She was woken up by the phone.
“Allo”, she said, still half asleep.
“Allo ma chérie.”, said a warm feminine voice “Did I wake you up ? What time is it there ? I’m sorry, I can call you later if you prefer”.
“No, it’s ok, I’ve overslept.”, she answered.
“How do you like it there ? Not missing us too much ? Is your American lover nice to you ? Tell me everything !”
For once, she knew who she was talking to. It was Angélique, her best friend. She didn’t know how to answer, though, as she still didn’t know anything, not even how she ended up in the USA.
“Of course I miss you all !”, she answered. “Well, yes, everything is great here. You should come visit me. How is it going for you ?”
She tried to switch the topic as much as she could. She looked at the clock, it was 6:50 am.
“What’s today’s date”, she asked Angélique. “I’m still a bit groggy, haha”.
“Ha, I know this feeling of not being totally awake. I’m really sorry I’ve woken you up. It’s March 21st, it’s spring !”, answered Angélique.
“Oh right. No, no worry, I’m happy you called me.”, she replied.
They talked for 40 minutes, about their lives, about the latest gossips.
The maid entered her room right after she hung up.
“Hi, Miss Gauthier, breakfast is ready !”
“I’ll be downstairs in a minute”, she answered.
She noticed a note on her desk.
“Go to this address. Do what is asked. Love, Tyler.”
“What the hell ?!”, she thought. “No explanation, no direction, nothing… I’m just expected to obey like a robot ? Or did he actually ask for my opinion before hand ? Doesn’t sound like he did…”, she thought, extremely annoyed.
She went downstairs to have breakfast. She still decided to go and see what it was about. She took a cab to said address. It lead to a small building. She went to the 5th floor. It was a shooting for an advert.
“Miss Gauthier !”, said a strange man wearing neon green trousers with a neon orange shirt.
“Hi !”, she said, realising it was probably too late to run away now.
“Ready to shoot the biggest advert of your life ?”, he asked, smiling.
“Huh, sorry, but Tyler didn’t really tell me what it was about ?”, she replied
“Oh, ok. All you have to do is smile and say ‘This is the best cookie I’ve ever eaten’, while being very cute.”, he happily said.
“I see…”, she said with a forced smile, trying not to break into tears. “Just give me a minute”, she said.
“Please god help me. Please…”, she thought. “Is there a fire alarm I could set off ?” She looked around, full of hope.
“What is it all about ?”, screamed a blond girl. “I am the best for this job. All of this industry is about me ! Who’s even that girl, with her damn French accent ?!”, she said, full of disdain.
“Thank you lord”, she thought, relieved and smiling.
“Ah, well, you see, I have a conflict of schedule. I’m sorry about that. But since the…lady…is here, I’ll just go.”, she said, pretending to be sorry.
“Yeah, like you had a choice. I’m so better than you.”, said the blond girl.
“Hmmm, surely”, she said, refraining herself from saying what was on her mind, as she was too happy to have a ready-made excuse to run away and save herself from this.
She left and decided to go to the seaside.
“What is going on ?”, she wondered. “That’s not what I’m here for… Being cute ?!? What the hell ? I need to leave, right now.”, she thought, very angered.
She went home and got her belongings ready.
“I’ve had enough. I need to leave now”, she thought, as she was packing her luggages.
She was interrupted by the phone ringing.
“Hi !”, she said
“Hi princess, it’s me”, said a man. She figured it was Tyler, the guy she killed with a spade.
“Why didn’t you do the advert ?”, he asked.
“Well, I don’t do adverts. I do independent movies”, she replied, irritated.
“But, what a waste of potential here. You would be seen by EVERYONE. They would see so much cuteness and you would be so famous”, he replied
“As the smiling girl from the advert…”, she said ironically.
“Yes, exactly. Isn’t that awesome ?” He was dead serious.
“Listen, that’s not what I want”, she said.
“Oh, but that’s what you will do, won’t you ?”, he answered.
She was trying her best to remain calm. She was struggling not to shout and to quietly have him understand what she obviously meant.
“Can you listen to me for a second and consider letting me do what I actually want ?”, she asked
“Oh, and what is it that you want ?”, he asked back
“Well, it’s simple, what I want is…”, she started, but was interrupted by a beeping sound coming from his side.
“Oh, sorry, I’ve got to go, I’ll talk to you later, bye princess”, he said
“Sure…”, she said, before angrily hanging up the phone.
She finished packing her luggage. She was ready to go, but she couldn’t find her passport.
“Have you seen my passport ?”, she asked the maid.
“You haven’t picked it up, yet”, answered the maid. “I think it will be ready in 10 days, let me check the receipt from the consulate”.
“Great…”, she thought, very angered.
“How about we go get some dinner somewhere ? I’ve never really tried Mexican food. And tequila sounds so good right now”, she said to the maid.
“Sure”, happily replied the maid.
They went and enjoyed a very boozy dinner.
They went back home around 1am. She just fell on her bed and fell asleep right away.