Mena Massoud's POV.
"Happy Birthday, Mena."
I froze when I heard Nichole's say my name.
She knew who I was. Damn it. That was quick.
I sat down on my couch as I heard my trailer door swing open and Naomi Scott, the actor who was Jasmine walked in.
"Hey Meens." Naomi said as she walked to the couch and sat down next to me, "Why the sad puppy face?"
"She knows who I am." I said in a quiet voice, I placed my hands in my lap and I looked at my hands, shaking my head.
"Oh Nichole figured it out? Smart girl." Naomi said, smiling.
I gave her a look as I nodded, then replayed the voice memo for her.
Naomi patted me on the back, "So why so sad looking? Be happy! She knows!" She grabbed my shoulders and pulled me closer in a hug and shook me a little, then let me go, "No more having her call you 'roomie'. Although that was sort of cute." She laughed a little.
"What if she tells the press?" I stood up, still in my Aladdin costume, I waved my arms in frustration.
Now I could see how he felt when Jasmine figured out that Aladdin was Prince Ali. I shut my eyes as I stopped pacing.
Naomi gave me a stern look, "Mena if she is as smart as you stated," She pointed at my phone still on the couch, "she won't do that. I mean, think about it," She moved her head sideways, "she will put a spotlight on herself as well and you said she ran away from Michigan to get away from a boyfriend, she wouldn't do that." She shook her head, in her pink costume for Jasmine.
I relaxed a little, "You are right. Nik won't do that."
Naomi smiled, "Now, take that off and change into street clothes, Will is taking us out, to celebrate."
I sighed, "Okay, get out so that I can." Naomi smiled as she stood up then kissed my cheek, "I know I said this already, but happy birthday."
I smiled at her, "Thanks, now get out." I pushed her jokingly near the door.
She walked out and I quickly locked the door so I wouldn't have anyone walk in on me changing.
Having Naomi and Will as co-stars they kept me having a level head, they always checked in and saw if I was getting a bigger ego due to this huge role. I hadn't so far, staying grounded and level headed was important in this job, I didn't want to blow it due to my head getting bigger then the role.
Then having a 'normal' girl back in Los Angeles, also kept me level headed, even though she didn't know that.
Once I was in street clothes, I looked at my phone, still nothing new from Nichole.
I decided to give her some space, let her freak out and then cool down at her own time, I knew that she was probably freaking out. I would have, if I was her.
Her new roommate was the face of her favorite prince while she was a kid, I would freak! I didn't blame her, that is why I wanted to tell her, or rather show her once I got back home, so she wouldn't doubt herself.
I pocketed the phone and went out to meet up with the rest of the cast.
-
I got back to my small apartment real late, I kicked off my shoes by the door as I locked the door behind me. I put my keycard on the table near the door, I walked to the kitchen as I turned on the lights.
I moved my neck, cracking it a little as it moved, I sighed as I opened the fridge, then closed it, not really hungry, just bored.
I took out my phone, still silent, I decided to do something that I don't normally do, I decided to FaceTime Nichole. I clicked the button and put the phone facing my face as I waited.
Her line rang for a few moments and then I saw her pale face, she smiled at me, "So Eve was right, it is you."
I laughed a little, "It is. How was your day?" I asked her, smiling at her.
She was in her bedroom, sitting on her bed, with her long brown hair was over one shoulder, she pushed her laptop off of her lap, "I am good, how were your day and your birthday?"
I shrugged, "Hard, lots of jumping around and dancing today." I said, not caring about giving away hints on what I was doing anymore.
"So you were doing 'One Jump Ahead'?" Nichole asked me, standing up, she was in a black tank top and a hoodie, she looked so comfortable.
"Then a scene with Jasmine in the palace." I explained as I walked to the small living room and slouched down on the couch.
"I bet that was fun." Nichole said, walking to the living room, it was still light out there.
"It was, Guy, the director trusts the actors, so we have lots of freedom." I said, rubbing my thumbnail across the bridge of my nose, "Then Will took the cast out for my birthday."
"Will.. Will Smith?" Her dark brown eyes widen, "Men in Black dude?"
