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ARYA
Rockport, Massachusetts, really was a small town, wasn’t it? As I glanced around the bar we’d come to so we could have a few celebratory drinks, I realized that we damn near filled the whole place up! It was crazy. All I could see was my little LA group.
But then, we attracted a bit of a crowd as well. I suppose having a major movie filmed where you lived would be thrilling for anyone, but especially a quaint town like this one. I couldn’t imagine anything much exciting usually happened here, so the cast and crew ofRevivewere bound to be one of those things that Rockport would never forget. I imagined signs would be put up everywhere by the time we left, letting tourists know all the details.
The first movie in the series,Mission, was a huge box-office success, so there was a lot of pressure forReviveto be just as good, if not better. But I’d seen the script and been at a few read-throughs. I was pretty sure that we were not going to disappoint.
Not that I was going to be in the movie myself. I wasn’t evenreallya member of the crew––not that they ever made me feel that way––I was merely the personal assistant to the very glamorous lead actress in the movie. Sarah Billingham. A household name that would have all the fans screaming. Everyone in this bar was probably here for her, but Sarah wouldn’t come to a place like this. She didn’t need to try to fit in and have fun with anyone. She was too busy beingSarah Billingham: Big Star!
“I bet everyone in here is jealous of you,” Carrie, the lighting girl, giggled as she sat beside me with more drinks in her hands. “If any of them knew thatyouare the assistant to Sarah Billingham, they would be all over you, trying to get an audience with her royal highness.”
She might have been turning this into a light-hearted thing, but I simply shot her a wry glance. “Yeah, that’s why I don’t want anyone to figure out who I am.”
I’d been in that position before, where someone let slip who I was, and it almost started a riot. In that moment, I felt what it was like to be in the spotlight, and I did not like it one bit. I was mauled. People were yelling at me, basically screaming at me, needing more. I was scratched and treated like rubbish because I couldn’t help them meet Sarah. People actually expected me to simply break all the rules for them, including Sarah’s own wishes. She didn’t love meeting fans––I guess she had grown tired of it over the years––so it was part of my duties to keep people away from her if I could.
Urgh, that was a situation Ineverwanted to find myself in again. That was why I did everything I could to keep my identity private.
“Is she great to work for? Oh, I bet she’s just the biggest sweetie.”
I smiled back thinly. Carrie was all caught up in Sarah Billingham’s media presence. Sarah always presented herself as the sweetheart type who would make everyone around her feel welcome. I wasn’t going to be the one to shatter that illusion. Chances were, once the movie started filming, everyone would eventually see the person she really was.
“Oh, it’s an adventure.” I chuckle wryly. “Every day is different, as I’m sure you can imagine. A bit like your job, I’m sure. It’s a big part of the industry, isn’t it?”
Carrie cocked her head to one side and eyed me curiously. “You don’t sound too happy about this. Is something going on? I know you have only met me, but you know that you can talk to me about anything, right?”
I wasn’t sure what it was about Carrie, but I did get the impression that I could trust her. She gave off a warm energy that I couldn’t fault, no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t normally let people in, but something about her made me want to talk.
Or perhaps I’d just had a couple too many to drink, and I had something heavy on my chest that I wanted to get off. I couldn’t help myself. I needed to talk.
“I love what I do,” I said quietly, leaning into Carrie a little. “I really do. It’s great, and I know that I have been so lucky to keep doing this every day.”
“But…?” Carrie asked me curiously.
“But I guess I worry a little about what I might be missing out on.”
“Tell me more.”
I sipped my drink before I continued talking. “Well, I’m getting older, right? Twenty eight years old now, and I can’t help but wonder if I’m missing out on the chance of a normal life. Moving around all the time means I can’t ever be settled. I can’t ever date seriously, never mind fall in love. I guess I’ve been thinking a lot about having kids of my own and starting a family. I don’t know.” I sighed heavily. “I guess it’s just been playing on my mind a lot. I keep trying to push it down and enjoy the adventure right here in front of me.”
I wasn’t totally sure if Carrie understood what I meant because she was still in her early twenties, so she wasn’t at a time in her life when she would consider settling down. She was still living the dream and living the adventure, just as I was at that age.
But her day might come as well, and she might want something more. I honestly didn’t think that this would ever happen to me, but here I am, yearning for something new.
“Yeah, I guess.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Although I’m not too sure. I really can’t imagine any man ever making me want to give this up, it’s my dream, and it’s been my dream for as long as I can remember. I imagine that if I ever do fall in love, it will be with a guy who’s on the road with me. That way, I don’t have to give anything up for him.”
Huh. I wasn’t about to burst her little bubble, but I’d been there and tried that. It didn’t exactly work out for me. I very quickly found that mixing business and pleasure was a recipe for disaster. Not just exhaustion and arguments that were so unnecessary, it was unreal, but cheating and breaking my heart as well. It was one of those disasters that made sure I was too terrified to date again for a very long time.
But Carrie wasn’t necessarily going to follow the same path as me. She might be able to make it work, and as long as she found a man who could be faithful to her, then all would be good. That was why I remained quiet, and kept my own shitty experiences to myself.
“I don’t think that’s what I want,” I confessed instead. “I think a part of me is ready for a change. Like, a big change. A life altering change.”
“Wow, that’s kinda cool,” Carrie mused. “Do you think you could settle down in a town like this? Do you still want the city LA life, or are you looking for a small-town life?”
I offered her a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t know. Truth be told, I haven’t thought too much about it. I don’t know the finer details. I just have the idea that I want something new.”
“Well, I think you’re stuck here while we get throughRevive.After that, though, who knows what will happen. Maybe you can give up your dream job and follow another dream instead.”
