THE STARKS ALLEY

32

KELSIE'S POV

I had a lot of catching up to do at The Starks Alley. Since I wasn't there, I got a minor role and so did Kelly. Neither of us liked this but Kelly didn't seem to mind. I was also working on clearing my record of the jail term that I had served and the process could be complete only when they found Monic, dead or alive. The police believed that she had accomplices and if she was supposed to name them.

The lead actress acted passionately and she was my type of friend. Her name was Ella. She was about my height, same hair colour, mad fashion skills... in short she was me and I liked that. She had fair skin and she rarely smiled at anyone except Hozzby, but not in a romantic kind of way.

Hozzby was her costar. He was a great actor and he played the role of a man with a cold heart and no family. He was fit for that role because that's exactly what he looked like, and not just because he wears sunglasses all the time. I didn't even know what his eye colour was. Not that I was interested.

Their scene came to an end and it was time for a break. This was my moment to talk to Ella. She was alone, looking for something in her bag. That was an opening.

"I heard the cafeteria is serving pork chops today and I can't think of a reason not to go. Would you come with me?" I asked her in my sweetest voice.

"I'm vegan," she said, focusing on her phone.

Damn

"It's, alright. I'll go maybe with someone else. Or maybe not go since animal products are bad for human kind."

"It's bad for the animals."

"Miss Kelsie," Ty came with my usual mug of milk.

"Excuse me," I told Ella who still had no interest at all, "I didn't ask for this today!!"

"But I always get you milk. You love milk."

"I know," I rolled my eyes.

"That was tough, even for you Kelsie," Kelly laughed at me.

"Sophisticated Neapolitans," Ty said, "Really famous in Europe, award winning actors and the best duet. They act all their movies together and we are actually lucky they agreed to work for us."

"Neapolitans as in from Italy?" I asked Ty.

"No. From Naples," Ty answered as he put away my milk which I felt guilty for turning down.

"Naples is in Italy," Kelly pointed out.

"Tell them that and they'll get really cross with you," Ty said. By this time, Hozzby and Ella were having a conversation.

"I can tell that I will become best friends with Hozzie over there and Ella will have a crush on me but will never get a date with me because I'm still dating Kristie." Kelly was usually over confident. Being in front of cameras constantly from a young age might have caused that and that was just who he was. From advertisements in diapers to a young movie star in his twenties, it was enough to be fearless because he had travelled a lot, home schooled definitely and basically living the lush life.

"You mean Hozzby," I said, "And no. He'll brush you off harder than Ella did me. Ella looks like she'd rather die alone than be with you."

"Hozzie is my nick name for him. See, I'm doing really well at establishing a foundation."

"Are you sure she wants to be with you?" Ty asked Kelly.

"Yeah, Ella will be all over me in a few days and Hozzie will notice and respect me for that. That's where we become best friends."

"I meant Kristie." Kelly took some time thinking about that. We all knew that their relationship was fake so Kelly was not worried as much about that. They had actually never even kissed or any of that mushy stuff couples do.

"It's important for the fans. I don't love her," he admitted. I just hoped that Kristie hadn't caught feelings for him. Even if she had, she probably hated him and had moved on, all three of us for that matter. I had never spoken to Dale since we were driven out of the hospital. He had become distant and I just hoped that he was fine.

I noticed Izzy walking in. He had asked for a grace period because he was traumatized by the condition Kristie was in when he found her. He was therefore exempted from all the morning sessions. We all knew, however, that he wanted to use that time to visit Kristie which was alright. He was having a hard time seeing her there. And it was through him that we got to know Kristie's progress since I and Kelly were still prohibited from the hospital and Ty was always busy at The Starks Alley.

"Hey guys," he said, "I've just come from the hospital and Kristie still hasn't woken up but she's stable." That was enough for me to know and hold on to until he gave us the next update.

"Who's Charlie?" Izzy suddenly asked.

"A great friend of Kristie," I answered, "Why?" That was odd. Izzy and Charlie didn't know each other.

"He was at the hospital with Kristie's parents."

"So he's in town." I definitely was not expecting that at all, "Wow. Charlie's back!"

Izzy was unusually quiet for most part of the day and it was obvious that he felt threatened by Charlie. He should. Even Dale was at that position and now that I think of it, I had never really warmed up to Charlie when he was around.

"Who are those guys?" Izzy asked, referring to the new actor and actress.

"She's Ella, my new almost friend and he is Hozzby, Kelly's new almost friend." Izzy just nodded and he left for the cafeteria.

"Pork chops anyone?" He asked before he left.

"Count me in," I whispered to him. I didn't want Ella to hear me at any cost.

When we got there, we found a lot of pork chops. From honey glazed to garlic rosemary pork chops. They went all out today. After having our seats, Izzy started a conversation.

"Did you know Charlie?"

"I did. He was Kristie's neighbor before he went to Japan to study." Izzy nodded as he took a bite of his pork chop.

"We're they... Together?" He asked, hoping for an answer that wouldn't shatter his heart.

"No. Never," I said honestly. We spent the rest of the time eating and nothing more was said.

I couldn't let a character like Charlie slip away so easily;)
Also you must have read Plans B to really understand his role