Better Than Fiction

by Bet Milner

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Julia was sat in the green room waiting to be called for her guest appearance on a French talk show. She unlocked her phone and noticed the story. It intrigued her for some reason. She never watched other people's stories but she really wanted to get a glimpse into this woman's life. She clicked onto her profile and checked how many followers she had. Almost four hundred. Surely she wouldn't notice if Julia took a sneak peek. Just as she was about to click the story, she was called through to the interview so she pocketed her phone and smiled at the assistant.

  The interview went well. It was always strange for her when it was in a different language and she had to wait for the translators to interpret. She felt slightly awkward sitting silently while they rattled off what she'd just said. The cameras and lights were ridiculously warm and she desperately wanted to remove the stuffy red blazer she'd chosen to wear. The questions were the same as always. People wanted to know about her marriage, what it was like working with Garth and if he was a good kisser. She always responded with the same answers and smiled warmly. Then there were the questions about her onset make-up. She was an alien species that could shape shift in the Recoil films and most of the time she had to be covered in body paint and prosthetics. She answered the questions and laughed retelling funny stories of various times they'd had to reshoot whole scenes because her abs or latex boobs had slipped. Of course it was never funny when it happened and hours of work could be lost just trying to correct the FX malfunctions, but she always laughed about it in interviews.

  When it was over, she was free to leave and her private car picked her up outside. She opened up her app again and took a look at the story Danni Rose had posted. She smiled. The song was fun but she could tell she was steaming drunk from the way one of her eyes was squinting. Julia laughed out loud. Oh the perils of technology being so readily available after a few too many drinks. She watched it again and each time noticed a little something else about the woman, like the ring she wore on her left ring finger and the other on her right thumb.

  Danni woke up with the worst hangover ever. She'd dribbled all over her pillow and she was still wearing her pants from the previous evening. She slowly pushed herself off the bed and padded into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She noticed Jimmy in a similar position, face down on the sofa still wearing his leather jacket. She left him to sleep not knowing what time he got in. Where was her phone? She looked around trying to remember where she'd put it and saw it on the arm of the sofa. She quietly grabbed it and went back to the bedroom. She checked the time. eleven a.m.

  A text popped through.

  Reese: How's your head? X

  Dan: Pretty bad. I need carbs. X

  Reese: Good cos I wanna go to this food truck festival thing. I'll pick you up in 20. Xx

  Danni groaned. The last thing she wanted to do today was walk around smelling beer everywhere, but then again, Jim hanging wasn't that appealing either. He always got moody after a binge.

  Dan: see you in a bit. X

  She took some painkillers and had a quick shower. She spritzed some dry shampoo in her hair brushed it through. Twenty minutes was not enough time to do much else so she shoved on a pair of denim shorts, a band t-shirt and the largest sunglasses she could find and scribbled a note to Jimmy before leaving the apartment.

  Reese was already waiting downstairs in her red, vintage, mustang convertible and honked the horn loudly when she saw the blonde. Danni raised her hands to her ears and then flipped her friend off.

  "You are a bitch!"

  "I know! That's why you love me though!" Reese laughed. "You'll be fine once you get a Bloody Mary down you."

  "I'm not drinking. Ever again." Danni groaned.

  "Yeah I figured after that drunk ass video you posted last night!"

  "I didn't... Oh shit! Was it bad?" She took her phone out and checked the video. She looked like a complete idiot. "I'm deleting that now." Just as she was about to delete she noticed it had had 6 views. Not too bad. Right now she was pretty glad she wasn't too well known. She clicked to see who had viewed it to assess the damage. Jimmy, no worries there. Reese, of course, a couple of randoms and, "Fuck!"

  Reese laughed. It's not that bad Dan. Just your eyes and facial expressions. I'm surprised you managed to even post it in the first place!"

  "It's not that Reese. Fucking Julia Hottie Jones watched it."

  Danni was shook. She couldn't get her head around it. Why would a famous actress be wasting her time watching Danni's story?

  "Dude! I'm starting to think the crush is mutual!"

  Danni glared at the driver. "Don't even joke about shit like that. She must have been watching other stories and it just happened to play mine. I bet she skipped it when she saw it." She added internally, I hope she skipped it.

  "Well you know there's one way to find out for sure."

  "I'm listening."

  "Flood your story today. If she views more than one, you'll know it wasn't just a random click."

  "Sounds like you've dealt with this before."

  "Dude, you know I got hoes in different area codes!" Reese started singing to herself. Danni just laughed.

  "You are such a bad influence on me." Danni complained. "Remind me again why I listen to anything that comes out of your mouth?"

  "Because your inner dyke is sick of being caged up in that charade of heteroness."

  "I'm bi Reese. Don't start with that crap again."

  "Sorry. I just miss the old you."

  "I'm maturing."

  "You're stagnating."

