[A/N] If you like the chapter please consider to vote and leave a comment. That shows me that you enjoy the story and motivates me to continue it. I hope you have a wonderful day!
June 2022 – New York City
It was a sunny afternoon in New York City, when y/n headed out of the subway station "Times Sq – 42nd street". She was on her way to Carlo's bakery – which was her favorite bakery since she had seen the show "Cake boss" in TV for so many years. After binge-watching the first two seasons she finally made it to the bakery in Manhattan the first time almost three years ago. The show had a lot of fans since the beginning, but the real hype started about a year ago when everybody was forced to stay at home because of the lockdown. People were watching more TV because there was not much to do otherwise. So right after the lockdown had ended people overrun Carlo's bakery to get some of their famous cakes or canoli. She avoided the bakery since then, because standing in a line for two hours at least just to get a cake was just a waste of time in her opinion. Although the cakes were amazing and eating on of them made her little fangirl heart beating faster than usual.
But today was a special day! So special that she would wait in line as long as she had to, to buy a beautiful birthday cake for her best friend Christina. She was a fan of the show as well but never had a cake from Carlo's bakery before, so she decided that now for her 40th birthday it's about time!
She met Christina on a film set right before the pandemic hits in the beginning of 2020. Christina was a famous actress who used to appear in different TV series in the last years. She never did an A-list movie so far, that's why she was really nervous after the filming for her first big movie started in January 2020. Y/n was a make-up artist in the filming industry and was supposed to be Christina's personal make-up artist. The two of them immediately had a good connection and ended up being friends after a few weeks.
Christina was very insecure about how she was performing in the movie so y/n cheered her up and supported her as good as she could. She was on set for every scene Christina needed her emotional support and ended up hugging her all the time. Christina was very grateful to have someone like y/n around her and y/n was happy to find a new friend.
Ever since she moved to New York six years ago she felt very lonely in that crowded city. She was never a person with many friends around her – mostly because she moved around the country a lot. Right after graduating from High School in Davenport, IA most of her friends went to College or University nearby – most of them somehow ended in Chicago. But y/n always knew that she wanted to become a make-up artist and that's why she never studied. Right after the graduation she talked to her parents and told them that she wanted to move to Los Angeles to start an internship at an agency for make-up artists. She would be able to learn how to be successful in the industry she always wanted to work in: the film and TV industry.
Of course y/n's parents were concerned of seeing her daughter move across the country all alone, but they agreed in the end and helped her prepare everything that was necessary. They even gave her all the savings out of her college fonds to make life easier in LA because the salary at the internship was very low.
It felt like it was yesterday when she finally moved to LA – but that was 12 years ago this summer. After six years in LA she had finally made a name for herself in the industry, but LA was full of make-up artists and they all wanted to be in either the film and TV or the modelling industry. So one night after she got rejected for a job she really wanted to get y/n decided that maybe moving the New York would be the right step. And that was exactly what she did a week later.
In NY she focused even more on her job and was rewarded with good arrangements for different movie productions. One of them was a job as personal make-up artist for Christina on set for her new (and first!) big movie.
"What can I get you, ma'am?", asked one of the bakery sales assistants after y/n waited almost an hour in line.
"I would like to have a birthday cake for my friends 40st birthday. She loves red velvet with Italian buttercream.", y/n answered.
The woman went across the counter and brought a plain 10inch round cake. She smiled and said "That one should be perfect. What kind of decoration do you like?".
y/n described her ideas to the woman and she went in the back of the store to put some decoration on the cake. She came back and y/n saw that the cake was covered in light red buttercream – watercolor style. On top of the cake she saw a "Happy 40th Birthday Christina" decoration and a lot of sprinkles in different shades of red as well. "Do you like it?", asked the sales assistant and y/n nodded immediately. It looked perfect and Christina was going to love it.
