Chapter 2 (Rewritten August 2014)
When I awoke the next morning, I thought that I would be filled with regret for what I had done to Tasha last night; kicking her out that late at night wasn't exactly very becoming of a gentleman…but strangely enough, I didn't care. My relationship with Tasha – although it had been technically still intact, had long since ended. That small spark that I felt when I had originally met her had been snuffed out long ago. I was an idiot for even letting it go on for this long; Tasha was selfish and self-important, and I was stupid for letting her control me for that long. But now it was over, and I had more important things to think about.
Pulling myself up out of bed, I cast all thoughts of Tasha from my head and began readying myself for my audition this morning. I took my time shaving and picking out something nice to wear – a good first impression definitely helped when it came to auditions; if that first one went well, you were much more likely to get a second call-back.
The morning passed much quicker that I hoped it would, and I ended up rushing out the door, script in hand. I had spent so much time getting ready that I hadn't left enough time to rehearse my lines, meaning that I was in a slightly more panicked state than I should have been. I read my lines aloud to myself the entire drive there, and even as I hurried into the building, the combination of words swirled around my head.
I was shown the way into the auditorium, where the auditions were taking place.
With a deep breath, I pushed my way inside.
OoOoOoO
"Dammit!" I yelled in frustration and slammed the car door much harder than I had intended. It groaned in protest. I had gone into the audition with the intention of being calm and collected…but as soon as it was my turn to stand up in front of the table of casting people, Tasha's words came swirling back into my head. Her irritating voice penetrated my mind, reminding me of my past failures and subsequently causing my composure to plummet into shambles. The audition was a disaster – they knew and I knew it.
I was in my car driving when I realised that I wasn't even heading home – I was driving towards the nearest pub. Even subconsciously, my body had been aware of my need to alcohol right now. I gave in to it.
I made a sharp turn across the road when I spotted the first bar I saw, much to the annoyance of the cars around me. I ignored the incessant honking and yells of abuse as I parked haphazardly and climbed out of my car.
"Rough day? Here, this'll take the edge off." Apparently, this particular barman was used to seeing expressions as gloomy as mine. He had a drink poured and placed in front of me before I had even gotten comfortable on the barstool. I picked up the small shot glass and threw the clear liquid down my throat, revelling in the burning sensation that shot through my throat.
"Can I have another?" I slammed the glass back down on the counter as he went to fetch me another one. Groaning, I lifted my hands and rested my face in them. Acting…what a joke. What on earth had possessed my fifteen year old self to pursue such a career? Look at me! Here I was, almost ten years later, and I had still not done anything outstanding with my career.
I raised my head to take my next shot, when I suddenly realised that the bar itself was pretty much empty. Initially, this surprised me…but then I remembered that it was only late afternoon, and there weren't very many types of people that drank this early on in the day.
I scoffed, earning myself a concerned look from the bartender. Of course, I was now one of those people – the types that travelled to the bar in the morning time to drown there sorrows in alcohol. Next time, I wouldn't bother going anywhere – I could just stock up on vodka and tequila and get hammered from the comforts of my own home.
I was so caught up in my self-hatred that I didn't notice the young woman sitting nearby me. At least I thought she was young; I couldn't see her face. She was sitting on another barstool, but she was slumped over the bar, her head lying face-down in her crossed arms on the bar.
Even with the frayed, dirty clothes she was wearing, it was easy to tell that she had a nice body. Although the clothes concerned me slightly…was she homeless? The state of her hair might suggest so; it was long and dark and beautiful, but some of it's beauty had been lost to dirt and tangles quite some time ago by the looks of it.
"Is she okay?" I asked the bartender as he passed me by. He handed me yet another drink, which felt as though it was burning holes in my stomach once it settled there.
"Yeah, she comes here a lot," he replied, a sad expression on his face. I glanced back at the girl; she groaned and shifted slightly, causing her hair to splay across the counter. "Usually once a week…but she's been here a lot more recently. The poor thing."
"Why?" I asked him. The girl clearly wasn't very happy with her life…Then again, that didn't surprise me judging by the fact that she was here before noon.
"You should just meet that druggie boyfriend of hers," he said, leaning in close to me as he cleaned a glass with an already dirty-looking rag. "I've never met a bigger asshole in my entire life." He shook his head, as if the girl's situation really saddened him and walked away.
After a moment of watching her, I stood and approached her. She said nothing as I took the seat next to her…I wasn't sure if she'd even noticed I was there. I leaned close to her and she flinched suddenly, looking extremely taken aback.
