The Magic of Hollywood // Charlie Gillespie

Chapter 5

Victoria's POV

The same morning

I wake up and roll over to have look at the time. I feel like someone ran me over with a bus. The sun is already up high, yet it feels like I only slept for five minutes. Jenny and I talked for hours last night. I'm so happy I have her. I told her about the flashbacks I had and how I just can't shake the feeling that there was something between Charlie and I. However, she reminded me, and I truly needed that reminder, that I did not come to LA to fall for some boy but to follow my dream. 10am?! I'm shocked for a second when I realize how late it is. I never sleep longer than 8am and that's on a good day. I jump out of bed and hop into the shower. After putting on the slightest bit of make-up to not look as dead as I feel I grab my purse and head outside.

Since I wasn't able to get a proper look of the area and the outsides and locations of the venues yesterday, due to a certain boy with beautiful eyes, I have to catch up today. Oh damn, not even an hour into the day and he's all I can think about. I've been so careful, shutting myself off, building all these walls and now this? Half an hour with a stranger and it's all gone? It truly is better that he's gone. I only let my guard down once before, with Max, I mistake I still suffer from. I shake off the upcoming fear and memories and take a deep breath. This is all over now. I'm in a new country starting to build myself a new life and nothing can stop me. I start smiling as I walk up to Sunset Boulevard to have a look at my future.

One week later

The past week went by so fast. I spent every day walking around the area, looking at the venues, scouting the surroundings and scrolling the internet to find a small affordable apartment. It's been crazy. I barely had time to eat or sleep but I never felt better. Every day I came a little bit closer to my dream. The first venue I looked at was a complete disaster. The area was nice but the venue itself... it would have cost me hundreds of dollars to turn it into a proper club that fits the regulations. The next few venues were nice, but they didn't feel like it. I was almost about to give up, only having two more venues left, but the next one... it was love at first sight. It's located about five minutes from the beach, right next to a cute ice cream shop. The interior is adorable. There are so little things I need to change, it's like it was made just for me. Ok, truth be told, it is the most expensive one I looked at but considering all the money I save by not needing to change much I still snatched a great deal.

Looking for an apartment on the other hand... that doesn't go so well. My reservation in the hotel is only for another two days and I still haven't found something. One day I wanna buy a loft, on the roof of a high building (not too high though, I'm crazy scared of heights) with a little hot tub on the balcony and a full glass front. I know, I know... I'm not saying that's what I'm aiming for right now, it's just a future goal. Right now I would be happy with anything that's not hours away from the club and doesn't require me sharing my room with rats. Finding this for a reasonable price though... impossible. I spent most of my money on buying the club so until that's out of the red I decided to just crash in the back of it. There is a cute little room with a very comfy couch. It'll do for now. The only issue is showering... I have yet to find a solution for that, but I'll be fine. It's very warm outside so for now I'm just going for a swim every morning... again, not ideal but it's better than nothing, right?

Being crazy busy the past week has really helped me deal with this whole Charlie-thing. Focussing on finding the perfect club and an apartment didn't leave me any time to be caught in memories of either one, Max or Charlie. I haven't felt this free ever since I started dating Max. I have to admit, I wasn't one hundred percent sure about whether it is the right choice to run away to the states after the break-up but now I know it was exactly what I had to do. I would have never found happiness being stuck home in Germany.

I head out of the club to go get my daily morning swim. Since the club is only five minutes from the beach I leave my phone in the club and just enjoy my surroundings. I'm just about to cross the street, looking left and right, when something catches my eye. I don't know why I haven't seen it before, I walk down this way pretty much every day. Maybe it just go changed yesterday. Judging from the looks of it it has been hanging there for a while though. Maybe I had just been too caught up in all the things I had to organize to pay proper attention or maybe, just maybe, my mind wasn't ready to process what I was about to realize and ignored it the past days. On my right I see a huge poster. It's purple and shows three guys with instruments and a girl with a microphone. It advertises a new Netflix show called Julie and the Phantoms. That's when it hits me. One of the guys on the poster is Charlie.