"That's him. He is the Genie." I said, laughing at her, she was so cute when she was shocked. It made me wonder how she reacted when she found out who I was.
"I bet it's all laughs on set with him there." She said smiling at me.
I nodded, "He keeps it fun on set."
She grabbed a drink from the fridge, "I didn't figure it out, my friend, Eve did." Then she set the phone down so she could use both hands to open it then grabbed the phone once she opened it.
"Gray areas.." I murmured, thinking back to a scene where Genie tells Aladdin about gray areas about making wishes. I smiled as I shook my head.
"What?" Nichole asked me as I did so.
"Nothing, uhh..." Then I decided to tell her about the movie, I had someone now who knew who I was and she was going to be my roommate, so hiding things now was not a good move, "There is a part in this movie where Genie tells Aladdin about gray areas after saving him in the cave of wonders." I explained to her.
She laughed, "See? Genie was right, there is a lot of gray areas in a lot of things, gotta be careful how you say your words."
I rolled my eyes, "Kinda true, I guess. Glad you know though, it's freeing that I can openly talk about my days now."
She wrinkled her cute nose, "At first I wasn't so sure, then Eve, the friend sent me an old video on YouTube of you talking, it finally clicked for me."
"You knew my voice that well?" I asked, surprised.
"You have a unique voice, Mena and I have been listening to it for a few weeks." She stated as she sat down on the couch.
"Yeah, I guess and thank you."
"It almost sounds like the original voice of Aladdin."
I never heard that before, "You think so?"
Nichole nodded, "Yeah, a bit. Remember, Mena, I grew up on the movies and the cartoon that was on tv for like three seasons. I heard Aladdin's voice for years."
"There was a cartoon?" I asked, completely shocked.
"Yeah, on Disney Channel after the movies." Nichole said, smiling, "It was actually good, so if this remake is a hit, they can have endless ideas for a second movie."
I never thought of doing a sequel after this, but she was right, there were two other movies that came out straight to tape and if she was right a cartoon that was on for three seasons, so if Guy wanted to make a sequel, he could.
I think she could see my thoughts form, "You didn't think of that, did you?" She asked me seriously.
I shook my head a little, "Not really." I confessed quietly.
"Would you want to do a sequel?"
I sighed as I rubbed my head, "It's hard work, but a lot of fun. If Guy, asked me to do another Aladdin movie, I would jump at it."
Nichole smiled, "Good."
I laughed a little, "This is the role of a lifetime, Nik. I watched the original as I grew up, I stopped when I tried out for the role though, didn't want to try to be like the cartoon Aladdin."
"I can understand that." Nichole said to me, then took a sip of her soda.
"So was the meeting a lie?" I suddenly asked her.
"Uhh... umm.." She bit her lower lip a bit then chewed on her thumbnail on her free hand, "Yes. Are you angry?" I saw her tense up.
I smiled a bit, shaking my head, "You needed time to process, so no I am not."
I saw her relax a little bit more, "Good." She murmured softly.
"I understood that you needed time, so I gave you some time." I shrugged slightly, "I'm gonna get comfortable, so I am gonna put you down and come right back, we can still talk, you just won't be able to see me for a second."
She blushed slightly, "Okay, go get into comfortable clothes."
I laughed, putting down the phone, facing it away from the bedroom area, "Can you hear me?" I asked, taking off my shirt and tossing it in the dirty clothes pile near the bathroom door, then took off my black jeans, throwing them in another pile, still, sort of clean pile near the dresser then grabbed the black sweats I had on the other night and threw them on.
"Yeah, I can hear ya." I heard her say.
"So besides Aladdin, what other movies you like?" I asked as I grabbed the phone and went to the bathroom, "Just brushing my teeth." I said, widening my eyes at her, "Keep your panties on."
I could see her face, she looked shocked as I took her to the bathroom with me.
"Uh uh... Umm.... Titanic, Harry Potter, Men in Black, The Notebook, just to name a few on the top of my head."
I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste, "All good movies. So you like all genres of movies I take it?" I put my toothpaste on my toothbrush and got it wet then started brushing.
