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G O A L
D R I V E N
Hustler's ambition by 50 Cent blared throughout the house, as I was getting ready for work. Of course, Terrell was rapping loudly to the song as it seemed to hit him in the right way. I shook my head, staring at myself in the mirror at my outfit of the day. I dressed in a white bodysuit, blue high waisted ripped jeans and coral cloud pink puma suede platform sneakers with a matching fanny pack. I wore my B.A.D. necklace with my pearl earrings and applied lip gloss to my lips.
I was keeping it plain face again. Spraying on my perfume, I left my room and headed downstairs. Terrell was still rapping while he ate a bowl of cereal; as I stared at the outfit that he wore. Today, he was dressed up in a black and gold Versace long sleeve with black dressy pants and animal print Versace men sneakers with a gold watch and chain. He looked good and his confidence made him look even better.
"Good morning," He greeted me a head nod, sitting his bowl of cereal on a coffee table as he stared at me from head to toe. "You look good,"
That was one thing about Terrell, he would always give me a compliment or a word of encouragement that made me feel good about myself. And I always returned the favor because I genuinely appreciated him.
"Awe, thank you best friend," I grinned, checking the time on my cellphone. It was almost time for me to head to work to help Malaysia and the rest of the set designers out with the building the set. "You look so cute! I love the way you wear your shirts,"
"That's why you my shawty," He pointed at me, hitting his chest playfully with his fist. "I appreciate you,"
I laughed, checking my text messages that I had yet to read. I had one from Malik that made a smile appear on my face.
Malik: Good morning, sunshine. I hope you have a good day and when I see you, I'm going to give you a big hug and a kiss...on your cheek. Corny huh?
I agreed that it was corny but it still made a giggle escape my lips as I began to type him a reply.
Me: Morning! I hope you have a good day as well and it is, but I'm fine with it. See you later!
I locked my phone again as I let out a low sigh, as I glanced at Terry who was wiggling his eyebrows causing me to drop my smile and to playfully roll my eyes. I don't know whether I liked Malik or not because I still didn't know much about him or I haven't been around him long enough to develop feelings for him yet but I found myself blushing, giggling or developing butterflies as if I was a school girl every time that I was around him, so maybe it was a crush?
"You feelin' him?" Terrell smirked.
"No, any-who," I checked the time on my phone, "Look at the time, I have to get going now. See you at work, love you."
I heard Terrell laughing as I leaving the door, heading to the car. Today, it was my last day riding in this rental. It felt like it was my car as I rode in it over a month with the payment permission of the rental car service and now it was time to turn it in. I had to buy me a vehicle to get by once I turned the car in because I didn't want to ask people for rides.
As I stepped into the vehicle, I turned the car on and pulled out of the driveway as I began to get on the road. Snapping in my seatbelt, my phone that still has the Bluetooth on began to ring. I checked the person as it was Johnathan Strong so I pressed the button and his voice sounded off in my car.
"Hello, Johnathan?"
"Good morning, I got some good news for ya," Johnathan beamed, his voice sounded extremely excited and enthusiastic about the news that he was going to reveal to me.
"Okay, I'm almost on my way to work," I said, turning in the direction of my job. "What's the good news?"
"I got you in a meeting with an agency the following weekend," He stated.
Wow.
"So soon? Where's the agency at and what do I need to bring for it?"
"You're going to need your resume, headshot, and al—," Johnathan explained.
I interrupted him, "I don't have any headshots Johnathan, or any modeling photos except for selfies. Do selfies count?"
I parked the car as I arrived at the building, parking in my usual parking spot.
"So I'll have to schedule you a photoshoot to build your portfolio? You want to be the actress, why don't you have your portfolio created yet, Breanna?" He questioned. "I'm not even asking you to pay me, I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart because I see something in you. You look like you could be someone, Breanna but the stuff that I'm doing is like I'm your manager in a way. You do know that you need a lawyer to help you fill out the contract and paperwork?"
"I'm sorry, I was going to but work has been my only factor at the moment," I sighed, feeling like I was getting scolded like a child. "And trust me, your help does not go unnoticed. I told you that you could be my agent but you're the one wanting me to go through all of this."
