Fast Lane | ✔️

3

Ch3

Natalie McGee turned on the small television in her West Hollywood apartment and yawned loudly, feeling the effects from the night before. She hadn't gotten home from work until late and found herself tossing and turning for most of the night.

She flipped through the stations and sighed heavily after she discovered almost every single channel was covering the Film Awards, an event she hadn't actually made it to. She knew her father would be disappointed in her, but it couldn't be helped. He didn't like it when she missed these types of things. He preferred to pretend they were one big happy family, but the truth was since her mother had passed away she hadn't been happy at all. It'd been four long years since Caroline McGee had gotten sick and died and Natalie still cried nearly every day. Would she ever be able to get past the devastating loss? There were just some things a girl needed her mother around for, and she was painfully aware she was missing out. Her mother had been the one person in her life who made her feel almost . . . normal.

Of course, she couldn't deny that her father had been good to her, too good according to some people. Natalie was the black sheep of her family, not really fitting in with everyone else. Her older sisters, Naomi and Noelle, had been blessed with their mother's classic good looks and outgoing personality, while she'd inherited her father's thin face, pinched features, and exactly none of his talent. Much to Natalie's dismay, puberty had not been very kind to her. At twenty-years-old, she wasn't exactly what most people would consider pretty. That, along with her awkward way, meant there were not many guys beating down her front door, begging for a date. They'd barely even look in her direction, and when they did it was typically an accident.

Natalie didn't mind so much, she really wasn't interested in men. She'd already been let down once before by a guy she had mistakenly fallen in love with, and she swore she would never be anyone's fool again. Besides, she was too caught up in making a career for herself to worry about dating. Natalie worked in the entertainment industry, and although it wasn't exactly the job she'd always dreamed of, she did find it enjoyable.

Her cell phone rang out on the counter-top next to her and she reached over, looking at the caller I.D.

Dad, she sighed out loud. Guess I'd better get this over with . . .

"Nat," his voice whined when she answered the call. God, how she hated when he called her that!  Her mother had always called her Lee. Why couldn't he do the same? "I missed you last night. I was expecting you to be at the award ceremony with me and your sisters. They flew in all the way from New York City just to attend; you should have been there, too. This was important to me. Your sisters understood that--bless their hearts."

Natalie rolled her small, dark eyes. Good for beautiful, perfect them . . .

"Sorry, Dad. I tried to be there, but I had so much work to do."

"On a Friday night? What kind of television studio keeps its Key Grip late on a Friday night?"

"One of the most popular television shows to hit prime time in years, that's who," Natalie retorted defensively. She didn't need this kind of harassment right now. She had too much on her mind.

"Burden of Proof is keeping you way too busy!" he complained, referring to the television drama series she worked for. "Are you certain they're paying you what you're worth? All you ever seem to do is work anymore, yet you're still living in that tiny apartment of yours. I wish you'd just let me take care of your living expenses and put you up in something decent, for Heaven's sake. It's not like I don't have the money!"

Oh, he had the money alright. Oliver McGee was an entertainment icon. He started out as a theatrical production manager in New York City, working his way toward a very successful television career with of some of the most well-loved shows to ever hit TV underneath his belt, including producing Paradise Cove, which had been wildly famous during its three year run on the air. Her father was always after her to go to work for him, but she didn't want to be handed that kind of job, although she suspected he may have played a role in securing the meager position she had now. All she ever wanted from her father was help getting her acting career off the ground, but that rarely panned out. Her portfolio remained nearly empty, lacking the credits she'd spent day and night striving for.