Journey by Jay T. (the gingerbread man read aloud .txt) 📖

relax before my photo shoot. As I sit on the park bench, I a sudden realization came to me. I have no friends. This new life for me has made me give up my popularity, and my family. I sigh and look around. How am I supposed to make friends in a huge city like this? There was pressure once again on top of my body.
“Making a life for you is different, because you grew up in a place where there were already set friends in your life. That is one of your lessons.” The voice spoke, and left quickly. I suddenly felt the urge to see my parents, and I close my eyes and imagine the last time I was with them.
“Where on earth would she go?” My mother looked frail, as if she hasn’t been eating for weeks. She was on the phone with my brother, and he said that he had not seen me since the last time he came to visit Aunt Josephine in Georgia.
“Alright, well, call me if you hear anything.” She hung up and drove to my father’s office. It was about 5:30 and she went up to his office. His sectary wasn’t at the front desk. My mother opened the door, and gasped.
I opened my eyes knowing what was going on right at this moment. My father had an affair with his sectary. I knew it for a few months, but I did not want to acknowledge it. I sighed and wondered if I should just skip the photo shoot, and decided to just go on with it and get my mind off of things. Walking in the cool night of New York City, I finally get to the location around six.
“Mae! Nice to see you! You’re right on time!” He hugged me and ushered me into a chair. People gathered around me immediately and started on me right away. They started to do my hair, my makeup, changing my clothes, and every other thing you could think of. I got a bit overwhelmed but I guess I should get used to it. After an hour or two, they were finally done. I looked in the mirror and noticed a more enhanced me. They had brought out the color in my eyes, made my feature more enhanced such as my cheekbones, my bust, my legs, and my arms. I liked it. David then called me over to the photographer. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties; he had black hair, blue eyes, a lean body, and a slender face. His name is Anthony Sanders and he smiled at me very kindly.
“Nice to meet you.” I say to him. I smile, and look back at David. He was the only one who ‘knew’ my situation besides Darren. He smiled back at me and told me to go start making magic.
“I don’t know what that means, but here goes…” I started and ended on a great note.
A few hours later, Anthony and David wanted to treat me to dinner stating that I had done such a great job. I told them that I had to get back and get some rest, since I had been nervous all day. Truthfully, I just wanted to be near someone who love me, and that was Darren. I returned to the hotel in my hair and make-up and the bell boy from my first night was staring at me. I remembered his face, but I couldn’t put my finger on his name. I said hello politely and he was staring. He didn’t say a thing. I smiled at him and went up to my room.
As I enter, I see Darren sleeping on the couch. I smile and sit down right in front of him. He looked like he would sleep forever, and when he was sleeping he looked so innocent and pure. I wanted to let him sleep forever. I giggled and he stirred a bit and opened his eyes.
“Hey, you’re back.” I smiled and pecked his lips and sat there staring at him. I never wanted this moment to be over. I knew that he would be there, even if I didn’t have any one, no matter where my career went. He looked at me and he smiled. “You look beautiful. Not that you didn’t look beautiful before.”
“Thanks for the flattery.” I say sarcastically. Getting up, I walk into the bathroom and Darren follows shortly after. He gives me a back hug and I turn around to kiss him.
“I missed you today. I told my friends about you, and they think I’m crazy. It’s true; I am crazy.” He said. “I fell in love at first sight. That is crazy.”
I smiled and hugged him. We stood there for a while; we were hugging each other like the world was ending the next day and that there wasn’t enough time in the world for each other. I didn’t know why, but I felt complete with Darren by my side. Even if my family wasn’t with me, I felt as if I only needed Darren. I know that sounds…crazy, but it feels like I’ve finally found my other half, in just one day.
We lay in the bed and watched scary movies and chick flicks all night, while we ordered room service and just enjoyed each other’s company. We talked about everything we could think of and we just kept talking and laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Eventually, we both fall asleep, and the next thing I know, the alarm is going off. Darren reaches over me and he turns it off.
“Good morning.” He whispers in my ear. I smile with my eyes still closed. I think it was about eight-forty. Darren kisses my cheek and I look at him. His short blonde hair has a messy tussled look and his hazel eyes were shimmering. He was gorgeous, and it felt as if everything that happened was a dream.
