39 For the Sake of Dreams (1/2)

”Hey, Mister.” A ravishing beauty leaned against the wall of the corridor in the hotel. Her hair shone gold under the light, her lips were glossy-red, and her lashes were dark and luscious. ”Looking for a good time?” she said in a lazy, sexy voice.

Wang Yang clapped his eyes on her robust form, clad in a tight-fitting top and a miniskirt that glistened tantalizingly with the slightest movement of her body, and sheer black leggings that accentuated her svelte figure from her thighs all the way down to her calves.

”No, thanks,” he smiled and shook his head, then marched down the corridor to his room. As he reached into his pocket for the key, he sneaked a look at the blond woman from a safe distance. The eyes that stared back were desolate and empty. Behind those eyes could be a girl who was once bright-eyed and bushy-tailed who may have come to New York with a handful of cash and a heart full of dreams—who may have succumbed to the harshness of life and was left with no option but to go back to where she came from or sell her body.

As he glanced at the blond woman, his heart went out to her. She reminded him of a girl named Anne whose story he could not help associating with the blonde woman.

Upon noticing Wang Yang's fascination with her, the blond woman's lips curled into a foxlike smile. With her seductive prowess turned full-on, she motioned with her finger for him to come over, ”You know you want me.”

”No, thanks,” Wang Yang declined again, smiling awkwardly. He opened the door as quickly he could, slid inside the room, and shut the door behind him, letting out a sigh of relief.

After taking a relaxing, hot shower, Wang Yang—dressed in his pajamas—sat down behind his desk where his laptop computer laid. He logged on to his company email and found replies from several New York talent agencies. He opened them up one by one and began reading them with keen interest.

The agencies had responded to him with recommendations of not only actors but also models. Wang Yang skimmed through the photos with his chin propped on his hand. ”No. Not handsome enough. Not spunky enough…” he murmured flatly as he stared at the laptop screen, jumping from picture to picture. Suddenly, he gave an exclamation. Scrolling back a few frames, he arrived at the picture of a god-like hunk. Overtaken by the good fortune that had befallen him, he cried, ”Oh, my God! He is the guy!”

He went through the hunk's bio enthusiastically. Tom Welling. Born on the 26th of April, 1977. Presently 21 years old. 191 cm tall. He even used to be in his high school's soccer team. After graduating from high school, Tom Welling did not go to college. Instead, he chose to work for a construction company. But it was not long before he got into modeling. Now he hoped to become an actor.

In his photo, Tom Welling looked incredibly stately and well-built. With his muscular body, prominent jaw, sharp nose, dark, straight eyebrows, and mysterious green eyes, he was a dreamboat. His smile had a sunny quality that conjured up images of beaches, athleticism, and sports. He was the guy!

”This is great,” exclaimed Wang Yang. Though he had only seen him in pictures, he had a hunch he was going to hire him. It had to be him! He went back and forth between the hunk's pictures to corroborate his initial impressions, and the more he looked at him, the surer he felt about him. Tom Welling had all the right qualities. Of all the people he had seen in Los Angeles and New York, no one even came close.

Wang Yang was enraptured by his new find. He was beginning to think his search would never end, but now he could put his mind to rest. He searched his head for more information about Tom Welling. It turned out he would star in a comedy film called Cheaper by the Dozen, as well as a television series called Smallville. Wang Yang played the movies in his mind and was impressed by Tom Welling's acting skills and the way he looked on camera.

However, Tom Welling was, at present, a no-name model without any experience in television or film. Wang Yang reserved his judgments about his acting abilities until the audition.

After browsing through his profile, Wang Yang picked up his cellphone and called Tom Welling's agent, Larry Johnson. The call connected instantaneously. He smiled and said, ”Hi, Mr. Johnson, my name is Wang Yang… Yes, Tom has just the right qualities for the male lead of High School Musical…” Larry Johnson was stoked, even more so than Wang Yang was. He told Wang Yang at once that Tom would be free for an audition tomorrow.

Without much hassle, the time and place for the audition were set. Tomorrow morning, at 10 o'clock, at a café.

Seeing as his male lead was in the bag, Wang Yang could not keep from smiling from ear to ear. He hummed and danced his way across his hotel room and went to the balcony that overlooked the streets. Looking out of it, he burst into a bellow of laughter.