"Yeah, I guess. I do love romance, but hey, I am a woman." She shrugged as she smiled.
"True." I said still brushing, I angled the phone away as I spit in the sink, then angled it back when I was done.
She went into the kitchen, set her phone on the counter near the sink, "As you are doing normal things as we chat, I might as well do the same."
"Good idea." I said, still brushing.
She started washing the dishes by hand, I smiled at her, "You know there is a dishwasher, right?"
She shrugged, "It keeps me sane, I like doing things by hand." She started washing a plate.
"Okay." I moved the phone away, as I spit one more time. I moved it back, putting the toothpaste and toothbrush away, "How tall are you?" I asked her walking to the bedroom and flopping on the bed.
"I am short, four feet and eleven inches. What about you?" She rinsed off the plate and grabbed a fork.
"Five feet and eight inches." I said simply, putting the phone on a nightstand and plugging it in.
"Wait, is that a tattoo on your ribcage?" She asked suddenly, looking at her screen.
I chuckled, "Yeah, umm its a sunflower." I moved slightly so she could see it properly, "Be right back, shutting off the lights in the other rooms and putting the chain on the door."
"Alright." She said, finishing up the dishes.
I quickly muted my side of the call, rolled out of the queen sized bed, ran to the bathroom, did my thing, flushed, then washed my hands then put the chain lock against the door and shut off the lights, turning on a nightstand lamp on, for some light, unmuting the video call, "Back."
She was drying off her hands on a towel, her hoody was off her arms and I could see some light orange ink on her right wrist, "Tattoo?" I asked her.
"One of the three that I have."
She showed me her wrist, I saw faint white lined scars on it then below them I saw a ribbon colored in with orange inked into her soft white skin, "I used to self harm, due to the... Yeah, don't need to repeat that whole thing again.. Then I was twenty-four, I was a year clean and decided to celebrate by getting a tattoo. This was right before the semicolon thing happened, so oh well." She shrugged.
It broke my heart knowing that she was so hurt back then that she felt so trapped that she had to cut herself for some sort of a release.
"Then, next I got a paw print tattoo." She moved her tank top strap slightly off her left shoulder, showing me a thin black lined heart and on one side of the heart there were three paw prints in blue ink, in the heart in fancy cursive was 'Max'.
"He had cancer and died suddenly, he was like my little brother with fur. He was my mother's cat but he loved me also. I was lost without him for a while."
"That is so sad, I am sorry." I said, looking at her.
She put the strap back on her shoulder, "He was twelve, but it was still sad."
"I bet it was." I murmured softly.
"Then just a few months ago, I got my Harry Potter tattoo." She lifted her tank top, carefully not wanting to show anything else, if you get my drift.
On her hip, there was a Deathly Hallows mark in green and yellow smoke.
"I am sorted into Slytherin, so I wanted the smoke to say that." She smiled as she fixed her tank top.
"That is pretty." All her tattoos were colorful, but not too colorful and they were all the right size for her body type, whoever inked her knew what they were doing. From what I knew of tattoo artists, I could tell that she had two different artists. The last two she showed me had similar line work and the same sort of coloring.
"You had two artists that inked you." I said.
"Uh... Yeah, yeah I did. How did you know?" She sounded surprised.
"The last two are similar but way different from the first. The last two are from the same artist." I smiled as I spoke, "Am I right?"
"You are correct, Matt did the last two. He was my favorite, so I went back to him for the Hallows tattoo."
I smiled, "I am good."
She laughed, "You are."
I bit my lower lip, she was very beautiful, not just on the outside, but also on the inside. She was also smart, very smart.
She was also guarded due to her dark past, so she had a brick wall around her fragile heart. She has been hurt so many times and it tugged at my heartstrings.
I made a silent vow to myself, I was going to do everything in my power to show that people could be trusted again.
"I know I need to sleep, but I don't want to stop talking to you." I murmured honestly.
"Well, then we can talk until you fall asleep. I will hang up our video chat once you fall asleep." She said, laying on the couch in the living room, "Just make sure your alarm is set for your workday, don't want to be the reason why they fired you because you slept in."
