Home is a feeling

Ch 19 Andy

The day was a success. The meetings with my stylistswent well and I got the clothes I needed ordered andsent for tailoring to fit me perfectly.I got mom's favorite perfume and a handbag of one ofher favorite brands. I would have gotten her somethingelse but she already has everything she needs.For my dad , I bought a limited edition watch, one oftwo in the world. I kept my purchase anonymous, Iknow he was planning on bidding and I think he willbe happy when I give this to him. Probably.I usually don't get much stuff for employees and Isimply give them a bonus for Christmas. I plan ondoing the same again but after I saw Sonia and heardher talk about how she dreamed of being an author , Icouldn't help but think of giving her a little somethingelse too. I've told myself about a hundred times that Iam doing this only because I appreciate her workinghard for me. No other reason at all.Zeus keeps grinning at me whenever she's around, likehe knows exactly what's going inside my head. IfSonia doesn't already realize that I like her , she willwhen she sees him looking at us like that. Seriously.You know when you tell someone,
 "Hey don't look butsomeone really good looking is at your 10 o'clock andthey immediately turn and keep looking in thatdirection.

Yeah. Zeus is definitely that friend for me. 

 I got a call from my agent saying I got the role for"The Psychopath" , the movie that I really wanted toact in. The money is significantly lower but now thatI've gone for it, I might as well go all in. I meanwasn't I questioning Sonia about being unsure and nottaking the decision of sending her book in sooner. I'dbe a hypocrite if I went back on my own words anddidn't do something I know I want to do. I rememberthe interview where Stan Lee said, "If you have anidea that you think is genuine and you believe in it,don't let some idiot talk you out of it."

 I accept the role . There is no way I can let the fear ofskewering relations or hearing snide comments hold meback . I definitely did not get this far without losingfriendships or having people hate on me and I won'tmove forward without going through the same process.As we were talking, my agent mentioned the comicfestival and all my positive thoughts drained at thereminder of it. Shopping for clothes for the event wasand being reminded of it was also not fun.Why was I doing it then? This was a new experienceand I like gaining new experiences. I like doing thingsthat terrify me because they improve me as a person. Idon't want to do this but me going to a festival like thiswould definitely sky rocket my career. I wasn't sureabout how to deal with the whole Zeus state at the time  I got the call. 

Paparazzi is beyond insane and they canbe really invasive. Zeus living separately with myassistance would be suspicious. If they got a whiff ofmy parents hating animals , it would not look good onthem. They may not have exactly cared much about meother than my performance of public figure but still. Ican't ruin their name. I won't.A few days later.Me , Sonia, Zeus and my bodyguards go to London.I'm staying at the hotel with Zeus. I will visit thehouse for a few hours and then be back.Dad comes up to the hotel room. He takes off his coatand sets it down. We go in and discuss the regularbusiness, his work , my work. I was wondering whathis reaction to Zeus would be. He walked in, saw Zeusand glared at him once. Then he just continued on likeZeus wasn't even there. I was relieved that therewasn't going to be any major issues with him. I sawZeus and realized that he looked hurt. I pet his headbut he just whimpered.I'll make this up to him later.My dad and I get into a heated discussion almost assoon as we start talking."You really seem to be going off the rails. 'ThePsychopath' really?

 I don't care that YOU get paidlower or anything but I do care that you are workingwith Mr.Sharma. He is not from the west. He is not  from an acting family or a rich one."

 'So what ?'"So what? Really? Okay, since you are that delusionallet me spell it out for you. You are connected to manyrich people and generational directors. We don't workwith people that are outsiders , let alone do it for alower price. You doing something like that will cause arift between the current work relations you have andthe possibility of any future ones. You are 25 years oldbut you are nowhere near capable of making your owndecisions. You haven't even learnt the differencebetween basic assets and liabilities, if you did , youwould not be having such a high maintenance dog thathas only ever taken from your wallet and has not putanything significant back."Zeus was looking at us from a distance but he seems tohave gone somewhere else around the house.For the first time in my life I was going against what Iwas told to do and decided to choose myself. It took allthe strength in the world but I was sick of working allmy life and barely having a say in the decisions madein my life. I decided to change that . 

" Okay. It's my life , I will be connected to those Iwant to stay connected to and I won't hesitate to cutties if I need to. My relationships and yours are notintertwined. Also there is this thing known as caringabout someone that I doubt you'd ever really89understand. I know for a fact that people work with mebecause of my work ethic and talent in the field. Iknow that my last name so generously given to me byyou has opened many doors but if the top directors thatyou speak of can't handle the fact that someone fromoutside the industry worked hard and made it on theirown and convinced me to work with him due to hisskills then it's THEIR problem."

 I know that I look and sound confident at the momentbut this is hard for me, I've never taken a stand formyself like this and I can feel chills wreaking havoc onmy body. His face is stunned only for a moment beforehe narrows his eyes and opens his mouth to speak .Before he can get any words out a loud sound fills therooms. I drag my eyes to the source of the sound and Isee that Zeus has just peed on my dad's custom jacketthat he took off. Zeus has never really done anythingof the sort before and when I look at him and see themischievous glint in his eyes , I know that he did it onpurpose for revenge. Oh god , I love this dog. My dadfreaks out immediately . 

"That was a custom made suit . Are you really justgonna stand there and look at me." ... He trails on butI can't seem to focus on a word he says , I'm justhaving a hard time keeping laughter from spilling out.Once he is done rambling on about his precious coathe says "Well , say something?" 

 I look at Zeus, playfully narrow my eyes at him andtell him "Bad Zeus." All three of us know , I don'tmean it. Dad forgot what he was gonna say before thewhole pee ordeal "See you at dinner. Do not bring thenuisance" . He steps out of the hotel without anotherword and I just can't believe the whole interaction wejust had.