The Search for Me

Chapter 4: Initial Encounter

On the plane to China, I thought about my last words with Oren. They were harsh, I have to admit, but the truth was the truth. I shook the memories from my mind. A new adventure was ahead for me and I don't need anything to dampen my mood.

We got to Shanghai Airport at two in the afternoon. As I made it out of custody, I was greeted by a sea of screaming. It was so loud that I nearly cursed.

"Who are these people?" I shouted at Claire.

"Your fan base. We announced on our website that you will be coming to China." Claire yelled back at me.

A banner caught my eyes. "Claire, these fans are obviously not mine." I gestured at the banners. They were orange with capital letters "TFBOYS"

"Don't look around you. Right ahead of you is a small crowd of 100 waiting for your arrival." Claire said. How can she say that with a straight face? 100 people was not a small crowd!

I waved at them. They waved back.

"May I have all of your autographs?" A little girl said in Chinese behind me.

I stopped. Am I so fat that I look like two people? I hope not, I been on a diet.

"Ruby, that's not for you, TFBOYS is behind us," Claire said. That makes more sense. I wanted to turn around to catch a glimpse of them but Claire kept me walking. I smiled under my mask that covered the lower half of my face. Wearing a mask means that I can go makeup-free. Stupid zits.

"Miss. Chang, may I have you autograph?" A girl said in English with a heavy accent.

"Of course," I replied back in Chinese. The poor girl probably studied that one sentence in English just for me. No need for her to speak a foreign language. I know how to speak Chinese. I signed the picture for her and proceeded toward a black limo that was taking us to our hotel.

My fans must have realized that I understood Chinese because they started crowding in, wanting my autograph. Claire and the other workers had to shove the rest of our way toward the limo. That was easier said than done. I swear I was walking in place for 10 minutes. Eventually, airport security had to come and break up the fans.

By the time I got in the limo, I really wanted a shower. I felt very violated. Next time, I should just cover my body from head to toe. Maybe ask for some bodyguards. Chinese fans are very physical.

"We'll have to wait for TFBOYS. This might take awhile. They have more fans than we do." Claire said to me. We were in the limo after the whole fiasco with the mob and flying elbows.

"They're riding with us back to the hotel?" I shouted. Claire nodded and told me to quiet down. I couldn't help it. This is everyone's reaction if they learn that they are going to meet their beloved idols. I can't believe it will be only a few minutes before I meet TFBOYS!!!

Few minutes were actually 45 minutes. TFBOYS climbed in along with their managers. Hands were still trying to grab on to them. Claire quickly slided the door shut and the driver drove out the airport so fast that there were tire marks left in the airport parking lot. I checked my watch. 4:05 pm it read. Two hours to get out of an airport?! Jeez, this is crazy.

There was an awkward silence in the limo. I couldn't find the right words to say without sounding like a creep. And, they all look pretty tired to me so I kept to myself. 

After a while, I saw Karry watching something on his iPad that looked strangely familiar. Leaning over by a bit, I realized that he was watching my movie! 

"Is that me?" I asked him. 

He looked up surprised. "Yeah."

"Is my acting good?" 

"What?" He asked confused.

"Is my acting in the movie good? I'm a newbie at acting so criticisms will help me improve."

"You won an Oscar from this movie. I think that answers your question," Roy who sat across from me said.

"And it's not up to us to judge you on your acting skills. You're from Hollywood, the most famous movie industry in the world." Jackson chimed in.

"Just because I'm from Hollywood doesn't mean my acting skills are flawless. Good acting takes time to achieve." I replied. 

Karry smiled. "I didn't think you were going to take acting so seriously."

"The Chinese entertainment industry is very different from Hollywood. If I don't take acting seriously, how am I suppose to break into a new industry?"

"Don't worry, you are way better than us when we started. From what I saw in your works, you have raw talent," Jackson replied.

The car must have went up 10 degrees when he complemented me. I thought that I was going pass out.

"You can ask us if you have any questions. We are not the best but we are experienced." Roy added, helpfully.

"Great! First and foremost, can we go over the script? I need help in understanding my character."