Childstar 2

“You’re scaring me, Ollie,” I joked, swiping the key and entering the dark room. I had to feel around the wall for a second before turning on the light.

The suite had been cleaned since we had left in a rush early this morning. Ollie took a seat on the tan couch, right in front of the mahogany coffee table, waiting for me to sit down as well.

This was serious.

“Ollie—”

“I want to start off by saying you did nothing wrong, Amelia,” he sighed, sitting on the edge of his seat when I sat down across from him.

“It doesn’t feel that way,” I responded.

What is happening?

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. His eyes shined as though he was fighting back tears.

“Ollie—”

“I remember when you first came into my office, Amelia,” he smiled wistfully, lifting his hand a little bit above his knee. “You were so small, but I swear I saw this giant in you. You didn’t even know who the hell I was, yet you smiled so wide I thought your face was going split in half. Your mother and I both knew you’d be an actress. But you were so young I thought it best to start you in commercials and ads first. You breezed through them and wanted to do everything. I remember you hated the taste of chunky peanut butter, but the moment the director said ‘action,’ all of the sudden you were shoving a spoonful into your mouth. Some kids can get away with just being cute, but not you, Amelia. You had pure talent. Everyone could see it.”

I felt my throat close as I stared at him. “Ollie, I don’t like where this is going.”

“Neither do I.” His hand covered his mouth. “I’ve been with you your whole career—hell, your whole life—and I love you as if you were my very own flesh-and-blood daughter. It’s for that reason that it’s time I retire, and it’s time you get a new manager.”

“Ollie, I don’t want a new manager!”

“Just because you don’t want it doesn’t mean you don’t need it,” he replied, and it hurt that he could just walk away. “Part of me knew this would happen when I got the script for Sinners Like Us…I had to fight with myself, Amelia. I didn’t want to give it to you. You were desperately looking for a new role. You have the talent, and I didn’t want you to take the script because I didn’t want to see the girl I saw as my daughter in those scenes. I was acting like your father and not your manager.”

“But you gave me the script. Everything is fine. At the end of day, you always do what is best for me, Ollie.”

“That’s why I’m doing this, Amelia,” he threw back at me. “You are not the same girl—woman—you were a few weeks ago. And that isn’t just because of Noah Sloan. A few days ago, I watched, in total awe, as you didn’t eat or sleep until you got justice not only for N

oah, but yourself. You did what you wanted, what you thought was best for you, without asking me or second-guessing yourself, like an adult. I’m proud of you, Amelia. You need a manager that works for you, does what you need, not what they think is best for you. You don’t need me parenting you.”

“You can’t leave now,” I whispered, trying to think of anything to keep him with me. “They moved up the movie release. There is all this press around us now because of what happened with Mallory. There is so much to do. You can’t leave me now.”

“I’d never leave you with anyone I didn’t trust, and I won’t just disappear, but you will be seeing less of me as we transition you over.”

“Ollie, please!” I pleaded.

“Amelia, what have I always told you?”

Biting my bottom lip, I looked up so I wouldn’t cry in front of him. “That you’ll always do what’s best for me even if I don’t like it.”

“Exactly. Thank you for wanting to fight me on this. I’m glad I mean as much to you as you mean to me,” he said, coughing in an attempt to hide the fact that his voice wavered.

“Of course you mean the world to me,” I said. I stood and walked around the table to hug him. “You are the closest thing I’ve ever had to a dad, Ollie.”

He patted my back softly and broke away from me.

“Cheer up. I’ll still be in your life, no matter how badly it annoys that playboy you call a boyfriend. Now get some rest. You can’t put any more stress on the director, got it?”

“Got it,” I nodded.

He patted my shoulder, smiling at me one more time, and then headed to the door. I wanted to tell him not to go. I felt like the moment he stepped out, he would never come back. I didn’t say a word, just stood there watching as he offered me one last look and closed the door behind him.

“Uhh,” I let out the sob I’d been holding. Why? Why? Couldn’t people just stay around? If it weren’t for him, God only knows where I’d been now. Every time the world shifted under my feet, Ollie held me steady.

Knock.