I dragged down my notification bar, I saw that my alarm icon was on, "All set, so we are good." I said, smiling at her. I was glad she was okay with us talking until I fell asleep, that meant she didn't want to stop talking either.
"What is up for tomorrow?" She asked me as she got comfortable on the couch.
"More of the palace scene, so more dancing." I sighed deeply, thinking what Guy said before we all left the sets, "Then I think I sing 'One Jump Ahead' the reprise bit."
"Oh, oh.. That's the song bit where Aladdin sings in his makeshift home?" She asked me, her eyes shimmering slightly. She did know the movie well.
I nodded, "That's the part, yeah."
"That part was sad, he felt like a nobody. I knew how that felt. I was a nobody in school. I was a nerd. Nobody noticed me."
"I would've noticed you..." I said quietly, quietly enough that I thought she didn't hear.
"You would notice me?" She asked me shocked.
I swore in Arabic, "Uh, yeah." I said, nodding, "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?"
"What did you say?"
"You heard me, I can see the light pink blush on your cheeks.." I pointed out, smiling softly.
"I meant in a different language, smartass." She said, cocking her head at me, I couldn't help it but I laughed at her. She was so cute.
"I said fuck in my native language, Arabic." I explained softly. I saw her roll over on her stomach and put her phone on the end table, she nodded, "You slip sometimes when you swear, did you know that?"
I smiled, "I do, I was being polite, I don't like swearing around ladies."
She nodded, putting her arms under her chin, "That is adorable. You don't have to do be polite around me, it's okay."
"I grew up like that." I said, then I yawned. I covered my mouth, "What're your plans for the afternoon?"
"I gotta finish the article that I was writing when you called and then send it off. Then I think I might go to that nature center that you mentioned."
"I kept you away from your work, I feel bad, I'm sorry!" I shut my eyes in frustration with myself.
"No, you didn't. I have until tomorrow at noon to send it to my boss and I am almost done anyway." She explained as she shook her head, "I could've written it while we were talking, but I decided not to." She smiled softly.
"Your smile is cute." I said sleepily.
"Yours is cuter." She admitted honestly.
I smiled softly as I felt my cheeks getting red, "Thank you."
"Of course." She said as she put her hair in a ponytail, "What made you go plant-based?"
I stretched a little, "After deciding on the whole acting thing, I hated feeling sluggish and I realized that eating a plant-based diet didn't make me feel like that and like you I'm lactose intolerant."
She nodded, "Interesting, I feel gross sometimes when I eat certain meats."
"Like you overate?" I asked her, putting my head on my pillow.
"Yeah, just like that." She nodded.
"Yeah, meat does that sometimes." I said, shutting my eyes for a few seconds and then opening them.
She smiled at me, "I might try eating some vegan meals every so often."
I nodded, "People think it's hard to go vegan, it's not." I said as I closed my eyes again, '"I can give you meal ideas if you want."
"Mena, handsome. Go to sleep, you are falling asleep." Nichole said softly.
"No, I am okay." I said and then that is all I remembered from the convocation.
-
Nichole Simm's POV.
I waited for a few long seconds to be sure he did really fall asleep before I decided to shut down the video chat.
It was really Mena Massoud. He is my roommate! I thought as I got off the couch, shaking my head, He wanted to chat until he fell asleep. He said I had a cute smile and that I was beautiful.
I bit my lower lip, seeing two missed calls, both from my mother. I sighed as I hit the 'call' button next to my mother's number. I haven't called her since I got to L.A.
"There she is! How are you Nik?" My mother's sweet voice said after the fourth ring.
"Hi, Momma." I said, hugging my legs and putting my chin on my knees.
"Who is he?" She asked me suddenly.
"Who is who, Mom?" I asked her.
"The guy who broke down your wall around your heart? I am your mother, I can tell just by your voice."
I chewed on my lower lip, "My roommate, I guess. Oh, Momma, he has been calling me after being on set all day... And tonight, he video chatted with me. He didn't want to stop talking so he just fell asleep on camera." I gushed, sighing softly, "Momma, he is great. He set up an alarm in the apartment so that Ron won't be able to get in, he set up all my furniture before he left."
