21 Disillusionment and new friend

Sunday, April 14th

11:55am London time

"You're asking me an autograph? You think you're on the red carpet? Don't bother me, I have to review my text."

"What are you doing walking through the cables? Do you know how much this professional camera costs? Come on, get out of there."

"Get out of the way a little bit, kid. If you don't have anything better to do, know that on our side we are overloaded with work. Why don't you get on the side and get out of our way, where I'll ask security to throw you out."

Lost in the East End, inside a building hall abandoned in the 80s, partially restored for the needs of the TV series, Adam has just been pushed once again.

When he arrived here, he dreamed of discovering the magic of television, in which all those who come from a simple environment like his own have so many fantastic and wonderful ideas. To see actors up close, a film crew at work, the friendly atmosphere between these professionals who are part of a whole other world when the camera is running, that apart from Jessica, he has never been able to see except on television.

Today, Jessica allowed him to avoid the intensive training prepared for him and since they left the hotel, Adam entered his bubble. The different costumes he liked in the movies ran through his head, as well as the splendid cars and beautiful actresses with white teeth and bewitching voices that often accompanied him after he fell asleep.

His father, a lousy photographer who was fired from an artist agency for being too close to a young femal singer, had told him in the past that all this was all lies and false pretence. That all these glitter and smiles, concealed more hatred, resentment and ugliness than he would ever see in his life. Having no confidence in this father who was always unfaithful to his mother, Adam rejected these allegations, which he immediately considered false, slanderous and coming from the mouth of a hypocritical man who took advantage of this system for a long time to satisfy his desires, but who now rejected by him, showed an understandable but exaggerated bitterness.

Moving away from the hottest spot, settling against a recessed wall, Adam, who feels a ball getting stuck in his throat, observes his girlfriend who came to greet the director. As soon as she arrived, she was already surrounded by the actors of the series who seemed very happy to be able to participate with her in the shooting.

Jessica, on the other hand only sketches a brief smile, before doing what she had come for, without worrying, about the noisy little animals runs all around her. Coming here bores her, but it is customary to move to greet the director and she cannot avoid this tradition from another age that she considers stupid. It was they who strongly insisted on playing as a guest is her. The one who will bring a new audience to this depressing drama for teenagers and young adults is her again. In this dark place, straight out of the last century, the one who will sell magazines and newspapers is still her. According to her point of view, asking the star to move around, to greet an obscure director, will only tire her out and temporarily tarnish her radiance. Honestly, she doesn't care about this series for which she has no interest. She participates only to be able to progress, to broaden her range of actress, to perfect her weaknesses in the drama, a genre she doesn't know much about and which is not her favourite anyway. Jessica, coming here, follows the advice of her agents without having high expectations for the experience she will get from this shooting, that she anticipates as monotonous.

"Beautiful little girl, isn't she? Please forgive my rudeness, I didn't introduce myself properly. I'm Roy. I play one of the secondary characters in this sad to die series."

Near Adam, nonchalantly leaning against the wall, stands proudly, very smiling, a very tall young man of about 20 years old. Unlike other pretentious men on the planet, this pride that emanates from him, as it does for many British people, suddenly turns into elegance in the eyes of others when he displays it openly. The handsome blond guy opens the left corner of his lip, then winked at Adam, who almost sublimated by the young man's natural charisma, realizes that he still hasn't answered his interlocutor.

"Oh, I'm Adam. Nice to meet you, Roy."

He doesn't know why, however, as he looks at Roy's green eyes, Adam feels quite comfortable. He doesn't look like the other good-looking guys. He attracts sympathy from the first sight, as soon as he opens his mouth, the person to whom he is addressing wants to answer him and even for someone as introverted as Adam, smiling becomes possible when you face him.

"Adam, a very rich name in many cultures if I compare it to mine. If I judge by your accent, you're certainly not English. So, tell me Adam, what are you doing hiding here when you're a guest of our beautiful country?"

Adam unintentionally lets out an ironic smile when he thinks he's bothering everyone here and understands that there's no place for him. When he is about to say that he is Jessica's girlfriend, he quickly swallows his words, remembering that Jessica herself did not even reveal their relationship in the open. Thinking about it, Adam is upset, but the pleasant and easy-to-talk boy is waiting for an answer.

"I'm an intern on Miss Benson's staff. Um, I think you can say that."

To his great satisfaction, the great Briton did not show any overflow of joy. He simply nods in understanding and casually turns his gaze to the center of the room.

"Interesting, you came from far away to accompany your employer. Earlier, like everyone else here, I tried to greet Miss Benson, but approaching her seems difficult. I hope she will be more accessible during the shooting where this may cause some problems. Forget it, it's not up to me or you to fix the situation. I'm thinking about it, Adam, I can recommend a few addresses where you should absolutely visit if you're going to visit London during your stay."

The worried look of the Britishman did not escape Adam, who, without asking any more questions, lets slip away: "I will introduce you to Jessica, so you can get to know her, to free your worries about your work."