Deloise was on the phone when her mother's call came in. She hesitated to pick it, not quite in the mood of lying so blatantly to her. On the third ring, Deloise swiped to the green button and slowly placed her phone on her ear. Half expecting the screaming voice of her mother." Baby, how are you doing?" The still voice of her mother spoke instead." I'm alright mum, sorry I didn't pick up earlier, didn't hear it ring." She said smoothly." No problems. It's fine. Talk to me about school. What's been happening? I heard that the exams are around the corner."" Oh yes! Sorry I didn't tell you. With the coming exams I've been really swamped up trying to prepare."" I understand. Take all the time you need. Don't hesitate to tell me if anything comes up okay? No matter how little, anything at all."" Definitely. I'll be back for the holidays with Anna after the exams. " Deloise said, making a mental note to inquire from Amanda when the exams were beginning and the time frame for the hol
The meeting soon drew to an end and the esteemed guests were escorted out by Mr Austin. Deloise didn't move, she hoped to leave when the room was at least halfway emptied out. She felt lucky to be ignored the whole time by Ms Ema after the lashing she received.This experience wasn't the prettiest for her but it sobered her to the fact that she needed to take her job and life more seriously if she was going to last. It was a rude awakening - the fact that she could be dropped at the slightest misconduct.She had to be extremely careful and conscious of slip ups because this was the last chance at her dreams and life. She didn't have anything else. She couldn't fail at this.While pondering these thoughts, Deloise didn't notice Stella approach her. She jolted in surprise when she heard the sharp voice of Stella." What? Aren't you leaving?" She asked with a smile which Deloise detected as faux and mocking.When she didn't reply, Stella tutted and with graceful steps encircled her while
Aaron was in the male restroom of the building. After being rudely asked out by Mr Austin, he figured he might as well relieve himself before leaving the building.On getting out to the hallways, he witnessed Deloise rush out of the office and after a few steps, plopped shakily on the floor with her head bowed." Was she…crying?"Aaron thought, unsure of what was going on. He carefully took steps forward, not knowing how to approach the situation. As he got closer, her sobs got louder and the fact she was crying became glaring.He knew that Mr Austin was pretty angry at the situation and the fact she was a no-show. But he felt it couldn't have been that bad.Knowing Mr Austin, it was going to be a warning at most. It wasn't something he expected his firecracker to be bawling her eyes over.Aaron stood in a standoffish stance before Deloise. A part of him wanted to move on with his business like he didn't care but something within him hindered his movement. He couldn't stand seeing her
Aaron walked into his apartment with a scowl on his face.' I knew I should have walked away!' He thought angrily as he recalled his little tiff with Deloise." What's got you looking so disgruntled?" The voice of Tony made him aware he wasn't alone." Nothing. What are you doing here?" Aaron collapsed on his couch." What do you think? Playing hide and seek?" Tony replied with a mouthful. There was always something to eat at Aaron's.Upon hearing him, Aaron turned around and noticed the opened dominos on the table. His countenance grew poor. " Don't tell me you ate all the pizza bro."Tony picked a slice of pizza, took his time eating it, then finally spoke." I won't."He drank some water under the wrathful gaze of his friend and plopped down the opposite couch. " What's got your panties in a twist?" He inquired again with a straight face. Like he didn't just add to the reason for his friend's poor countenance.Aaron sighed, " I don't know who's more annoying at this point. You or
After the encounter with Aaron and Mr Austin, Deloise relegated to her shell to nurse her wounds. As a result, she wasn't as outspoken or outgoing except when needed. She also began classes the following day and made deliberate steps to avoid any sort of mishaps in her life moving forward.Later that day, she surprisingly came across a message bearing the filming schedule for the production and wondered if it was from the director. Her ponder was cut short when she realized that it was from the same number which had called and requested she go to the administrative building.She couldn't help but wonder his reason behind the oh so generous gesture. It was either he finally realized he was in the wrong and did it as some sort of apology or it was directed by Mr Austin.Whichever it was, Deloise couldn't care less. Aaron was the most evil jerk she was unfortunate to meet in her lifetime and nothing could change her perception of him. Not even a filming schedule she needed and was ecst
The next day, Deloise woke up with a headache she described as demonic. Her head pounded while she attempted opening her eyes properly.A blinding streak of sunlight made her deck underneath her pillow. She sat up and memories of the previous night poured into her consciousness - reminding her of the very reason her head was in a terrible state.Of course it was the drink! She was such a deadbeat when it came to drinking and always found the morning after horrific.Again, she promised never to get drunk again, this time around, hoping she actually lived up to it. Feeling the urge to ease herself, Deloise attempted getting up on her feet but was brought back to bed by the sudden dizziness she felt. Due to the unexpected give away of her feet, she felt queasy and the urge to puke was uncontrollable. Before she could get to the toilet area, she emptied the content of her stomach on the floors and Layla walked in." Oh my goodness! Are you alright?! " The worried voice of Layla asked upo
