless button-up shirt. -- Good luck with your movie. Although I'd prefer to have you in the pany, I hope you keep produg sensational ics, - Raimon said.

  Adjusting the car, Billy watched the Camaro make a quick turn; it had some style. Taking a deep breath, the stylized ambiance of Los Angeles differed from other cities. The streets were wide, the people tranquil, and it was beautiful to see that all the architecture had a campus-like structure.

  Quickly pag along the facade, he reached the mairance, feeling somewhat nervous. Although he didn't want another romantic film, he couldn't help but sider his agent's advice, who had been particurly iial. In the past four years, his agent had only cautiously suggested roles, but had secured outstanding ones i months.

  Passing through the reception, the instrus were clear: head to the white room, an administrative space used for interviews. - Excuse me, I'm looking for the white room. I'm here to see Richard Linkter, - Billy questiohe security guard, with a thick urgency, a rush of his own.

  -Down the hallway, - the security guard said, pointing to a corridor o the stairs, straight ahead, leading to a bck door. The guard was lean and looked pletely different from the blond Billy, who towered over him.

  He followed the hallway to a small sign marked "The White Room" aered a small room. A slender woman with a wide forehead and casg curls, thin and absorbed in a book, sat at the table.

  -Sorry for the dey; my flight was deyed, and it wasn't easy getting here, - Billy said to the two present members.

  -Well, you've already begun your interview. You have exactly two hours. I'll be in the administrative offices on the sed floor. You two should carry out the audition, - Richard said, banging the table with both hands as if the matter had already beeled. Julie got up from her chair, leaving her book or leisure reading behind.

  -Let's go! I'll take you to what you assume is the interview activity. Although not many know, in this business, you're tested in different ways, and sometimes it's so different that just knowing how to act doesn't nd you a role, - Julie said.

  Opening the door and leading Billy back out, without a clear sign, Billy followed closely until they reached a bus stop, two ers away, less than a block to catch the bus.

  -Where are we going? - Billy asked.

  -I don't know; I just felt like going downtown, - Julie said.

  -I could use lunch; I haveen anything since m, and it's te already. I thought of grabbing something when I arrived, but the trip got deyed, and I didn't have time to eat anything. Do you knoce where they serve a det meal? - Billy asked.

  Julie nodded and twirled on the sidewalk. -Now we have a destination, - Julie said.

  -I particurly prefer simple pces, but it wouldn't hurt to try something delicious today. Do you have any favorite food? - Julie asked.

  -Meat; I like meat. I especially enjoy the spicy aspects of food as long as it's apanied by meat, - Billy said.

  -A ivore, I see, - Julie said.

  Both boarded the bus, apanied by some people. They sat he front, not too far from the entrance. Julie smiled at him, and Billy just pyed along. In the script reading, Jesse or James was a talkative person who always had something to say to mask his thoughts of shyness and embarrassment, although sometimes it resulted in something crude, irely politically correct, and brilliant.

  But, he leasant versationalist who tried to keep words flowing, a good reader with certain ideas about certain things.

  -You're a vegetarian, - Billy asked.

  -Nooo. I look like a vegetarian, - Julie asked, in a feigned gesture of indignation.

  -Yeah. You have that air, of 'I don't like to eat animals, save the animals' rights.' Of course, it's just a guess, like when you skim through the headlines in the evening paper and see something that catches your eye, but it turns out to be the plete opposite of what you expected, -Billy said.

  -I'm not, though I tried. Following a healthy diet and many other things I should've tried some time ago, in one particur meal I tried meat and decided that restrig a type of food would only cause disfort in my future life. The meat was delicious! - Julie said.

  -Ah, nothing a good pieeat 't solve. Of course, without offending our friends who sider cows sacred or reject pork because they think it's dirty. Perhaps those who do it for the love of animals. My limit was imposed from childhood, the barbecues. Sometimes it was a long wait of fifteen days. At one point, I thought I only lived to t the hours until the Sunday barbecue. My father said I should dedicate myself to ating, - Billy said.

  Julie ughed; naturally, Julie was cheerful, and she liked to ugh, even at bad jokes. - As a child, I must have dreamed of being an astronaut. Around that time, after the moon nding, there was a lot of excitement about the space world. It's still there, but it's the first time I've heard someone dream of being an atant, - Julie said.

  -You didn't do too badly, - Billy said.

  -I doubt it, but I'm happy with what I do. I would have liked to study political sd raise awareness about some issues that, in my opinion, are now ed by a wall of ignorance, - Julie said.

  -You're talking about global warming, the new pollution problem, - Billy asked, adjusting his suit sleeves.

  -One of many. There's war all over the world, and not long after the fall of the Soviet Union, flicts left power vacuums. Sometimes I just observe and think, how we be so bellicose? We have no decy for i people, nor respect for those iween, - Julie said.

  -Not very different, the history of humanity is a stant struggle, - Billy said, looking around. He was pletely lost; the streets weren't much different, and this area, he had hardly visited.

  -Quite a Marxist thought. Now I hope you pull out a red book and talk to me about unism, - Julie said jokingly, intrigued.

