Chapter One

Adam Breck was tired of having no privacy. Everywhere he went there were paparazzi, fans wanting pictures and autographs, and his agent always calling him on his cell phone, nagging him about one thing or the other. Especially after the release of his newest film I'm Coming Home, which was a big hit. He was now being bombarded with telephone calls from his agent, his ex-girlfriend-super model Tracey Rice-, his manager, and his family. It was just getting to be too much for him to handle.

As a child he had always dreamed of being rich and owning a big house and several of his dream cars. Those dreams had come true. He owned a '66 Mustang in mint condition, a Lamborghini Gallardo, and an Aston Martin AMV10. He was definately living the high life. But this life that he had dreamed of as a child and a teenager, before he finally broke into the business when he was fifteen, wasn't what he'd expected. There were the fans, the annoying people who always asked if he could get them a movie contract, the paparazzi, people watching your every move, and the high expectations. His life wasn't really his dream life.

Adam sat on a large black leather couch in his sitting room looking at a blank giant flat screen television, completely bored out of his mind. If he was really living the 'dream life' then wouldn't he be out having fun? Wouldn't he always be having fun instead of sitting here wondering what he was going to do next? He could get any girl he wanted, get into any restaurant, any club, and any party, and instead he was sitting here like a bump on a log.

For the first few years everything had been so much fun. He'd been out every weekend partying and meeting new people, being seen and getting caught doing things that he shouldn't have done. But now all the magic was fading. He found he really didn't enjoy going to all of those parties and staying up until three in the morning. He didn't really enjoy having women follow him around like a puppy dog. It just wasn't really what he had imagined all those years ago.

Since he'd turned thirty two months ago he had especially realized that he wanted something more then just passing fancies with women. He wanted a real relationship, one that wasn't going to fall apart for love of money and fame, he would give it all up if he could find a woman that he would love and cherise for always. It was his dream and he wanted to share it with someone. He wanted children, lots of them, running around calling him daddy and playing games together. He wanted a wife that he could tell everything to and not worry that she will judge him.

It was then, in his four point five million dollar Malibu house, that he decided he was going to take a break from it all. He was going to dissapear for a while and not come back until he was absolutely needed. When that would be, he had no idea, but Adam figured that after being in the business for fifteen years it was time for him to take a break. Maybe, while on his vacation, he would find that woman that he dreamed about.

* * * * * *

"What?" Eddie Marks cried as his client told him his plans. "You are not just disappearing for a few months! Not with that movie that just came out! It's number one in the box office! I'm getting calls right and left about interviews and invitations to be on talk shows! Everyone loves you!"

"Eddie, you need to calm down. I'm not going to leave you forever, I need a break, that's all. I'll still pay you, but I'm not going to be on any talk shows and I definately don't want any interviews." Adam said calmly. He had been expecting the reaction he got from his agent, but that didn't mean that he was ready to deal with him.

"At least tell me where you're going to be so I can reach you!" Eddie said, still screaming slightly.

"No." Adam replied. "Part of taking a break is not having you interrupt me all the time. I'm going to be where there are no interruptions, only relaxation." He was being idealistic, but he didn't really care. In what perfect world would there be no interruptions and problems to arise. Isn't that what life was all about?

"It's my job to manage everything that you do." Eddie said matter-of-factly."How can I do my job if I don't know where you are?"

"There are times in life when you have to make sacrifices and deal with things. Your job will be to put off everyone while I'm away. I have no clue how long I will be gone for and I don't know yet where I'm going to go, so it looks like you really don't have much of a choice." Adam told his agent truthfully. He had made the decision to leave, he just didn't know where that decision would lead him to."Unless you want me to find an agent who is willing to just take all my calls and distract people from me for a while. It shouldn't be too hard to do." Adam knew it was low to threaten his agent, he was a good man and he did what he thought was best, but he really didn't want to be bothered while he was taking a break.

"No!" Eddie cried. "I suppose I can put up with your crazy ideas for a while. Just wait, in about a week you'll come back to reality and say to me, 'Eddie, you were right. I don't know what I was thinking when I left.' I will wait for that day to come."

