3...2...1...ACTION!

Chapter IV: Unexpectedly Relatable.

"Ah! Jenny! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Said Mr Wilson shifting my attention over to him instead I replied as politely as possible: "I'm sorry to bother you sir, I didn't know anyone would be in here, so if you'll excuse me I'll be leaving so you two can discuss whatever business you have." The young man held his hand out - the one he had kept in his pocket, and grabbed my arm, stopping me from getting out the door and said: "No, please stay. My father and I were just having a little chat, nothing important." so that is one of his two sons, probably the oldest, I doubt that he would be the younger one. I nodded my head and looked down at my arm to see that he was still holding on, he awkwardly let go apologising to me. I didn't say anything to him in return. I just turned over to his father and went with my request as I had originally planned. I looked Mr Wilson in the eye and said softly: "I simply had one request for you sir, I just hope it's not too much trouble to ask, but I just wanted to have the rest of the day off. I know that it could cause turbulence within the diner's usual income, but you see I have this really important matter I simply must attend, I hope you can understand." he smiled at me and said while taking a few steps closer to me, almost as if he was talking to his daughter: "Jenny, come on, you don't need to be so formal with me, you can most definitely take this day off, you deserve it." I gave him a wide smile and something took over me and I hugged him as a token of appreciation while thanking him. It was nice hugging him, I felt safe. I wouldn't say that I felt like I was at home when I was near him,in fact, I never found this "home" of mine in anyone before. Maybe it's just not possible for me to find it.

I made my way out of the office excusing myself and walked over to use the bathroom before I went home. When I got there, I heard some moaning noises, so I peeked over at the stall as to where these noises were coming from and to my surprise, it was Ari with that woman who walked in here going at it. I didn't know how to react. I was in a state of shock, I didn't even think of this alternative ending, it was out of the question for me especially now. She could get killed if seen getting intimate with another woman. I can't talk to her about it just yet, and of course not tonight, although it could be a start. I decided to leave her a note in her locker so when the break is over she would help out the other waiters to cover for my shift. I changed out of my work clothes and put on another outfit I packed, picked up all my things and left to go home. Still in that state of shock, all I could think of was what I saw just a few minutes ago in the staff restroom. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen her do so far and it made me think about myself and my own desires. Maybe I felt the same way about women but never really acknowledged that. I started to think back to my childhood when all the girls would sit around talking about all the boys they wanted to sleep with, I just found myself feeling out of place. It's true that I did feel interested in some boys back then but the thought of getting intimate with them was not it for me. That feeling stuck around even to my adulthood but now, I tend to find myself growing interested in women a lot more than men, it was an odd feeling, maybe it was me realising something new about myself that I so desperately tried to hide and push away. Or maybe, it could all just be in my head and I'm just jumping to conclusions way too quickly. But one thing for sure is that I was living in a fictitious world lying to all those around me and being myself when I was isolated from others only. That was the only way I could succeed in life and win this ever ending game.

As I was walking home to practise for the audition, a familiar voice called out for me. It was deep and husky and I knew just for whom it belonged. I stop and say: "Mr Wilson, for what reason did you follow me? Are you perhaps trying to hunt me down in order to murder me." I said sarcastically as I was turning around to face him. He didn't seem as confident as he did in his father's office, he was stuttering even. I was amused by that, seemed weak and I enjoyed the feeling of being in charge. I was just too tired of seeing others trying to control me and my body, now it was my turn to show them who I really was by making them beg on their knees. He cleared his throat and said while struggling to keep his composure: "Well first of all, my dad is Mr Wilson, you can call me Sebastian, Seb for short if you want, ahem, well erm-" he was at the verge of collapsing, maybe he wasn't all that confident as he thought he was. He was nervous and I could tell by the fact that he kept on fidgeting with his fingers and even broke a sweat on his forehead, constantly moving in place unable to hold still and simply the way he was speaking. I figured the only reason as to why he came after me was the fact that I must have forgotten something and that was my next question: "was there something I forgot?" -"ah, yes you forgot your coat, or at least that's what the brunette with long hair said." I nodded my head and reached to grab the coat, it was an older one. I kept it purposely at work in case I needed a backup. "Thank you." I said before turning around ready to walk away. "Wait!" He protested, alerting my attention back to him "I didn't catch your name." I smiled at him coyly and replied: "Try your luck again next time darling, that's all you'll be getting out of me for the day." And I left him hanging with just that.