She paid the cake (200 freaking Dollar for a cake. WTF?) and headed back to the subway. Christina invited her to her birthday party this evening and she was excited. She knew that there would be a lot of Christinas former co-stars so she decided to bring some of her business cards just in case. Of course Christina asked her to do her birthday make-up so y/n rushed home, packed her stuff (she would change her clothes and do her own make-up at Christinas house) and went to her car.
Christina lived in New Brunswick her entire life – which was rare for an actor or actress, but she wanted to be near her family all the time. Of course she had to travel for her job, but whenever she was home she was near her loved ones what made her feel comfortable. She was not married or had kids, because she decided to focus on her career ("Men cause more problems than they are helpful", y/n remembered her saying a lot).
June 2022 – New Brunswick
Y/n arrived at Christinas house at around 2:30pm – 3,5h before the party officially started. Plenty of time for hair and make-up. Although y/n was more into make-up she learned a lot about hair styling as well. She even attended a few trainings about that topic. She tried to grab all of her bags and suitcases at once but that seemed impossible so she first grabbed her make-up suitcases, went to the front door and rang the bell.
A stranger opened the door and asked y/n who she is. "I'm y/n, a friend of Christina and in charge for her hair and make-up", she answered. "Ah hair and make-up. Amazing. Second floor, first room on the right", said the man and guided her the way to the stairs. She's been here a few times since she met Christina but y/n never met this guy. She saw a few other people running around the house as well. Maybe Christina hired a party planning team or something like that. No doubt she wouldn't prepare a party for her birthday on her own. She was a famous actress. Famous actresses hire people for stuff like that.
That reminded y/n immediately that they both live in completely different worlds. Before entering the stairs she reminded herself of the cake she bought for Christina and ran back to her car. She gave the cake to the stranger who put it in the fridge for later.
She knocked on the first door on the right on the 2nd floor and heard Christinas voice from behind the door answering "Yes, come in." y/n opened the door and stepped into the room where Christina sat on a large king-sized bed in front of her laptop. She looked up, saw y/n and jumped off her bed to give y/n a hug.
"Y/n! I am so happy that you're here. I don't know what dress I'm going to wear and then I felt insecure and I scrolled throw Instagram and now I feel even more insecure." Both of her hands were on y/n's shoulders waiting for her to respond. Before y/n could open her mouth and say something to comfort Christina, she said: "Wow, I've never realized how green your eyes are. They are beautiful!" which made y/n blush and stumble a "Thank you."
Green eyes are very rare in the U.S. (just 9% of U.S. citizens have green eyes) and y/n got a lot of compliments for them in her 31-year-old-life. To be honest her eyes are the only thing y/n liked on her body. Working with a lot of Hollywood beauties destroyed her self-confidence as she just had a normal body with normal "problem areas". Y/n didn't have a thigh gap, a sixpack or toned arms. Actually she likes weight training but even more likes food, so she never had the body of an actress or model.
Christina went back to the bed, turned her MacBook so that y/n could see the screen and showed her stories of former co-stars and how they prepare for tonight's party. "They all gonna look amazing tonight. But what about me. It's my party so I am supposed to shine tonight." she sighed.
"Listen", y/n started. "You are beautiful. You are strong. You are inspiring so many young girls and women to become actresses with your work. You WILL shine. I make you shine, I promise!".
Christina smiled and y/n smiled back at her. "You always know what to say to me so that I feel better. That's why I love you y/n!", Christina laughed, closed her Macbook, took y/n's hand and guided her out of the room straight into her walk-in-closet. Along hundreds of blouses, shirts, trousers and other stuff three glamourous dresses were set up on a rail. "These are my favorites but I am not sure which one to choose.", said Christina and looked to y/n. Y/n looked closely at all three dresses and made notes in her mind:
1) A long sleeved dark red (almost like the color of red wine) dress that ended on knee-length. It would fit perfectly on Christinas trained body like a second skin and make her look stunning.
