Love on London

Chapter 16: Two Months Later

:::::::::Two Months Later:::::::

The door opened and a lady called in the woman sitting next to me. She flashed me a weary nervous smile before she followed the lady down the hallway. It smelt clean. If anything could ever smell clean this is what it would smell like, though not like a hospital. A dark blue wall covered with pictures in frames of celebrities, some of them were signed and others had notes stuck next to them. I stood up of the bright red couch to get a better look at them, recognising quite a few. Jake Gyllenhaal, Ricky Gervais, Simon Pegg, Nelly Furtado, they even had an old photo of Andrew Lee Potts and Hannah Spearritt. I smiled, Just another few days and then the premier. When the trailer got released it boomed to a phenomenal extent, suddenly everyone wanted Andrew to do this for them, or act in this next Spielberg film.

Joel had already had his foot in the door of good films, but suddenly everyone wanted him to something as well. His fame only soared higher, but his feet always stayed planted on the ground and for that I’d always love Joel.

Jamie got snatched up just as fast, since she’d done about a hundred photo shoots for this magazine to the next. She’d signed herself up for two movies and had started to indulge in the fame, basking in its glory and possibilities.

I on the other note had signed myself up for acting in two films so far and would never get use to the comparison of me to Spielberg. Forever I’d wished for something, even just a whiff, of what it might be like to be in shoes like that. The other day I met an all-time hero in my eyes, Peter Jackson. I’m going to be slightly bias again, but he was a Kiwi and he had inspired me to be a Director and Producer ever since my first home movie as a kid. He was the director in the film I was starring in and we meet in prep for the film.

The crowd clapped and the same lady called me over to the door. My mind faltered for a moment before my feet could turn to see her. With shoulder length blonde hair that she kept tied tightly back and bright warm blues eyes she smiled and motioned for me to come. I nodded and pushed down the dress I was wearing. Over the few months of sudden fame I’d had to realise that jeans and singlets wouldn’t cut it anymore. Nicky my good neighbour and now good friend had offered to help take me shopping as I really didn’t know anyone else in London. We went on a mad spree and I found that I had the bug, but just not for dresses.

The lady in front said something into her microphone that hung just in front of her red lips. She looked down to her clipboard and ticked something before lifting the paper and looked down at it. “Okay Miss in a minute you’re going to go on stage, if you follow what was in rehearsals, wave for a moment shake hands and so forth then you should be fine,” the lady said hurriedly.  I nodded and thanked her. A moment later the crowd started to clap and a voice came through the speakers,

“After the break on the Jonathon Ross Show! Arianna Destry!” The lady put a hand on my shoulder and made me follow her up some stairs before she motioned for a door. The voice stopped and the crowd kept clapping,

“Five, four, three…” My mind rushed. You’ve made it, I could hear my mum whisper.

“For you and my bro,” I whisper below hearing.

“…One, okay you’re on,” the lady said tapping my back before she disappeared. I took a deep breath in and walked through the door to where the lights burned into my skin.

….

I flung myself into the small black car and the door slammed after me. Only then did I allow myself to take a deep breath and my head fell onto the back of the seat.

“Your house Miss Arianna?” asked the driver. Sam was a young respectable looking man when he brushed his messy sandy locks and pushed it under his cap and wore his uniform right. A black tux that he treasured, the hat he didn’t.  I didn’t make him wear it, but he had to around his employers.

“Are you going anywhere tonight Sam?” I ask pulling down the dress a little. It was a shade darker than night blue with a low v-cut front and small thin straps on the shoulders. It hugged my waist and flared out to a smaller, less obvious tutu that ended mid-thigh, on my neck I had a small silver chain with a wolf pendent on it and my wrist was wrapped up in a blue CanTeen bandanna with white swirls. I also had some black and blue friendship charm bracelets and my Jade necklace my mum gave to me when we went tiki touring up in the North Island. It always made me feel safe, like she was here. Because I remember.

“No, I have no plans tonight,” Sam said sounded slightly sad.

“What about Laura? Are you two still a couple?” I ask. He shook his head and tightened his grip on the wheel while we pulled out onto the street.

“I broke up with her, she was sleeping with my best friend,” he said simply but the pain in his voice had erupted. I let out a sigh,

“We girls are total asses sometimes, we don’t know what we’ve got, or we do and we treat it like ash,” I say looking out the window as the lights rushed past.

“Got that right,” he said smiling a genuine smile as his eyes flashed up to the rear-view mirror. I caught the last words of what the radio presenter said and I smiled,

“…Wanted are performing at Never Nero’s club tonight, catch them throughout the night at various clubs performing. We’ll keep you up to date on the matter but now, Ed Sheeran singing ‘Drunk’!”

I sat back and said, “Do you mind if we just drive around town for a while?” I ask gazing out the window again.

“No problem with that,” Sam said and turned the wheel around to the right, switching lanes. It was a good thing Sam liked driving because that’s often what we did; just drive around town at night after an interview or appearance somewhere. A car roared past and honked his horn before swinging savagely to the left, people walked down the street in high heels and short dresses while they held a man at their side swinging into the next night club or bar. A hand went into my pocket and I pulled out the phone I had in my hands. I was now the very proud owner of an IPhone. Better than carrying around my IPod as well as a phone, I think to myself before somehow my mind drifted to Jay. Jay… Even the thought of his name on my lips made me feel giddy again.

“Jay,” I whisper and brought my hand up to trace his face in the window.

“Sorry Miss Arianna what do you say?” Sam asked snapping me from my daze. Now or never.

“Let’s go to Never Nero’s,” I say not looking up from the faded face.