Rescue Me

Rescue Me | Chapter One

C/W: None

"I'm sorry, Andrea, they went a different direction." the sorrowful voice stated through her speaker phone.

'Great' she thought, this day keeps getting better.

She rolled her eyes and hung up, missing the days when she could slam a phone down to disconnect a call. Andrea threw her phone into the passenger seat and pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to keep the tears of frustration at bay.

Traffic was moving at a snails pace. She sat there sulking and full of regret for her rudeness. Reaching into the passenger seat she swooped up her phone and composed a text, "I'm sorry I hung up on you. I know you are trying to help and I appreciate it."

She bombed that audition when she let her nerves get the best of her. It wasn't her agent's fault. In an attempt to drown out her thoughts, her fingers reached out and fiddled with the knob on the radio.

"... A boulevard of hope and dreams..." he sang.

"Ha!" A sarcastic laugh escaped her as she pondered how what little 'hope' she had was quickly dwindling as her 'dreams' were crushed audition after audition by a healthy number of casting directors.

Full of courage, she picked up her life and moved to the city of stars six months ago to chase her life long dream. She found a quaint little apartment that cost double what she paid back home, but it was her space and she loved it.

To pay her bills she used her experience as a certified medical assistant, part-time at a private medical office. Taking care of people was something she had always excelled at and she hoped to brush shoulders with a VIP in the film industry to get her foot in the door. In what little spare time she had between work and auditions, she picked up a few shifts as a barista at this up and coming coffee boutique.

The intense Summer heat beat down on the 101 as she sat traffic. The fuel light lit up adding to the collection of lights already displayed on the dashboard of her beat up car.

Thirty minutes later traffic had finally crept enough that she was able to take the exit onto Mulholland. She pulled into a 7-11 for gas and decided she needed to head up to her favorite spot to get some air and escape this hectic day. She grabbed a bottle of water as well as a granola bar, paid for her items and was on her way.

Winding through the switchbacks, windows down, the wind swept through her long caramel hair, while Bittersweet Symphony blared through the speakers of her small SUV.

Sputtering to a stop, she parked and hid anything resembling value. Looking down at her business casual outfit the audition called for almost made her go home. If anyone happened to be up there and saw her inappropriate dress... 'Whatever, I need to watch the day fade away and clear my head.' she thought with the shake of her head.

She grimaced at the stilettos on her feet, a recipe for disaster with her graceful nature. The temptation to go barefoot was growing when she remembered the spare pair of flats under the passenger seat. She grabbed them and swapped them with the heels, at least she wouldn't break an ankle.

Her spot was at the end of a residential street and most likely for neighborhood members only, but some rules were made to be broken.

She crossed the street and made her way up the hillside. Once she reached the top she headed straight towards the large oak tree and sat down, absorbing the best view in the city. A few stray tears finally breached her eyes and she sat there taking in big cleansing breaths of air trying to calm down as she settled against the tree.

"That's my tree you're leaning on."

Andrea jumped, startled by a male voice. She wiped her eyes and hesitated before she turned her head towards the voice. She pushed her black rimmed cat eye sunglasses up to rest atop her head and watched as he walked toward her.