chapter 4-ana

After I found an Uber to pick me up and drive me to the hotel that the label was putting me up in for the next week. The hotel was in central Hollywood and was right around the corner from the label’s head offices. The Uber stopped right out front and after thanking my driver I gathered my things and headed inside. The hotel lobby was filled with people, and it was one of the nicest places I had ever stepped foot in. I looked around and finally found the reception desk and went to check-in. I walked up to the first available worker and handed her my ID, “checking in for Anastasia Winters.” She took my ID, typed some things into her computer, and with a warm smile said “Yes, Ms. Winters we’ve been expecting you!” Once she had gotten me all checked in and explained all the accommodations and offerings at the hotel, I thanked her and headed to the elevator. Once inside I realized that I was on the top floor of the hotel and got a little bit giddier inside. This was going to be one of the best weeks of my life.

I got off the elevator and walked down to the end of the hall to my room. I held my key up to the door and opened it to the nicest room I had ever stepped foot in. The floors were covered in a nice dark red carpet, the walls were a nice bright contrasting cream color, and all the furniture was made of really nice dark wood. There was a couch in a sitting area with a TV and a coffee table, and a kitchen with a full-size fridge, microwave, and coffee maker on a nice granite countertop. In a separate bedroom, there was a king-size bed, a huge dresser with a TV on top, and a bathroom with a tub and a shower along with big fluffy towels and a nice big warm bathrobe sitting on the sink counter.

After I took a minute to take in my surroundings, I decided to call my father and let him know I had landed and was in my room safe and sound. He said he was so excited for me and couldn’t wait to hear all about my week away when I got home and was ready to celebrate my getting the job as soon as I landed back in Arizona. I told him it was bad luck to plan anything before I had even interviewed for it, but even I had to admit I had a very good feeling about this interview and the job itself. I told him I was going to go out and do some exploring. We said our goodbyes and I grabbed my bag and headed out the door.

I walked towards the elevator, pressed the button to head down to the ground floor, and hopped on to ride the thirty floors down. I pulled out my phone to text Henry and let him know that I had made it to the hotel and where I was heading to do some exploring so he knew that I would be busy and that I was safe. When mom had passed a couple of years ago, Dad shut down. He didn’t know how to function without our mom and Henry stepped up and became more of a father figure than a brother. He was a junior in high school and I was a freshman. He made sure I made it to all my classes and my extracurriculars, and he was in the front row whenever I had a school event. We had never been closer and I was beyond grateful that he was there for me through everything. He texted back to ask about my room and everything and I was just about to answer when the elevator stopped. I looked up to see it was stopping on the 20^th floor and was about to ignore it when this weirdly familiar guy stepped on the elevator. He smiled at me, and I just brushed it off as a familiar face, smiled back, and returned to my texts with my brother. “Hey Kev! Hold the elevator!” That voice. Why did I know that voice? And that’s when the owner of the voice hopped onto the elevator, and I knew why I knew the voice. “Josh?” He turned around and you would’ve sworn that he was reuniting with a long-lost friend. He hugged me so tight that I thought I would lose consciousness. “What in the world are you doing here?” I asked. He said, “This is where I stay when I have meetings with my cousin about the band. This is Kevin by the way, he’s, our guitarist.” Kevin, the guy who had gotten on the elevator before Josh, extended his hand to me with a smile. I took his hand and gave it a firm shake. That’s why he had looked so familiar, he had been on Josh’s lock screen. “Are you here until your interview?” he asked me, and I nodded my head. “I’m heading out to grab a bite to eat if you guys want to hang out and come with me. I haven’t eaten a proper meal since I was back in Arizona and I’m starving. He frowned and said, “We would but we have a meeting at the label in like 10 minutes. Can I call you later and maybe we can all meet up for dinner or something?” I nodded my head and told him it was all good and that we could meet up later. He smiled and the elevator finally made it to the ground floor. We walked out the front door and they started walking around the corner, so I followed them and carried on with our conversation until we got to the doors of this gigantic building that read “NDA Records”. It all clicked at once. “This is your label?” he nodded, “Why?” I felt like this was a sign from my mother that this whole situation was going to work out and that it was going to be life-changing. “there’s no way,” I said under my breath. Josh heard me and gave me a questioning look. “This is the label that I’m interviewing with on Wednesday. To photograph for a band called ‘28 Club’ on their upcoming tour.” He looked at me like I had three heads before pulling me into another tight bear hug. “Then we are meeting up for dinner after our meeting and I’ll bring my cousin so we can all hang and then we can all get to know each other, and you’ll have the job in the bag!” I smiled at how excited he was and realized that no matter what happened Wednesday, Josh and I would be friends for a long time.

