The New me

A week had passed and everything was a routine. I woke up and go to work then go home and sleep. I don't know why but I did not have the dream again.

In the past days, I was informed by Luke that Lily had gone abroad together with her mother. What they told their closest friends was that she was accepted into a foreign university so she immediately decided to pursue the life in a foreign land.

Luke tried to hang out with me but every time he sets the date, he or I had important things to do so we could only communicate through our phones. Liam also sends me messages asking my day but I seldom reply. Heather was still as busy as before, she put on short summaries of their life if she sends me one.

Today I went back to the street of life a.k.a the place where the majority of clubs and bars are: Empire Avenue. I sat inside the café that Aster and I had eaten as I wait for him.

Then from the window, I saw him approaching. On his body hangs across a black sling bag and he was wearing white long sleeve polo with a dark blue woolen sweater on top. His hair was tapered in style and because of the wind, his hair parts on one side. His hair was originally wavy and because of the wind, it was ruffled a little. When he arrived at my side, he looks very charming with his monolid complimented by that one-sided dimple on his cheeks.

"sup" He greeted as he raised his one hand for a high-five.

I ended up giving him one as I asked why all of the sudden he wanted to meet with me.

"To have a good time of course!" he said.

"If you want to have a good time then at least wait until the sun sets and doors to paradise is opened," I said without a care.

He looked at me in disbelief as he answered, " Sis, have you forgotten that I'm still young for those kinds of establishments? Did you come here with the mindset to corrupt innocent children? Honestly, what's wrong with you?" He crossed his arm over his chest as he fearfully said, "You're not planning anything 'dangerous' on me are you?"

I immediately covered his mouth as the people around us viewed me differently.

"Shut it, will you?" I told him and he nodded.

"For real though, why would you answer me like that?" He asked after being freed.

Why? Well, I was comfortable enough to tell him my real thoughts and I was treating him as same age friend. Unknowingly, he was already a friend and I've removed my mask around him.

"I was talking about the clubs." I reasoned.

"Yeah? But I was kicked out last time. You should know that I'm still underage."

"…." Fine, you're only sixteen.

"Let's end this conversation. New topic, why did you ask to meet here of all places? I don't want that 'to have a good time' kind of answer." I warned him.

He smiled sweetly as he said. "This place holds a special meaning. We're meeting someone."

"Your girlfriend?" I asked him curiously to which he said no so I tried again. "Then, your boyfriend?"

His face darkened as he responded, "No. Why ask me that and why would your eyes shine in asking that question?"

Oops. I admit my fault. It's just after my old mother told me about her plan on naming her children. I would sometimes daydream what it feels like to be the eldest. If I had a sister I wanted to doll her up. If I had a brother I want to ask him those kinds of questions once he grows up. But oh well, I am an only child.

"What's wrong with my questions? There are different kinds of people with different types of love in between them."I persuaded him.

He looked at me unconvinced then said, "Forget it. He's here." He motioned at the front door.

I turned and saw someone familiar.

He smiled when I met his gaze and hastily came to our table. My eyes had been on him since the start as were waiting for him to come nearer.

Once he sat down opposite me, I unclasped my hand and blurted "comrade"

He too felt the same as the corner of his eye tear up and repeated "comrade"

Aster who was sitting on the side had an unreadable expression. He was in no doubt having a headache with our melodramatic reunion.

When he finally can't contain himself, he introduced the guy to me. "This is Linden Liang. An actor."

"Nice to meet you, my friend!" Linden held out his hand excitedly.

"Her name's Iris," Aster said from my side.

"Yes, the name's Iris Lin. I also wanted to meet you! It's so nice to see you again!" I shook his hand in an enthusiastic manner.

"Uh-huh, did you miss each other's unacceptable behavior last time?"

"What do you mean unacceptable? It's normal!" Linden and I insisted.

With both his hands up in surrender, Aster said "Okay. Please don't shout? We're inside a café."

We immediately turned around just to find the other customers looking at our group. One of the servers came and requested us to keep our voices down or else they'll have no choice but to chase us out.

We complied and kept our eagerness under control.

I found out that Linden had been in the business since 18 years old, it was already five years since he first debuted and he hasn't still reached the limelight. He auditioned for any role he thinks he can portray well yet he always met with a failure. Majority of those projects wanted an attractive male lead and so he was always unsuccessful.

I sighed in my heart listening to his story. He's not conventionally attractive, but women like his charm all the same especially his deep sounding voice. Unfortunately, the world has changed and now relies heavily on aesthetic and the entertainment circle needs to adapt. A pretty face with mediocre skills can now be called A-list stars with the help of their fans. Fan-wars are often seen in the cyber world.

He carried on with his story. Unable to become the lead, he was constantly offered minor roles like a loan shark being captured by the police, the driver of the main lead but was kicked out of his position in the very same episode and some other more. He had practically mastered all minor roles given to him.

That very day that I saw him outside the club, he had just gone audition and he once again failed. The most unacceptable thing was that his second cousin, Mimosa got the second female lead part without trying. When their family found out, they can't help but compare him to her. He is already considered a senior in the industry while Mimosa just debuted last year. He was desperate to shake off his sadness so he wanted to enter the club. Unluckily he forgot his i.d at home and in his last-ditch, he searched his own profile on the web and showed it to the security. The rest was like I've seen. He added that the security guy doesn't even know that he's an actor and that added salt to his injury.

The last thing he remembers was that a female was creating a scene just like him but instead of shamelessly showing her profile, the female kept bribing the other security with insane amounts.

Aster remarked, "The people lining behind honestly thought that you're both intoxicated that night. Some even think you're both high."

We looked at each other then laughed at our own shameless deeds. We indeed looked high. Linden revealed that the reason he was meeting me was that Aster sought him. Aster denied by saying he originally planned to visit his celebrity crush Mimosa on the same agency but was told she had a photo shoot scheduled and on his way out he met Linden. He casually asked if he remembered what happened that night outside of the club and if he did, meet him at the café at a given time. And now we're here.

We decided to visit the club and took pictures outside in memory of that night. The three of us exchanged numbers and promised to hang out again and without thinking I already look forward to the next time. It was fun being with them. I felt like I met my old friends.