Since Johnathan was the person that saw the potential in me to become a star, I figured that he could be my agent and I'd gladly pay him for it. I guess with his many businesses and ventures, he didn't want me as a client.
"Because Breanna, I'm more of the behind the scenes guy that makes money," He explained. "I don't have any problem helping you out but if we end up working together then a lot of things will be different. With my business, it's more of a partnership meaning we're both bosses, you sign the contract and then you join my team. After you join my team, you work and I work together, but also in this business relationship, I don't particularly owe you anything else. And I also have other clients, so I'm a busy guy that is also making things happen for other people..."
I listened, finally understanding why he didn't want to have me as a client.
"So it won't be just your time that I'm working on, there are others. I wanted you to go this route so that you get yourself out there in an agency that will be more helpful than I can do which is providing you with the right people and it'll be way quicker,"
"Fine," I nodded my head, getting his explanation. "Well, I gotta' head inside and clock-in,"
"Alright, I'll text or call you for ya' lunch break and see what imma' do with this headshot stuff," He assured me.
"Okay," I hung up the phone, getting out of the car as I got ready to head inside. I got to the clock in area, clocked myself into the system then left the room to go to the break area to make coffee for everyone. I missed making coffee as I grabbed the tray and cups, checking the coffee maker, I poured the coffee into the cups, added the sugar, and topped it up as a smile crossed my face.
I took the tray, leaving the break room, and got to film studio room. I spotted a few set designers getting started along with Mr. McKnight holding stacks of papers as he spoke with Malaysia. Before I got to head over to them, I got a tap on my arm causing me to turn around and notice that it was Leandra.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" She tilted her head.
"Sure, after I give this the set designers crew," I told her, turning around to walk up to Mr. McKnight and Malaysia. "Good morning, I have the morning coffee here. Malaysia after I speak with Leandra, I'll be happy to help you,"
"Morning and yay, I'm glad that you're here," She clapped her hands. "I was just telling Mr. McKnight here how much of a hard worker you are,"
I stared at Mr. McKnight, careful not to stare so hard into his light brown almond eyes. He was so intense and stern that I felt anxious around him.
"Yeah, she is," He accepted the drink, giving me a nod and slight smile in my direction. "Thank you, Ms. Davidson,"
"N-not a problem," I cleared my throat, passing the coffee over to Malaysia then I met up with the set designers. "Good morning, morning coffee anyone?"
As everyone grabbed their coffee, I had one left and I decided to give it to Leandra as I left the film studio and was pulled by Leandra into the break room.
"Follow me..." Leandra whispered as we strolled into the bathroom in the break room. "Okay, do you have something to say, Breanna?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're playing stupid," She crossed her arms, squinting her eyes. "Remember yesterday night when you stayed later than your regular time and we had that playful banter that we normally do? And you threw in the subtle shade that, I quote you said, 'I'm sure you know much more about inappropriate affairs than me,' and end quote. What did you mean exactly, Breanna?"
I felt my heart sank as I hoped that she didn't hear me say that. I had to think of a way around this because whether the affair was true or not, Leandra knew everyone here longer than me and she did a hell of a job at what she does, so getting me fired was not a problem for her.
"You know what it is, harmless banter that we do," I played it off, adding in a laugh to make it seem realistic. "I didn't think anything of it because we do it all the time but if I went too far with what I told you, I apologize completely. I mean, I enjoy our banter."
Did I nail it?
"Oh, good because I th—," She stopped, staring at herself in the mirror. Brushing her hair behind her ears, "It's all good. Everything is brushed under the rug. You have a good day Breanna and our playful banter is not over sweetie, but you might have a run for my money in this..."
With that last statement, I let out a deep breath. I can't believe she bought it, but I was thankful that she did. I could've lost my job, my only source of income at the moment, and on top of that be blackballed before my name was even mentioned in the entertainment industry. Then, I was also shocked that Leandra called her abuse of her title, playful banter, did that mean we were cool but not cool?
Once she left the bathroom, I clicked on my Dropbox app. I scrolled through the videos landing video that I recorded of them and made sure to export it back to my phone, to keep me safe in case Leandra didn't believe me. You never know what could happen and I had to protect myself.