It was dark outside except for the lamps along the streets, which were very bright and yellow against the black sky. Wang Yang's room was just above the streets and he could see all the pedestrians. He looked onto the streets, leaning against the railing of the balcony. Suddenly, an alarming frown flickered over his face. Down below, a blonde boy wearing a large coat was pacing back and forth like a lion circling its prey. Now and then he sat on a bench by the road, lifting his eyes at the hotel rooms above. There was something familiar in the way he kept his hands tucked in the pockets of his coat.

”Michael Pitt?” Wang Yang said to himself instinctively. He put his head out the balcony and stretched his eyes wide to get a good look at the boy. But that blond boy was going away. Wang Yang smiled and shook his head. It was probably a hallucination. Michael Pitt should be at New York University at that hour. What could he possibly be doing out there in the street by the park across his hotel? Wang Yang was being too suspicious.

Right at that moment, his cellphone was buzzing inside his room. Wang Yang glanced at the boy's receding back, went back into his room, and picked up his cellphone from the table. Glancing at the caller ID, he answered with a smile, ”Hi, Jessica.”

Jessica's voice smiled, ”Hi, Yang. How's New York?”

Wang Yang sat down on the edge of his bed and said cheerily, ”It's not bad at all! I've been to all the tourist attractions. You know, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square… it's a beautiful city, but I much prefer Los Angeles. Do you know why? There's a sense of congestion here, as though the air is constantly calling out to you, 'Breathe me, breathe me.' And if you don't breathe quickly enough, you feel suffocated…”

Jessica laughed inadvertently. After sharing his experience in New York, Wang Yang asked smilingly, ”How about you? How's your singing class coming along? Is Mrs. Roberts tough on you?”

The topic seemed to strike a chord with Jessica. At once she sounded enlivened and delighted, ”Mrs. Roberts is a very nice lady and a wonderful teacher. She's very patient. Right now, I'm learning how to breathe while singing. We're working on increasing my lung capacity with various exercises…”

”Yes… I see… Sounds good.” Wang Yang listened attentively as she went on about the things that happened during her training, about how she and Rachel were praised for their talent, and about how Zachary once tore the dancing mat during practice. It was not until she stopped that Wang Yang had the chance to tell her something he had been meaning to tell her. ”Jessica, I think I've found a partner for you,” he said enthusiastically.

His comment sounded odd to Jessica out of the blue. She enquired gently, ”What do you mean?”

Smiling at the phone, Wang Yang replied, ”I've found a promising candidate for Troy Bolton. He's very sunny and very handsome. He has the right look and the right qualities for the role. We're still going to test him in our audition tomorrow, but I think he's the one.”

”Oh,” Jessica said half-humorously, ”you mean Gabriella's partner, not mine.”

”Sorry, my bad,” Wang Yang assented, feeling a fool about his choice of words. Jessica was silent for a moment. Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted their somewhat awkward silence. ”Hold on, Jessica,” said Wang Yang as he went over to the door and opened it. Standing at the doorway was the blond bombshell he had met earlier that evening. She was cupping her full, round breasts with her left hand and holding a cigarette with her right. Wang Yang was surprised at the site.

Wang Yang put his hand over the microphone, looked at the blond bombshell, and said respectfully, ”Ma'am, I don't require your services.”

”I know,” the blond bombshell laughed, then presented an item to him in her left hand. ”Here, you dropped this,” she said.

In her hand was a brown, leather wallet that Wang Yang immediately recognized as his. A surprised shriek came out of him, ”Oh, my God!” He must have dropped it earlier while trying to get his keys out of his pocket, and hadn't noticed it because he was ogling the blonde bombshell. He took his wallet from her hand and said gratefully, ”Thank you. You're a live-saver.” Losing the money inside the wallet would have been bad; losing his identification document would have been worse. Wang Yang shuddered at the thought.

”Why don't you check it?” the blonde bombshell suggested and sucked her cigarette. Puffs of smoke rose into the air, forming rings like an Indian smoke signal. ”I did open it up and take a peek inside, but I didn't take anything,” she said with a shrug.

It had been a while since he'd come back to his hotel room. The blonde bombshell must have picked up his wallet right after he dropped it. With all the time she had spent with his wallet, she must have wrestled with the thought of taking his wallet. Yet there she was at his doorway, returning it to its rightful owner like an honest citizen. If she'd wanted to steal anything, she would have gone off instead. Wang Yang wagged his head with a smile, ”Don't worry about it, it's all good.”

