Life Of Dreams

Chapter 1

‘ … and Roger found the proof –continued on pg 27’. 

I knew Tammy was stepping out on her husband; I heard it from the Hollywood Gal on the radio just two days ago.  I quickly turned the pages of the Inside Gossip and shook my head when I saw the photo of the starlet in a lip-lock with one of her hunky co-stars.  They were stretched out on a blanket at some undisclosed beach, probably caught by a paparazzi’s telephoto lens.  I continued to read about their sordid affair, wondering how Tammy could be cheating so blatantly on Roger.  After all, his career was just starting to take off with his latest film getting accolades from various European film festivals.  Tammy’s co-star was, well, lets face it, only a pretty face and muscle, no comparison as far as I was concerned.  But then, even I had to acknowledge that sometimes your heart follows it’s own path.  

I greedily devoured the next few pages.  There was always someone messing with someone they shouldn’t.  Then there were the actors who were being treated for ‘exhaustion’ or ‘use of prescription pain pills’ which were euphemisms for being dried out whether it was booze or drugs. 

Toward the middle of the magazine were pictures of a new movie being filmed in the British Isles.  The shots of London were so vivid I could almost feel the foggy damp air.  From there the crew went on to Ireland.  The green hills peppered with sheep and goats pulled me into the photos.  If I closed my eyes I could imagine myself walking around feeling the cool breeze on my face and the deep grass under my feet. 

The breeze was but a whisper as it gently blew my hair away from my upwardly turned face as I gazed into the eyes of my lover; beautifully theatrical and very sexy.  As the star, the director and my co-stars would outwardly admire and inwardly envy how easily I portrayed my character.  The townspeople would be held behind ropes, barely breathing as they watched my performance.  Each vowing to watch this movie several times in the theater and then buying the DVD, just to be close to me.  At the yell of ‘cut’, these civilians would lean against the barricades and beg me to autograph their books, arms or anything else they had handy.  And I would acquiesce and sign as many as I could as I made my way toward my double-wide location trailer.  I always had time for the simple people because I understood their hero worship, since I once had those same feelings.

I opened my eyes and shrugged my shoulders.  Well, at least that is how I would handle it all; the notoriety, the fans, the glamour.  Yes, I would handle it very well.

The section toward the back of the magazine was the part I loved the best.  This is where they would put the pictures of the most recent movie opening or Hollywood gala.  Stars and the jet-set were plastered on these pages showing off their designer clothes and often their most recent beau.  Each woman was dressed to outdo the others with gowns from the most famous haute couture to the newest flash-in-the-pan designer.  I nodded my approval of some of the gowns from Dior, Chanel, Givenchy and Gaultier; classic designs never go out of style.  But some of the others made me wonder about the sanity of the stars that wore them.  Why would anyone wear something that made them look like a French Poodle?    If I were a star, I’d make sure …

BAMM!  My cubicle wall reverberated from a flat-handed assault.

 I jumped and guiltily tried to jam the magazine into my top desk drawer.  Not fast enough.  I looked up to find Ralph grinning over the top of our shared divider. 

 “Hey, whatcha doing?  Daydreaming again?”

I silently glared back at him.

“Good thing ol’ Beetlebrow didn’t catch you reading that rag.  He’d be fit to be tied knowing his second best programmer,”  he gave me his smile letting me know who he thought was number one. “was lazing around reading up on Hollywood stars rather than coding for the next upgrade.  How can you read that drivel?”