Once I completed the exporting of the video I placed my cellphone back on to do not disturb and slid it into my pocket before I left the bathroom. Heading to my desk for my iPad, I headed towards the film studio to help Malaysia and her set designers.
"Okay, so what do you want me to do?" I asked Malaysia.
"I've already designed the set here," She held up the thumbnail and rough model of the set that the crew was designing. "It's an apartment set before we add the equipment, this is what we need to do. My crew is working on the background, as Raheem and the other film editors will be shooting in the kitchen and Marc's room, it'll be connected in a way...so we're going to be transforming this into a real stage set for the actors,"
"Got it, how long before the actors shooting this part of the movie to join?"
"Depends on how long this take," Malaysia lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. "Last time we finished the set, the actors shot it a few days afterward. This will be the last time we shoot in the building until we head over the other places to shoot,"
I was learning so much about filming a movie. I didn't expect so many things to be happening behind the scenes and it's why I think being an assistant was a great start.
I watched the set designers construct the window, as I assisted by adding the curtain rods. The way the direction of set was going it reminded me of the sets like the show on Netflix has, the Circle, it was a similar feel. I examined the thumbnail and rough model as it was coming to life. The walls were black, with wood flooring, as the props and furniture arrived, I added the picture frames all over the walls, wall art, metals, and trophies making sure to center it perfectly by the instructions of Malaysia.
Once the white sofa appeared on the set, I placed it against the wall, making sure it was lined in correctly with striped black and white throw pillows. I grabbed the grey carpet putting it in front of the sofa and added the glass coffee table on top of the carpet with the help of the set designers and added the props on the coffee table being a candle, notebook, picture frames, a few magazines, dollar bills, and a random watch. The set designers added a flatscreen Tv on the wall and made sure that it was hooked before moving on.
I also helped the set designers by putting a lamp on the side of the sofa onto a small table, then I even helped design the kitchen. There was a kitchen table in the kitchen as I put a book, a few snacks, and a bowl on the table as the countertop were decorated with kitchen things like a coffee maker, toaster, blender, rice cooker, air-fryer on one side and the other has jars of candy of different kinds, and the knife holder.
"Davidson?" I heard from the walkie talkie.
I pressed the button down, holding it to my mouth. "Here,"
"I'm watching you all set the stage from here and I want you to do something for me," Mr. McKnight voiced. "Go to the store, I'll give you my card. I want you to buy all kinds of junk food. Chips, popcorn, anything that you think an early adult guy would eat and drink, so that we could feel the fridge and cabinets up."
"Copy," I replied, looking at the set for the living room and kitchen come together. I tapped one of the set designers on the shoulder, "Sorry, but tell Malaysia that I have to do an errand for Mr. McKnight meaning buy the junk food for the set,"
He nodded his head, as I trailed over to Mr. McKnight and the production crew that I didn't see enter, watching from the camera.
"Here," He passed the card over to me. "Do you need someone to go with you as buy all of this stuff?"
I quickly shook my head. As much as I knew the type of struggle I'd have to grab everything and feeling the shopping carts, I knew this was a task that I was required to do.
"Good, I know how much money I have own my card, Davidson," He ended our conversation.
I left the film studio, going to the lobby as I ended up bumping into Malik who had his hands inside of his pocket as he stared at me.
"Hey Breanna, you've been working hard," He chuckled, brushing my curly hair strings back. "But you still smell good,"
As I was about to reply, he pulled me into his arms as I engulfed his scent. He smelled just like soap, deodorant, and cologne; it wasn't too heavy or too light but just right. My stomach immediately fluttered with butterflies as I shut my eyes while he planted a kiss on both of my cheeks then my forehead.
As my eyes remained closed, I felt a hint of mint and coolness brush against my lips before he paused leaving me to quickly open my eyes.
"My fault," He raised his hands in surrender. "I should've never did that."
"I-it's okay," I stammered, remembering that I was supposed to be going to the store. "I have to go..."
He shook his head, putting his hands back into his pocket as I watched him walk away. This was not good.