The blond bombshell was not impressed. ”Just check it already,” she said impatiently.

”Okay, okay.” Wang Yang opened his wallet. It was all there—his money, his cards, his identification—not a penny was out of place. ”Looks good to me,” he said.

The blonde bombshell nodded and bade him goodbye. Then, she turned around and sashayed down the hallway, her high heels clopping against the marble floor.

Wang Yang watched the woman's back as she disappeared from view, leaving a trail of perfume and cigarette smoke in her wake. Feeling at once sorry and grateful, Wang Yang sighed. ”Bye-bye,” he said to himself.

”Jessica, are you still there?” Wang Yang picked up his cellphone and held it to his ear.

Jessica spoke, sounding puzzled. ”Yang, did I hear the voice of a woman?”

Wang Yang cursed the microphone and its outstanding sensitivity. He explained his story to her truthfully as he walked back to his room. ”Yes, you did. I accidentally dropped my wallet in the hallway just now. Thank God an escort happened to pick it up. She was returning it to me.”

”An escort?” Jessica burst out.

”No, It's not what you think. She's just returning my wallet, that's all,” he defended.

Wang Yang was so anxious to absolve himself of any sinful acts that it amused Jessica. She let out a giggle, seemingly pleased with his answer, and said, ”Yang, you could've said it was a bellhop. Why did you have to tell me she's an escort?”

”Why did I tell you she's an escort?” Wang Yang repeated Jessica's question. Strange emotions seemed to be hustling one another in his heart. At last, he said calmly, ”I guess it's because I wanted to tell you the truth. She's an escort, after all.”

The next day, Wang Yang arose at the crack of dawn, as usual, practiced his kung fu, exercised, worked up a sweat, showered, ate breakfast, and surfed the internet. It was almost time for the audition when he'd finished his morning routine. He went out to the hotel's parking lot to pick up his car. Tom Welling awaited him at a café.

Wang Yang heard someone calling him the minute he walked out of the hotel and into the street. ”Mr. Wang!” The voice startled him. He turned around and found a blond boy wearing a grey coat running toward him. It was none other than Michael Pitt. He was wearing the very same clothes that he had worn yesterday except his face was even more sullen and pale. The skin around his eyes was dark and tender. It was evident that he had not been sleeping well.

Wang Yang was incredulous. ”Was it you? Did you come here last night?” He noticed how disheveled Michael Pitt looked, with his damp coat and messy hair; and he was trembling in every part. A shocking thought came to his mind. ”Did you stay out here the whole night?” Michael Pitt nodded candidly as though it was no feat. ”Yes. It's no big deal,” he stated.

”What?” Wang Yang exclaimed, taken aback by Michael's naked expression of disregard. Wang Yang knitted his eyebrows. New York had been awash with rain last night, yet that kid stood outside waiting for him the whole time? He asked with suspicion, ”How did you find me?”

Letting out a particularly forceful shudder, he answered, ”The name and emblem of your hotel were on your car.”

Wang Yang put his hands to his forehead and yelled reproachfully, ”Michael, what is the matter with you? What do you want from me?”

Grinding his teeth and trying to fight the tremors, Michael Pitt declared with all his sincerity, ”Mr. Wang, I didn't mean to scare you. I just want to show you what I'm capable of before you pass up on me.” And then, scrunching his hair, with a little break in his voice, he went on, ”Mr. Wang, I'm not a student at New York University. I was just visiting. But I did go to drama school for a little while.” What he really meant, and Wang Yang understood by ”drama school”, was a diploma mill that would accept anyone as long as they paid.

”So I thought,” Wang Yang nodded. To him, Michael Pitt appeared to be one of those youngsters who'd given up their lives to seek their fortune in New York. Judging by the fact that he had no place to sleep last night, Wang Yang assumed he was still a long way from his dreams. Wang Yang was torn because there were no suitable roles for Michael Pitt in High School Musical. He could not offer him a part out of pity, or else everyone would come to him begging for a role. There was no way he could help everyone. ”Sorry Michael, I really can't offer you a role,” Wang Yang said solemnly. ”You should put on some fresh, dry clothes or you'll catch a cold. Why don't you come up and take a hot shower?” he proposed, pointing over his shoulder at the hotel behind him.