Chapter 7 - Hitchhiking

While she was curiously watching the young man leave, Jonathan Friedman's voice sounded in her ears and she quickly walked inside her agent's office.

Jonathan Friedman simply gestured for her to sit, and then proceeded to quietly speak with Owen Wright whom he had called in.

She could only continue to wait patiently, not daring to express any dissatisfaction. Still, she couldn't help but feel envious of the young man she had just seen. 

'Since even Jonathan entertained him for over an hour, he must be the son of some big shot, right?' she thought.

However, she immediately dismissed that thought since no rich man would dress in old and worn out clothes like that young man.

Although pretending to be uninterested, she still managed to hear Jonathan Friedman asking Owen Wright to prepare a contract based on his memo and make the copy of a script, both of which were likely related to that young man.

'That guy is really lucky. Thankfully, he is a guy and won't compete with me, but Arthur and the others will certainly have a lot competition in the future.' she thought while feeling a hint of schadenfreude towards some of Jonathan Friedman's male clients.

After Owen Wright left, Jonathan Friedman turned his attention back to her.

A few weeks ago, NBC had cut her from the new season of Family Ties, her first broadcasted TV show. However, she was not too disappointed. Her goal had always been to become a film star; her participation in that TV show had been just to gain experience and qualifications.

Jonathan Friedman had recently been promoted to the position Vice-President of WMA. Although most talent agents could easily become a VP as long as they had big clients, as a VP of WMA - the largest talent agency in the world - he should be able to bring more help to her career.

As she thought, Jonathan Friedman did not disappoint her.

He said, "Warner Bros. Pictures has recently begun preparations for a fantasy comedy called Beetlejuice with a production budget of $15 million, same as Top Gun. I have got you an audition for one of the more important supporting roles." He paused before continuing, "In addition, I've also got you an audition for the female lead in a MGM TV movie. Both of the auditions will take place next week."

After discussing some details, she gleefully left with two different audition materials.

She arrived in the parking lot, got in her car and drove down Camino Street. After thinking about it, she decided to head south towards Santa Monica through Olympic Avenue.

It was currently the peak rush hour for those returning home. Returning to Santa Monica through Wilshire Boulevard to the north would definitely leave her stuck in traffic for hours.

* * *

As she had hoped, the traffic on Olympic Avenue was light. She drove for a few minutes minutes and was about to leave the area of ​​Century City when she unexpectedly saw a young man's figure not too far ahead.

Wearing a cheap black T-shirt and slightly worn-out jeans with a light gray backpack slung over his shoulders, he was obviously the young man she had seen leaving her agent's office.

As he walked on the curb in the setting sun, his slightly shabby appearance made him seem like a lonely wandering poet, endlessly walking across the globe.

Her eyes were attracted to him as she subconsciously slowed down, and moved her car toward the curb.

'That guy has a great body,' Courteney thought while checking out Simon's figure.

While thinking so in her mind, she pulled down her car's window and greeted the young man next to her, "Hi."

* * *

Leaving WMA's office, Simon walked to a phone booth nearby and made a call to Kathryn using the contact information she had given him. He had made the call wanting to inform her that he had signed with Jonathan Friedman.

Since no one answered the call, Simon left a message.

Then, he began to consider what to do next.

It was definitely impossible for him to rent a house for the time being, so he could only choose to live in a motel.

If he only had to consider the price, there were many motels he could stay in. However, in Los Angeles, security was also an issue that couldn't be taken lightly. Moreover, since he didn't have a car, he couldn't live too far from WMA's office.

After pondering between North Hollywood and Santa Monica, Simon decided to go to Santa Monica.

According to his memory, there were many cheap motels on both sides of State Route 405, a  highway cutting between Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

Having made up his mind, Simon headed south along Camino Street and then turned to Olympic Avenue. The city of Santa Monica was about 6-7 kms away which would take about an hour to walk, but Simon was not in a hurry.

After walking for more than 20 minutes, Simon felt a white car slowly approaching him. He was a little puzzled when a young woman greeted him after lowering her car's window.

Simon looked inside and found Courteney Cox whom had just seen at WMA in the driver's seat.

Since he had come to Hollywood and had even signed with a brokerage giant such as WMA, Simon knew that he would likely meet many celebrities that he could previously only see on the big screen. Therefore, he had no special feelings towards this "Monica" from Friends.

Seeing Courteney Cox take the initiative to greet him, Simon was somewhat surprised and politely replied, "Hello."

Courteney saw the young man smiling brightly and said, "We just met outside Jonathan's office. I also live in Santa Monica. Do you want a ride?"

