*Serene POV*
I left Damon’s room and returned to finish my shift. I could barely keep my eyes open, and in the hotel mirror I saw my eyes were bloodshot. The migraine forming in the back of my head was a harsh reminder of the grizzly scene back with Damon, not to mention, my heart winced at the sight of him sprawled naked, nearly unconscious.
My boss saw how tired I must’ve looked, so she let me go home early. I punched out and thanked her for accommodating my unspoken desire.
On my walk home, stepping over the names of my idols on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I reflected on this bewildering day. Of course, seeing someone almost take their own life took a toll on me, but I felt it was something more. Something related to myself and my life. Maybe seeing that guy almost kill himself awoke my fears about the fragility of my life?
Before I could come to a conclusion my phone rang. I grumbled and looked at the phone. It read, “Jenny”.
It took me a minute to remember that name, considering the craziness of the day.
Then, it suddenly hit me. She was my cousin. She used to be my best friend and we would spend every weekend together as high school students. As we grew older, I realized how she was a manipulative fake b*tch and we stopped talking, but at this stage of my life, we were still close.
“Hello?” I said as I swiped to answer.
“Hey, Serene darling!” the cheerful and sugar-coated voice of my cousin rang through the phone. I used to love her sugar-sweet voice, but it was making me feel sick right now.
My head and my heart were both telling me the same thing; do not trust her.
“Hi, Jenny,” I answered back matter-of-factly. “I can’t believe it's you! I have not heard from you in years.” I realized that was a stupid thing to say, but she didn’t seem to catch on.
“Aww, I missed you too,” she answered in a cooing voice. “Listen, Serene, you remember that screenplay script you have written? How is it coming?”
Immediately alarms went off in my head. Of course! In my past life, she had lied to me asking to read the screenplay draft that I planned to submit to a station once I finished it.
In my naivety, I caved and let her read it. Only she did way more than reading...she submitted it to a station with her name on it and left me royally screwed over.
“Well, Jenny, it’s not done yet,” I lied to her, struggling to not sound suspicious. I knew that I should trust my gut. I would not let her f*ck me over the way she did last time. Now that I knew the future, nobody would be doing that.
“Oh, really?” she said, seeming a little annoyed. “You told me last week that you were finishing it this weekend.”
My hands started to shake in fury and my eyes grimaced. Now that I knew what she was planning, I was filled with rage and refused to let her take my life’s work.
“Serene?” Jenny's voice piqued up again over the phone. I swallowed several times before I answered.
“Y-y-yeah, Jenny I need to go,” I stumbled in a hurried tone. “But it’s not done yet, sorry. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Oh, okay.” I heard her say and hung up before she could speak more sugar coated lies. I continued walking home and my emotions were in a whirlwind. My head swam with discombobulated thoughts of resentment and regret, and I hugged my arms close to my body, struggling to make sense of everything.
When I arrived at my childhood home, the sun had set, and without turning any lights on, I waddled over to my bed in the dark and collapsed to sleep.
I woke up the next morning feeling sick to my stomach. I couldn’t remember exactly everything from the day before. My migraine faded, and was replaced by a subtle piercing pain near my eyes. I was back in my parent's home 5 years ago. Although I hated living with my stepmom, the house was an improvement over the one I shared with Eli. At least I had my cat here.
I remember when I first married Eli the apartment was everything anyone could ever want. We had exquisite granite countertops and marble bathroom floors. Penthouse floor to ceiling windows and stainless steel appliances. But, I soon realized that the grandiose materials were just a distraction from my drifting husband.
Sure, he might have given me nice things and everything I could ever ask for, but deep down the house felt empty, just like my marriage. He was not providing the one thing that was actually free to give me: love.
I stood to my feet as my mind evaluated everything from the past few days. I was struck by a car and then suddenly got flung back in time to my life before Eli.
I was having trouble remembering everything that occurred, but I felt like my life was spiraling. If I was in a movie I should be trying to get back to my former life, but I didn’t find myself missing it. In fact, my second chance on life had me focused on one thing:
This time I would get what was rightfully mine. Success, love, happiness, all of it.
Aside from the love of my life, my son Levi, nothing in my past life had been going well. With Eli, our marriage was in shambles. The reality of what he was doing with that actress engraved pity into my darkened heart.
Tears formed in my eyes and my intestines knotted. It felt like a coarse stone was dislodged in my stomach. These were feelings I never wanted to experience again and now I actually had the opportunity to restart my life, avoiding the same mistakes I made last time.
I would not sacrifice my life for mediocre love this time. I remember how I was head over heels when Eli asked me to marry him and said I’d never have to worry about anything ever again. He made plenty of money and I wanted a share, never having much myself. I was naive to think that money could fix my broken heart.
But then he lost interest in me, told me to be a housewife, and flirted with up-and-coming actresses in the industry, while I was left alone to take care of our dying son.
I looked at the Hello Kitty alarm clock on my nightstand, a reminder of my younger age. In a half-hour, my alarm would go off to wake me for work and I wasn’t ready to go back yet. I pulled out my phone and texted my supervisor at the hotel.
“Hey, is it possible to have a few days off?” I texted. “I really feel unwell.”
I saw the bubble appear indicating he was typing. I held my breath as I waited. I really wanted to stay home, I had personal things to take care of, mainly making sure no matter what happened, I would be in charge of my own life.
“Hey Serene, no problem. Call me Sunday and let me know how you feel.” he wrote. I saw on my phone that it was Tuesday, and let out a sigh of relief. I laid down once again and tried to wrack my brain for a plan.
This exercise made me so exhausted that I must have slept well through the night.
When I woke up it was high noon. I picked my head up feeling really groggy and unsure.
Something was making noise which was very annoying. I looked around and realized it was my alarm clock. I set an alarm for 12pm?
I picked my phone up and realized someone was calling me. It was Jenny, again. I ignored it. I shut my phone off and walked to the kitchen. I started making hot tea as my brain swam with rage. Jenny was so relentless in her effort to steal my work.
Just like before, she was here to ruin me. Well, Jenny, Eli, and everyone else! The joke’s on you this time because I know what you’re planning. I decided that this time, I’d win this game. Jenny would not get my screenplay. Eli would not get my heart.
I made my way to my computer, selected my script, and sent an email to the TV producer. This time, I’ll get revenge!