▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
R e a d y 2 S t a r t
The movie was a thriller, so I wasn't all that into it, but it was still somewhat interesting in some parts that I've seen of it. I was glad that I was paid for the entire experience, whether it was not much going on or not. So, after the premiere, Mr. McKnight invited us all to lunch to make up for there not being an after-party, but I declined and got dropped off at Terrell's home.
I chose to stay behind because I didn't want to get past a working relationship with him. He was my boss, and that's the only way that I see it staying.
While I was entering the house, my cellphone rang, and I answered it, realizing it was the landlord, letting me know that an apartment was available to check out. I hung up the phone after letting the guy know that I would be there.
"I'm sorry if y'all wanted to do something together," I apologized, placing my cellphone into the purse. "But I have to go check out an apartment, the landlord just called me,"
"That's not a problem," Toya replied, standing up as she tossed her hair over her shoulders. "I'm going with you because we weren't doing anything,"
"I'll go to, I'm not gonna let nobody play games with you. Although you're moving out; I want you to have the right place to stay in. I'll be on my best behavior," Terrell said, getting up from the sofa as he headed upstairs.
I wondered if that was true or not, but I chose to ignore it as Toya; and I walked out of the house, heading towards my rental car.
"You know that you didn't have to come with me," I told her, unlocking the doors.
"That's okay," Toya asserted, waving it off as she opened the door to the passenger seat. "We weren't even doing anything but watching movies. Also, I wanted to be there for support because you're my sister!"
I nodded my head with a smile, getting into the driver's seat, and saw Terrell locking his door as he then jogged towards the car. As he walked to the passenger door, he went to open it until Toya pressed the button to put the window down.
"Get in the back!" She ordered, laughing afterward.
"Man..." He frowned, smacking his teeth as he opened the door to the backseat and slid inside the car. "Where's this apartment at?"
"It's probably ten minutes away from your house," I said, answering his question as I put the address into the GPS and turned on the car. "However, from the production company, it's like ten to fifteen minutes away. I would have to leave extremely early for work to be there on time,"
"That's cool," He replied.
I pulled away from the house, going in the direction of the place that the GPS directed me. I was excited to move into my apartment, and I thought that choosing a studio apartment was the perfect decision since I'll get to start my career. Hopefully, the apartment didn't go over my budget.
"So, where are you going to get the furniture and stuff for your apartment?" Toya asked.
"It'll probably be a while before I buy any decent furniture," I stated, driving down the road. "I'm okay with getting some cheap furniture at the moment."
I knew that it would be hard to find furniture for this studio apartment without any help from my family. I struggled a lot in Baton Rouge without their assistance, but I felt like it would be different here since I was working towards achieving my dream.
"You know that I got you with whatever?" Toya assured. "Like I'm not telling you that because you're friends with my brother, but you genuinely think of you as a friend, more like a sister."
"That's okay, Toya," I declined her offer. "I appreciate you and Terrell so much. I'll be good and handle it on my own. Your brother already allowed me to stay with him for months, and I already told him that I overstayed my welcome. I'm going to make sure that I pay back after all the times that I stayed there,"
I couldn't wait to get on my feet because I was paying Terrell back for everything that he did for me. It was a promise that I made up in my mind, and I'm keeping that promise.
"Breanna, how many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to do that?" Terrell added. "I understand where you're coming from, but you don't have to do that."
"Terrell..." I sighed, feeling myself becoming emotional. "I'm not going to leave without showing you my appreciation for everything that you did for me. It makes me feel like I used you if I don't repay everything that you deserve."
The car grew silent until the GPS notified me that I was close to making it to my destination. Once I pulled into the parking lot, I turned off the GPS, and I let out a deep breath, exiting out of the car. Locking the doors, my friends stepped out of the car and followed me to the front door of the apartment building.
Terrell held the door open for us, and we thanked him as I looked around the lobby before my eyes settled on the front desk, where the receptionist was typing on the computer. So, I smiled as I walked towards the front desk.
"We gon' be waiting in the waiting area," Terrell announced.
I turned around, nodding my head as I watched them take a seat in the waiting area before facing forward to talk to the receptionist named Kathy Hughes. She looked young, maybe in her mid-thirties with pale skin, deep-set blue eyes, and her shoulder-length, straight dirty blonde hair; is styled into a ponytail. She dressed in the usual receptionist fit with the pink cardigan and collar blouse.
