“Well I’ll try to keep up that tradition.” John says smiling. “My name is John Cole.”
“I’m Gloria Tiffin, John.” Gloria reaches across the table and they shake hands.
The touch of hands is filled with energy. And they both have that first moment of
uncomfortable silence. Gloria can only smile when they let go. But there is no escaping what they
just felted.
Gloria breaks the ice first, “Soooo, Johnny my man, what brought you to California other
than the weather?”
“I moved here in 2003, to get in the entertainment business.” John is watching this woman
eat and he is actually a little turned on by watching a woman eat an egg muffin sandwich. In his
mind he’s thinking, “Oh yeah, she is the one.”
“How do you like it out here compared to Cleveland?” Gloria says licking her lips and
dapping them with her napkin.
“I love it. There is no comparison, none at all. I mean, I don’t hate Cleveland. It’s just not me
anymore. I’ve sort of out grown the place, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, oh hell yeah I know. Semi Valley is killing me. I feel so out of place there. I didn’t like
my neighborhood at all. I didn’t like it growing up and still don’t like anything about Semi Valley. As
soon as I was out of high school, I moved to Hollywood with some friends and it was a disaster with
one fuck up after another. I had to move back home. That was humiliating to say the least.” Gloria
tone gets a little sad.
“So what do you do now?” John seriously asks.
“I’m going to a photo shoot over on the boardwalk in an hour.”
“Are you a model?”
Gloria smiles, “I’m trying to be.”
John can’t believe it. She’s looking for the big break also. He can’t believe how this is going.
“What kind of modeling are you doing?”
“Today I’m doing a bikini shoot for an automobile magazine. I don’t want to do it but it pays
really well.” Gloria checks the time on her cell phone.
John thinks about what is happening right now. Is this going to be business or pleasure or
both? “How long have you been modeling?”
“I just started a month ago. I saw a classified add for models in the L.A. Weekly and here I
am going to my first photo shoot… So what do you do to make a living?”
“I work for a casting company.”
“No shit! Wow. That’s cool. What do you do for them? I mean do you find people and put
them in movies and stuff like that?” Gloria is full excitement.
“You can say that. I’m actually casting right now.” John is waiting for that door to open.
“Wow. That’s cool. What type of roles?”
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THE CONE - ISSUE #5 - SUMMER 2015