Milk and Oreos

Chapter 16

"We had the best time in Dubai. We went around and had a great time as tourists. I thought I had been doing it all right but I never knew it would lead to something bad when we had to part ways at the airport. I never knew I would lose her after that great trip."

Danny: "What do you mean "lose" her? Did you guys have a fight?"

Conner: "No, it was more about reality stepping in for us. I thought we could handle it but we both failed and I was the one to blame. And to this day, I still regret letting her go like that."

***Phone Ringing***

Conner: "H-hhello?" (Answered half-awake)

Maria: "Conner? where are you? We will start shooting in the next 30 minutes. Mr. D won't like any of the models late for this commercial. You already saw him act like a ragged bull yesterday. You got to be here fast!"

Conner: "M, I shot 5 sequences up to 3 in the morning and I only get like 2 hours of sleep. I had to deal with D's crap the whole day yesterday. Can you give me a break?"

Maria: "I'm sorry. I know you are exhausted but my hands are tied here. He said if you won't be here in less than 20 minutes for the briefing, then you're out of this commercial."

Conner: (Sat up with rage) "What!!? I had been sleeping 1 -2 hours every single day now ever since I started this commercial shoot. Do you know how exhausted I am already? You know what...just tell him to find another guy for his commercial. I quit!"

Maria: "Conner. Don't hang up. You can't quit! He said if you leave, all the staff including me won't get paid on all the work we had put up on this commercial."

Conner: "Are you f*cking kidding me right now!? Are you guys trying to blackmail me!? Tell him, he has been difficult on the entire set the whole time. He's a selfish guy who doesn't respect the people who works for him!"

Maria: "But Conner....(Phone snatched by someone else)

Mr D. "...Conner, you don't have to request for M to tell me anymore because I will give you the break you think you deserve. If you want, I can even make it permanent for you because YOU'RE FIRED! F-I-R-E-D! Don't ever show your face at the studio or expect offers ever again! (Hangs up)

"Then at that point everything went downhill. I was really exhausted at that time. 1-2 hours of sleep isn't a joke. I can't just have constant caffeine either. I can't work that way. Then I tried to check other offers around the city and other states, it became difficult and scarce. The more stressed I was, the more pressure I was having and unknowingly, I was already neglecting my relationship with the person I loved the most at that time. It was a really bad time for me." said Conner.

"So she broke up with you?" asked Danny.

"Well, she basically got tired of waiting on me for too long while I was trying to get my career life back on track. She was truly patient but I became the inconsistent one. I became irritable and annoying too due to desperation. It was a sudden shift in my life and it became clear to me that I really messed up when she walked away. I can't blame her because she worked hard to keep everything balanced between us. I was the one who easily gave up when she had fought for us. It was also the weakest year of my life. I didn't like myself either at that time. But I prayed we could get back together and start all over. Then after a year and a half, I finally gained small offers. It took me that long to figure out myself and started learning a new skill online which is cooking too." he responded.

"That must have been hard for you. But I'm glad your cooking started during that time. I think that was not wasted too right?" said Danny with a smile.

Conner was clearly not that happy remembering that year when he lost Yassie and had no way to contact her. It was a crazy time for him indeed. He juggled two jobs - modeling and cooking as a side job until he could be stable again. Then after 5 years, he successfully opened his first food truck business and a small start-up restaurant where he tries to cook and manage at the same time. Remembering it made Conner realize how much he wanted to see Yassie again and to show her that he turned into a new leaf and became successful. In time, he also got famous for his good looks and his success story. Ladies would flock and wait as his food truck visits every city. But he only had one lady in his heart and he missed her dearly.