Chapter 1 - Selfie With A Stranger

The alarm clock reverberated through the room. Christine was roused by the persistent alarm bell. She stretched out her arms to pick up the alarm clock on top of the nightstand to stop the alarm and then put it back on the nightstand. 

“Oh, it’s already 5:30 in the morning.” Christine said while she yawned and stretched her body. She sat on the side of the bed for a moment and walked sluggishly toward the bathroom.

It’s her first day of filming for the new movie today. As always, she won’t be playing the lead role. She has been in the industry for quite some time now. However, she never took a leading role and the reason was that her morality did not allow her to have these great breaks. Although her acting skill is on par with those great actresses. 

The big project comes with a big price, the director or the producer has to bed her first before having that big project. She could not bear to climb to the summit, having her body as compensation for her to play the lead role. 

Today is no different from the days when Christine had a butterfly in her stomach. She's still nervous despite the fact that she's in the industry for four years now.

She fears what the new director will ask of her. She supposedly had her first filming a month ago, but the film director had a cardiac arrest and died. Consequently, the director was changed. 

Christine was all the more nervous as the new director was the notorious playboy of the movie industry, Marty Jacobs. She has never met him and has never seen or looked at his photo because she is not interested in anyone like him. 

The information she had about him was just what she heard from others in the film industry. She heard that he was gorgeous and dangerously sexy and that no one could resist his charm. 

“I don’t want to be added to his collections of lovers.” Christine muttered as she did her morning skin care routine. 

Since she had no car of her own, Christine took a cab to the film venue and arrived early, none of her co - actors have arrived yet. Only the film crews who were setting up were there. She went to the dressing room and put her things there. After that, she went to the garden, she spotted upon walking into the dressing room. 

A phone call prevented Christine from admiring the beautifully landscaped garden. She fished out her phone from her pocket.  

“Good morning Cassandra.” Cassandra is Christine’s stage name.  

“Good morning, Ms. Grace,” Christine greeted her manager in a raspy voice like she had just woken up. 

“Cassandra, are you in the film venue yet?” Grace had always checked all actors under her management. She wants them to conduct themselves professionally and being tardy is a big no to her. 

“Don’t you worry Ms. Grace, I never come late despite the fact that I don’t really enjoy my job. ” Christine said with a sigh.

"You've been in the industry for four years now and, to be precise, four years and five months now. You have to enjoy your work and get accustomed to it" Grace at the other end of the line had sighed also. 

Grace knew that Christine a.k.a. Cassandra only bears to stay in the industry because of her family. Christine comes from an impoverished family, she is the eldest daughter and has two siblings.  Her parents were ill and she therefore became the breadwinner and had to work to support them. 

“By the way, did you come again to the venue with your usual outfit, jogger pants and a sweatshirt?” Grace convinced Christine a thousand times to dress up when going to the filming. 

“As always,” Christine chuckled.

"Why won't you pay attention to me? You are such a stubborn person!" Grace couldn't cover up her frustration. 

“Ms. Grace, let me be. I don’t want men ogling at me. ” Christine said her usual reply whenever they touched this issue. 

"You purchase a car so you don't have to take a cab every time you go to film," Grace suggested.

"It's not my priority yet," said Christine alias Cassandra.

She's saving up on her dream. She's working as a freelance interior designer and wants to set up her own interior design company upon quitting her acting and modelling career. 

"You know my dream of starting a business." That was no secret from Grace about Christine alias Cassandra's dream. 

“Yeah, I remember it.” Grace is supportive of her talents’ dreams and ambitions so she always sees to it that every step they take will lead them to the realization of that dream. 

“You have to give it your best shot in this film. This could lead you to realizing your dream. ” Grace advised. 

"Yes, I'll do the best I can." Cassandra (Christine) picked a flower while she was talking. 

"By the way, I need to call it off now. Be good! ” Grace needs to phone another talent under her management.  

“Bye, I love you!” Christine said 

“Love yah!” Grace replied and ended the call. 

Considering she's still 45 minutes away from filming. 

She opened her phone camera, then lifted her phone and posed, she took several photos of herself.

She looked at the photos and was stunned to see a very handsome man wearing black t - shirt and jeans with his arms crossed over his chest.

She cringed thinking that it was a ghost.  She slowly turned and saw the man, still standing, with his arms folded over his chest, gazing stoically at her. Christine felt that her heart was going to leap from her chest.  

The man is extremely handsome and exudes an aura of power, he didn’t speak but Christine felt a shiver. She didn’t look at him for so long nor gave him a second look, for she couldn't stand his gaze on her, so she walked towards the dressing room hurriedly. 

                                  ***********

DISCLAIMER

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ATTRIBUTION

Book cover designed by Freepik 

 <a href='https://www.freepik.com/photos/love'>Love photo created by prostooleh - www.freepik.com</a>