When the shock subsided, Natasha had an entirely different set of memories sitting inside her head.
This wasn't hers. This was completely different. The reason the shock was so profound and acted as a trigger was that according to the memories the date was wrong.
Those memories belonged to a parallel world version of her. In that world, she died when she was in her forties, due to a road accident as well. But, the biggest change was the date she last remembered in that world.
That world was thirty years ahead of the timeline in this world.
The rapid progress that engulfed that world in the next two decades made Natasha speechless. She never imagined such sophistication could be possible. The level of technology alone seriously scared her a bit.
It was only 1989 now.
Computers were vague words that she heard highly educated people mutter about. Cell phones were not widely spread. She had never even heard about this stuff called the Internet.
In that world, computers were as common as TV sets. Everyone had a cell phone. The Internet became an essential commodity of life in that world. And these were only the most notable changes.
There were a lot of changes that made her both scared and excited. It was as if that world was completely different from hers. But she knew from memory that the changes only started appearing rapidly in the last three decades.
Natasha had a hunch at that moment that if she could use this knowledge to her advantage she could become a rich lady easily. But, in the parallel world, her counterpart was also a relatively normal person. She only knew of major events that shook the world.
Even then, she didn't know the nitty-gritty details regarding those events. Moreover, she had read a lot of conspiracy theories on the Internet that scared Natasha a bit.
Jumping into such things without knowing enough would surely cause her death. So, Natasha was very cautious regarding that stuff. Her principle had always been to not get involved in stuff she didn't know much about.
But, the problem that Natasha faced was that she didn't know about many things. Whether it was financial stuff or computer-related things, Natasha had no knowledge regarding them. If she had that Internet, then maybe she could learn. Alas! Things weren't that easy.
That damn Internet thingy was way too useful. And her parallel world counterpart had been too stupid to use it properly. Natasha could only scoff at her counterpart's actions.
But, she understood that once she become accustomed to such a thing, she would also act complacent. After all, everyone knows a public library can help you learn about many things. But, how many people do you see using it?
It was a bit like that.
So, Natasha understood that she couldn't use that future knowledge that easily. It needed the right time, right place, and the right opportunity for her to take advantage of it. And that only involved major events that happened once a decade or so.
What about the rest of the time? Is she to wait for one major event after another and spend her life chasing after them? Natasha didn't like that at all. If she could take advantage of those things, then well and good. If not, then it was no skin off her back.
She didn't want to waste her life living for such singular events. Life was too beautiful to waste like that. She may be a waitress currently, but she did enjoy her life to the fullest.
So, Natasha put away the thought about making money with future knowledge and took a close look at her counterpart's life. That was when a crazy plan came to her mind.
Her parallel-world counterpart didn't live the same life as her. Their lives weren't identical. Hell, even their looks weren't identical. There were major differences in their looks and life experiences.
For one thing, the parallel world counterpart didn't have a miserable teenage life like hers. Her counterpart had graduated high school and went on to college with the support of her parents. She had a loving family that supported her dreams.
And what a dream her counterpart had!!!
In a way, she understood her counterpart's dream a bit. To someone who hasn't suffered as much as her in her teenage years, it was natural to dream about being someone famous.
Unlike her, whose dream has been to live a clean and comfortable life without any messy things, her counterpart wanted to be a star.
For that reason, she even chose an acting course for her college degree. She underwent meticulous training and learned all kinds of stuff about movies. She was really dedicated to her dream. And her parents supported her as well.
Eventually, she started acting in some TV dramas and moved to the movies. Unfortunately, luck wasn't with her. Bad selection of scripts and not having enough luck caused her to miss out on opportunities that could have made her famous.
In the end, her counterpart ended up as a decent supporting role actress. When she died, she had acted in around sixty different roles. She had even become a mainstay fringe character in all kinds of movies.
She was someone whose face was familiar to the audience. They had a good impression of her. She never got any bad reputation during her career. But, she never did any breakout performance as well.
When she turned thirty, her passion faded and she became accustomed to playing soy sauce in movies. Her entry into TV shows and Web series gave her a much-needed boost. But, it was just that. She never became famous as she originally wanted.
Her life wasn't something legendary. But, her life was peaceful and she did what she loved to do for a living. Natasha couldn't look down on such a life. For someone who was struggling to make ends meet, that kind of life looked dream come true.
Her counterpart even married an independent director after falling in love with him. Such a life was worthy of pursuit in her opinion. If she could have half of what her counterpart had, Natasha would die in peace.
So, in a fit of madness and recklessness, Natasha decided to make being an actress her goal as well. And Los Angeles was the right place to go if she wanted to accomplish it.
During these few days, Natasha spent most of her time reviewing the memories of her counterpart and absorbing the information contained within them. The systematic training her counterpart underwent became a great boon to her.
With nothing else to do other than stare at the hospital ceiling, Natasha spent her days trying to assimilate the memories and experiences left behind by her counterpart regarding acting.
From her counterpart's experience, Natasha knew that landing the first role was very important to any aspiring actor or actress. A good performance in that would open more doors.
In a way, the experience of her counterpart became the biggest goldmine for Natasha. Learning acting was different. But, the actual experience of it was really something else. Those small errors that needed to be avoided and little tricks that could make it easy for her to act made her smile broadly.
If those acting lessons served as the base, then the experiences of her counterpart stabilized her base even further. The little tips and tricks her counterpart learned from rolling around in the industry for more than a decade and a half were simply precious in Natasha's eyes.
Things like, don't look at the camera when you act; never run your mouth to reporters; always be polite to everyone you encounter, even if you hate them; never take anything from a competitor during an audition; never relax even if you got the role, can never be taught.
They can only be experienced and understood.
Natasha didn't just stop there. Every time she went to the restroom, she would stand in front of the big mirror there and try to practice the acting methods she learned from the memories.
She always felt that knowledge was useless if she didn't use it in real life. So, she paid particular attention to practice every day. Spending over two hours in total in the restroom and practicing her acting made her understand that the memories alone can't help her become a star.
However, Natasha wasn't discouraged due to this. If anything, this only made her practice harder. After three days, Natasha also realized some things she had overlooked initially.
The most important thing was that both Natasha and her counterpart differed in looks drastically. It wasn't that evident when Natasha didn't practice in front of the mirror. But, when she did, Natasha realized that she was far more beautiful than her counterpart.
Her counterpart had hard features. This made her unsuitable for various characters in movies. When the production companies cast for movies, most of the time they went for females with soft features as their candidates. Unless they had a need for a female with hard features, they wouldn't cast someone whose features were hard in any major roles.
This was the biggest issue her counterpart faced when competing for important roles. This kind of discrimination wasn't that big in TV shows, but when it came to feature films and commercial blockbusters, it was always there.
Thanks to her scumbag father, Natasha's looks had the effeminate charm that was unique to French people. This made her natural blonde looks to become more alluring. There was a sexiness to her figure that her counterpart lacked. Her counterpart had more of a stern temperament, to be honest.
Natasha had a hunch that if she could capitalize on this difference, her acting career might become even more glorious than her counterpart's.
*****
A/N: Check out my other stories and let me know your thoughts...
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