Simon smiled and said, "Of course, thank you."

The curb under his feet was painted with eye-catching red, which was a no-parking and no-waiting sign, so he quickly opened the door and entered the car.

Courteney picked up the audition material that she had placed in the seat next to her and threw it in the back row. Once Simon sat down and put on his seat belt, she stepped on the accelerator.

While driving, she glanced at the young man next to her through her peripheral vision, and said, "I'm Courteney Cox. What's your name?"

"Simon Westeros," Simon replied and turned to look at Courteney Cox.

Currently, she was in her early twenties with short hair that made her seem like a tomboy. Her face was a little thin which made her eyes seem very big, displaying her youthful vitality. Although she was beautiful, due to her youth, she appeared slightly immature which made her appear quite different from her popular image of Monica Geller in Friends.

Courteney nodded, retracted her eyes from the young man next to her, and watched the road ahead before she asked, "So, did you know Jonathan before today?"

Simon shook his head and said, "No, a friend introduced me to him. I met him for the first time today."

"Then, you must quite something. You managed to chat with Jonathan for more than an hour despite meeting him for the first time. Did you come to Los Angeles to become an actor?"

"No, I'm a screenwriter."

Courteney turned her head to look at Simon in surprise, then quickly retracted her gaze, and said, "Then, you're even more great than I had thought." 

Afterwards, the two fell silent. Since it was their first meeting, there was still a little bit of awkwardness between them.

A few minutes later, the car crossed the State Route 405 into downtown Santa Monica, and continued to drive for less than 1 km before Simon motioned to Courteney to stop and got out.

After bidding farewell to the young woman, Simon looked around the streets of downtown Santa Monica and then began walking towards the location of motels he recalled.

Similar to his memory, there were indeed many motels nearby.

However, after learning that Simon wanted to stay long-term but was unable to pay a sufficient deposit in advance, most motels turned him away.

After searching through several blocks, Simon finally found a motel in the southern edge of the city that was willing to accept him.

The owner of the motel was an old Hispanic man who introduced himself as Diego Salcado, a first-generation Mexican immigrant. After hearing him speak a few words filled with a strong accent, Simon attempted to talk with him in Spanish which led to a great conversation.

Finally, he agreed to rent a room on the second floor of the hotel to Simon for a weekly rent of $100. Simon only needed to pay a deposit of $50, and could pay the subsequent rent at the end of each week.

Noticing Simon's beggarly state, he also kindly informed him that he didn't need to reserve a tip for the person who cleaned his room since his wife took care of that.

This encounter allowed Simon to realize the importance of being able to speak a foreign language.

* * *

The next morning, Simon went to WMA and spent the whole day perusing through his contract with Jonathan Friedman.

In order to not miss any clauses that might catch him off guard in the future, Simon carefully studied the twenty-page contract several times. Although he was currently unable afford a lawyer, his memory contained information about all kinds of Hollywood contracts. He also discussed adding and removing some details with Jonathan Friedman before finally signing the contract.

After signing the brokerage contract, all he needed to do was wait for the good news.

Although Jonathan Friedman was very optimistic about the The Butterfly Effect, script sale wouldn't happen overnight. Many scripts stayed in the hands of the agent for several years. Simon was also psychologically prepared for such a situation.

However, despite signing a three-year contract with Jonathan Friedman, Simon would not hang all his hopes on WMA without any other options.

In fact, there was a restrictive clause in the contract: If Jonathan Friedman failed to reach a deal with a film studio after Simon submitted three scripts every three months, Simon would gain the right to terminate the contract with him three months after his third script's submission i.e. nine months after the date of signing.

* * *

After completing his task at WMA, Simon began to look for a job to earn a living.

Two days later, Simon finally found a job at a small convenience store in midtown Santa Monica.

After the chubby middle-aged owner named Roger Griffin interviewed Simon, he found that the handsome boy was able to skillfully complete the replenishment, inventory, stacking and even cash register tasks. He felt that Simon had a promising future in retail and happily hired him.

However, in terms of pay, Roger Griffin was quite stingy. He might have realized that Simon was newcomer to Hollywood who had to quickly find work. As a result, he was only willing to pay Simon the basic hourly wage of $3.50.

Although the pay was slightly low, the advantage was that it was settled weekly. Simon could get $140 every week, which would be just enough for him to pay for his basic living expenses.

However, on his third day on the job, Simon was faced with a dilemma. When he checked into the motel a week ago, he had less than $100 left in his pocket from which he paid a $50 deposit.

Since a week had passed, it was time for him to pay the first week's rent, but he wouldn't get paid for another four days.