=> Y/n believed she had the perfectly fitting lipstick for that red
2) A floor-length black dress with a V-neck and a more comfortable fit. The V-neck would be perfect for Christinas favorite sapphire necklace.
=> Y/n could pick up the blue of the sapphire in Christinas eye make-up. It would look amazing and even highlight her blue eyes.
3) A rosé floor-length sequined dress with a high neck which would not allow any jewelry. With all the spangles on the dress Christina would definitely "shine" with this dress.
=> The make-up should be very simple with that dress, thought y/n
Christina would look amazing in all three dresses but y/n preferred the second one. "I prefer the black one. It looks more comfortable than the other ones and the V-neck is perfect for your favorite sapphire necklace. We can make a matching sapphire eye make-up as well and nobody can resist your shining eyes.", y/n said calmly. Christina nodded, picked up the dress and started to change her clothes.
Y/N immediately turned around to give her some privacy but Christina laughed and said "Come on, there is nothing you haven't seen. I am just an ordinary woman with an ordinary female body. Don't be ashamed. But thank you for being so respectful. I am not used to be around so well-behaved people than you are."
The dress looked amazing on Christina and she and y/n discussed about hair and make-up before finally starting to get ready. It was 5pm when Christina's look was done but she was still in her "comfy clothes". She would change into the dress right before the guests arrive.
Now it was finally time for y/n to get ready as well. She sprinted to her car and got her personal bag and the mossy green dress she bought for the party. It was also floor-length and had an asymmetric neck that covered her left shoulder – perfect to hide a little tattoo right under her collarbone that she got when she first moved to LA. It was the lettering "you can" and should remind her of being self-confident (what didn't work out too well). The lettering wasn't seen even when she wears sleeveless shirts, so not many people knew about it.
She quickly tied her hair into a ballerina bun and made an almost natural make-up. Y/n didn't like make-up on her own face – ridiculous regarding her job.
It was 5:50pm when she finished. She went to Christina, who had changed into her dress as well and both were complimenting each other. Y/n went already downstairs to the living room where the party should be and asked the staff if they need any help, but they refused. She grabbed herself a glass of champagne to calm down. Maybe alcohol would help her deal with all the famous people that she was going to meet soon. She felt so lost and out of place. This was not y/n's world, but she wanted to be there for Christina this evening. As she stayed at one of Christina's guest rooms she thankfully was able to drink alcohol without finding a solution to go back to her apartment in Brooklyn tonight.
One after another famous actor and actress entered the party, making y/n feel even more out of place. Christina was still upstairs – waiting for her big entrance. Y/n was standing near to the bar and talking to the bartender George. She was too shy to talk to any of the guests when she suddenly heard a loud male voice coming out of the entrance hall. She saw a 5'10 tall black actor entering the room – greeting anybody around.
Y/n recognized him as Anthony Mackie – a very famous actor who portrayed "Sam Wilson – The Falcon" in the MCU. She heard him say that he was excited to finally meet Christina. Y/N was confused. Why was Anthony Mackie on Christina's birthday party when he didn't know her? He headed straight to the bar, saw y/n standing right next to it and changed direction towards her.
"Standing right next to the bar. You seem to be very smart! My name is Anthony Mackie, but call me Mackie please.", he said and reached out his hand for a handshake.
Y/n took the handshake and said: "Hi Mackie, I'm y/n y/l/n and I am Christina's friend and hair and make-up artist." He looked kind of surprised while checking out her make-up.
After a few seconds of scary silence he said: "Well I haven't met Christina yet. I'm here with a good friend of mine, who was Christina's classmate at Rutgers university." He looked around him – looking still confused. "Ah there he is", he said and pushed a man in a light blue suit right in front of y/n's eyes.
Their eyes met and for a few moments she felt like time was frozen and everything around her disappeared. Later both would describe their first meeting as "magical" but right now y/n gasped as she realized that she was looking into the steel-blue eyes of Sebastian Stan.