  Danni was too hungover to argue anymore. She and Reese went so far back and she had to admit that when they were together, she felt free. She didn't have many friends that just got her and she didn't have to hide anything from Reese. Everyone else just assumed she was straight because she was living with Jimmy. She had been with him so long and they had only started dating because of a drunken night after band practice years ago. The other guys hadn't turned up and they were alone. They got to talking and she told him she was into this girl. The next thing she knew, they were banging on the studio floor and the rest was history. She never thought for a second it would be a long term relationship. She didn't plan on staying in Boston for that long. She missed Europe and wished she could go back there on a permanent basis, or even a bigger city. Yet here she was, years later stuck in this mundane existence.

  Reese parked up the car and rubbed Danni's head playfully. "Did you just doze off or did I hit a nerve?"

  "A bit of both." Danni scrunched up her nose.

  "Come on babe. Let's go have some fun! We can do the heart to heart thing when we're both drunk and emotional!"

  Danni grinned. She knew Reese didn't mean to upset her and she loved that she could both make her think deeply about stuff and be a total goofball at the same time. "That Bloody Mary sounds pretty good!"

  They entered the festival and went to the first truck they encountered that served alcohol. Danni ordered and paid for the round and Reese made her take a selfie and post it to her feed. "Let me caption it!" She screeched stealing the phone from the blonde. She typed frantically and giggled to herself.

  Danni took the phone back and shook her head when she read the caption. "With my gay bitch for a day of indulgence. Reese, I would never say something like that!"

  "Oh who cares? You stick to writing kick ass songs and I'll do what I do best. The fact you only had six views on your story should tell you something babe." She wiggled her eyebrows and downed her drink. "My round!"

  The day went on in much the same fashion. Danni started to relax a bit after her third bloody Mary and after sampling a giant taco.

  "Pass me your phone!" Reese laughed.

  "Why? Do I have chili sauce around my mouth?" Danni handed the phone over cautiously.

  "Now take a big bite!" Reese giggled and spoke into the camera. "Danni how's your taco?"

  "Delicious!" She said innocently.

  "And there you hav
e it folks. Danni still likes to get her mouth around a hot taco!"

  Danni's face dropped. "Don't post that Reese! Jimmy is gonna watch it!"

  "Oh chill! Too late by the way. I bet he doesn't even get the reference!"

  Danni rolled her eyes. "Reese, he knows everything you say is to do with sex!"

  Reese sighed and flipped the camera on herself. "For the record, Danni wants it stated that there's only one taco she wants her mouth around."

  Danni grabbed the phone back. "You are dead!"

  4

  Julia missed those days of anonymity. She'd always wanted to be famous and recognized for her talent but it was a double-edged sword. For all the wonderful things she got to do and fabulous people she got to meet, it was lonely at the top. Her relationships were always compromised and the days where she could just hang out with her friends and cut loose were long gone. She missed being able to just walk into a random bar or attend a gig and not be in the next day's gossip column. She was an A-lister now and expected to behave that way.

  Julia watched Danni's story feeling a sense of loss and nostalgia. She used to have a friend like Reese years ago and they had been inseparable. Nowadays, the woman was a mother and settled into domestic bliss. Whenever they did manage to catch up, everything was so different. It was the same with a lot of her cousins and family gatherings always left a bitter taste, as though her family expected her to have suddenly become a totally different and unrelatable person. Sometimes Julia thought she'd made the wrong choice. She and Brent had both stated flatly that a family was not what they wanted but now and then, doubts filled her mind. Life used to be so much simpler and spontaneous. She couldn't even hate her life. So many people, including herself, would kill to get the break she'd been given. What people didn't seem to understand was the price it came at. Most of her days were spent being shuffled in and out of various modes of transportation or brightly lit studios.

  When she wasn't filming sixteen hour days, sometimes more, she was attending awards ceremonies and interviews and was always under scrutiny. She felt like she didn't belong to herself anymore. She was nothing more than what the public saw in their glossy magazines. What she wore, ate and said were all topics for discussion.

  "Apologies Ma'am but I'm going to have to ask you to turn your cel phone off for take-off." The flight attendant nervously told her with a knowing smile.

  "Sure. Sorry. It's off now." Julia smiled back politely.

  "Can I get you another glass of champagne Mrs. Jones?"

  "That would be wonderful, thank you."

  Even on a plane she couldn't avoid the stares and whispers. She caught a young boy sneaking a photo of her and she smiled and winked at him as his mother scolded him for doing so without permission. She couldn't blame him. That was the culture they lived in and it was only natural to want to get a picture of a celebrity. She loved it. She just wished she could have something private. Something just for herself.

  It was Monday morning when her plane landed in JFK. A car was already waiting for her and her baggage has been first off the plane. She switched her phone back on once inside the car. She was already jet lagged due to the six hour time jump and she never slept properly on flights. She got in the car and went straight to her home in Manhattan. At least in New York she felt more like a regular person. L.A. was much more relaxed though and she wished she could have flown out to meet Brent instead. She had already agreed to meet with her director in Washington tomorrow morning so she had to fly back out tonight. She figured she may as well get a few hours sleep in her own bed and repack. They were going to shoot some scenes for the spin off back story of her character and part of that was her landing in her space ship on the lawn of the Whitehouse. She giggled to herself. Only in America.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  "Have you checked your stats?" Reese asked coolly playing with the umbrella in her drink.

