Lucy struggles

Lucy, the name bothered the busy Lillian Grey, despite her obligation.

Returning to her life made the author occupied with her schedule, but there stood one tenacious association that kept reaching out to her over the weeklong course.

It was none other than Lucy, Lillian's current lover.

The fated encounter with Giselle and meeting her again in her life threw Lillian in a loop. When Giselle made a trip to visit Lillian Grey, they ended up reconciling their past and even kissed-

The kiss let Lillian go insane, and she can't stop thinking about it.

All of the incidents triggered Lillian's guilt, and she abandoned to face Lucy boldly.

The first thing Lillian noticed after discovering her mobile was Lucy's never-ending calls and messages.

Going through the logs, Lucy texted Lillian on Friday, the day when Lillian left her home in haste from encountering Giselle that evening. A sweet goodnight message that never got read by the recipient.

On Saturday morning, Lucy called to ask out Lillian for a date, and after waiting for the answer, Lucy even sends a follow-up text to change location to Lillian's place. No matter where- Lucy wished to be with Lillian.

Faced with the bitter reality of no contact from Lillian Grey, Lucy dug her previous calls and messages to discover the possibility of Lillian's ignorance.

Nonetheless, she blamed it on the author's work life and waited, and waited, to find that the whole weekend, following the start of another week, there was never a response from Lillian's side. Lucy began to panic if something's wrong, and she stopped by Lillian's place to find it locked.

No matter how much she tried to knock on the sturdy door, she ended up receiving the silent treatment.

The entire week Lucy kept calling Lillian and sent her boundless text messages, hoping for a reply. Her disturbed mind bothered her work as a few photoshoots failed due to her battered spirit.

**

Lillian looked through the text messages, read it one by one, with care and attention. Lucy's concern reflected in those words, and the numerous call logs revealed how much Lucy never failed to give up and kept pursuing Lillian.

It is because of these sincere efforts that scared Lillian Grey. Her pure love imprisoned Lillian under her guilt of not being true to Lucy.

Even before she could digest the occurred events, Lillian got dragged by Jenna. So, on her way to do her job, Lillian sent a text to Lucy after much careful consideration.

***

"CUT."

A sharp, loud yell heard across the space that already maintained dead silence.

"Lucy, darling," the director controlled his tone not to sound rude. However, his expression could expose his flaming temper erupting inside.

Lucy, dazed and listless, stood holding on to the product for which she was shooting the commercial.

"Lucy, do you realize that we happen to reschedule this shoot as you were not your best self last week?" he dominated his words to draw her attention.

The standby crew jerked from listening to the director's voice as they all knew that the shooting is not going smooth.

Lucy nodded to his notice.

"Do you know that I wanted you in this project because I think you are talented?"

"Yes," Lucy replied.

Her manager stood nearby, waiting anytime to jump in when needed.

"Then, why? Are you sick? Or are you sad? Do you want to talk about it if you can?" the director appealed from the stress of not able to achieve his task.

Lucy prevailed in silence.

"I'll be frank, whatever the reason is that caused you to be this gloomy is not helping us film the commercial with you. I can't reschedule the shoot again. Would you like to take a break?" the director spoke as calmly as he could convey his thoughts.

Lucy kept still, and never replied that the director took it positively.

"Alright, why don't we all take a break!" the director announced to everyone present in the room. An instant agreement to his words presented.

"Lucy," he turned to see the sulking model.

"You can take time, but when we start again, I need to you give me good results else I might have to change models. Now, understand that I wanted you to be in this commercial, and I know you can do this easily. Calm your mind, and come back!"

The director left the room and only then did all breathed aloud. Lucy's manager hurried to her side and escorted her to the makeup station. The production team scattered to rest and wait for the tension to quiet down.

"Do you want some water?" Lucy's manager asked.

Lucy allowed, and he left out to get her water.

Meantime, Lucy looked at the reflection in the mirror. Her ever-smiling, the bright face is nowhere to see now, and the reason behind is the no reception from her lover, Lillian Grey.

The beginning of the relationship is always sweet and passionate. One can't stay away from the other as lovers steadily display their affection flagrantly. Learning Lillian's disappearance and the missing communication hurt Lucy. She had no clue or no resource to seek for held. Even with Jenna, she did not have any chance to find about her lover.

Lucy's sorrowful appearance was a result of overthinking and assumptions made about Lillian dumping Lucy without a word. The very existence of this thought made the charming model to lose herself to depression. She knew Lillian dated a lot before meeting her, but for Lucy, Lillian was the first person and a very intimate one. The more she thought of the missing communication, the more Lucy fell into darkness. It interfered with her work, and slowly she began to succumb to her defeat.

..

To her glooming, Lucy's mobile buzzed from notification.

Maybe another job, or another job failure!

Lucy thought how pointless all seems without love and happiness.

Nevertheless, her mind insisted on checking the phone as one in a million chance it could be Lillian Grey.

Lucy moved her thin body to see a miracle.

A text from Lillian Grey!

The text was not detail, but Lillian mentioned visiting her father for an emergency during the past week. Lillian added a note to Lucy not to worry.

The manager who returned to give Lucy, her water, and what he perceived, jarred him.

Lucy had tears pouring down, and she looked up to only give him a sobbing smile.

"Are you okay, Lucy? What happened?" the manager rushed to her side again in worry.

Lucy realized that she was weeping despite the smile. She wiped the tears to ensure nothing happened. Drinking that water, she got her makeup fixed to get ready.

"Did something happen, Lucy? You are not talking at all, and now you seem to be in a good mood. Are you all alright? We can request for rescheduling. I will talk to the director-"

"No, I'm fine. We already rescheduled because of me, and I don't want to cause any more trouble for the people who put faith in me," Lucy said.

Her sudden soaring confidence mirrored her usual self that went missing over a week.

The manager smiled to agree.

Being able to be herself made Lucy remember the troubles she might have caused along the way and the sufferings the manager had to endure for her sake. She apologized sincerely to his startle, and the manager reassured her.

The two walked out to meet the director, where Lucy regretted her actions that called for a delay. The guy forgave Lucy and asked her to make sure if she is alright to continue the shoot.

Lucy agreed.

She walked out to the set, and the assistant gave her the product to endorse.

The director checked before signaling the camera crew.

'She is still with me.'

'She would never leave me.'

'Lillian Grey'

Lucy thought to herself, and the director said 'action' to start filming the commercial.