In the spotlight

55

Sofia Christensen

The Uber driver hummed to the rhythm of the music coming from the radio as we passed the Champs-Élysées, swerving to familiar-looking streets. My eyes were switching rapidly back and forth as I followed the buildings passing by, trying my best not to lose focus and fall asleep accidentally.

I snapped my head towards the other side of the vehicle, only to discover that Adriana was already lost; she was sleeping soundly with her head against the window. At that moment, I felt as if I had arrived back to hell rather than Paris, even though this statement had some truth to it.

By the time we arrived at our destination, I felt as if my body was shutting down bit by bit. Neither of us had a minute of sleep in the last 36 hours, but we definitely drank more caffeine during this time period than in this whole year altogether.

From morning until the middle of the night, we worked relentlessly, companies trying to push last-minute shoots and interviews up until the very last moment of our departure back to Europe.

Although we had worse rush hours before, 14-hour-long flights should suffice as a little source of sleep, right? Well, it definitely should have, if we weren't totally flooded by emails, business calls, and everything in between.

We cursed the moment when we reassured our managers to extend their vacations a little; we will handle anything in the meantime. Every ounce of respect I will ever feel goes to Jamie; I couldn't deal with this shit for a week, let alone for several years.

I thanked the driver as I paid him while Adriana dragged our suitcases and bags from the car to the pavement.

"I want to lie down there and sleep through the night." Adriana pointed at a doorway of a random building we were standing in front of as we grabbed all of our stuff and started dragging ourselves home.

"At this point I'm way too tired to even fall asleep." I sighed nonchalantly, but right now I didn't even know if I wanted to cry, sleep, eat, or all three at once.

"And you're hopping on a plane again tomorrow?" Adri inquired as we passed another building. Just three more to go, a little more for Adri. I can make that distance using only one leg.

"Hell nah." I shook my head. "Matteo is coming here to spend a few days with me on his summer leave." A smile was drawn on my face as soon as I remembered my plans for the next few days. He's traveling up to Paris to spend my birthday with me at my place, and I already made very detailed plans about what we're going to do in what order and all that.

"Don't forget about your birthday party after you get back from Norway." Adriana reminded me of our yearly summer party, which is usually thrown on the reason of my birthday during July. I will spend a few days with my parents in our summer house as always, then travel back to Marseilles.

"How could I ever forget?" I smiled at my best friend as I stopped right in front of the gates of my apartment complex. I turned to Adriana, who returned the favor, pushing her suitcases away from the way.

"Ah I'm going to miss you a lot, girl. Enjoy your holiday." She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "But don't enjoy it too much." She leaned backward slightly. "I want you two to arrive in Marseilles as a pair of two, not three." She raised her eyebrow as a way of "warning me."

"Oh god, Adri." My breath hitched before I laughed out loud and pulled her back into the hug. "I'm going to miss you too." I squeezed her hard for a few moments before we let go of each other, having only one thing on our minds. Falling into our own beds after such dreadful 36 hours.

"Don't forget to remove your makeup before going to sleep." I reminded her as I pressed my keys against the doorbell, opening the huge door in front of me upon hearing the buzzing sound.