  "Hmm? No. Let me see." Danni pulled out her phone and tried three times successively to unlock the screen. "Fuck, I can't get in to my phone!"

  Reese giggled.

  "Did you change my pin you sneaky bitch?"

  "Serves you right for using her birthday. It's a good job it was me and not Jimmy who discovered that!" Reese stuck the umbrella in her hair and pouted.

  "How do you even know her birthday?" Danni asked with a suspicious eyebrow raised.

  "Dude, I tried your birthday, then Jimmy's and mine so I googled hers."

  "So what did you change it to?"

  Reese looked at her like she was dumb and Danni punched in the brunette's birthday. "You're such a dick."

  "I prefer cunt actually!"

  Danni opened up the app and checked the views on her story. She felt her heart race as she saw that Julia Jones had indeed watched every single one of their posts. "It must have been when I tweeted her about the con. There's no other explanation."

  Reese jolted forward in her seat. "You did what?"

  Danni blushed. "I was wasted after a show and she tweeted this pic about being at a convention so I might have searched online for when the next one would be. I bought a ticket for the one in Boston in August."

  Reese slapped her own thighs in amusement. "I can't believe you are going to one of those nerdy things! Oh my God Danni! What were you thinking?"

  "I wasn't! That's the point! I just... gahh! Will you come with me? Please! I'll buy your ticket!" Danni pleaded.

  "Dude what did you tweet her?"

  "Just, see you in Boston."

  Reese thought about it some more. "She must have like a million people tweeting her stuff like that. It can't have been that. I bet it was your music. I bet she heard your song somewhere and didn't realize you were a super whipped fan."

  "I'm not a super whipped fan! I just think she's hot and a pretty talented actress."

  Reese laughed so hard she almost peed herself. "Babe! You bought a ticket to a con! Your phone lock was her birthday and you're flapping over the fact she's watched your story. I rest my case!"

  Danni laughed now. It was useless trying to deny anything to Reese. "Okay fine. I'm super whipped. So what the hell do I do? Should I message her?"

  "Hell no! Na ah! First off, what would you do if she turned up on your doorstep tomorrow and begged you to take her?"

  "Probably faint and wonder where the cameras were."

  "Wrong answer."

  "Stupid question because it would never happen."

  "But if it did...”

  "If it did, I wouldn't do it. I love Jimmy."

  "Bull shit!"

  "I wouldn't cheat on him. I don't even know her as a person. I just know what she wants the world to know. It's a fantasy Reese. We've all got them. Doesn't mean we'd all act on them given the chance. Besides, she's married."

  "Well be that as it may, the stalker has become the prey."

  5

  Julia sat in the make-up chair impatiently while the FX artists applied her prosthetics. She had taken a selfie before and posted it to her story. It was now almost three hours later and she took another selfie of the full make up transformation with the caption, When your make up takes three hours to get just right, can you relate girls?

  She giggled to herself at the image. Her skin was now completely red with flecks of yellows freckles dotting her face and chest. She had a prosthesis bump in the middle of her forehead and it itched like crazy. Her hair had been sprayed bright red and back-combed into a frizzy mess. She loved the look and immediately felt herself slipping into character. She received a direct message in reply to her story.

  Three hours? That's dedication!

  It was from Danni Rose and she smiled. She didn't usually read or reply to messages from people she didn´t know but she really admired the woman and had a feeling she would soon enough be publically recognized for her talent. She typed back.

  More like contractual obligation. :-/

  She saw Danni was typing back and waited.

  See I wouldn't know about that kind of thing being
under absolutely no contractual obligation for anything!

  Julia smiled. Danni seemed to be chatting to her naturally and it was refreshing. Everyone always seemed to want something from her nowadays or tell her how wonderful she was. She typed back again.

  I would say that's only a matter of time. I really love your song Destined to Roam. I will definitely be buying the album.

  "Julia we're going to start shooting in five. Are you ready?" The assistant director came into the make-up studio.

  "Yes! Let's get this done!"

  Danni couldn't believe Julia was talking to her. She was buzzed that she liked that song so much. It was one of her own particular favorites too. She'd written in when she was busking around Europe after a particularly inspiring weekend. She typed back a response.

  Thanks! When it's available, I'll let you know! ;-) Have fun filming!

  A response didn't come. Danni waited for a while and figured after ten minutes it had just been a fluke, a one off conversation out of politeness. She logged into her e-mail account and was surprised to see a message from her old boss. She used to bar tend at a hotel in the city and he needed an act for the following Friday evening. She accepted the job but decided to take Reese's advice and do it on her own to test the waters in a safe, familiar place. Her old boss e-mailed back almost immediately with the full details. She'd need to have a three hour set ready and would be starting at nine p.m. with a small twenty minute break around ten-thirty p.m.

  Danni was excited. She hadn't done an acoustic solo set for years. As much as she loved being in the band, there was something magical about being the only one on stage. It wasn't a large gig but the money would be good, especially not having to split it fur ways. She felt a bit guilty for not telling the band but she justified that there was no way they'd have a three hour set ready by next Friday.