Zach Stone's Last Laugh

Chapter 6

    Zach on the other hand, did not have this.

    This had probably been the worst morning he had had, in a while. Besides the fact that he had another terrible panic attack after the show last night, he had found out that Amy- his girlfriend, wanted to breakup their long distance relationship. Amy was the only thing that kept him going these days, besides his dreams of fame coming true, she kept him from total insanity.

    "What are you talking about Amy!? I think about you everyday, you can't just assume that I don't love you anymore..." Zach yelled into his cell phone that was held against his ear. He had locked himself into his hotel room when Amy's caller ID popped up onto his phone, considering the fact they haven't been able to call the last few nights. "Is this really about me or did you-" he paused, scared of his own words, "find someone else?" It was an old fear he had, that had kind of dissipated the longer they stayed together, but Zach would always be Zach.

    "Oh shut up Zach! You've been saying that to me even before I left to work in Washington. When in reality, you have been looking at other girls since before I left for college." Amy said sternly back, since she never yelled, but it was even more deadly and scary. Confusion ran across Zach's face.

    "What the hell are you-"

    "You think I didn't watch the videos you made during the summer before college? Zach. Netflix made a whole documentary out of it!" Zach stayed silent, and it seemed that Amy took it as an opportunity to keep going. "Labeling me as the back up option for Christy... ignoring me when other girls were around, and now you're meeting famous actresses after your show-"

    "Actresses?" Zach questioned the accusation, before slowly connecting the dots in his totally clouded brain. "Are you talking about Genesis Yiles? Amy, we met to talk strictly business." He explained simply, in the back of his mind thinking about how 'Amy simply didn't get how being famous worked'. Thoughts he had pushed down for years.

    "That's the only thing you picked out of that entire thing Zach? Really? You have no excuse for anything else?" Amy was giving him the opportunity to explain the harsh words he used against her, words that simply objectified her in his own world, and made her seem like just another factor in him becoming famous. He didn't take the chance...he didn't know how. "This is why I'm breaking up with you." She whispered after a few moments of total silence from the other end of the line, "I wish you the best of luck Zach Stone." She finished choked sobs as she hung up. She sobbed into the heels of her palms, her roommate beside her gently rubbing her back in reassurance.

    Zach on the other hand was alone, just like he was when he started this journey of fame.Though people always had surrounded him, seemingly with love and kindness, in Zach's mind he was lonely. Kind words meant nothing to him in the past if they hadn't been caught on camera, and now kind words meant nothing if you weren't a fan or agent. He was never able to fully change, only realize that fame wasn't what he thought. It was terrifying, made him shiver, and cry sometimes- but it still gave him the attention he believed he deserved all along. He had built his whole career off shock value, the people he met, and most importantly- his own self doubt, so he couldn't understand why Amy had to be so selfish. Yeah that's what she was, selfish. Not him. Her.

    Zach now had to look through his closest for clothes that said, 'hey gorgeous actress, I am single.' At least that's what his brain told him to wear, in reality he didn't want to even go out anymore, but this was for economic gain. If Genesis could get him into a movie with her or even allow him to write jokes about her, then he could grow in popularity in seconds. "Snap out of it Zach." It was small trigger in his mind that slowly made his eyes open to the real situation. He was meeting another human to get coffee and talk work, he needed to remember who she was.

    That night that they had met, Zach though not in the best mood, had a strong feeling that him and Genesis could be good friends. Not just business friends as she, he assumed, suggested without putting too much thought into- but more like actual friends. Something he needed. She could tell he was practically dying on stage, it would be safe to assume that the women could also tell that Zach at the time wasn't very enthusiastic about a random meet up- and he found that refreshing. Someone who could not only read his emotions but accommodate to them seemed perfect to befriend. "Think casual but you," He mumbled to himself as he pulled out black jeans and a plain maroon t-shirt. Sighing, he set the clothes on his hotel bed and gripped his unlocked phone tightly in his hand, looking down at it with curiosity. "Is it weird to google her-" he thought out loud and practically slapped himself at how bad that sounded. However, he would open safari and look up the young stars name anyway. He knew the basics of who she was and all the amazing films Genesis had acted in, what he didn't know was the things she was doing outside of film. Donating and advocating for women and different bodies specifically, he found it cool that she stuck within things she would most likely experience daily with her work- noticing how she didn't talk over voices but instead...amplify them. Scrolling through her twitter, it was pretty simple while her instagram contained the usual winter photo and aesthetic undertones. She was a mix of everything, he didn't know if he could technically write any good jokes about her- "stop!" He yelled inside his own head, realizing he was dipping back into that mindset he snapped out of a couple minutes ago.

    "God, I need to stop being weird and just get dressed." He whispered as he placed his phone on the bedside dresser, he slipped his old clothes off and got the new ones on. Plain and simple like he was. A pop of color, which psychologist might point out to be Zach's true self- but Zach would say was to make sure he didn't look too unapproachable. 

    With that he sat around for another hour before being able to walk to the coffee shop Genesis had sent him, pushing away the nerves that bundled inside him as he closed his hotel room door.