Beautiful Disaster is coming! 2-1-14

Beautiful Disaster will be available on Saturday! Here is chapter 1 for you to get ready. Let me know what you think. 🙂

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Chapter One:

Amber sighed and squinted as the booming music enhanced her already thriving headache. This was stupid and she knew it. She had a deadline to make and this excursion wasn’t warranted. She had come to Los Angeles to do some research, nothing more. Every part of this trip had been a colossal failure and she just wanted to go home. She also knew going home would force her to face the idea that everyone was right and she was a failure. The only deadline she had to make was the one in her head. The one that told her to get out of Michigan and do something with her life.

“Rachel, come here,” a drunken voice called to her and soon she was pulled into a foul smelling pit of sweat and alcohol.

“It’s Amber,” she said, but it was obvious no one was listening. She moved through the crush of people on the dance floor and tried to find some air. This was a complete and utter mistake, and she wasn’t just talking about the party. She wondered if people here had any semblance of personal space.

Someone grabbed her behind and she flipped around to push whoever the offender was when she saw it was two women making googly eyes at each other and then her.

“Sorry, not interested,” she smiled and walked faster. This was not her thing. This was so not her thing. She tried to find the back of the room and make an exit when she felt her phone vibrate. She was surprised she felt it amidst the chaos of the room, but she did. It was a text from her Uncle Jake.

“Just checking in on u. Hope u r still alive J”

She smiled at his limited texting skills and replied. “So far so good.”  How far from the truth that was? So much of this trip was supposed to be different. So much of her life was supposed to be different. She found the door to the backyard and slipped out, relishing the cool night air in the middle of a scorcher of a summer. She walked to the edge of the lawn and sat down, finally taking a long deep breath. Her tears came suddenly and she let them flow, her solitude the best company she had.

She thought back to why she got on that flight in the first place. Her life had been going so well; she had a nice job at a publishing company and she was on her way up the corporate ladder. She spent all of her spare time writing and she was anxious to finish her first novel, a romance with a tragic twist. No one in her office knew of her dreams to be published and she was happy with that. She didn’t want there to be any issue with her job and her writing. Her company mainly published screenplays and she was an editor- the top in her field. Everything had been going well until the incident.

She brushed her tears as she thought of the ridiculous turn her life had taken. The boss’ son had been coming on to her for a while and she had rejected him at every turn. She just wasn’t interested and she had tried every way possible to let him down easy. He began to stalk her and it scared her so she asked her Uncle to look into it. He was the Police Commissioner and he made a few calls. Soon Amber found herself demoted and everything she had worked for was threatened. The publishing community isn’t a large one, and she was being blackballed for no reason. Jake had wanted her to sue and she was afraid to make things worse. She decided to quit and “find herself”. When her mother died, she decided to just go.

She had plenty of savings and booked a trip to LA to research and write her novel. She had been staying at a youth hostel for a few weeks and it wasn’t what she expected. Everywhere she went she was reminded that her life wasn’t anything she hoped for. She was lost and she wondered if she would ever find herself.

“Rachel,” Wendy, her drunk friend from the hostel called to her.

“It’s Amber,” she stood up and faced her.

“Right, sorry, but he’s here! You need to come in and meet him!” Wendy said, referring to the actor who was supposed to be at this party. Amber had been dragged to numerous ‘parties’ like this one and never once had anything happened and never had any type of celebrity been there. She was over the LA thing and finally felt like it was truly time to go home and start over.

“I’ll be there in a little while,” she said and rolled her eyes as Wendy ran off. So much for being a friend.  Actually, who was she kidding? Amber didn’t want to be her friend, either. Straightening her clothes, she decided to leave. She had to walk through the house first, but then it would be out and to the bus.

*******

The cameras flashed and he smiled. It was automatic and expected, but nonetheless it felt intrusive. Women hugged him and he responded, but it was superficial. Fame was great, he would never deny that, but for Jason, it was running low on fulfilling his desire for more.

“See anything you like?” his close friend and bodyguard Evan said.

Jason rolled his eyes. “What am I picking out, cattle?”

Evan laughed. “Sorry, but they are just throwing themselves at you. Should I ask anyone to join you?”

“No, thanks, I’d like to mingle,” Jason said and Evan sighed.

“I hate when you mingle; it makes my job really difficult.”

“I’ll tell you what. You can have the rest of the night off,” Jason flashed him a grin and Evan laughed.

“Right, and what happens when your face is splashed across the tabloids because of something I didn’t stop?”

“You worry too much, Ev. I’m not so helpless,” Jason posed with some more people and signed some autographs.

“That’s what worries me,” Evan said and guided Jason into the private area.

*******

“So what’s it like being so famous?” some blonde with fake boobs and terrible breath leaned into him.

He sat back and moved a little. “It’s fine, but tell me about yourself. What do you want to do with your life?”

She batted her eyes and slurred. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

Jason had no doubt that was true, and the thought brought bile up to his throat. “Don’t you have any hopes or dreams?”

“What? Don’t you just want to make out?”

“No. I want to talk. Can’t we just talk?” he felt dirty. Was this really who he was?

“About what?”

“I don’t know, never mind,” he sighed. He went to get up when he saw someone he hadn’t seen before. He stared and was a bit star struck himself. She was gorgeous, but looked nothing like anyone there. She was dressed in jeans and a simple t-shirt, far underdressed from what most of the women wore, but he thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

“Take a picture, it lasts longer,” she said to him and he realized he was almost gawking.

“Wendy, come on, I need to go,” she said to the smelly boobs that were still talking to him.

“No Rachel, he likes me and he’s famous,” she slurred.

Jason felt completely ashamed although he hadn’t done anything. He felt like he was caught cheating and he wanted to apologize.

“Wendy, I don’t feel well and I need to go,” Amber said firmly.

“Then go. You know where the bus is. I’m staying,” Wendy said and moved closer to Jason.

“Fine, see you later,” she turned and walked out of the house, her face flaming and her heart racing. That was Jason Becker and she had been a complete ass. He was stunningly handsome, but she also felt like he was real. He almost looked like he didn’t want to be there. Wiping her face, she laughed. Right, she had written too many romantic tales to believe he was looking at her with anything other than pity.

She ran down the street, lost in thought when she realized she was lost. It was dark and she made a decision. She was going home and forgetting this ridiculous fantasy. She turned and began to walk to the bus station when she was grabbed from behind.

******

“Are you okay?” Evan asked Jason as they went into the limo. “You never leave these things early.”

“I’m just not feeling it tonight, Ev. I’m getting too old for this shit,” he said and looked out the window. He didn’t want to tell him that seeing that woman, Rachel, deeply affected him. He didn’t know why or how, but she seemed like someone he needed to know. He looked up as the car slowed.

“Why are we stopping?”

“Some kind of commotion out there. The driver thinks someone is in trouble. It will just be a minute,” Evan said as he spoke to the driver.

Jason leaned back and closed his eyes. He needed more in his life. He needed something, or someone.

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Thanks for reading!