I sat at the bar with my beer in front of me. I wasn't really much of a drinker, but when I needed some company, beer made things a little more fun. "So you finally decided to accept my offer." I turned to see Maria standing behind my stool. I jumped up, nearly knocking my beer over, and gave her a gigantic hug. "So, what's got you moping about in a bar?" She poked my arm. I didn't really like the idea of talking about my problems with Maria. I'd rather just enjoy the time we have together.
"Let's start with you. What's going on in your world?" I asked after getting her a beer. She blushed and swiped her hair out of her face. "What do you want to know specifically?" She asked. "Did you see yourself being one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood while we were in high school? I mean, you're so young and you never seemed to be into the glamour life." I said. "I never thought it would be so, I guess you can say, terrifying." I didn't expect her to say that. "What do you mean?" I took a sip of beer. "The pressure of always exceeding the critics' expectations is well, critical. My last movie was trashed by critics. I was lucky my performance was decent enough to attract more offers." She started to tear up. I wiped her tears with my hand. "You're one of the most successful actresses in Hollywood, screw that, the world. Forget about the critics, they only try to tear down the bigger stars. Without us, they would be unemployed."
