The Hollywood Pact

Five

DAISY

"Cliff?" I shouted to the dark apartment, as I took off my shoes.

No one answered.

I entered the living room looking for my boyfriend, but ended up bumping into a dresser that had been placed there due to lack of space in the bedroom.

"Damned small place!" I exclaimed, taking out my frustration in the furniture who was not to blame for my failure as a person.

It's one in the morning. I missed Cliff's gig.

I was hoping I could apologize to him in person when I got home... Maybe I could persuade him with the cookies Mom used to make us and he loved. But the apartment had no sign of life.

We rented the place four years ago when we left Oakland and came to Los Angeles to fight for our dreams together.

"You'll see. Hollywood will be impressed with us" he said as we lay in my parent's backyard and watched the starless California sky.

"What if it doesn't work?" I hugged him searching for that feeling of security that only his arms could give me.

"We will always be there for each other. No matter what."

We're always there for each other, I repeated, running my hand over my face. I felt awful. I should be there. I should've told Stacker to fuck off. Cliff was supposed to see my face in the crowd cheering for him. There's no excuse for what I did.

I plopped down on the couch and looked at the moldy wall.

Actually, this apartment sucked.

It was so small that it was almost claustrophobic. The living room has enough space for the sofa that Cliff's parents gave him and a television that he bought with his first payment as a singer.

There was only one window in the room with a wonderful view of the red brick building on the other side.

Plus, the place smelled like old stuff and cigarettes, even though neither of us smoked. The neighborhood was the worst in Los Angeles. Too far from Hollywood or any other place that mattered.

The house was temporarily until I got a better job and could help with the expenses. The problem was that the "better job" never came, while Cliff started earning more and more and I started to depend on him more and more to survive this jungle.

This frustrated me so much. I hated depending on someone, even if that someone was my boyfriend.

I went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. In the refrigerator, I saw a new post-it that wasn't there this morning.

Thanks for your support.

I went out with Jordan and Ian.

Don't wait for me.

I ripped it away, putting all my hate into that piece of paper.

As I imagined, Cliff was pissed.

I don't know how I will fix things this time. A long time ago, we argued about my job taking my life and preventing me from doing anything else.

If I told him I ran late because Brandi Mann had a hysterical fit over a chocolate bar and Guy Carver took the opportunity to drink all the bottles from the scenario, he would simply say that my job came first than him. Like always.

I decided that I'd wait for him to arrive, even if it cost my precious sleep, so Cliff would see the extent of my regret.

I sat on the couch and turned on the TV on some random channel. Pride and Prejudice was on. It was the new version with Guy Carver as Mr. Darcy. Honestly, this was an insult to Fitzwilliam Darcy, as Guy was much more of a rake like Wickham.