If I Could

{38} - Old Friends

Mailen Mazzello, a celebrity, unlike Belle, who was a socialite. That did not matter, both were as popular. Mailen was a writer, one of a kind, who had found impressive success — the kind of success that most people work for a lifetime to achieve —after releasing her debut novel. At only nineteen years old, she had already accomplished so much; And her future seemed very bright.

But after releasing the decade's best-selling trilogy of books, Mailen decided to stop signing publishing contracts in order to start signing birth certificates. At her height of her fame, Mailen got pregnant with her boyfriend Joseph Mazzello's child, who was a member of a prominent political family. She gave birth to a son, Eric Mazzello, and her life became complete — she had a family, she had money, she had amazing friends, she had an amazing loyal fanbase.

But not everything was rosy. Being under the spotlight provided a hard and cruel lifestyle for Mailen; who had drastically gone from being an ordinary Argentinian girl to being a household name in the United Kingdom and all over the world. She was constantly being praised and eulogised by her fans and press, but the press still loved to harass her, putting an insane amount of pressure on everything she did. She wanted to know why it had to be so hard only for her.

If there was one thing that Mailen Mazzello, née Lee, had learnt over her six years of being a famous writer, was this: Nowhere was safe. Not the streets, not the car, not the airports, not in her hotels, not in the streets of other countries. No matter where she'd be, there would always be a camera or a passing person. She was always being watched. And when her lack of privacy began to completely mess with her sanity, she started to find a way to relieve her distress, her desperation, her pain. She found it in a bottle of rum. In a bottle of wine. In a bottle of vodka. Her body began screaming for alcohol everyday, and she started to need it more and more. It became her medicine, a part of her daily life.

But just like everything in the world, her alcohol abuse had to come to an end.

It was a cold Saturday morning. She opened her eyes, only to find out she couldn't move very well since she was hooked up to an IV drip. The atmosphere was desperately frightening.  She looked to her right. Her husband Joseph was with her. Her son Eric was nowhere to be seen. She asked about him. Joseph broke down in tears. Child protection services had temporarily taken him away, granting Joseph the full custody of his son with supervised visits with his mother. That's where she knew she had to stop — she had become legally uncapable of taking care of her own son, and she had to do something about it. She had to go to rehab in a totally different part of the country, without friends or family. It was going to be a long and painful process, but it had to be done.

But the wait was over now. The first place Mailen visited was Belle's old house, where she lived with Mary. Mailen was talking to Mary about her return to the city and her plans for the future. Mary was delighted to see that she was healthy again. After spending several minutes talking about everything under the Sun, Mailen's smile fell.

She looked at the person entering the house. Familiarity washed over her brain, and her heart skipped a beat when she realised who it was.

It was Belle Bulsara, her beautiful and beloved best friend. The girl who had been her maid of honour, the godmother of her son, the sister she never had. After spending hours, days, weeks and months waiting for the moment they'd meet again, she only managed to scream her name in overwhelming happiness.

"Belle!".

Belle looked at her, and let out a smile that contained all the ecstasy in the world. She was resisting the urge to jump over the table and hug her. Even after one year and a half, she made her heart race at the speed of light. She had changed. For the better. Her appareance no longer looked flushed — her brittle hair, her underweight physique, and her yellow eyes were nowhere to be seen. She looked better than ever, very healthy, radiating nothing but rejoice.