The Actor by Maya Brooks

When?”
    “Tomorrow. What
do I do?”
    “I’ll put in
for vacation for you, but you’d better call in. You know he’s been on a firing
spree.”
    True, and
this will take more than a few days. Maybe I should just quit and get it over
with .
    Heather’s voice
sounded curious. “Honey, why are you going to Canada?”
    “Marc lives
there.”
    “And he’s in
trouble, of course. Funny, I always imagined him belonging to Hollywood.”
    “Me too. A lot
of stuff I thought was American comes from there. I had no idea.”
    “You know they
have winter now, right?”
    “No. Crap. I
don’t have any warm clothes.”
    Heather
hesitated. “Laura, I don’t think you’ll be coming back here. Keep in touch,
okay? And take care of yourself. He’s adorable, but don’t let him drag you
down.”
    The kind words
created a big lump in her throat.
    “I’ll call you
tomorrow.”
    All of a sudden
there was so much to do, and she couldn’t decide which feeling was more
overwhelming: being mortified for him, or joyous over him asking her to come.
    She scurried
around the apartment, touching random things, realized she wasn’t getting
anywhere, and forced herself to sit down and make a plan.
    I have to be
there for Marc or I won’t be able to live with myself. Whatever mess remains
behind, I can deal with later.
    Her wardrobe
had never seemed so poor.
    How long
will I be there? A day? Forever?
    She ended up
packing all her good clothes and shoes, and a few loved things that were so
small he wouldn’t notice.
    What else?
Bills? I get them online. Mail? There has to be a forwarding form here
somewhere…
    Marc called
again after a couple of hours. She could hear him grimace.
    “As long as I’m
home talking to you, I’m not getting into trouble.”
    The comment
pinched at her heart, but made her laugh too. He was still drinking, but it was
the most sober he’d sounded since leaving her apartment.
    It’s harder
for him up there, surrounded by old habits.
    They spent a
couple of hours playing online games, just to keep him occupied.
    He wasn’t the
only one with problems sleeping. Her stomach was filled with butterflies,
keeping rest away, but she managed to slumber for a couple of hours.
    She had a
peculiar feeling when she went through her apartment, checking doors and
windows were locked. Heather’s words rang in her ears.
    I’ll never
come back here. It feels like I’ll be back in two days, but I don’t think I’ll
ever see this place again. Even if I do, it won’t be the same.
    She had a lump
in her throat when she went to the taxi, and swallowed hard, saying goodbye to
the woman she had been.
    The airport
overwhelmed her, but she made her way to the right gate, and her mood
brightened once she was on the plane. One had to gamble to win. This might be
the greatest gamble of her life, and if she won…
    Either way, it
was an adventure. It was her first time in first class, and she marveled over
the flight attendants fussing over her, tending to her every need. There was
breakfast, orange juice, and all the coffee she could ask for.
    Is this
plane never going to land?
    A man in the
neighboring seat pulled up a terminal from the armrest, and she imitated him.
    Ooh, a
computer. Games. Flight data. Four more hours, are you kidding?
    When the plane
finally went in for landing, she peeked out the window. After living a lifetime
in the sunshine state, the outside snow looked so different she almost
panicked.
    Wow it looks
cold. This might not have been my best idea ever.
    She forced
herself to shake it off. She was a big girl, and had nothing to fear. Worst
case scenario, she could get a taxi, go to a hotel, and fly back home.
    She left the
plane trying to look in all directions at once. Marc had promised to meet her,
but she didn’t know where, and the airport was huge.
    At least
there’s lots of stuff to look at. Is that supposed to be a fish? Oooh, that
abstract bird is pretty cool. Holy moly what a big canoe. I hope he