The Girl Who Dreams

Chapter 13: The Comeback Darling

A young woman in her 20's suddenly found her self awake in the middle of the night. Still feeling a bit groggy, she checked the time on her phone. It was only four o'clock am.

"Ugh." She groaned. Tossing and turning she tried falling asleep but to no avail. Having no choice but to stay awake, she then began her daily routine. First, she cleans her apartment. Second, she waters her plants. Third, she begins her ten-minute yoga. Fourth, she prepares her breakfast. And lastly, she takes a shower. Surprisingly enough it took her one and a half hours to finish everything. Work didn't begin until seven so she decided to hang around the library near her workplace.

Upon arriving at the library she began to read at once. Her moment at peace was cut short when she overheard two women whispering nearby.

"Look! That girl looks familiar right?"

"You're right! Isn't she Holly Adler? The one with the scandal?"

Holly's tried her best to keep her cool. There's no point arguing with these two. Best to just ignore them instead. She simply pretended not to hear them and resumed reading.

"How can she show her face in public after that?"

"Let's just go. I'd rather be caught dead than stay in the same room as her."

Sighing, Holly buried her face between her hands. The scandal those women were referring to happened when she was only seventeen. She fell in love with one of her co-stars, who happened to be older than her by a few years. They were filming a movie during that time, and it's no surprise that costars usually tend to fall in love with each other on set. Nothing wrong with that right? Unfortunately, it seems like Drake Edwards forgot to mention to Holly that he was a married man. And in conclusion that makes Holly a mistress, which is not a good thing for a young celebrity. She immediately broke up with Drake after that. It's already been eight years since then, but the damage was already done. The incident left her traumatized as she received death threats and hate mails. The paparazzi we're unforgiving either as they followed her every move. Having no choice she shortly left the industry after that and took a few jobs in order to make ends meet. Luckily she found a stable job as a copywriter for an advertising company. She has even managed to keep in contact with some of her peers from the acting industry. Holly shook her head. No use in dwelling in the past after all.

"Okay Holly, breathe in, breathe out. Just have to finish two meetings today and you can have a nice relaxing evening afterward," she whispered to herself. It was also almost time for work. Gathering her belongings, she made her way towards the office. Upon her arrival, she was quickly greeted by one of her colleagues.

"Morning Holly."

"Morning Georgette."

The two of them exchanged hugs. Georgette was one of the few people who knew about Holly's past scandal. They've only known each other for three years, yet it's as if they've been friends for longer than that.

Georgette offered some bagel to Holly, which she politely declined.

"I already ate breakfast at home. Thanks for the offer though."

"Suit yourself," Georgette replied as she ate the last piece.

As they approached their office, a man came by to greet them both.

"Morning ladies. Unfortunately, this morning's meeting has been canceled because one of our clients had to attend to an emergency earlier. So technically no clients mean no meeting. Also, feel free to take the rest of the morning off. Our next meeting is at 1:45 pm, so don't be late."

"Thanks, Chad!" Both girls replied in unison.

"Well," Georgette smirked at Holly. Holly simply rolled her eyes. She knew that look. It meant that Georgette wanted to do something fun.

"Well, what?" Holly feigned innocence.

"Don't play coy with me, Holly Denise Adler. You heard Chad. Let's go have some fun!"

"Alright. Alright. Where are we going anyway?"

"Shopping! Come on let's go!"

The two of them eventually arrive at the nearest mall. Their first destination is the newly opened clothing store, La Bella. They had a wide range selection of outfits, usually for catering for women of all ages. It's one of the popular shops, mostly because of some popular celebrities who've endorsed it. While browsing, she noticed that there were some people filming outside. She immediately recognized the actress as Grace Miller, aka one of her closest friends in the industry. Both of them starred in a movie together. She was also one of the people who defended Holly during her scandal.

"Oh my gosh. Is that Grace Miller?"

Holly can't help but laugh. She keeps forgetting that Georgette is a fan of Grace.

"Oh hey, fangirl."

Georgette rolled her eyes, pretending to be annoyed. "Can we go talk to her? I've been dying to have a selfie with her. Pretty please?"

"Hey, how come you're not like that with me?"

"Psh are you kidding? We've taken tons of selfies before. Besides, I'll treat you to some ice cream afterward."

"Fine. But aren't you buying anything first?"

"That can wait. Come on let's go!" Georgette dragged Holly towards the set. A crowd formed around Grace as fans asked for her autograph. Just as they approached them Grace's eyes suddenly went wide.

"Oh my goodness."

"Hey, Grace. Long time no see."

"Come here you," Grace said as she gave Holly a tight embrace. They haven't seen each other in such a long time that this felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"So what are you filming?" Holly asked.

"Just a commercial. Hey, you know what, we need an extra actor. Audrey said she couldn't make it. So what do you say?"

"I'm not sure. I mean I haven't really acted in years you know."

"Stop being so humble. Did we work together remember? Believe me when I say you're one of the best. Here's the script, it's just two sentences. I'll inform the director right away."

"Grace wait—"

"Girl what are you doing? You better memorize that script asap. Also, you still owe me a selfie with Grace."

"Fine whatever," she said as she carefully skimmed through the script.

"You know this is actually my first time seeing you in action. I'm definitely going to film this. Watch out world, the darling has returned."

"Georgette!"

Filming began shortly after. The opening scene began with Grace as she walked around in a frill dress. The camera zooms in her panning from top to bottom. She exits the scene after that. It was then Holly's turn. At first, she was nervous, but as soon as filming began she began to feel at ease. Earlier while she was practicing she kept jumbling the words. During filming she was different. It's as if Holly had never even left the acting industry. The audience were also impressed. Holly delivered her lines perfectly. After filming Grace invited them over for dinner. And of course Georgette got her selfie, which Grace took herself. She posted the photo on instagram which gathered a lot of attention. She was soon dubbed as the "comeback darling" by the media. Not long after that Holly had a busy schedule, having back to back tv guestings, cameo roles, and the like. Her fans and co-stars eagerly awaited her return. Unfortunately, she had to leave her current job, yet at the same time, she was more than happy to return to her first love.