“Hello.” I look at him and his perfection and wonder what I did to deserve someone so wonderful. I was lost. How could someone I had just met be someone who I could see myself being together with for a long time? I smile at the thought of it and it doesn’t seem real. “This feels like a dream.”
He smiles and kisses my forehead. “Yeah, it’s like having an angel as a girlfriend.”
“Pfft. Whatever you say. I wouldn’t believe that.” I laugh and playfully hit him. He wrestles me a bit and after a while he gets up to go to school while I take a shower. Before I’m done, he leaves because he is late. I get ready for work at the café. I tie up my hair and change clothes into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.
I leave the hotel and walk to the café. As I enter, the manager looks up and smiles.
“You’re Mae. Thanks for actually showing up. I’m Mary Kingly.” She smiles and shakes my hand. She has dirty blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail and she had a bright face that almost any guy would go for. I would have to remember not to let Darren meet her.
“Yeah, no problem, I will try my best.” I smile and Mary teaches me how to brew and make everything, and then she teaches me how to work the cash register. I thank her and wait for my very first customer. It’s a young man, and he looks to be about Darren’s age. He looks at me and smiles.
“You’re new.” He smirks as he says it.
“Yes, sir. It’s my first day. Would you like anything?” I ask.
“I would say the usually, but you’re new. I would like regular black coffee with a bit of cocoa powder.” He hands me his card and I follow Mary’s instructions. I sigh and think, ‘This is going to be a long day.’
There were many customers throughout my shift. Many of them were regulars and seemed surprised by a new employee. I smiled and was polite through the whole four hours I worked. After my shift, however, I still had to go work at the boutique. The plus of working at the boutique was that I got a 30% employee discount. I loved the clothes, and everything. My manager, Cindy Lovelace, was super nice and welcoming. The boutique had many customers as well, which meant that both my jobs could give me about $2,000, on average, every two weeks combined. That was a nice perk, I think to myself.
My time in the boutique that day is over and I walk back to the hotel. Darren smiled as I walked into the room, and I lay down. He walks over to me and sits on the bed.
"Are you tired?" I nod and he kisses my forehead. "Go to sleep. I'm going to get us some food."
"Okay, as long as it's not coffee." I smile and Darren chuckles while walking out. I doze off quickly and I don’t even change. I feel like I haven’t slept in a long, long time. I’ve never really had a job, and I’ve had everything handed to me, so working was a bit of a change. I loved earning my own money and feeling like I deserved it though. The other nice thing was that I was actually earning some money.
I hear a phone and I wake up. It was David.
“Hello? David?” I ask.
“Hey, Mae. Did I disturb you?” He sounds like he’s at a party. I can hear blaring music and David is practically yelling into my ear.
“No, I was just dozing off. What’s up?” He is talking to someone.
“Yeah, it’s her….hang on.” He says to the person. “Mae, I want you to meet someone tomorrow. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure, but who is it?” I curiously ask.
“It’s the modeling agency’s president. He saw your pictures and he would like to meet you tomorrow to discuss your contract.” David sound like he is in a private room so he could hear better.
“Oh, alright.” I smile and hang up. As I hang up, Darren walks in with two bags of Chinese take-out. I laugh, “How much did you buy?”
“You’re a growing girl. I am a growing boy. We need food in our systems.” He sets down the food on the little ‘dining’ table and I walk over laughing. Darren pulls out my chair and gets on the other side of the table. We both eat like starved people, and we finish everything. I am surprise at how much we can eat.
“Darren! Now I have to go to the gym!” I complain playfully. He laughs and he runs a hand through his hair.
“No, you’re perfect. I would not even care if you got older and fatter,” He says as he sits down on the couch. I walk over and while he reaches for the remote and I straddle his lap. He groans as I start to kiss his neck. I move up towards his ear, and I lightly bite down on it. “Mae, we just ate. It’s not fair what you do to me.” He reaches up and strokes my back while I bring my kisses down to his jaw line.
“Then, let’s just kiss for a while.” I whisper into his ear. I move my lips up to his and slowly kiss his soft lips. He slowly kisses me and the kiss gets deeper. His lips move in sync with mine while his hands pull my body closer to his. My arms snake around his neck and hug his body to mine. Darren touches his tongue to my lips and they part. Our tongues dance together while Darren’s hand snakes