seaycee (A Collection of Short Stories)

Faking It.

edited :)

"Caught between your love and a hard place"

The figure sat immobile, watching as the typing cursor blinked in and out of existence, frozen under the weight of compounding pressure. Like dust, a tiny ball of dread had settled in his gut and prepared camp, growing in ferocity with every day, a constant reminder of his dishonesty. One that brazenly stared him down, the article with the ability to make or break his career goading him with each second that ticked closer to the submission date. He'd never meant for this to happen.

It had never crossed his mind to refuse, from the start the article had been a means of survival, a stepping stone in order to maintain a thriving career. And gradually it had morphed into something personal, until the words had begun to flow so freely, the subject incanting forth more emotions than his fingers knew how to wield. The facts had been organised and detailed, sure to draw the attention of all the industry and media savages alike.

'Sean, I trust the article is coming along nicely? Remember this is your last chance to prove you can do the work I believe you can. Don't disappoint me son.'

Sean hesitated, carefully considering the his options. This was likely to be the culmination of years of hard work, his ticket to finally being afforded articles on serious journalism. He stood to lose a lot if the article fell through, but despite such a daunting possibility, the threat of losing everything he had worked for paled in comparison at the thought of losing her.

His eyes closed at the now familiar feeling of fear and anxiety as his thoughts drifted to her. He missed her. He wanted, no, needed to see her.

As if conjured by thought alone, his phone pings with an incoming text, the screen lighting up to display the lcokscreen of her smiling face as she held his dog Oreo, his favourite picture of his two girls. Unable to quell his eagerness, he snatches his phone off the desktop, grinning as he read her name. Kaycee Rice. Yeah. The Kaycee Rice.

Through preliminary research Sean had garnered a basic profile of the talented woman. He'd found quickly that those who knew her personally often considered her the nicest person, often stating that not once had she changed whilst in the spotlight. To say he had been doubtful was an understatement. No one existed in the Hollywood industry without finding themselves changed, unwittingly or otherwise, by the synthetic culture. And having grown up in the limelight reduced her chances of authenticity with such an impressionable young mind.

One of the most sought-after dancer/choreographers to date, Kaycee had been award-winning from a young age. She was the object of admiration and desire worldwide, with accomplishments in the industry that dancers worked their entire lives towards. And the dance world was cut-throat, there would always be people willing to cut the competition off at the knees.

Her notoriously private lifestyle had made the research that much more questionable, the young woman rarely accepting interviews. Kaycee chose instead to shy away from the media, a quirk that was rare of fame-hungry Hollywood. But it only ever made the public want to know her that much more. Sean understood publicity angles intimately and he'd been so certain her dislike of the spotlight was one of many. The few interviews she had accepted had left the interviewers gushing with only positive opinions. And that in itself couldn't be right. There had to be more to her.

It hasn't taken much to fabricate a chance meeting, a tagged instagram post pinpointing her location at a friends dance class and from there they'd met by design at an Alexander Chung masterclass. Sean himself hadn't attended a dance class in LA since his senior year of high school, his parents insisting he settle into a practical educational pathway that would ensure a secure financial future. What had once been his main drive had faded into peripheral, the training becoming private and only during limited free time.