PERMANENT - Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 3 - Missions

Monday 6.05pm

I got home to my apartment by 6pm, my hair now a fiery cherry red for my role as Rose. Slinging my bag on the back of the dining room chair, I saw my answering machine blinking, and I played my messages back as I went to my fridge.

"Two new messages, first message:

'Hey Pen, my little superstar! I tried calling you earlier but I couldn't get through so I had to resort to the answering machine. Anyway I know you've been busy with your new film preparations and whatnot but I miss you and I really wanna see you again so let me know when you can come down to San Diego- or no- I can come down to you if that's easier. But yeah, let me know and we'll have our little wine night, okay? Love youuu!'"

Aaliyah's melodic voice rang through my apartment. I felt so blessed to have that girl in my life, god knows how I would've even gotten around LA if it wasn't for her teaching me the ins and outs of it.

"Second message:

'Hey Penelope, uhh it's me Theo, I just wanted to, you know, hear your voice I guess? I dunno. It's just been....so hard with you gone. Your mum told me you had just landed a role in a big film? That's real great news so call me and maybe we can talk about it? Okay....bye.'"

Theo, my moronic ex-boyfriend, who still thinks he can call me anytime he wants. He lost that privilege when he cheated on me with Olivia, his ex-girlfriend, only a couple of weeks before I left for the US. We had planned to try the whole long distance relationship thing, with him visiting frequently and me visiting him back home, but those plans fell apart when Olivia visited me at the bakery I worked part-time at, in tears, and told me what happened, and how 'bad' and 'guilty' she felt. In retrospect, I guess it was better that we broke it off.

I ignored Theo's message picked up my phone from my coffee table to dial Aaliyah's number, but it kept ringing until I eventually hung up, so I sent her a text instead. 'Hey, I couldn't get through, but this weekend should be fine so come down and we'll make a night of it'.

With my whole night free, I set out a mission for myself for the night: find Leo.

After a much needed shower, and 45 minutes of making myself look slightly more sophisticated than usual, I got dressed up and left my apartment at 10pm, and headed for my car. I didn't bother texting my other more local friends, this was something I wanted to do alone – much less threatening.

//

"Go on through. Have a good night." I stepped inside The Viper Room, the banging sound of the music hitting me like a wave, or when you step off of a plane for the first time when it's hot. Weird how something you can't physically see can have such an effect. The interior was black and mostly glossy, with green lighting dotted around under seats and around the bar. I took a seat at the bar closest to the door and waited.

"Can I get you anything?" a self-assured voice rang out beside me about 10 minutes after I sat down. Turning towards the sound of the voice, I looked over. He was tall, maybe 6'1, with brooding eyebrows, dark hair and even though it was dark, I could see he was tanned. "No, no, I'm ok" I smiled back, pointing to my half empty glass of water sitting in front of me. He glanced sideways at my glass, then back up to me, not missing a beat.

"Aaah. I see. You're that girl." I shot him an amused look, my eyebrows now raised. "That girl?" "Yeah. 2 gallons of water a day, liquefied meals, that sorta thing?" Huh. The nerve of this guy. "No actually, I'm driving so....no alcohol for me tonight....thanks though." The cocky smirk never left his face as he spoke up "So let me get this straight, you are....your own designated driver, correct? You came out by yourself, to look after yourself, and then drive home?" a trivial chuckle left his lips. "And who said I came alone?" I shot back. He pretended to look around for my fellow companions, his eyes coming back to me, "I don't see anyone."

I looked away from him, back to my drink. "Yeah when you put it that way. I'm actually waiting for someone." Yeah. He just doesn't know it. "Well if they don't show up," he leaned in so that he was right by my face, his lips brushing my ear lightly as he whispered "give me a call." And with that, he handed me a napkin with his number scribbled on it, along with a messy Jake, which I presumed was his name, and walked off, looking back one last time, smiling, which showed his pearly white teeth, before he disappeared among the crowd. When he had found time to write down his number without me noticing I wasn't sure.

It was 2am and I was practically falling asleep at the bar, now angry at myself for even considering this an option and wasting not only my makeup, but the whole night. I downed the rest of my water and slammed the glass on the top of the bar, jumping off the stool and taking my purse from the bar. But then I heard it, the shuffling of a large crowd of people by the entrance, several now shouting, and flashes of lights just outside. This lasted a good 5 minutes before I saw his lanky figure saunter through the doors. And there he was.