  -As true as it is, it has shades of truth. I'm not a supporter, but its theoretical ideas are excellent. My preference is for what we always fet, and that is that the world a hundred years ago was much more dangerous. The danger was more immi, and wars were clether in time. The struggles were still bloody, and the w wasn't superimposed. Civilization barely called itself civilized; the problems that pgued Africa, I don't know very well, although there robably svery. In a way, there still is, but it's restricted, - Billy said.

  -I've never set foot in Africa, - Julie said.

  -Likewise, - Billy said.

  -But you've been to Vienna, - Julie said.

  -Spain, parts of Italy, and France. I know London, but nothing farther, - Billy said.

  Julie headed for the exit, Billy walked with her; the bus stopped as they pressed. In no time, there was no present peals, only the emptiness of the long streets, and they walked slowly without haste, on the journey uhe sunlight, the summer was very real and uood, they both walked at their own pace, walking at a suffit pace to lose sight of the station in ten minutes.

  There, not far away, a wooden pce was visible, almost picturesque, for the cssic way of settling, it acious, with a rge outdoor dining area, only covered by a wooden roof, it had certaiails that prihe air of Native Ameris, although it had a certain air of a wooded from different regions.

  -Let's go, I stopped at this particur stop. To show that a vegetarian knows about meat, trary to eople think, - Julie said.

  -Only a vegetarian who cheats be called a meat oisseur, knowing the fi details of meat requires being able to taste the dish, so they would sider you a cheat. Or well, in other texts, a sinner, - Billy said, notig that.

  -You're very aggressive; sinners are immoral people. I only wao please you. Men always have a way of ruining us; my only wish was for you to be happy, but I see you only sider me a sinner, - Julie said, provoking not only with a scivious gesture but also, Billy didn't rule out that Julie was also pying e. A fresh woman who was not very ied in the most specific tricks, like sleeping outdoors, walking all day, enduring the cold, aing only bread before bed, or wine.

  -We're all sinners. Why would a man be tent to live life morally? Someday, he must break a couple of rules to feel happy. I'm not saying that sin alrevails over morality; we're told this is wrong, but certain things must bite into our lives. People tend to suppress their spirit as much as they suppress their desire to succeed, - Billy said.

  -So those who don't suppress themselves succeed, it's like saying that someone who doesn't kill 't start a pany... - They ehe restaurant, which was closed. The entrance door had a circur window that met another room; the tables there were full-bodied.

  -Right this way, - Julie said, leading him to a small bar, which promptly ushered in two workers to take their order.

  -I must uand that you're talking about traditional rules or modern ones. If you're talking about modern ones, I'd say it's trary to your position. People in this era should follow morality more; I find many people who prevail in immorality, - Julie said.

  -Of course, I'm referring to people who lead a unal life, who pray every day or work, and who follow the rules imposed by society without stepping on others or breaking the rules. Now, those who live a pletely immoral life live in even more disgrace because they are the bad excesses that lead to worse, - Billy said.

  Perusing the menu, Julie was a mushroom enthusiast and took him to an expert meat pce. They served fis, marinating the meat with beer aing it sit for a day to tenderize suffitly. A special sauce lied, and it was set aside for their meal, apanied by French fries, onion sads, melted cheeses, special rolls, and sads.

  -As you suggested the pce, let me pick the food. I always find it curious to try some unknown dishes and some that are somewhat known, - Billy said, closing the menu.

  -Alright, but order a lemonade. I need something to drink if I'm going to try these dishes. I said I eat meat, but I'm not very fond of such dishes, - Julie said.

  -Then our meal will have to reduce the meat a bit, -Billy said.

  four special dishes, two of meat, and two sides, along with an appetizer of cheese puffs, acc to the waiters, was one of the favorites among frequent ers. Not very on iablishments, there was a jukebox pying '80s music, a soft tune, "Celebration" - Kool & The Gang, not quite in tuh the atmosphere but very famous in its time, fotten and remembered again years ter.

  The music lightehe versation; Julie danced in her seat and raised her arms as if pointing to the sky.

  -e o's dance, - Billy said, taking Julie's hands, provoking a quick dance. Julie danced with ease; once, she heard that to dance alone, one must dahout g about anything else, there was no daher than the moment. However for Billy, it wasn't easy to engage in such activities; he wasn't very good at dang, and he had bee unaced and longed for his different steps.

  Julie was undoubtedly a woman of sensual dances; her slow hip movements—where did she learhe levitation of her body reminded him of a movie, only the cameras weren't rolling, and only the eyes of some employees at fleeting moments were owo dancers. Billy's steps were robotic, a y of his own, even though he tried to give it his all. The imagination of the cameras calmed his nerves; with renewed vigor, he danced with all he had. Julie's deep brown eyes in the darkness, the occasional star that tinted her gaze green, only up close did he see a mix of green that veered towards bluer sides, but only an effect of light.

  -Rex, - Julie said, taking his hand. - One must take time to savor these moments. You seem like an antelope at a lion's gathering. e, take off your jacket, - Julie said, removing Billy's bzer.

  -So that's how I look. For a moment, I thought I had impressed you with my performanow I see that I made a fool of myself, - Billy said.

  -You haven't. But, we won't tell anyone else about this, - Julie said.

  -The food has arrived, but we'll have a rematch; the antelope doesn't give up easily, - Billy said.

  While the meats were already served oable.

  ....