"Don't hold your breath, because I don't plan on coming back for at least three months." Adam retorted. Even if he hated being away from his house he could handle three months. He'd done it before while shooting a film, and he could do it again if need be.

"You won't last three months." Eddie said.

* * * * * *

After four and a half hourse of deliberation Adam finally concluded that he would travel to the opposite side of the country. In his research he had stumbled upon a small town called Belleair Beach. The website described it as "Belleair Beach maintains a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere providing all the advantages of waterfront living and the charm of an old-fashioned neighborhood". In his research there were lavish 'Celebrity Resorts', but he wasn't interested in those. He found a small quaint hotel called The Mermaid Inn. He scrolled down on the website and began to read the customer reviews. They described the hotel as "Wonderful personal service with a friendly hostess. A fantasy world that everyone will enjoy."

With that he booked his three month reservation online, procured a plane ticket, packed his things, and was out the door three hours later having booked a last minute flight on a plane leaving in five.

Author's Note

Tell me what you think!

Reviews

[pops&fizzes]

Great story! I loved it so far!

[cloister]

In short, I think you should "show, don't tell."

What I can infer from the description of this book, plus this opening chapter, my gut feeling is that this story idea will work best as an interleaved pair of stories--his and hers--that meet somewhere in the middle and then proceed on together but still interleaved as chapters from each character's point of view.

For all I know, that's the structure you have in mind in the subsequent chapters, but obviously I haven't gotten that far.

My major comment on the writing is that this chapter is basically all "tell" and no "show." I think it would work a lot better to have chapter 1 just be _showing_ scenes where the reader can _infer_ a) Adam's life as a famous movie star, and b) his disillusionment with that life. That's really all chapter 1 needs to do, convince us that he is a jaded Hollywood star. Show him at one of these endless, anonymous parties, going through the motions of hooking up with some fan-girl but not really being into it. Being repulsed by it on some level. Show him coming to a personal crisis--perhaps conveyed through the metaphor of being literally unable to get it up to have sex with the fan-girl because he is so thoroughly turned off by that aspect of his life--then end the chapter. Leave the reader hanging, wondering what he's going to do next.

Chapter 2, you pick up with the woman's story, wherever it starts. Again, pick a _scene_ you can show (rather than an event-summary you can dictate) that will convey whatever it is you want us to know about her, put her in some kind of crisis, and leave the reader hanging.

Chapter 3, you pick back up with Adam, maybe waking up with a horrible hangover after the night before, and deciding he has to get away from it all. Then the phone call to his agent. Make him leave with only the barest of preparation. His goal, after all, is not to go _somewhere_, but rather, to go _anywhere else than where he is_. Getting out of dodge is his goal, not arriving somewhere else. So he'll do the minimum he possibly can to satisfy that screaming urge to ESCAPE NOW! Throw some clothes in a gym bag, grab his wallet with credit cards, and get a taxi to the airport. Take the first flight to ... anywhere. One of those scenes where he gets to the ticket counter and says "I need a plane ticket," and the airline person says "Yes sir, where are you travelling to today?" he pauses--maybe he's still hung over enough that this is the first moment he's actually contemplated that escape _from_ hollywood means going _to_ somewhere else. "I don't care. What leaves in the next hour that's far away?" The airline person pecks away at the computer for a second and says "There's a cross-country flight to Orlando that leaves in 25 minutes. If you hurry you can probably still make it through security." So he slaps down his credit card, gets his ticket, and dashes off.

You get the idea. Write _scenes_, not summaries. They're more fun to write, and an awful lot more fun to read. Overall, your goal should be that if you want the reader to know X about one of your characters, where X is a personality trait, you should always find a way to show that trait in action in a scene. You should never have to say "Adam was a generous guy" or "Adam drank too much" or "Adam would screw anything that moved, except Swedish girls" or whatever. You should never have to _tell_ the reader such things, because the reader should be able to _infer_ those traits from the behaviors, dialogue, and actions you _show_ in the scenes you write.