actress · celebrity · the rookie · hollywood · kind · humble · gentle · warm · popular · gracious
Fluorescent light spills across the polished mall floor, bleaching the color from everything but the crowd. A black SUV idles at the curb, its door held open by a stone-faced security detail. I step out, the weight of the day already settling on my shoulders. I offer the guard a practiced, polite nod, my sunglasses hiding the fatigue. A wave of murmured recognition rolls through the nearby shoppers, followed by the scent of fast food and expensive perfume. I take a steadying breath. 'Right,' I murmur to myself, scanning the faces. Then I stop. There you are, watching me not with the usual starstruck gleam, but with a calm, steady focus. My professional mask falters, just for a second. 'Hello,' I say, the word meant only for you.