" I won't stop until you talk to me.""Don't make this harder than it needs to be.""Esther!""That's it! I'm coming over."" You still aren't going to respond? "Esther was seated in her study while her phone beeps continuously. She occasionally stopped taking her records to update herself on the next string of messages from Daniel.Somehow, he got hold of her number and made it a habit to torture her with multiple strings of messages all demanding for her to talk.At some point, the whole thing became funny, she couldn't deny that the attention was something and she unconsciously found herself looking forward to the next string of messages.Today, she wasn't in the mood. She was having some setbacks in business which made her wound up in her little study, calculating the profits and losses of the past month. So far, results proved she's been slacking and it wasn't good news.Daniel's unrelenting messages weren't helping either. At least at the moment.She read the last batch of mess
Deloise got up with a broad smile. she somehow managed to beat time in itself and woke up before her alarm could do its job.It was surprising as she wasn't a morning person, but at the same time, it was expected. Today was the last get together before the filming of the movie and she was determined not to show up late.The meeting was scheduled for nine but she took it upon herself to be up at least two hours before. She wasn't taking chances. With happy steps, Deloise got to preparing for the day.As usual, Layla wasn't her biggest fan and grumbled ceaselessly of how she needed some quiet as it was still too early in the morning. Deloise dulled her humming, something she didn't realize she was doing at the time.One would think she hit the lottery with how good she was feeling. She wondered if it was a dopamine rush and took intentional steps to control herself in order to avoid getting moody in the later times.She learned the hard way that too much of everything wasn't good.Soon
It was finally the WBA Awards show. People from various parts of the world expressed their excitement to see their favorite celebrities on the red carpet and eventually on the stage - hopefully with an award. The World Best Acts award show was an event that was held once in four years. It was the most anticipated event of the entertainment world and year after year, people- celebrities and fans alike - worked towards being on the stage or being a part of the show. The WBA’s was a prestigious event that was star-studded, well attended and publicized worldwide. Its stage was every star’s dream, and a WBA award was something remarkable to say the least. For Deloise, she was lucky to be invited for such an event, a feat directly credited to her debut movie that managed to break records in its time, emerging as one of the best movies created at that time. Deloise was seated in front of a mirror while they prepared her for the appearance. Doris was nowhere to be found, busy with ensuri
Two weeks later, the Magazine issue with Deloise went out. The first few days were a bit slow, but as time proceeded, more people got hold of the latest Focus Magazine starring a retired actress. Soon enough, the magazine became the most talked about on the internet. Albeit, most of the conversations around the issue weren’t the most favorable, but publicity was publicity. In the entertainment world, getting spoken about in a bad light was better than nothing. Not that she cared anyway. It was the weekend and Doris relaxed home with Deloise. “Tony is requesting dinner,” She said from the couch and Deloise sighed. “Why the hell is he bombarding me with messages and not you?” “Because I may have ignored him.”“Get him off my back, will you?” she asked, exasperated, “And just so you know, that guy never gives up. Better to get things over with now than later.” “Tell me about it.” Deloise grumbled, shooting off a text back at Tony. Later that evening, in a cozy restaurant, Deloise
Safe to say her first day at work wasn’t ideal. Doris couldn’t make it back to pick her but sent a driver to do the job. Deloise sulked all the way back, trying and failing to contain the fury that brimmed within her. Stella had won for the day, but it was just the beginning. If there was one thing she learned from her stay back in France, it was to never let anyone trample upon her. She was a way different person and if it took a lesson from her to make that clear, then she will dish out one. Lets see how well she does with a taste of her own medicine. Deloise dropped down the car and made her way into the house determined to find every dirty detail she could on Stella. With the coding skills she acquired, she could almost hack into anything. A plan hatched in her heart and without a second thought, she headed for her room and shut the door behind her. Deloise took out her laptop with a cynic look on her face. “Senior huh? let’s see what other skills you have up your sleeve.”Her