"Hi, I have an appointment with Rey Fernandez," I uttered. "To check out the studio apartments,"
"Okay, name please?" She asked, dialing his number.
"Breanna Davidson,"
She nodded as she called him and explained that I was here for the appointment. Then, she notified me that he would be here in less than five minutes, so I met with my friends in the waiting area.
"She told me that; he'll be out in less than five minutes," I told them, taking a seat next to Terrell.
"If the complex looks nice," Terrell remarked. "I bet it'll look good in the inside of the apartment,"
The area of the studio apartment is in Downtown LA. It was where the work clique all resided, and hopefully, I got added to the list.
"Hmm, we'll have to see,"
Once I turned my head, I noticed the landlord making his way towards us. The man looked like he was five feet nine, with a heavily built frame—He had tan skin, dark brown round eyes, and short, jet black hair trimmed low. He wore a light blue button-down long sleeve dress shirt, black slacks, and a pair of black dress shoes.
"Rey Fernandez," He introduced himself, extending his hand out to me.
"Breanna Davidson," I smiled, shaking his hand.
"Right this way," He conferred.
I looked at Terrell, and Toya, who stood up from their seats, then followed behind the man as he walked down the hallway until he opened the door to an apartment. We stepped further into the apartment, and I looked around at the space to see if it was enough for just me, myself, and I.
"Is this the one-bedroom, studio apartment?" I questioned, glaring at the grey hardwood floors.
"Yes, ma'am. It's one bedroom and one bath," He answered.
"And how many square feet is this?" Terrell asked, checking out the living area. "This seems like a good space for you to have a sectional sofa,"
"It's 350 square feet," Reid responded, holding his hands by his side.
"Okay, can we look around?"
"Of course, I have to make some phone calls." He smiled.
As he walked away, we checked out the living area.
"This would be good for either a sectional sofa or one of those long sofas," Toya remarked, looking around the room. "And imagine a big beautiful painting of art on the wall,"
I tried to picture the living room, fully furnished with furniture and decor; I could imagine it filled with neutral colors to give it a cozy and comfortable vibe.
"Yes, let's check out the kitchen," I suggested, leading the way towards the kitchen. It was a decent size for the kitchen as the countertops were gray, and the cabinets were white. The kitchen's tiled wall was black and white. There was also a medium-sized grey refrigerator and an electric grey and black stove with a large window beside it. "It's nice, but it seems like the entire apartment is in black, grey, and white though I'm not complaining,"
"I'm glad that this place has an electric stove," Terrell said, pulling the oven down. "Yeah, looks in good shape,"
"It does. We had to switch from the gas stove," Toya stated. "We never used that growing up, so I changed it,"
"Same, now let's look at the bathroom."
We moved to the bathroom that was right behind the refrigerator. It was a white bathroom with a kind of stainless steel metal shower head that I've never seen before and an oval-shaped tub that was acceptable.
"Y'all see that shower head?" I glanced at my friends, pointing to it as Terrell turned it on, and the water started seeping out of it.
"It looks like they just added it to," Terrell noted, turning it off.
"Yeah, this looks good," Toya agreed. "Everything looks updated."
I looked one more time at the bathroom before we walked into the small hallway, and I opened the door where the washer and dryer were inside before moving towards the one bedroom.
"It's not so big, but it's just me going to be living here," I uttered, appreciating that the grey hardwood floors were all over the apartment. "Oh, is that a walk-in closet?"
It was a walk-in closet, but it didn't have many racks for all the clothes that I had, but I could probably use bins for clothes, and also there was a dresser beside the closet, so I could also use that for my clothes.
"I'm sure a king-sized bed could fit in here," Terrell declared.
It would be a while before I got any kind of bed to add in here, but it was a nice size for just me, and I liked the area, especially since I wasn't that far from Terrell and Malik.
"I gotta know the price of this," I proclaimed, leaving out of the bedroom to the living room where the landlord was wearing a smile on his face.
"So, what do you think, Breanna?" He proposed.
"It's nice but let's get into the prices," I expressed, giving him a very firm smile.
