Eric.

Danielle promised herself she wouldn’t cry anymore, at least not for the rest of the day. She went relaxed to the meeting, wearing some Nike Air Forces and a hoodie. She put a hat and sunglasses on so the puffiness of her eyes was unrecognisable to the public. Danielle looked left and right; there was nobody. She steadily closed the door trying not to make any noise. She headed for the elevator and exhaled when the elevator doors closed. The lobby was filled with guests and employees. Danielle gasped in fear. What are you scared of? Get out there! Danielle slowly walked outside, her shoulders stiff and her knees almost locked. “Please nobody notice me, please nobody notice me…” Danielle thought. Every time she cried and then somebody went up to her for a casual conversation or an autograph, they always asked her “Are you okay?” Her eyes were vividly red and her eyelids were droopy. It was obvious that she’d been crying. She always responds “Yeah, I’m fine” but she really wanted to say “Not really. I’m beating myself up for everything wrong that happens in this world and I believe that’s why I’m such a lonely f**k and it’s leading me to suicidal thoughts”. She safely made it to the parked limousine, heading to an Interscope office situated in Manhattan.

In the room, impatiently waiting was Jimmy, Rich (the director) and Paul Rosenberg. Paul? What’s he doing here? She clenched her fists and gave a frigid smile. She removed her hat and sunglasses, always looking down. She sat down, pulling her sleeves to her fists, covering her hands. They all inspected her moves. They weren’t stupid, they knew something was wrong. Jimmy, knowing Danielle better than anyone else in this world, avoided the subject for a moment and looked at Paul. “Where’s Marshall?” he asked him. “He’s at Shade 45 right now. I’m here for him” Paul affirmed. “Right then…” Jimmy said, exhaling as if he was frustrated. The whole meeting was about the concept of the video. Where it was going to be shot, who the stylists were going to be, who was allowed on set. But it was planned out already, thanks to Jimmy’s anxiousness to release Danielle’s new work. It was settled that filming will start the following day in New Jersey and would be done, hopefully, all in one day as everybody was on an extremely tight schedule. Rich had a similar idea to Danielle’s, suggesting to also have the theme of luxury and glamorisation of different things in life but it was going to be finished with an ‘intimate’ moment between her and Marshall. “What do you mean by ‘intimate’?” Danielle asked Rich. “I mean by a dance or a hug. Jimmy told me he wanted to start something between you two” Rich said. She looked instantly at Jimmy, waiting for an answer. “I mean, why not say that you two had something going on. It’ll only have the song higher up the charts” he explained “Think about it. You two have an ‘affair’, people will go crazy. But at the end, there won’t be anything. I promise.” Danielle reminded him of the Jared situation. “That was different. He made a move on you, you punched him and he deserved it. We never told him to move onto you” Jimmy said. “Really? Because he said you did…” Danielle said. “We’re not gonna fight over this again, Danny…” Jimmy said, chuckling nervously at Rich and Paul. “I think it’ll push sales up” Paul said. “Thank you!” Jimmy exclaimed. Danielle rolled her eyes. “So can we get started?” Rich asked. “Sure!” Paul said. The meeting was over. Danielle and Jimmy were the last ones to leave. He grabbed her by the arm and asked “You okay?” Danielle looked at her arm being held back. “I’m fine” Danielle responded, shrugging her arm off him.­ She walked out, fitting her hat back on and her sunglasses. She jogged to the limousine as she didn’t want any more questions to be asked. She jumped inside the limousine and slammed the door closed.

The chauffeur started driving off but Danielle remembered something. “Hey, can we make a stop first?” she asked the driver. “As you wish, Miss Reeves” he answered.  Minutes later, they were on the rough sides of Brooklyn. Brought Danielle bittersweet memories but she wasn’t there to see the people who caused her severe harm or gave her infinite love. The limousine halted at an apartment block, wasn’t as bad as the ones around it. The atmosphere of the place felt cold and ghastly as fog floated through the inhibited air. She crossed her arms to try and keep herself warm and walked over to the front door to the block. She squinted to look at the buttons, trying to find a 7B in the blurred lettering. She buzzed three times. No answer. Again. “Yeah?” a husky male voice said. “It’s me” Danielle answered him “Let me up.” The door screeched opened and she entered. The elevators were always out of order and had to walk up the stairs to the seventh floor. 7B. The door was partially opened and she opened it further. “Hello?” she called out. She fully entered the room. “Mom!” Eric yelled and ran to her to give a lasting hug. She hadn’t felt the tight hold of her son in three months.