Her Perfect Gift

“Hey, Sierra,” I say with a much too bright tone of voice. “How’s it going? Merry Christmas, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she snaps back, straight to business as always. “Merry Christmas, I hope that you had a good time. Listen, when are you coming back here? Because LA needs you and right now, I need you.”

“You don’t need me, not really,” I scoff, letting out a little laugh. “I’m sure you’re doing just fine. I don’t know when I’m coming back. Right now, I’m having a good time here. I want a bit of a break.”

“A break?” Oh my God, Sierra screeches, totally horrified for some strange reason. “You can’t have a break. Are you kidding me? I’m not joking when I say that I need you back here. Everyone wants a piece of you.”

I roll my eyes knowing exactly what Sierra is trying to do, she wants to reel me in, to get me back where she needs me the most. When I’m with her, she can earn more, so it benefits the pair of us. But right now, I don’t want to be back there. I’m having too much of a good time here, I don’t want to burst the bubble.

“I know. But I don’t want to do any of the usual stuff, no matter what the price tag is. I need to try something new and while I am waiting for that to come in, I want to take a break and stay here with my family.” I smile to myself. “I’m having a really good time with everyone, getting back to my roots and everything…”

I can hear the anxious edge to her sigh. Sierra isn’t about to let me off the hook too easily. But I’m going to stand strong because I know that being here is the right thing for me to do. I’m having the best time of my life with Darcy and my friends. My father too. There isn’t anything that she can say to change my mind.

“But that’s the thing, this is something different,” Sierra insists. “This is exactly what you want. I wouldn’t be calling you in such a panicked way if this wasn’t perfect for you. I have a script here that is everything that you have asked for and more. Trust me, when I send this to you, it will blow your mind.”

Uh oh. Now those might be the only words that can pull me out of my funk. Much as I am loving it here, if I can have the perfect opportunity, then I would be crazy to turn my back on it, wouldn’t I?

“What… erm, what do you mean?” I ask with a little stammer in my voice. “What sort of script?”

/> “I’m emailing it to you right now.” I don’t miss the smugness in her tone. “Take a look at it. But you need to do it right now because much as the director wants to have you in the lead role, it’s highly sort after and if you don’t give an answer by the end of the day then I’m pretty sure they will go for someone else.”

Shit. I’m used to it working in this way, Hollywood can be fast paced, but this feels a bit much when I’m miles away. My hometown doesn’t move anything like the same pace, so it’s a bit hard to process it.

“Right, I will print it out right away.” I gulp down a thick ball of nerves that lodges in my throat. “Then I will take a read and let you know what I think. I know that you need to know today.”

“As soon as possible,” she insists. “Yesterday, if possible. It really is that sort of script.”

“Oh God, that sounds intense, Sierra.” My heart is beating a million times faster. “Okay, send it to me.”

“It’s gone. It should be in your email already. Don’t let anything distract you. Read it quick.”

Sierra hangs up quickly leaving me in a real state of panic myself. Her words have gripped hard on me, especially the part about the script being exactly what I’m looking for and the director wanting me excites me. I open the email quickly and take a look at the words, allowing them to soak inside of me.

Shit. Sierra is right. This is good, really good. It’s everything I have been looking for. It’s much better than I expected, and the director wants me for the role. I’m sucked in by the script, gripped by the words, I’m falling in love with the characters already, my instincts are crying out for this, I can already tell how I would play the main character, my creative juices are flowing. I haven’t felt this good about a role in a long time. I know that I want this, I need it, this is the right step for me. But it will involve going back to LA, giving up the bubble that I’m in at the moment.

I start to type out a message to Sierra, tell her how much I want it, because it’s the right thing to do, but then Darcy’s face comes into my mind and my heart strings tug hard. How can I even think about walking away without letting her know what’s going on? I promised her that I wouldn’t walk away again, and I meant it when I said those words. I am not going to become a person who doesn’t keep his word. That isn’t me.

So, I hurriedly run over to the computer and print out the script to show Darcy. If she sees it, she will be able to give me her advice on the job. See what she thinks. Perhaps she will want to come with me to Hollywood while I feel it out. That’s my ideal situation.

Once the printing is done, I staple it together and rush towards next door. In my haste I forget about how much her mother hates me. I don’t even think about it until I have already hammered on the door, and I’m waiting for someone to answer. I really hope that it isn’t Mrs. McNeill to come to me. Or her husband. He’s a quiet man who doesn’t really get in the middle of things, but I’m sure that his wife will have twisted his opinion of me in the worst way. He certainly won’t think that I’m good enough for his daughter.

Thankfully, when the door swings open it’s Darcy and she lights up as she sees me. No wonder I’m in love with her, how could I not be when she’s so bloody perfect? Even now with her hoodie on, her sweatpants hanging low, no makeup on, and her hair in a scruffy bun, she’s utterly stunning. It’s that smile. It always gets to me. She’s like a ray of sunshine. The whole world lights up with her grin.

“Well, well, well.” She shoots me a playful wink. “What have I done to deserve this surprise?”

“I just came over here to tell you how beautiful you are, that’s all.” I forget the real reason that I’m here as I run my eyes all over her face. “I missed you so much that I had to come here and see you.”

Without thinking about it, I take a step forward and I press my lips lightly to hers, kissing her softly. I can still feel the stapled important papers between my fingers, but with Darcy in my arms it doesn’t feel quite as prominent. I am too wrapped up in her and how she makes me feel. It’s a bit like I’m torn between my head and my heart, between my career and love, and I don’t know which way to turn. The only ideal situation for me would be to have it all, but no one gets to have it all, do they? That just doesn’t happen. No one gets that lucky.

Although as I pull back and rest my forehead against hers so I can look into her eyes, I can’t stop myself from dreaming of the life where I do have it all, where my career keeps on going and I get to come home from a hard day of filming all the time to Darcy and her stunning face, her lovely smile, her comforting words.

“So, have you come to take me out again?” she asks me with a smile. “Because I am a little hungry…”

“Oh, I would love to.” Actually, this could work out well, couldn’t it? Because we can discuss things there. “I have some stuff that I want to talk to you about actually, so food is a good plan.”

“Does it have anything to do with this paperwork in your hands?” she says curiously. “Because I have to say I’m intrigued. It isn’t like you to have anything so serious looking with you.”

I glance down at the papers and start laughing. “Yeah, I suppose you are right. But this is a script.” I feel a little fearful as the color drains from her face. She thinks that this means I’m leaving her. “No, wait don’t panic. This isn’t something to worry about. I just want to talk it through with you, that’s all. I want you to read it.”