I finally let them get inside so they wouldn’t be late for their meeting and told Josh I would text him later to see where they wanted to meet up. In the meantime, I decided to explore Los Angeles and Hollywood. It was only 11:30 in the morning and Josh said they weren’t going to be done until at least 3 pm so I had at least 3 and a half hours. I decided to walk around central Hollywood and do some sightseeing as I went. I walked around and found out I was only about a mile from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, so I walked to that and took a walking tour to see all of the famous names along the trail. Next, I took a taxi to the bottom of the Hollywood sign and took a walking tour to see it. Once we made it to the top of the sign, I took a bunch of photos to send to my dad and Henry and even snapped a selfie to send to Josh, so he knew what I was up to. He sent back a smiley face emoji and told me that they were almost done with their meeting, and it was only at that moment that I realized it was after 4 pm. I told him I would be back at the hotel in about an hour and then we could plan what we were doing for dinner. I smiled at the text and started making my way down the trail to call a taxi to get back to the hotel.

…

I got back to the hotel around 5 pm and texted Josh to see what the plan was. He said that he and the band would be heading to the Santa Monica pier around 6:30 to grab dinner and then they were going out for drinks afterward and that I could ride in the Uber with them if I liked since I was new in town and that way, we could all drink and not have to worry about a ride home. I thought it was very sweet of him to invite me to ride with them and I was beyond excited to be going to the pier because I hadn’t been since I was a kid when our parents took us. I texted him that I would meet him in the lobby at 6:30 and then headed up to my room to get ready.

I went upstairs and called my dad to let him know how my day had been because I was sure it would be late when I got back. We talked about all the sightseeing I had done and how I was heading out with some friends I had made for dinner. He was excited that I had made friends and even more so when I told him that Josh and Kevin worked at the record label. He was convinced like I had been, that it was a sign from mom and that the job was mine. I finished getting ready and realized it was already 6:15. So I told Dad I would call when I had free time over the next couple of days and hung up. I grabbed my bag and my camera and headed out the door to meet the boys in the lobby. I was so excited to be going out with them and to be able to just have a fun night with my new friends and hopefully the people I would be spending god knows how much time with if I got the job. The elevator once again stopped on the 20^th floor, and it opened to Josh and Kevin waiting for the elevator. “Well hello again. Are you excited for tonight?” Josh asked me and I nodded with what was probably too much excitement, but he just let out a soft chuckle. The three of us talked about where we would be going for dinner and drinks and how their meeting had gone until we made it to the ground floor and walked outside to our Uber. Josh held open the door for me to get in and I thanked him before hopping in and shuffling over to the other side to make room for Josh and Kevin. Josh told the driver we had a stop to make on the way and he just nodded. “Where are we stopping?” I asked him. “We have to grab my cousin on the way, he’s our leading man and he’s excited to meet you. I figured it would be easier for us to all ride together.” I nodded and looked out the window as we rode. Hollywood was almost as beautiful as New York at night, and I was excited about what the future held for me in this city. We stopped outside a beautiful apartment complex and a guy who looked to be about our age came out, but I couldn’t see much other than the fact that he was tall. Josh jumped out to hug him and they both hopped in the Uber. The stranger turned towards me with a smile that slowly dropped once he looked at me fully. That’s when time seemed to freeze, and my chest felt like it was full of bricks. “Zay?” He looked at me like I was a ghost, “Stasia?”