"Well, the rent is $1,150, but the deposit is $1,295," Rey interpreted. "So it'll be $1,255 per month, the $1,150 will be included with one month considering a twelve-month lease, and of course, with parking, you're paying $55,"
I took in the information as I didn't think 1,255 was too bad to pay for per month, but I was still going to think about it.
"Thank you. I'll like to sit on this and let you know tomorrow about my decision," I concluded, hoping that this place would still be available for tomorrow. It was nice and had an affordable price for people who were looking to move on their own.
"That's not a problem, Miss. I'll make sure to hold off until tomorrow," He settled, extending his hands out.
I shook his hand happily that he'd hold it off from letting anyone see it, but I'm sure if I didn't come up with a decision that he would not hesitate to show others that will be ready to move in.
We left the apartment building, and Terrell suggested that we get food since it was getting later in the day to cook. So, he chose to drive to the restaurant while I sat in the passenger seat.
"You ready to move?" Toya asked, speaking from the backseat.
I kept asking her to get in the passenger seat, but she would decline every time, so I decided to take the seat.
"Well, I have to," I said, watching Terrell's face in the corner of my eyes. "Did Terrell tell you about the girl that he likes?"
"Amber?" Toya uttered.
"Yeah. Amber Stevenson," I grinned. "The actor for the new movie that we're filming. She might be showing up to Miami with us for the trip,"
"She didn't give a definite answer on whether she was coming or not," He replied.
"Hmm, how are you and my brother Malik is doing?" Toya asserted, changing the subject.
"I don't know if I'm in a deep like," I explained, getting deep in my feelings. "But we've been on a few dates. But it seems like our chemistry grows stronger and stronger when we're together,"
"Awe, too cute," Toya beseeched. "It sounds like you're falling in love. Did yall discuss getting into a relationship?"
Terrell cleared his throat as if he wanted to get included in the talk so bad, but I ignored him and laughed.
"Um, we have, but I don't know what he's thinking in his head about being in a committed relationship," I sighed. "And that's the hard part about dating and having strong feelings for someone,"
"I'm sure that y'all will figure it out," Toya stated. "Is he going to Miami?"
"Yes!"
"Well then, you never know what could happen out there," Toya uttered. "I'm rooting for yall, including my brother. I'll have to meet Miss Amber to find out why you've been in your feelings,"
"Latoya, who's the oldest?" Terrell questioned.
"It does not matter, Terrell Damon," Toya giggled. "I'm your sister, and I want you to know that I got your back, and talking to her is doing exactly that,"
"Y'all are a mess together," I joked, making them laugh. "But I love y'all!"
.
.
.
"I don't know why I'm so nervous," I sighed, staring at the script in my hands.
I honestly didn't understand. Being an actress was my dream, not something that I just so happened to grow interested in. I didn't come all this way from Louisiana to California, with no chances of achieving my dream.
But, I think it had something to do with all the other people staring and watching me perform. Although it was a private session, Ms. Deanne had another person here and Mr. Levell, who was always here.
So, it was like they were already judging me just from the looks in their eyes; it made me nervous, but I had to get over it because if I were trying to build my career as an actress? Why could I not perform in front of three people?
"It is normal for a person to feel nervous when delivering a performance in front of others," Ms. Deanne stated, "Also, it is your first day participating in this acting class, so I don't expect you to be completely great either...as we move forward with this class, I'm sure you'll be better,"
She was hard to read, as I'm sure that she was used to her students being nervous and anxious. So, I decided to try it. I stared at the scripted monologue called Curve Ball, and it was a two-character monologue, one guy and one female. I volunteered to play one of the characters named Tiffany. The other character was named Maguire, who got played by a guy named Aaron.
Ms. Deanne's and Levell's eyes were on us, and I took a deep breath waiting on Aaron to start.
"What's up, kid?" He started. "Why the long face?"
He sounded very calm and relaxed as I had to match his energy and become composed.
"Not feeling this..." I sighed, reading the line.
"You're not supposed to read me the script," Deanne advised. "I don't want you reciting the lines. That makes you sound very robotic. I want you to dig deep into the script and become the character, Tiffany."
I nodded, taking a deep breath as I continued. I needed to become the character Tiffany and express my feelings through the script.
"Feeling what?" Aaron raised a brow.
