A 21 year old girl, fresh out of film school is debuting her career in the artistic department on the newest Amazon Prime's Romantic comedy. She travels through the difficult industry and try to make a name of her own.
A 22 year old boy, a rising s...
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@gwenijoliDear London, you've been great and I can't wait to reveal what we've been working on w/ @SofiaWylie #Untitled
DAY 40 After yesterday's mess, all I had wanted to do was crawl into bed and stayed hidden under the sheets. I was so disappointed in myself. A single mistake in this industry could tarnish forever your reputation and I had let my emotions take over the best of me, making me loose focus of what was really the most important: growing my career. This trip was my chance to make a name of own and nothing would distract me from doing so anymore. When I woke up way earlier than my clock, knowing that the nerves had kept growing over the night, slowly eating my sleep away, I triple checked my emails. I made sure I hadn't missed any last minute change and after I had put on a change of clothes, I took the elevator downstairs and once again, triple-checked the boxes for today. Today was day 40 which meant the last day of production. There were two distinct parts of me fighting each other, one that would miss being on set with these people and the other who started becoming homesick and couldn't wait to go back to New York. Nonetheless, this production has been a huge step up for my career and I would forever be grateful to Julia for taking a chance on some freshly graduated film student. Nostalgic could have been a word to describe the tingling feeling at the bottom of my stomach. I entered the room where the hotel served breakfast one last time, taking in my fellow coworkers who were strangely arriving in pairs. The room was soon filled like it did every morning for the past five days as I noticed who was missing.
Charlotte: I'm waiting for you. I'm at the table besides the coffee maker.
Gwen: I'm dressed. Coming in five!
Just as promised, Gwen appeared in the room a few minutes after she had responded to my text. We were sitting in silence, both of our mouths to preoccupied to chew on the soaked eggs and way too buttered toast. I sipped on the usual hotel water downed coffee in which I had put way too much sugar and scanned the room. Now, being almost time to leave for the location, most of the tables were full by faces I had been used to see everyday. I unknowingly let out a faint sigh as I realized that he wasn't here and the thought of his face suddenly cut my appetite as I pushed away the plate before me. I sensed my heartbeat picked up a little and to prevent anything from degenerate, I forced myself to steady my breathing. In. Pause. Out. In. I should trick my brain into thinking about something else. Out. In. I should make conversation. Out.
"So," I hoarsely exclaimed, my throat dry and still closed from the panic flooding my body. "Did you enjoyed London?"
"Enjoyed? I loved it, my god." Gwen enthusiastically replied to my question, putting her cellphone face down on the table. "You don't understand how exciting my life is right now. This trip, the collab and Hawthorne is already discussing a future for me, in the industry."
A snort I wished I could take back, escaped my lips, causing Gwen's eyebrows to furrowed. I didn't face her, embarrassed of my reaction as I knew hurt was plastered on her features.
"You don't want to work in this industry, Gwen. It's everything you're not. It's selfish and superficial and so competitive. People will eat you alive." I said, trying to justify the childlike reaction I had.
"What? You don't think I'm capable of it? You don't think I can-"
"No, that's not it." I quickly cut my best friend before she could accuse me of anything. Rage slowly boiling inside of me as I imagined Gwen working for Hawthorne. Now that the production came to an end, I wouldn't be able to protect her anymore. "I'm just saying, don't put all of your eggs in one basket. You are the most talented person I've ever met and soon the entire world would want to work with you. So, just keep your options opened. Let's see how the collab do and what good it can bring to the table, mhm?" My stares flickered between Gwen and her finger she nervously fidgeted, causing me to enveloped her hands with mine to help her calm down like she had did a million times with me.
"Yeah, you're right." She smiled, meeting my eyes and I swore I could see stars in them as they glowed bright with ambitions. "Ugh. Why do you always have to be so wise, my Charlie." She exhaled, straightening her body as her arms wrapped my neck and pushed me closer to her. I hugged her back, a small and proud smile creeping on my lips. "Sofia!" Gwen shrieked into my ears, causing it to ring as she broke our embrace to greet the actress.
"Ow!" I whined, nodding my head as I tried to shake the ringing sound out of my ear. When I finally did, I looked up to see that Sofia wasn't alone. I should have figured by now that rare were the moments where these two stayed apart: her and Jamie.
"We were just talking about the collab!" Gwen stated, her gaze flickering between the three of us. "Come on, sit with us."
"Were you satisfied with how we left yesterday's meeting?" Sofia asked my friend as they both took place on the empty chairs around our table, placing the plates they had been holding down before them. "I was. I think it's going to be great!"
"You sure as hell, I was. I can't wait for the launch party, that's when I'll stop pinching myself and realize that everything isn't some kind of lucid dream." The last part of Gwen's comment made Sofia smiled and Jamie snorted.
The girls conversation started to fade out in my ears as I couldn't help but get lost into my thoughts. When I had mentioned distractions, Jamie was the worst of them all. He made me daydream on set, wondering what could have happened with us if we weren't in this context and had more time. I glanced a few times toward him, not wanting to be obvious of how my eyes longed to look at him and him only. How my fingers longed to trace along his jaw, caressed his skin and played with his hair. There wasn't a single moment where I was mind free of Jamie, he was all I could think of. Well, mostly. When I sensed his storm blue eyes on me, I turned my head and let myself get lost in them because it was probably the last time I would see Jamie. I took all his features in, mentally snapping pictures of them as I wanted to remember it all. We both looked at each other and it felt like we had stopped time. I finally dropped my eyes as I heard Hawthorne's voice echoed in the room, my thoughts clouding our moment and finally breaking it. On the table, rested a small but old digital camera which I had recalled seeing at Jamie's apartment. Yesterday.
I wiggled the keys in my hand and in between my fingers as I entered Jamie's building. When I opened the door to his apartment, I smiled. It fitted him perfectly but I still couldn't shake off the intrusive feeling I had when looking for the props I needed. Jamie had told he had them all but it somehow still felt wrong looking through his things, his personal space. As I saw no keyboard in the living room, I figured it would be in his bedroom. I was right. In the center of it was the keyboard along with many electronics: cameras, microphones, spotlights, backdrops. As if his bedroom was his own personal studio. His computer was opened on a tab with a YouTube channel. Our Second Cousin. What a weird name, I had thought. I knew it wasn't the time to wander around but I couldn't help myself but to click on one of the videos, revealing a bearded Jamie. The YouTube channel was his and suddenly it all made so much sense of why his room looked like a homemade movie set. I watched them all, a smile plastered on my face as his videos were as original and good I thought it would. My phone buzzed, causing me to snap me back and proceeded to look at the screen.
