EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
DB86#4
Edited by Pat & Arthur
My take on a classic tale.
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CHAPTER 1
Annabella checked the gas gauge. She was running on fumes. She didn't want to waste money putting gas in the tank, but she wouldn't be able to reach home unless she added some. She had sold her jewelry and most of her wardrobe for enough cash to get back in town. Her credit cards had been revoked long ago.
Annabella counted her money, plastered on her most charming smile and said, "Two gallons of gas, please."
"You're Annabella Reed, right?" the guy at the gas station asked her.
"Yep, that's me. And you are..."
"Bradley Austin. I was a jock back in high school... football, baseball. Good looking, one of the cool crowd, lots of chicks, always partying, though you'd never know it looking at me now."
Annabella eyeballed him. She vaguely remembered him from high school. High school! That was the last time she'd owned the world.
Bradley was starting to bald, and his work clothes couldn't hide the small beer belly above his waist.
"What are you doing back in town, Annabella?"
"Vacations. Visiting the family," she lied.
"Last I heard you were living in California. You were working as a fashion model or something like that."
"Yeah, something like that," she said, avoiding the subject.
"Count yourself lucky. You were able to get out of Boring-Town." The former jock finished pumping gas and took the money she gave him. "It's been nice chatting with you, Annabella. Good luck."
"You too," she wished.
Ten minutes later, she was driving into the center of Middletown. She saw the town's four-block main street. The courthouse clock was no longer frozen at four minutes past ten, and the fountain in the park had shed its grime. There was also a new restaurant called
The Jammed
where the old one used to be.
Annabella couldn't postpone it any longer. She let out a long sigh and headed toward her mother's house. Living with her mother had never been easy. She was a true pain in the ass. Always complaining about anything and everything. Annabella was sure she was going to have a cardiac arrest when she saw the old car she was driving.
Annabella remembered her mother's parting words when she left Middletown looking for a better future. "I'm not getting younger or prettier, you better find a wealthy man or a celebrity to support both of us."
Her story had been the typical small-town beauty queen with big-city dreams. She had won a beauty pageant. The prize was a photo session in California. That was how an 18-year-old Annabella set out to seek fame and fortune.
However, her life in California was harder than expected. When she wasn't serving up burgers and beers, she was doing some minor modeling work. The path to success wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. In Middletown, she was a big fish in a small pond, but in California a small fish in a very large pond.
Annabella was cute, true. But there were plenty of cute girls like her. She crossed paths with them in every casting she went to. They were all looking for the same things, and some of them were willing to do anything to get it.
Sooner than later, she discovered the truth about the modeling business and the false promises they made her. Everything was about money and connections. Getting her portfolio done cost her a fortune. First thing she was told, was that she had to lose 10-20 pounds because she had 'too much muscle'.
The next years were a true nightmare for her. Stolen pay. Sexual harassment. Months without a paycheck. Outrageous fees and expenses that ate away at earnings. And no one to turn to for help.
Even after gracing the pages of some well-known magazines, her situation didn't improve. She never made a breakthrough in the fashion scene. Maybe if she'd agreed to have sex with that agent, or that photographer, or that producer... Why hadn't she shut her eyes and let them do what they wanted?
"This is a cutthroat business, princess. If you don't do it, someone else will. There are many girls who are desperate to get a chance." Her agent had been brutally honest with her.
If only she'd stopped resisting and had sex with them. She was a tough girl. Maybe she could have survived the experience. For some reason, she couldn't. She couldn't sell her soul for fame. That's where she drew the line.
She had kissed and made out with a lot of guys in high school. She had engaged in some heavy petting sessions, with some of them, but she never had sex with any of them.
She wasn't a prude either. She loved dressing in sexy clothes to get males' attention and get her ways with them. She loved the power of having a boy twisted around her little finger. Because she was always surrounded by a group of boys, people assumed that she had slept with all of them. The truth was that she lost her virginity on prom night.
When Annabella left Middletown, she thought she could flirt her way into becoming a celebrity. She couldn't be more wrong. California had chewed her up and spat her out.
One of the last job offers she got was in a massage center, but when she went there, she realized the place obviously wasn't only about massages.
Her manager advised her, "This world is not for you, Bella. You always will be a small-town girl. Go back home."
That was the end of her career as a model. She gave up and decided to come back home broken, her dreams shattered. It had been a humbling experience.
Annabella parked her car in front of her mother's house, went out and walked to the door.
She sighed, thinking about a bowl of warm soup and a comfortable bed where she could stretch her legs. After hours of sitting in her car, Bella's limbs were threatening to cramp, and her back ached.
She took a deep breath and rang the bell. Her mother was not happy to see her.
"Hello, mother."
The woman at the door smirked at her daughter.
"Well, well, well, look who's come crawling back to this town full of losers."
Annabella lowered her head and said nothing.
"'I don't need to go to college, mom,' 'I'm going to be a famous model, mom,' you left your poor mother alone to go California. You never sent a penny to me. Well, where is the fame? Where is the fortune?" Annabella's mother sneered.
The look of shame and embarrassment that came over Annabella's face would have softened a rock. But her mother's heart was harder than stone.
"Mom, I drove all the way here from California. I haven't eaten a proper meal in days. I have slept in my car. I don't need this right now."
The woman let her daughter in and went to the kitchen. A few minutes, later she placed a dish in front of Annabella.
"Your old room is still there. You'll have to clean it, do your own laundry, and contribute with half of the expenses of the house if you want to live here. You'll help me with the cooking too. You should start looking for a job as soon as possible. I won't support you," she told her daughter as she watched her devour some heated leftovers.
Annabella nodded absentmindedly.
"There is a new restaurant in town. The owner went to high-school with you. You might ask him for a job as a waitress or washing dishes, if it's not beneath your dignity," her mother went on with a voice full of sarcasm.
Annabella pushed the food down with a long gulp of water.
"That's a good idea, Mom. Thank you. Who's the owner?"