"I'm not feeling all this pressure," I said, sounding stressed as I decided to make movements, and I did that by walking and dragging my feet then turning around. "It's too much."
"This is what you wanted," Aaron said, glaring at me.
"I know, but it's too much..." I crossed my arms over the other.
"I know. I know it is. But it's what you gotta do." Aaron replied, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"I hope I didn't make a mistake," I said, staring sadly into his eyes.
I wanted to make it very believable and make sure that I understood the emotions that Tiffany had.
"It's too late for that now," He replied, removing his hands from my shoulder.
"I feel like everyone wants a piece of me," I walked away from him, digging deep into the character that I was portraying. "I give and give and give and I... I don't get a break to be inside myself. There's no...no time for pause,"
The more I was reading and digging deep into the character, the more I felt myself becoming relaxed and comfortable. I used my voice in such a way that I wanted people to feel sorry for Tiffany.
As I delivered my lines, I wondered if I did a good job, but the acting coach didn't say anything, and neither did Aaron or Levell, well, I couldn't tell, but they were paying attention to our performance.
"I know." Aaron shook his head.
"I knew what would become expected of me..." I told him, imagining myself telling this to Mr. McKnight or Johnathan. "But this is on a whole other level."
"Is it?" Aaron squinted his brows.
"I'll stop you both here." Ms. Deanne uttered. "The more I watched this performance, the more I understood how I would imagine this monologue to be. Aaron, you have to go beyond just facial expression. Use your voice and gestures. As for, Miss, what's your name?"
"Breanna,"
"Okay. My advice for you is to work on your facial expressions. It is just as important as body language and your voice. We are supposed to feel what you are delivering and get real emotions shown," Ms. Deanne continued. "Remember when acting, your physical and facial expressions, voice, body movements, personality all make you an instrument. Here, in my class, I will work with you both on training your body and voice that will help you master your craft,"
I nodded, taking in what she said as we took our seats, and I made sure to write down everything that she told me that I needed to work through. I wanted to get as much teaching in this acting class that I was paying for to help me strengthen my skills as an actor.
It wasn't too long that I've been working on these lines, as I left Terrell's home after eating our lunch from a local restaurant and had to let them know that I had a private session today. Once I started the session, we first started by doing warm-ups.
We stretched our bodies out and then did a vocal warm-up. It was supposed to release tension and anxiety to help us deliver our lines much better. We did complete warm-ups of everything until it came down to us starting our reading for the script.
"I'll give you both a five-minute break before we start again," Ms. Deanna instructed.
I grabbed a water bottle, taking a seat in the chairs on the stage. I watched Ms. Deanne head into the back as I grabbed my cellphone and unlocked it, noticing text messages from my friends.
"You did pretty well," A familiar yet soothing voice voiced.
I looked up, seeing that it was Levell Daniels, the owner of this here theater.
"You think so?" I asked him, tilting my head. "I was advised the most,"
"Probably because she sees a lot of potential in you," He chuckled, pointing to the seat beside me. "Is the seat taken?"
"No, well, it's your theater," I shrugged.
"With acting, you have to have the confidence," He advised. "You have to be able to believe in yourself through reciting the lines,"
"That's true. Can you give your honest opinion on my performance?" I asked him, wondering what he thought of it. "It's been a while since I've acted, maybe, since college."
"I don't think it ever left you," He said. "It's a talent, something natural, but you just have to get in the habit of getting back to it. As for your performance, I can tell that you were nervous. You seemed to be in your head a lot during the reading, but I saw you dig deep into it, and you somehow developed into the character Tiffany."
I nodded my head, taking in his constructive criticism, and I appreciated it.
"With more sessions, I'm sure my confidence will grow," I said.
"Of course," He smiled, standing up from the chair. "Practice makes, well, you can't always expect perfection."
"Thank you, um, are you an actor?" I wondered, squinting my eyes at him. "Because you seem to know a lot about it, and you also own this theater,"
"I'm a t—," He started to say.
"Five minutes are now over. Let's get started!" Ms. Deanne announced.
I turned to look at Levell, who winked and walked towards the back of the stage. I furrowed my brows, wondering what he was going to say before Ms. Deanne instructed him. It started with the letter T, but I didn't know what.
Confidence is key. Breanna is what I repeated to myself while reading over the script.