Beyond the Black Curtain

Chapter 35 - Perspectives

"Thanks man. And please don't tell Rae. I don't want her worrying more than she already is."

"Sure thing. But if something is bothering you, you talk to her or to me about it, okay?"

I nod and re-join him so we could finish tidying ourselves up.

The shoot ended just before five in the afternoon, and man was I more than ready to go home. Don't get me wrong, working with Chris has and will always be one of the greatest honors and pleasures of my life, but remembering what happened earlier this morning, I was so ready to wrap this day up and spend the rest of the evening with my only girl. Chris had wanted to grab some coffee before heading back to mine with Josh and Meredith tagging along with him. I let them use my car, grabbing an Uber instead back to my place. I wanted to be home before Rae was.

It's almost 7 now and still no sign of Rae. I debated whether to call her or not, torn between not wanting to be the clingy boyfriend and desperate to find out when she's coming home. Just as I was about to dial her number, a text message comes from her, telling me she'd be running a little late due to a meeting she forgot she had agreed to with potential advertisers. I reluctantly tell her it was okay, but I growled out in annoyance that I'd have to wait for her for another few hours. I decide to pass the time by flipping through the TV, but nothing interesting is on.

I decided to keep it on anyway but I turned the volume low so I could hear the front door if it opens. I take the phone out of the charger and decided to check out my Instagram feed. As usual, I was tagged in so many posts, much as I want to respond or like each and every one, I couldn't, there was just SO much. There was one though that caught my eye though. It was a picture of me and a boy, Bruce, who I met a few months back when I visited a Ronald McDonald's Charity event in New York. Beside our snap was a caption. I squinted my eyes to read what it said.

"What the fuck," I mumbled in shock. I sit up and re-read the caption wanting to make sure I understood it correctly. I remember talking to Bruce's mom about his rare condition and my heart broke for the kid. Now, I learn he just died.

My phone rings together with an incoming text. I decide to pick up the call first, seeing it was my manager.

"Seb, have you seen your feed?"

"Yeah, Les...oh my god, is there something we can do? We have to do something!"

I inexplicably had grown anxious quickly at that point, feeling that familiar bubble in my chest growing into something I knew all too familiarly.

"Seb-Sebastian, calm down, I just wanted to check in on you as soon as I saw you tagged in those posts. I'm going to check in with Ann, see what we can do, but we'll definitely reach out to his family, okay? Just...relax, okay? I'll call you again tomorrow or have Josh drop by," Leslie explained. She wasn't my manager during this conversation, she was like my second mother. My nerves calmed a bit.

"Okay, okay," I relented and took a deep, steadying breath. "I'll wait. Thank you for checking up on me."

I drop the phone absentmindedly on the bed as I let the news of Bruce's passing sink in. The kid was just five years old. Five! There was so much of the world he could've seen, a lot of things he could've done, but he was taken away by a nasty degenerative disease and I feel disgusted and angry at how something so horrible could happen to such a beautiful, vibrant kid.

A realization hits me like a ton of bricks. Life is such a fragile thread we hold on to that could snap at any moment's notice without a warning. Bruce's short but meaningful life was a testament to that. I realize I couldn't waste any moment thinking about what ifs and just do whatever it is that I want, when I want to. I should stop worrying about things I don't have any control of and enjoy whatever life hands me and make the most out of it.