I continued leaving out of the lobby, seeing Mr. Bennet standing outside the vehicle. I smiled at him as he returned it and held the door open for me as he got into the drivers' seat.
I slid into the middle seat, holding my cellphone in my hand as I thought about what happened a few seconds ago. I didn't know how to feel.
"Uh...Mr. Bennet or should I say, Joel?" I called.
"Yes, Breanna?" He answered.
"I-," I couldn't ask him anything like that. "Never mind,"
I'd have to save it for Terrell later.
Mr. Bennet started to drive, leaving the parking lot as I wondered what store that Mr. McKnight told him to send me to. I stared at his black card in my hand, in deep shock that he trusted me enough to carry it and purchase items with it. Joel turned on the radio, as I listened to the deep yet sensual sound of The living legend, Toni Braxton's voice on Just Be A Man About It. I was so into it, singing along and imagining myself that I was her in the music video as I heard a tap on the glass window.
"Oops...sorry," I giggled, letting Joel open the door as I stepped out and made sure to have the card in my fanny pack in a protected spot as I got inside of Wallyworld. I immediately grabbed a shopping cart and headed to the food aisle. Humming down the aisle, I made my way to the snack aisle to pile up the shopping cart. I knew that it was only for presentation to add in the cabinet and fridge.
Checking the Debbie cakes, I added nutty bars, fudge rounds, oatmeal cream pies, honey buns, swish rolls, zebra cake rolls, cosmic brownies, and devil creams. Then, I moved on to adding the candy. Life Savers, Skittles, and plenty of chocolate. I moved over to the chips, getting lays barbecue, regular, sour cream, hot Cheetos, hot fries, and hot Funyuns since that seemed like the kind of snacks that guys would eat.
As I was throwing things inside of the shopping cart, my cellphone was ringing as I checked it seeing that it was Mr. McKnight so I instantly answered the phone.
"Hello?" I placed the phone on my ear.
"Are you in the store still? If so, get bread, ham, cheese, pickles, TV dinners, Lunchables—you know that kinda' stuff," He stated. "Along with those store boxes pizza and can't forget the drinks,"
"Got it,"
"Good," Mr. McKnight hung up on me.
I frowned, ending the call and slid it into my back pocket as I proceeded into putting everything in the shopping cart. Once I got the popcorn, bread, cheese, ham, pickles, Lunchables, TV dinners, the drinks, and pizza boxes—the cart was filled to the top. I'm sure that I was going to get stared at and the cashiers would probably be heated about this as well because I wasn't going to the self-checkout.
I rolled the shopping cart slowly to the front cash register, looking for an empty one as I spotted one behind a lady with fewer items than I had. Once the cashier spotted my cart her eyes widened, as I have her a small smile hoping she didn't cancel the line.
"Have a good day," The cashier told the customer in front of me, as she shook her head at my shopping cart while mumbling, "They don't pay me much for this,"
Me and you both sister is what I wanted to say as I added some items on to the counter. I felt so bad for the cashier and even embarrassed for myself as she got on the phone to call for back up.
As the backup arrived, they checked out all the stuff and was shocked as well as they started to quickly bag the items up, leaving it on the counter until I was finished purchasing. It took them about two and a half hours scanning everything and putting in the cart as the cashier gave me the total. I tucked in my bottom lip as I handed the cashier Mr. McKnight's black-card.
After the purchase, she tore off the long receipt and handed it to me along with the black card.
"Thank you so much and to your other co-worker,"
I hoped she relayed the message as she gave me a fake smile and I wheeled my cart out of the line towards the exit. I grabbed my phone to dial Joel's phone number to let him know that I was ready as I got a buzz indicating that I had a new text message.
Mr.JohnathonStrong: Photoshoot early this weekend.
I danced a little reading over the text as I knew that I had to give Johnathan something for doing all of this for me. I owed him a lot, and I wasn't going to take advantage of it. I ignored his text message, unlocking my phone as I dialed Joel's number.
"Y'ello," He answered.
"I'm finished, and can you help me? It's a lot,"
Whew, this was the hardest errand that I had to do as an assistant.