The Truths Behind the Life of Maeve Sun Lively

37

I SINCERELY FELT A LITTLE guilty.

We were at the airport, in one of those private VIP waiting rooms where the paparazzis and fans couldn't bother us. And Mason and Cameron had one of those what looked like the classic end of the movie breakup scenes. Except they weren't acting, and with some other people waiting in the VIP rooms, they had to hide part of their fondness for each other.

"I'll see you soon, Mase. It won't be long until I'll be joining Maeve on her journey in Hollywood." He glanced at me and I smiled back. "I won't lose to my dear girlfriend of course."

I rolled my eyes at him. "We'll have to see about that, after all they did invite me, not Cameron Li."

He scoffed and then lastly gave Mason a quick hug. When he pulled back, I've never seen Mason so sad.

"See you soon, Cameron."

"It really won't be long, trust me." And then we watched Cameron turn away and leave, and damned the universe, he still looked good.

As we entered our plane before the other passengers boarded and when we sat down in our seats in first class, I turned to look at Mason.

"You know I said you didn't have to come, I am twenty-four, I can take perfectly good care of myself." A flight attendant came over to us and I asked him for two cups of water, when he left I looked back to Mason. "You can stay with Cameron in Beijing until he gets an opportunity in Hollywood, and then you can come over with him to me then. You don't need to come with me now when——"

"Remember that I am your personal agent, and aren't I your best friend too? I am not going to just leave you all alone in big Hollywood and let you get your own projects, okay?" He then smiles, "And Maeve, do you even know how to work without an agent or anything? Without me, you will be almost hopeless."

"Mason..."

"I know I know," he said, waving me off. "It'll be awhile until I can see Cameron again and I'll have to be separated from him for all that time, if that's what you're going to say. But I will never forgive myself if I let you go out there by yourself and face everything alone."

The flight attendant came back with our water and I looked into my cup, a little teary. "This is going to sound cringey, but..." I wiped at my tears, "Best friends forever, alright?" And I held out my pinky, not caring if anyone was going to snap a picture of this ridiculous moment.

He hooked his pinky around mine, and we must've looked so childish and foolish.

"Best friends forever."

THE IDEA OF BEING invited to Hollywood and having some important guy from the studios send that invitation sounded so fancy, and since I was Sun Xue Li, since I was so well-known and well paid over in China already, I really thought that the fancy invitation was real. And not a mock.

They didn't cast me in main or big roles like I expected, and nor did they even give me good projects. The movies and shows they put me in were either made with no effort and no purpose, or they put me in some really good film and in the film I would have one line.

I still remember one of them, it was a remake of X-Men, and in there I was a random lady with the most absurd mask on, and I would come along, scream at the top of my lungs: "Oh dear! Help Me!" And then I'd explode and basically die.

I was also being paid less than Beijing or China studios had ever paid me, at least one tenth the times of what I used to get.

Mason was worried too, but we both managed to tell ourselves that it's normal, that every start has a painful edge to it. Plus, those things weren't so bad if I really thought about what I had been through before. But what did bother me was something else they were doing to me. It was my name.