Life as an actress.

Berielle’s POV:

It took me almost a year to recover from the horrible accident. Countless surgeries and physical therapy helped me walk on my feet again. The day I recovered, the first thing that I did was to pay back the hospital bills to the Warner family and with the remaining amount, I barely managed to buy a ticket to Shanghai.

Well, I am Asian. Although I have never met or seen my parents before, the staff at the shelter home told me that my mother was Chinese. However, I never had the urge to find them or come to China before. Until Zen Warner made me hate London and I did not even want to breathe the same air as them. I wanted to go as far as possible from them. Now, it’s already been a year since I came here.

The thing that helped me get by in China… It was the fact that I could speak mandarin. At the shelter home where I grew up, there were a lot of Asian kids there. Thus, we would speak in our mother language there. That’s how I learned it.

I managed to get a few part time jobs and rented an apartment in the semi basement. To be honest, I am in no position to complain. In an expensive city like Shanghai, it is a blessing that I sleep with a full stomach.

“What’s your dream, Elle? I am sure it is not making coffee for the rest of your life?” Lily, who works with me at the café with me asked.

I couldn’t help but smile. She is 20, 4 years younger than me. What I love about Lily is that she has a wonderful personality. When I am with her, I forget all my problems and truly enjoy my time.

“Of course, it’s not.” I sighed. The regret of wasting the 4 precious years of my life is just too much. “I want to be an actress.”

“YOU DO?” She squealed, causing us to get a few stares from the customers in the café.

“Hey, lower your volume.” I urged her and she immediately placed her hand on her mouth, “I am sorry, I just got too excited.” She calmed down, “Well, you are beautiful, young, confident, I am sure you will be able to achieve your dream one day.”

“You think?” I don’t know why, but I needed some sort of affirmation to believe that I am on the right track.

“You will.” She gently placed her hand on my shoulder, “I have never seen someone as beautiful as you before. When I saw you for the first time, do you know what my first thought was?”

I looked at her intently.

“This girl should be an actress.” She said dramatically, making me smile.

“Thank you, Lily. I really needed to hear that.”

She winked, “When you will get famous, do not forget me. In fact, I will be your first official fan and you have to give me an autograph.”

“I will. I will even treat you to the best meal of your life.” I promised her.

“You better do that.”

Before we could indulge in more chitchat, we had a swarm of customers. There was no time to be tired, however, when I returned home at night, I was exhausted. My muscles were sore and I was fatigued to the point where even blinking my eyes felt a chore.

After taking a shower, I went straight to bed and just when I was about to drift to sleep, the phone on the side table started to buzz.

It was none other than the manager at ‘Sugar entertainment’. For the past year, I have been submitting my portfolio here and there. But the entertainment industry in China is bigger than I imagined. It is extremely hard to secure a job. Thus, the roles that I have ever done, they are stand ins, characters without any lines or extras in the background.

With a nervously beating heart, I managed to answer the call, “Hello, Fu.” I greeted her politely.

“Hey, Elle.” She said with a short breath. There was so much noise in the background that it was hard to hear her.

“I am glad to be able to reach you.” She was saying, “One of the extras bailed and we need someone immediately. Are you available tomorrow?”

“At what time?” I inquired.

“In the morning.” She answered.

Luckily, I have a night shift at the café tomorrow, thus, I instantly agreed, “Yes, I am available.”

“Thank God, you are.” She let out a sigh of relief, “I will send you a location. Be there at 8am. Don’t be late.”

“Thank you, Fu.” I said and hung up. Within a minute, she sent me a location. However, I was shocked to see that it was the address of some village in the province. It will take more than 2 hours by bus. I sighed and glanced at the watch that was ticking 1 in the morning.

“It looks like I can sleep only for a couple of hours tonight.” I set the alarm and went to sleep.

At 5 in the morning, I left the house and barely managed to arrive at the location on time. When I did, I was cold and hungry. But those things can wait. For now, I have a job to do.

Amidst the people, I managed to find Fu. She is a middle aged lady. Blunt and curd when it comes to work and does not like to talk unnecessarily. I like her though.

“You have arrived just on time.” She grabbed my hand and placed a copy of the printed script, “This is your scene. Go through it and hurry get your makeup done.”

