Deloise watched her mother throw down her table, eyes ablaze. “Is this what you’ve been up to all along?” she broke into a cynical laugh, “Someone tell me this is a joke!” Esther threw her arms as she looked round the room. No one moved. “I’m so sorry, mom. I just...I-I got an opportunity and I couldn’t sit still,” she reached for her mother’s hand, “You said I should be happy, you wanted me to be successful. I’m both, can’t you see?” She gulped, searching her mother’s eyes.What she saw stomped on the little hope she held out, “No child of mine will be an actress, I thought we settled this? Why would you ruin your life like this?” “I’m not ruining my life! You are ruining my life with your unrealistic hopes of what I will become. I am no lawyer, mom! Look at me! I’m an actress, I managed to make it through the odds..” her voice broke towards the end of her sentence. “why can’t you just support me?”“You are no daughter of mine.”Her heart fell, “What do you mean?”“Exactly what yo

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Elvis brought back the wandering mind of Daniel. “And why isn’t she here already? I paid quite a large sum getting her to be one of the caterers to this event.”“She should be here anytime soon.” He didn’t spare him a glance, too occupied with watching out for when they finally arrived. Elvis snorted, “Don’t be a killjoy and put a call across to her.” with a low voice, he added, “You look like a creep with that desperation written all over your face.” “I’m two seconds away from decking the shit out of you. Where’s your wife?” “None of your business, you should be more worried about when your lady will show up.” he took a glance at his watch, “for someone who has a job to do, this is a bit too late.” “Tell me something I don’t know,” he gritted, fighting the urge to put another call across to them.Elvis brought out his phone, “Since you can’t find the guts, I’ll do it for you.” Daniel’s eyes widened as he dialed a number.“How the fuck did you

“She isn’t picking up,” Esther groaned, having called Karen a total hundred times. “She was my ride here, how could she do this?” “Maybe she had a little bit of an emergency.” Daniel suggested, “How do I get home? It’s already late, I can’t believe she did this.”“If it’s any consolation, I was abandoned here too.” he shrugged, “Let's get a taxi and we’ll go from there.”Esther nodded and he got to work on it. Within thirty minutes, they were behind a taxi headed to her place. Throughout the ride, Esther’s mind was all over the place. She couldn’t un-see how broken Elvis seemed when his wife walked away. How Karen bowed her head in shame, looking like a deer in headlights. She ached to know the story behind it but with miles separating them, she couldn’t get home fast enough. Weird sounds erupted from the engine and the car slowed to a stop.“Not again..” she muttered, and they watched the driver walk out the car to check his vehicle. All said and done, they were stranded with no

Esther was worried about Karen. For the past week, she hadn’t set eyes or spoken to her. It seemed like she disappeared off the face of the earth - herself and her daughter. As a result, she couldn’t find it within herself to pick the calls of her daughter for fear she might have questions she didn’t have answers to.The entire week was a torment. Living alone and void of human contact, she naturally gravitated towards the only available option. This time around, Daniel was persistent. He showed up time and time again despite her outright hostility towards him. After that night, they came to a silent agreement never to dig into the matters of their past. Nothing good seemed to come out of it. Today, she was worried for an entire other reason. Daniel had returned to his role as a friend and in that position, demanded for what he described as a friendly day out. Something they both knew was an act to cover the real deal but no one cared enough to point that out. Or they didn’t wan

It was finally the first showing of the movie. Over the span of time, intense marketing efforts were made to promote the film; ranging from media adverts, to billboard placements and promotional appearances. With everything else going on regarding the authenticity of Aaron and Deloise’s relationship, ample publicity and anticipation for the movie was garnered. “It’s your first movie, how do you feel right now?” Doris asked with a big grin, holding out her phone as she recorded the moment.Deloise was clad in a robe with her hair and make-up done to perfection. She managed a smile as she said, “It feels so unreal,” her eyes watered, “I can’t believe it’s happening, I’m getting ready to watch my own film after-”“Don’t cry! You’ll ruin your make-up. This is supposed to be a happy day.” Doris dropped the phone and covered her in an embrace, “I’m so proud of you.” That was enough to set the waterworks flowing. She didn’t realize how much she was pining to hear those words. With the cur