"Oh boy, who is this guy?" She asked then she spoke again, "Wait, you might not be able to say, nevermind. As long as he is treating you right and you feel protected, that is all that matters."
"I will tell you when I am able." I said, standing up and sipping my still semi-chilled soda.
"How was the move?" She changed the subject, sensing that that subject was at its end.
"It was alright, it's a tad lonely here, but I can work from home and my roommate seems nice. He checks in on me every night after working twelve-hour days."
"That is cool that you can work from home and I am glad he checks in on you, seems like he cares."
I nodded, putting the can back on the table, "He does care." I walked into the kitchen, bored, so I checked the fridge, I didn't see anything that seemed good to snack on, I shut the fridge and went back to the couch, pulling my Slytherin green blanket on my lap, "My boss only wants a paper per week, so I have lots of time to turn in papers, and there is a park just a few blocks away from the apartment."
The couch has been my spot to chill since I moved in, I hardly went to my room, only to sleep or really work without things distracting me.
"You seem happy, Nikki."
"Oh Momma, I am." I said, smiling.
"Good, check in when you can, okay?" My mother said.
I nodded, "Yes, I will. I love you so much."
"I love you too, honey. Talk to you later."
Then we hung up.
I decided to get off my lazy butt and go to the park, I plugged in my phone as I showered and got redressed in black skinny jeans and a multi-colored tank top. I slipped on my black flip-flops on and then grabbed my keys and my phone.
I locked up and then passed the floor's guard, Mac. He nodded at me, "Headed out, Ms. Simms?" He was around fifty but fit and tall and black with dark brown kind eyes and full pink lips, he shaved his head. He wore a navy blue uniform and black shoes.
"To the park, Mac. I will see you in a few." I said, smiling at him. He returned my smile, "Have a good time, Ms. Simms."
I went down the stairs and walked passed the main lobby's guard, Rick. He was slightly younger than Mac and had pale skin, blue eyes with black hair. He waved at me, "See you in a while, Nik."
As I walked to the park, I looked around, getting used to my new home. I smiled softly, it was so much different than Detroit.
Once at the park, I took out my phone and took some nature pictures then took some selfies of myself as I walked down the path.
After a few hours, I headed back and Rick waved me down, "Nichole. Nichole, come here hon."
I walked up to his station, "What's up?" I asked, confused.
"When you were gone, someone tried to get into your apartment." He told me.
My blood ran ice cold. I froze and gulped, "Uhh.. did they say who?"
"No ma'am, they didn't give me his name. Don't worry, he is long gone. It is safe now. We had it under control, you can go to your apartment. I just wanted to inform you. I also let the owner of the apartment know about it as well as it is his apartment."
I shut my eyes, Mena knew. Crap.
"Good, he.. Uhh he should be updated." I said, licking my lips. Rick nodded, "Here is your mail, Nik." He handed me my mail, he gave me a small smile. I took it and sighed, "Thanks."
I walked to the elevators and pushed the button, waited and then walked in as the double doors opened, I pressed the little six button then flipped through my mail.
Rick never handed me Mena's mail so I guessed he had it sent to him where he was, so it was just my mail.
My phone bill and a few items of junk mail, nothing exciting.
I walked out and to my apartment, seeing Mac doing his walkthrough, "Rick told me, I am so sorry it happened."
"Oh, it's no issue, seemed like a fan of the actor you are living with, no harm done." He gave me a smile then went back to his walkthrough.
Was it just a fan of Mena's or was it, Ron?
I walked to my apartment and unlocked my door, walked in, shut it and I locked the door, set the alarm, it did its normal one beep, telling me that I was safe.
The first time since the first week, I didn't feel safe in my apartment.
For the rest of the day, I carried my phone with me everywhere, even to the bathroom, just in case.
**
I said that I wouldn't post until after my birthday, but just for my best friend, this chapter is for BlackFalconik. Thank you for cheering for me on the sidelines, bouncing ideas with me and helping with some writer's block. You somehow gave me the video chat idea.
Thank you for the help, sweets.
**