The Pretty Sister

The Old Hollywood

Chapter 12

After spending the night thinking about her audition, Fiona fumbled around trying to find the alarm clock blindly. She was dead tired. When she finally was able to hit the snooze button, she didn’t even remember why she had even set it. Instead, she pulled the pillow over her head to fall back asleep. Like a lightning strike through her, she shot up. She had a meeting with Vicki LaRue. Holy shit! She could not be late. This type of outing required her to dress up. 

She was trying to dress beyond her image, but she still had standards. This was Hollywood. She pulled back the covers and hit the shower. Taking her time, she washed her hair and thought about what she was going to wear. She wanted to dress well. Vicki LaRue had a lot of connections and respect. To show up in any old thing was a show of obvious disrespect. 

As she walked through her closet, her mind wandered from Vicki to her clothes and landed on Brick. That bit of hurt from his rejection stuck anew in the bright beams of early morning. She had to admit that she did not get rejected often. Over the last couple of years, she had done the rejecting. Still, she knew that she was hurt not from just the rejection, but by the person who had issued it. He was different from her normal type of guy, but she was sure those differences would help the relationship. 

She was tired of the actors she usually dated because it was always about publicity and tabloids with them. The long absences when they were filming on location with other actresses or models just as beautiful as she could really get annoying. Then, the businessmen were no better. She knew what she was to them from the first date. Eye candy. She was there to look beautiful and vacant while they chatted up a potential client or played with their phones. 

She wanted to settle down and have a family like her parents. Fiona could laugh at how he thought his non-celebrity status would turn her off. Or that he thought she was some tabloid whore who wanted to be on the front pages all the time. When she settled down, her kids would be brought up away from the cameras. 

Bark! Bark!

“Choco, come here.” Choco followed her to her closet, nudging at her ankle. 

“One minute, sweetie. What am I thinking about kids for? The way my life is going, I won’t be having any anytime soon.” She grabbed a pair of straight-leg pastel blue jeans and simple white button-down shirt with black Peter Pan collar. She tucked the shirt into the jeans. She put on a belt and a blazer and then slipped into her shortest pumps. She looked put-together, but not too formal. She wanted to come off as if she made an effort, but not overdressed.  She left her hair down, only combing through it  after a quick blow-dry. 

She ate and finished her routine before deciding to call him. She took several deep breaths.

“I can do this. Hey. This could be good. We can build a good foundation through friendship.” Choco merely lifted his head to turn to the other side from his position on the ground. 

“Fine. I will just call him. Gosh! I feel like a teenager again. Call him or don’t call. I am a grown woman.” So she called. Unlike the first few times she had called, he didn’t answer on the first ring. She heard the ring once then twice and a third time before she heard his voice. 

“Fio-Miss Delafield.” Guess we are back at that.

“Brick, I am heading out. Are you ready?” she continued unfazed. She could pat herself on the back. 

“Give me five minutes and I will be ready to go.”

“Thanks,” she said before she hung up. 

*&*&*

Brick hesistated as he knocked on Fiona’s door. He didn’t have to see her yesterday because she stayed inside, but it couldn’t be avoided. He was going to have see her eventually.  Still, he didn’t know how she was going to react. Would she be pissed off? Would she just continue? Or just move on to some other guy? He had to admit he would be jealous if she just moved on to some other guy. He really had no reason to object. He had rejected her.