by Holly Rayner
FIFTEEN
When the sun rose next morning and pulled me from a restless, terrible sleep, I decided to email Katherine and tell her to say ‘yes’ to the slasher movie offer I had previously rejected. It wasn’t even close to ideal, and I wasn't a big fan of playing helpless horror movie victims, but it was work. It would pay the bills and keep my name in the magazines so the public didn’t forget about me. What’s more, it might be fun to get out a few screams in a safe environment. The stress of my situation was starting to get to me. If I had some fun and took myself a little less seriously, maybe it would make people want to be in more projects with me; no one liked working with a desperate downer.
I reached for my smartphone, my eyes still bleary from sleep. Before I could pull up my email app to contact Katherine, I noticed a text message received during the night from an unknown number.
My eyes lit up as I read it. The text was from Zane, inviting me to join him on a private flight and adventure that morning, if I had the time. Instantly the fog that had been descending since the flight home began to lift, and I threw my legs out of bed to head to the shower. Zane wanted to meet in less than two hours.
I texted back and told him of course, and that I was thrilled to be seeing him again so soon. He sent back a small reply saying simply ‘I miss you too’.
With a giddy grin, I rushed to the shower to get ready.