Director Mason had seen hundreds of auditions.
He had seen bad ones, boring ones, dramatic ones, and even one where a method actor pretended to be a tree for forty minutes.
Nothing in his long, traumatized career prepared him for Aria Lane.
The audition room was supposed to be controlled.
Calm.
Predictable.
Instead, it felt like the air before a storm—
too sharp, too charged, too aware.
Julian stood across from Aria, script in hand, eyes half-focused on the lines… and half-focused on her.
Something about her made even he forget his cues.
The Scene That Wasn't Supposed to Be Intense
The script called for a simple confrontation.
Julian's character challenges hers.
Aria's character gives a cool rebuttal.
Both exchange tension.
Cut.
Done.
Instead…
When Julian stepped closer—
just a normal, rehearsed step—
Aria's expression shifted.
Her eyes sharpened.
Her shoulders softened.
Her stance aligned in a way that made every trained person in the room freeze.
She didn't just "act" wary.
She became someone dangerous, someone who measured escape routes and attack angles before she drew breath.
Julian felt it immediately.
His heartbeat jumped.
"…Aria?" he murmured, breaking character.
She didn't blink.
Her voice came out low, steady, impossibly calm:
"Move back."
The entire room inhaled.
Julian's eyes widened.
There was nothing fragile in her—not an ounce of the soft starlet the tabloids mocked.
This was someone who'd seen darkness and survived.
Director Mason dropped his pen.
"CUT—CUT! CUT!! WHO ARE YOU?!"
Aria blinked, her expression returning to normal like a switch had flipped.
"What?"
Mason pointed at her with trembling hands.
"THAT! THAT THING YOU JUST DID!"
Aria tilted her head.
"I was acting."
"That was NOT acting!" Mason yelled.
"That was—you were—what WAS that?!"
Julian stepped in quietly.
"She… reacted."
Mason turned to him, horrified.
"TO WHAT?! MY SOUL LEAVING MY BODY?!"
Julian ignored him and looked at Aria.
"You read me before I moved," he said softly.
Aria handed the script back casually.
"You were too close."
The stunt coordinator whispered to another staff member:
"She sensed his distance like a combat professional."
Daniel groaned into his hands.
"She's ruining the industry standard."
Mason's Breakdown Continues
Mason dragged a chair over, slumped into it, and stared at Aria.
"You… you can't just… do that.
This is an audition.
Not a death interrogation."
Aria frowned.
"But he stepped too close."
"That's acting!" Mason cried. "He's SUPPOSED to get close! It's dramatic tension!"
"Oh."
Aria blinked.
"I felt reflex."
Mason shrieked.
"STOP USING THAT WORD!"
Take Two: Worse Than Take One
Mason stood up again, trying to regain control.
"Okay. Okay. Let's try this again. Aria—try to be… normal."
Aria nodded politely.
"I will."
Julian fought a smile.
"Ready?"
She nodded.
"Action!"
Julian stepped forward again.
Aria breathed in.
Her eyes sharpened—
"CUT!!"
Mason threw the entire script binder into the air.
"NO! NOPE! STOP! I CAN FEEL MY HAIR FALLING!"
Aria blinked, confused.
"I didn't do anything."
"That's the problem!" Mason cried. "You EXIST and it's terrifying!"
Julian quietly murmured,
"She's good."
"She's TOO good!" Mason wailed.
The Final Straw
Mason clutched his clipboard tightly.
"Okay… okay… one more. Just ONE more. Please, Miss Lane, I beg of you—act like you're an actress. Not a—whatever you are."
Aria nodded dutifully.
Julian refocused.
"Action!"
He stepped close.
Delivered his line with perfect cadence:
"You can't outrun this."
Aria looked up at him.
Her voice came out like cold steel wrapped in velvet:
"I can outrun anything."
Julian's breath caught.
The entire room erupted:
The lighting tech whispered, "Holy—"
The sound operator dropped his mic.
The stunt team cheered.
Mason clawed at the wall.
"CUT—AGAIN—WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU?!"
Aria blinked.
"…Is the line wrong?"
"NO," Mason cried, "THE LINE WAS PERFECT—THAT'S THE PROBLEM!"
He pointed dramatically at Julian.
"And YOU! STOP LOOKING AT HER LIKE SHE INVENTED FIRE."
Julian coughed lightly, looking away.
"Sorry."
Mason collapsed into the nearest chair.
"I can't do this. She's too intense. Too natural. Too—too—what's the word?"
"Talented?" Julian offered.
"NO.
SUPERNATURAL."
Aria blinked innocently.
"I think I did okay."
Daniel sobbed.
"You were AMAZING. And also terrifying. And also amazing."
Mason wiped his face.
"Fine… FINE. I surrender. You can have the role. Take it. It's yours. I give up. I am a broken man."
Aria tilted her head.
"…Did I pass the audition?"
Mason gestured wildly.
"You passed REALITY. GO HOME."
Aria picked up her snack bag from the floor.
Julian watched her leave with a smile that was far too soft for someone who'd just witnessed an existential crisis.
Mason whispered to no one:
"I'm directing an action film…
with a woman who could actually kill us."
Assistant Director:
"Sir… congrats?"
Mason:
"No. No congrats. Pray for me."