I was still having a hard time trying to take in my surroundings but she pushed me towards the makeup rooms. I sighed and took a seat after saying hello to the makeup artist and she started to do her work on my face. This place is for the extras while the main leads and other actors have private makeup rooms. At this point, it is also my dream to have my own makeup room.

I read the scene as I tried to familiarize myself. I really want to do a good job. If I will, I will have a chance to get called again.

However, upon reading the scene, I knew it wasn't going to be easy. Soon, it turned out my pathetic real life and the fictional one aren’t so far from each other.

Fuck my luck!!!

I was standing in front of Anna Lu. She is one of the most beautiful actresses in the industry. With long dark hair, black eyes, perfectly fair complexion, plump lips and a nose which isn’t too big nor too small. Size that is perfect for her features. What shocked me most was her figure. She got all the curves at the right places and the waist was so small that it made me think about all the efforts she must have put to have it.

‘I should also start dieting.’ I made a silent resolution.

However, the only thing that was bad was her personality. Just what is wrong with all the people who have money? I can’t with their narcissist selves.

At first, I had to stand in the freezing cold weather for an hour because Madam Anna Lu wasn’t satisfied with her makeup and had it redone. While, I was wearing nothing but a one piece silk dress that reached till my knees. At this point, I was on the verge of having hypothermia.

Finally, she came out of the makeup room and the shoot started. She gave me one look of disdain and played with the loose strand of her hair as she did not give a fuck to the world.

I sighed and gathered myself. According to the script, I am the girl with whom her boyfriend had an affair. Right now, they are having a confrontation. The actual actress got sick, that's why she bailed out and I got the chance to be here.

“Elle, you just have to act. The lines will be handled by the other actress.” The director shouted.

“I understand.” Since the shooting can’t be delayed, they will have the actress who is playing the real role, narrate the lines. Meanwhile, my face won’t be even showing in the drama. Why the hell did I bother getting makeup done?

I couldn’t get it.

“It’s you who seduced my boyfriend, hmm?” Anna leaned closer. I took a step back as it was instructed. “Do you even have an idea who I am? How the hell did you have the audacity to touch what’s mine?” Her voice was low and domineering.

If her initial disdain towards me was because she was trying to get in the character, then Anna has my respect.

“I will have to show you your place.” She said and I shut my eyes as I tried to brace myself for what is coming next. Just like I anticipated, I was slapped. Hard. On my cheek. My face was frozen due to the cold, thus, it hurt me even more.

“I am sorry. I forgot my next line.” She smiled at the director, who was also shocked to see how hard she slapped me.

“We should do a retake.” She suggested.

“Of course.” The director agreed, “But Anna, you do not have to hit her hard.”

The initial pain on my cheek was replaced by the burn. I gritted my teeth as I looked at her, “It wasn’t that hard, was it? Oh, I don’t even know your name. I guess, I don’t have to either.” She returned to her place for a retake.

Her little stunt continued for a while. She kept on slapping me and making mistakes so we would have to keep on taking retakes. At this point, I felt like my cheek didn't exist. The pain was so harsh and intense that it made me feel numb.

There was a pin drop silence at the set. It was calm before the storm. I clenched my fists as I glanced at Anna who was making a fuss over how her hand hurts by slapping me.

“Are you okay, Elle?” Fu came to ask me and she looked at my cheek with pity.

I managed to force a smile, “I am. I am fine.” I assured her but she wasn’t convinced.

“I don’t know what is wrong with Anna today. She usually gets her work done in one shot.” She sighed, “Don’t worry. I will go and talk to her.”

People gave me side eyes.

“She is beautiful though.” One of them said as she looked at me.

“Yeah. Usually Anna is the prettiest one. I guess it gave her ego a scratch.”

“Still, this is too much. How can she keep on hitting her? At this point, it is an assault.”

“Her face is all swollen.”

I could hear people gossip about me. But there was nothing that I could do except wait for Anna to do her job.

Soon, we were shooting the scene again. This time too, she raised her hand and slapped me harder than ever. It was so intense that my body took a toll and I fell on my butt.

“That’s enough, Anna.” A cold voice resonated in the air and with my breath held, I raised my head to look at the person to whom this voice belongs to.