FairyTale

Chapter 1: I Have a Life

I pulled my white pea-coat around my shoulders tighter. The cold wind nipped at my back and at the base of my neck where my long brown hair wasn’t covering.

“Of all the days to where a messy bun, I choose this one,” I muttered to myself as I made my way down the busy London streets. The chill in the air reflected the bitterness of my mood. I had just gotten turned down from an acting job, on an obscure TV show no one bothered to watch, again.

Dragging my feet along the pavement, I tried not to think about everything I had been through in the last year. Getting the role as the leads best friend in a movie that had quickly gotten attention was good I guess. But the fact that nothing had come up since was, of course, bothersome.

I was staring at my plain brown boots so I didn’t notice the person walking straight towards me. I looked up just in time to watch a man glance up from his phone at the exact same moment. We collided and the books he had been caring flew to the ground. I hurried an apology as I leaned down to help him gather his things. The man was rushing things like, ‘I’m so sorry’, ‘I should have been watching where I was going’, blah, blah, blah.

I slowly rose to my feet after helping, and I got a good look at the man for the first time. His eyes were a deep chocolate, and his hair was short cut and brown. I’m sure my cheeks turned pink as he looked to be studying me. I looked away nervously, but the sound of his voice made me turn back.

“You look really familiar… Are you an actress or something?” He asked, a small smile playing at his lips. His voice was steady and confident, allowing me to be comfortable enough to smile back.

“Yeah, I’m Blake Adair. Did you see ‘Frozen in Time’?” I fidgeted; this was always the worst part…

“Yes I did actually! Fantastic movie!” The man looked away as if remembering his favorite scene, and I let out an internal sigh of relief. He actually knew what I was talking about! “Who did you play?” He asked next.

“I was Margaret, Bridgett’s best friend.” I couldn’t hide the grin that spreading uncontrollably over my face. This man knew the movie. And maybe he knows me… maybe he was an agent ready to hire someone with talents like mine and-

“Hmm, I don’t remember her. Well I’m sure you were amazing! I’ve gotta get going. Have a nice day miss!” The man shrugged his shoulders, hiked up the books he held in his arms, and brushed past me on his way to who knows where.

I stood motionless in the street as nameless faces brushed past, seeming to not even know I existed. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath trying to control the anger, disappointment, fear, and everything else, that I felt. Once I was sure the man was out of eyesight, not to mention out of my life, I took off once more. Trying to forget what he had said proved more difficult than I thought. His unknowingly crushing words burned into my mind, making something that I hadn’t wanted to face until now, painfully clear. I might never get a real job here. I was just another one-shot actress soon forgotten. I was losing my dream.

Suddenly I heard an obnoxious song coming from my pocket. In all the busy noise of London, I swear that ringing made every head in the nearest mile, turn their annoyed faces towards me. I couldn’t rummage through my pockets fast enough until I finally found my phone.

“Hello?” I tried to speak loudly over the noise of the town.

“Hey girl,” I didn’t have time look at the caller ID, but I recognized the voice on the other end immediately and a relieved smile grew on my face, “How’d it go?” My best friend, Juliet, always knew just when I needed her.

“Guess.” I answered sarcastically, my smile fading with the memory.

“Again? Ouch that’s gotta suck, sorry sweetie.” I could hear the sympathy in her voice, and as she spoke, I relaxed a little in the way only she could make me do.