I got back home and picked up the script and started to cover my lines. I already memorised it a while before but I needed to give the best performance for this scene. This will be a dialogue between the main character and the villain. The main character works under the command of the villain as a maid in the 1800's; where we can see all the drama happen when the villain finds out that the main character had fallen in love with the villain's lover. I was practising in front of the cat I adopted the night before. The night where I did something I wouldn't forgive myself for but it had to be done. I repeated them at least a hundred times but it still felt like it wasn't enough. I needed to give my best performance because I want my self taught skills to be recognised. I spent the entire afternoon trying my best to give an amazing performance, it even got to the point where I forgot that I still needed to behave like a human therefore eat and drink water, go to the restroom and what not. I was just far too focused on this audition to even care about anything else. I realised that it was getting late and that Ari should come over at any moment now. So, I put the script aside for once and went to the kitchen and made myself a sandwich and poured myself a glass of water. I didn't notice just how hungry I was until I had my first bite. Of course, the little fellow decided he wanted a piece of it as well, so I tore a small piece out of the other end of the sandwich and fed it to him as he snuggled on my lap while purring. That sandwich won't do much and it was starting to get late so I figured that I'll order take-out when Ari comes over. That way we can just share a pizza as we talk it all out.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rings so I got up quickly to answer it and there she was. The one and only Ari waiting at the door for me to finally let her in. I stepped aside as she walked in. She seemed a lot more at ease now than this morning. That woman whom she was with sure did a number on her. I told her that I was a little hungry and that we should order some food to which she obviously agreed to get, so I got us a pepperoni and a vegetarian from the local pizza place. They served some pretty decent pizza and I personally enjoyed eating it especially during nights like these where I would just eat away my emotions. She was surprisingly straightforward while speaking to me, made me feel like she actually thought of me as her best friend. I felt the urge to just blur out everything that I went through all up to this point. I wanted to collapse and be weak around her, cry it all out and have her arms around me to comfort me since I haven't been comforted by anyone in such a long time. I just needed her to be my safe space, a person I can turn to when I am both sad and happy. Friend. A true friend is all I needed.

We sat together in my living room and hours passed by like seconds when I was around her, I felt closer than ever. That's when I told her about my past. She was listening without judgement, she was understanding. She told me about her own past and how she found out she preferred girls over boys but stayed in the closet because she knew the consequences if this secret came to the light. She had several relationships with women mainly in gay clubs which are illegal and kept a secret from the public. In return, I spoke to her about myself, the fact that I never really felt any romantic connection whatsoever towards anyone and not only that but I also didn't feel sexually attracted towards anyone at all, even though, I wanted to get closer to other people get to know them and hopefully find something that will prove me wrong. She said: "No one truly knows who they are until they try a little bit of everything before they decide. That is why we keep on changing, going through phases and evolving as a society. Some people fear change while being unaware of the fact they are in a constant state of mutation that they cannot stop no matter what. That would be simply the reality of things the majority of us decide to neglect or hide from. Truth is we lie to ourselves everyday just to get enough motivation to go to work or in worse cases get out of bed. What I'm mainly trying to say is, be yourself Jenny, one day people will accept us as a minority because after all we are humans just like them, just a little different." She was right of course and I was glad I had this talk with her. I didn't cry or anything, I simply got the comfort that I needed knowing that someone or maybe a group of people out there may feel the same way.

It was getting late so I told her to spend the night but she insisted on leaving. Before she left I told her about the audition I had the next morning so she could speak to Mr Wilson about it. That way I won't be late or fired instantly to both my work place and audition. I walked her out and we hugged before she left to go home. She was such a sweet young woman who just needed someone to listen to her, she reminded me of myself but each one of us acts so differently on stage based on our very different yet similar roles.