The Sheikh's Virgin Bride(35)
What was she going to do now?
Her car stalled several times before the engine finally choked to life, sputtering as she drove off the set of the perfect, life-changing job that never was.
Kaye frowned.
She was exhausted. Fortunately, makeup had a way of making one look less haggard, but she felt about a hundred years older than her twenty-five years. In Hollywood, she might as well have been a hundred. She’d moved there years ago with stars in her eyes and hope in her heart, only to be judged and cast aside for any number of vague reasons. Her hair wasn’t the right color (couldn’t that be easily changed?), her nose was a little crooked (couldn’t that also be easily changed?), her voice was too deep or too high pitched…
The list went on and on. If Kaye hadn’t been raised with a strong sense of pride and stubbornness, she would have given up ages ago, but she knew in her heart that she was meant to be an actress. She just needed someone to give her a chance!
Now, that chance had passed, and she was back to being unemployed in Tinseltown. Kaye sighed heavily as she pulled into her small apartment complex just as the sun crested the city skyline. It was clearly going to be another beautiful day. What a shame that she would be spending it inside looking for work.
Kaye shuffled into her cramped one-bedroom apartment, looking around dejectedly. She had enough rent money for one more month, thanks to her initial paycheck for the cop show, but it wouldn’t last long. She had to think of something, fast.
Flipping the switch on her coffee maker, she stared out the window at the building next door. It wasn’t exactly a Hollywood kind of view, but it was a tiny little space in the one place in the world she wanted to be. To Kaye, that was worth more than any number of sprawling mansions back in Indiana.
The coffee slurped and gurgled as it poured into her stained old pot, and she rinsed out a mug before pouring herself a cup, deciding on having it black and bitter to match her current mood. As she stared at her sink full of dirty dishes, a new wave of resentment filled her chest.
Kaye had spent so much of her time on that project. For a month, she had followed around female members of the force, researching their mannerisms, how they handled themselves under pressure. It had been an amazing experience, and she could feel it coming through as she’d ran through her lines, her scenes impeccable.
And it had all been for nothing.
Taking a sip of coffee, Kaye sat at her desk and turned on her computer—a graduation gift from her parents when she finished her degree in theater only three years before. She had run straight to L.A. afterwards, knowing that it would be hard, but hopeful that she would be the exception to the rule.
Boy, had she been wrong.
She opened the job ad pages for local actors, skimming through. She was a natural brunette, but based on what she was seeing, the trend was now heading back in the direction of blondes. She was in the middle of a thought about whether or not she should dye her hair again when her phone rang.
Curious, she took a peek at the caller ID before answering.
“You’re up early,” she said.
“I know. I have a friend on the crew of your show and he texted me and woke me up. I’m so sorry, Kaye.”
Kaye repressed another sigh—something she had been doing far too much of over the past three years. Then again, years of soul-crushing disappointment had a way of making the struggling actress sigh more often than not—at least, when it didn’t bring her to tears. Her friend Jessa had always found a way to cheer her up. It was the only reason to answer the call.
“Thanks,” Kaye said. “I really thought we had a good thing going there.”
“Everyone did,” Jessa replied. “Whoever tested that audience was clearly an idiot. That show would have been the highest rated on television, because you are a star Kaye. Never forget that.”
Kaye laughed, and the bitterness leaked through.
“You might be the only person in the world that knows it. Haven’t you heard? There’s enough brunettes with brown eyes in the industry. I’m not bringing anything new.”
“Don’t get defeatist, Kaye. There are plenty of jobs in this town, and someday, you and I are going to be on the red carpet, telling our sad origin story about all the struggles we went through to get there. You’ll see.”
Kaye stared out at her miniscule, dirty apartment, and she doubted her friend’s words for the first time.
“I don’t know, Jessa. Maybe it’s time to call a spade a spade.”
“Don’t you talk like that! You are going to make it, Kaye! You are an amazing actress! You’re just exhausted and disappointed. I get that. It’s been a long night of shooting and you need some rest. You’ll feel better about your prospects in the morning.”
“I can’t even afford to pay my rent, Jessa! It’s not a matter of whether or not I’m good enough; if I don’t land a job, I have no choice but to pack my bags and go home a failure,” she said, choking on the last word.
The tears came then, and Kaye wiped them away, her stage makeup staying perfectly in place. They used some pretty amazing magic in the film industry; she had to admit that.
“Kaye, after we’re done talking, I want you to shut your computer off, because I’m sure the first thing you did was start looking for another job, and I want you to get some sleep. You’ll be able to face the world again once you’re well rested.”