BENITO MCLAUGHLIN CLOSED the door behind him and looked up to the projectionist's booth in the empty theater connected to the Lamar. He waved and smiled to Jacques, who'd been with the Lamarcke ever since Benito's first movie premiere here, eleven years ago. Hitler was Benito's seventh premier in this theater and they knew his secret well. And kept it here, all these years.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTHxNGRoYE
Benito found a seat in the tenth row, square in the middle. The room went black, the curtain parted, and the movie began. Benito's heart fluttered as he watched the two boxing gloves, one bearing the U.S. flag and the other the hammer and sickle of the U.S.S.R. They smashed together in an explosion and the scene cut to Rocky Balboa on the verge of knocking out Clubber Lang in their rematch, one of the last scenes of Rocky III. '368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rULwke4wK
And then there was the opening scene of Rocky IV. It had been Benito's acting debut, twenty-six years ago, a lifetime ago, when it was all about the art, all about the dream. In those days, Benito was a skinny dropout who wrote poetry and went to the movies every night of the week that he wasn't working one of his two jobs, delivering flowers and painting elementary school classrooms in the local school district.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTncn8GvJXD
He'd been nothing more than an extra in Rocky IV, a nonspeaking part, one of the security guards at the press conference held to publicize a match between the Russian fighter, Drago, and the American ex-champ, Apollo Creed. He remembered his one day on the set, shaking hands with Sly Stallone and feeling his knees weaken and praying his voice wouldn't crack when he said, "Great to meet you."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6gSJkTpTW
He settled into his seat. This was Benito's secret. It had started back with his first starring role, four years after Rocky IV, when he knew that his whole career could go bust after one major movie if it flopped. He was so nervous that he couldn't stay in his seat at the premiere. Now he had a ritual, which had become a superstition---ducking out of his premiers and preparing a screening of his acting debut. But now it wasn't about nerves or fear of failure so much as it was a refresher, a reminder of how much this all meant to him. It kept him grounded in----wait---what the----?368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIL9SVaWBCm
What was that noise?368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIc83nWZcM1
At once, something cold pressed into his neck from the right. A hand gripped his left shoulder. From behind him, he felt the body heat, and then he heard a voice he remembered from not too long ago.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv28yx4jcaR
"I don't have much time, Benito," said Mischa. "So you better start talking."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZU9AvE9rF
