Chapter 452

Who could it be at this hour?
Noreen hesitated for a moment before walking to the door. When she looked through the peephole, her eyes lit up with joy, and she quickly unlocked it. “Claire! What are you doing here?”
Claire swept into the room, bringing a gust of damp air with her. Ignoring her suitcase by the door, she threw her arms around Noreen. “I’m here to recharge my batteries!”
She hugged her tightly, burying her face in Noreen’s neck as if she never wanted to let go. Noreen immediately sensed something was wrong. She hugged her back, gently swaying from side to side. “Have you eaten?”
“Nope. I’m starving!”
“How about we hit up our old kebab place?”
“Perfect.”
“And maybe grab a drink?” Claire added.
“You got it.” Noreen used her foot to nudge the suitcase inside. “The usual spot.” “You know it.”
“Okay, so… can I go get changed now?”
Claire didn’t release her grip. “What part of you haven’t I seen before? Don’t be a stranger.”
Half an hour later, the two of them were sitting at a kebab shop less than a block from Rivercrest University, their old haunt. The owner was the same, and the food tasted just as they remembered. The only thing that had changed was them; the youthful innocence of their college days had faded.
Neither was a lightweight when it came to drinking. Beer felt too weak for the occasion, so Claire ordered them both brandies. Latest content publıshed on.net
“Brandy for me too,” Noreen told the owner.
Seeing Claire’s questioning look, Noreen explained, “It’s the weekend tomorrow. I don’t have to get up early.”
Claire knew, of course, that the concept of a ‘weekend’ didn’t exist for a workaholic like Noreen. She was just saying it as an excuse to keep her company.
They ate and chatted, reminiscing about their college adventures.
“I still remember how insanely busy you were back then,” Claire said with a laugh. “If you had class, you were in class. If you didn’t, you were over at Seth’s, helping him out. You were like a perpetual motion machine that never got tired, we tied in the same dorm room for two months that first semester, and I swear we barely exchanged ten sentences.”
Claire teased, “Then one night sophomore year, you didn’t come back, and I just *knew* you’d finally ended up in his bed. You have no idea, I felt like my home had been invaded!”
“The next day, you stumbled back looking pale as a ghost and
collapsed into bed, trembling in pain. I knew something was seriously wrong so rushed you to the hospital. When the doctor said you
had a ruptured ovarian cyst,
wanted to go find that bastard Seth and neuter him myself.”
“Okay, okay, that’s enough. Let’s not talk about that anymore,” Noreen said, a little uncomfortable dredging up the past.
But that’s how best friends are. Even when you don’t want to face something, they’ll be there to lovingly mock you for it.
“What did I tell you back then?” Claire continued, undeterred. “I said go ahead, get your heart broken. Maybe you’ll finally learn your lesson.”
She had a point. It was a hard lesson learned.
“And even though you’re finally over Seth, it still pisses me off,” Claire said, her tone serious now. “I saw what you went through for him. I can never forgive him for what he did to you.”
“Alright, enough about me,” Noreen said, pouring Claire another drink. “What’s going on with you? Did something happen?”
The smile on Claire’s face faltered, and she sighed. “My acting skills must be getting rusty if you saw through me that easily.” She’d thought she was putting on
a convincing performance. Clearly, she still had a long way to go before winning any awards.
“It’s not a huge deal,” Claire said with a world-weary sigh. “You know how our industry is. It’s a mess.”
Noreen frowned. “Did you run into some casting couch bullshit?”
“Yup.” Claire sounded utterly dejected. “You know, if the guy was handsome, I might have just rolled my eyes and walked away But he was so ugly! How does someone that hideous have the nerve to proposition people? And he acted like being rich gave him the right. I threw my drink in that fat pig’s face, and I still feel sick just thinking about it.”
Just as she finished her rant, her phone rang. It was her agent. Claire knew exactly what the call was about and was tempted to ignore it.