Doris saw to her promise because the next day, very early in the day, she woke up Deloise, urging her to get prepared for their day out. Sluggishly, Deloise got out of bed and worked around getting ready for an audition she was yet to know a word of. They got into the car and a script was passed along to her. “Finally.” She muttered, “Couldn’t have given me any sooner?” Doris laughed, “You are in a mood. Just so you know, the audition isn’t until-” she glanced at her watch, “One hour.” she finished with a shrug, “Surely that’s enough time to get into the height of things.” “How long is the drive?”“Thirty minutes?” “Great. You expect me to ace this audition or are you trying to test how rusty I am?”“So whiny,” she tutted, and pulled out of the driveway, “Who is this and where is the Deloise who aced her audition on the first day of resumption?” “Rusty as hell.” “Definitely in need of some breaking in.” Doris stepped on it.They proceeded on the journey and Deloise went through
THREE YEARS LATER.A lady with fair skin and long wavy hair stepped out of the Airplane with black shades on. The nostalgic feel of the country hit her in the face with memories she’s rather left unsaid. Dragging along her luggage, she walked out of the airport, checking the time for her designated driver. She might have to call a cab if they took any longer. She held that thought and like magic, a Mercedes appeared in front of her. The car revved and its windows rolled down, revealing a smiling and barely aged Doris who unlocked the door. “I can’t believe my eyes. Is that really you?” She gasped and got out of the car.“Doris Gates. You haven’t aged a day.” Deloise remarked with an equal smile on her face. “You look way too good on that ride.”“Hard work pays off, get into the car.” she said as she stored her luggage in the boots, “We have a lot to talk about.” “It’s good that I’m not in a hurry.” Doris got into the car and they sped off the road. As she drove, they conversed abou
“Just this morning, Evolve Talent Management has put out a statement regarding their newest intake's retirement from the movie industry. In a PR release, they expressed their surprise at her actions, citing how she has refused to retract her decision despite every effort, and as a result breaking the managerial contract signed with the company.”“Hours after the Press conference, an emergency board meeting was called and they came to the conclusion that the now-retired actress would be made to pay a fine (undisclosed) for breaking the contract, and shall be added to the company’s blacklist, effective immediately...”The television was turned off by Doris after the last statement, she watched Deloise stare into the blank screen, worrying at the state of her mind. “I’m sorry...I tried all I could to prevent this but-”“How much am I required to pay?” Deloise asked, “What’s the fine?”“There’s no fine. We settled that using your payments from the appearance at Chicago. What is your next
“How do you feel?” Doris asked Deloise as they got prepared for her conference, “I don’t know.” She muttered, “I just want things to go smoothly.” Deloise felt a hand sweep her back, “Stick with the script and we’ll be done in no time.” “That’s the easy part.” She muttered, spraying a minimum amount of perfume, “I’m worried about what comes after. The people were almost done with judging me, this will reopen that door.”“Unfortunately, this is a world of constant judgment. Even the best actresses get a bit of it too.” She hands over the script, “You’ll get through this.”Deloise goes through her statement in silence, she was supposed to tender an apology, formally announce her separation with Aaron and affirm Daniel’s identity as her father. It seemed like she was accepting every allegations meted against her. She couldn’t find it in her to care anymore, and nodded through the tips Doris gave her on public speaking and answering questions. “You’ll be on in five.” Doris said at the
Deloise woke up to a gloomy cloud. It was time to face everything. She had a press conference later today but before that, she had to meet her mother. It wasn’t news that since that dreaded morning, they hadn’t spoken a word to each other. Matter of fact, she made it a point to avoid her, and any related conversation. Three days ago, that streak was broken by the visit of Ms. Karen who showed up unannounced. That very day, she remembered getting into it with the woman who thought it right to defend the evils of her mother and expose her in one breath. She was prepared to pay her no heed until she went her way but at the mention of the sorry state of her mother, she reconsidered.At the end of that meeting, she had an appointment with her mother, which happened to fall on the same day she was to formally address the world. As a result, she got up early and prepared to leave the house, pondering the future of the meeting with her mother. She didn’t know if she was ready to look her i
Deloise and Amanda were finally having a video call after many failed attempts.“How are you doing? Where are you?” Amanda asked, the worry on her face couldn’t be hidden. Deloise pushed back a hair loft as she replied. “I’m alright.”“I feel so terrible being unable to help. I’ve replied to a tonne of hate comments on the internet but that’s barely enough.” She sulked, “You don’t deserve this. How were you meant to know he was your dad if your mom didn’t say a thing about it? I can’t believe how stupid people are, believing anything they see.”“I’m alright.” Deloise reassured her with a smile. “I appreciate your efforts, but that’s not necessary.”“Still. I can’t look past anyone badmouthing you when they don’t even know you.” She hissed, “If I can defend Anna- who isn’t my biggest fan at the moment, best believe anyone who breathes wrongly about you will be getting a lot more than a few stitches.” That brought a laugh out of Deloise. More so because she meant every word. “Don’t ge