"What do you want?" She snapped, clutching her own almost-empty glass. Finally, she looked up and made eye contact with me. I didn't answer her right away; instead, I studied her closely. She had a naturally tanned complexion and I was sure that at one stage, she had been very beautiful. But now, she was pale and ill-looking. Her eyes were glassy and glazed over, and I wondered if she had some kind of life-threatening disease. Being closer to her, I could see the rips and stains in her tattered clothing more clearly, and despite it being almost ninety degrees out, she was wearing jeans, a woollen jumper and a thick scarf.
"Well?" She demanded, looking pissed off. I realised I'd been staring at her for almost a minute now.
"I just wanted to see if you were okay," I said quickly, raising my hand and indicating for the barman to bring over two more drinks.
"I'm fine," she retorted sharply and finished the remainder of her first drink. The bartender was just placing our drinks down in front of us when something occurred to me.
"Wait," I held my hand out to stop her from taking the drink. "Are you even of age yet?" now that I had seen her face, I knew that she was young…I wasn't sure just how long she was however.
"I'm twenty-one," she replied, looking even more annoyed when I raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you, a cop? You want to see I.D. or something?"
"No, that's okay." Sighing, I moved my hand and let her pick up the drink. After a moment of silence, she suddenly glanced up at me.
"What age are you?" Her suspicious eyes made me chuckle. It was as if she doubted I was even of drinking age…which, of course, I was.
"I'm twenty-five," I told her honestly. She nodded thoughtfully and I saw her eyes light up as she thought about something. "What's your name?"
The young women suddenly looked very wary, as if scared to answer me. She cast her confusion about why I wanted to know this aside however upon realising that I had only asked out of interest.
"My name's Ro-"
"ROSE!"
I started as the door of the bar slammed open, and Rose let out a whimper.
"Uh oh…" I briefly looked away from the door to watch as the barman began backing away, looking unsure of what to do. A noise much closer to me made me turn back around, and I realised that the newcomer had approached me…
Or more accurately, Rose. And he was angry.
"Leave me alone, Adrian!" Rose screamed at him, jumping off her stool. This guy – Adrian – also looked as though he had been good-looking at some point in his young life…but he had the same pasty, sick-looking complexion as Rose did, making him seem much more unattractive.
"Rose-" He growled out, moving towards her slowly, like a lion would stalk it's prey.
"I told you it's over!" She screamed at him, grabbing her glass. She unexpectedly threw it in his direction, but it missed him by a wide margin. With a cry, she made to move passed him towards the front door but he sidestepped into her path of escape.
"It's not over," he snarled into her face, gripping her upper arm tightly. "-until I saw it's over." Rose struggled to break free from his hold and I grasped at what to do. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the bartender shaking his head at me. He was clearly warning me to stay out of it, but I couldn't just stand by and watch this guy jerk her about the place. By the time I turned back to them, I saw that he now had a grip on both of her arms. Tears were pouring from Rose's eyes as she thrashed against him.
"Please just leave me alone!" She lashed out at him as best as she could, not doing much damage. She was too frail, too weak.
"Where's my money, Rose?" He yelled into her face as he shook her harshly. It was at this point that I had heard enough.
"Dude, that's enough," I stood and walked towards them, making them both freeze and stare at me – Rose with fear and Adrian with anger. Again as I moved, I heard the man behind the bar urging me to mind my own business. I ignored him.
"Who the fuck are you?" Adrian demanded, his watery bloodshot eyes making him look completely demented. Maybe he was. With another shake, he turned back to Rose. "Are you fucking sleeping with him or something? Is that why you keep disappearing?" Rose continued shaking her head insistently as he yelled some more at her. "Did I fucking say you could fucking sleep with him?!"
"No, Adrian, I didn't!" She cried, still shaking head back and worth quickly. "I swear I'm not!"
"You know what I think?" He said calmly, before raising his voice to an outstanding volume. "I think that you're a filthy, lying whore!"
That was when he hit her. Anger rose up in me and it suddenly occurred to me why Rose would be wearing heavy clothes in such sweltering heat…this wasn't the only time Adrian had hit her.
And with that revelation, I snapped.
I charged at Adrian, avoiding Rose who had fallen to the ground with the force of Adrian's fist, and slammed into him. He had been advancing in on her, clearly about to go back for more, until I intercepted him. I had the intention of beating the crap out of him, but unfortunately, Adrian's fist had already been raised to hit Rose. Instead, I had put myself in it's path and couldn't react fast enough due to the alcohol that was coursing around in my system. I stumbled slightly as I reached him and Adrian's knuckles hit me smack on my temple. The pain came first, and then it was quickly followed by stars dancing in front of my eyes. Adrian took advantage of my moment of being stunned and continued to land blows to my stomach. More pain flowed through me as I felt my stomach bruise, hit after hit.
And then I passed out.
