Love Only Comes Once

Chapter 2

Friday came in quickly and in a flash Casey was on a plane heading to her hometown in Ohio, she sat down nervously eating each and every single food that first class had to offer. Some were good, others were terrible, while some were in the middle.

Casey couldn’t even sleep, in the next few hours she would be back home, the place was filled with so much memories, some bad, some where good, some were just downright questionable. But all in all she made some memories.

The time she up and left the small town, she was just finishing high school, and her father wanted her to go to college and live a normal life with a normal job, and probably marry a normal husband and give birth to normal kids, just like he had.

But there is one thing he was mistaken,Casey was not normal, she didn’t want no Goddamn normalcy in her life, she wanted and needed excitement, adventure, not sitting in a boring house acting like a housewife and pretending like as if everything is fine. The only time she wanted to act like a housewife is if she was given such a role to play in movie.

She had always wanted to be an actress since when she first saw a theater show that came to town, she was about 10 that time. Ever since then she had been fascinated about acting and everything that comes with it.

She watched movies, read dramas, practiced on her acting, she even played as Desdemona in the play Othello, during her school talent show, back in middle school. She did so well that the whole crowd gave her a standing ovation.

When she finally told her family that she wanted to become an actress, they all laughed at her and made mockery of her. Nobody believed in her, accept Andrew, Andrew was the only that believed in her and believed in her dreams–and maybe her sister.

Andrew was the son to one of the richest farmers in their town, and both of them have been tight on the hip since childhood–Andrew dad and Casey’s dad were buddies from college.

The first meeting of the two was an awkward one, based on the fact that Casey was the outgoing type while Andrew was the shy timid boy. Most of the time it was Casey that carried the conversation, while Andrew just listened to her.

When she told Andrew of her dreams, he told her to go for it, which resulted to her, in moment of excitement, to kiss him. It came to him like a shock, both of them being in 9th grade and still trying to understand what love and lust mean. And oddly enough Andrew liked the kiss, I mean who wouldn’t want to be kissed by Casey. She was the most popular and most talented girl of their class.

So with that determination in mind, she started saving up some cash to be able to take bus to California–cause flight tickets are a bit too expensive.

She saved from her pocket money, she worked in part time jobs, she made a lot of sacrifices just to get enough money to move out of town up to California, but the sacrifices were worth it, cause at the end of her high school journey she had enough money to travel. And she didn’t waste time to skedaddle.

The only person she told goodbye to was Andrew and he wished her luck in her career and hope the best for her, she gave him a hug and a kiss on the lips as a parting gift, as she boarded the bus to go and chase her dreams.

That was the last time she saw Andrew, she even checked him out on social media but he didn’t seem to have any social media account, the number that he gave to her to use as a means of communication, stopped working after some years later.

She had a feeling that he was married and have kids. Wouldn’t be bad thing, after all she wished for him to have one of the best things in this world and that was a happy family, that was something she couldn’t give to him.

There was an announcement made over the intercom that plane was about to land, that everybody should make sure that they are seated well.

Casey took in a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

****

Oricon was a town suited in the far side of Chardon, Ohio, the people inhabiting the place are simple folks, the major occupation of the town is ranching or farming, the town had different schools, some of which had a nursery, elementary and high school suited in one.

Normally Ohio was a hot state but it seems as Oricon has a different heat of its own. The temperature are usually at an all time high due to the fact that it’s summer.

Currently the cast and crew were at the location which was to be where the first place that they would shoot the first few scenes, most of the cast and crew wearing clothes that were fit for the weather, fanning themselves, some using electric fan for themselves.

There was a Recreational Vehicle that was parked on the other side of place, where Casey was getting ready, for the first scene. Some few days before they came to Ohio, Casey had sleepless nights practicing and getting ready for her character. She was also thinking about Andrew, she wanted to see him, and see how he was doing.

“Casey I just want you to know that I am a huge fan of your movies,” the make up artist, Sandra, said. Casey looked up at her and smiled, this caused Sandra to blush. Nothing else was said as Sandra applied the finishing touches of the makeup.

After she was done, the hairstylist came and styled her hair in a messy bun, since the movie was about the a group of humans that were the remaining survivors on Earth so it was only normal that her hair would look messy and unkempt.

Everything was set. Casey stepped out of the RV and into the scorching sun of Ohio, her PA was waiting with an umbrella, he quickly opened the umbrella and set it over her head, while giving her an electric fan to keep the heat from making her sweat too much–even though the sweat was kind of necessary in this scene.

As she went to the set and everything was ready, the scene was to begin with Casey walking down a deserted street with nobody in sight. After a viral disease wiped out half of humanity, she with a group of survivors had to battle with another major issue at hand, and those were the beings that had come alive due to the disease and were eating away at any human on sight.

Most of the casts were both veterans and young actors/actresses, but it was a star studded cast.

With Casey being the main character she was to open the scene, she stood there while Richard sat on his director chair with a megaphone in his hand.

“Scene one, take two.

“Action.”

****

They had shot up to three scenes before the day got dark, the crew members were packing the set up and loading it onto the van.

Casey was standing there looking at the almost empty set, since she came to Oricon she haven’t even met anybody from her town yet, probably due to the fact that as soon as she landed she got to work immediately, she felt tired having to repeat some few lines and forgetting some and some props not working, and she still had 7 months of this, at least that’s the time that Richard said that they would take in this place–there is also a slight chance of them moving to another state for a different scene, but that wouldn’t be seen as a problem.

Casey felt her phone vibrate at her back pocket, she removed it and check the caller ID, it was her older sister, Rachel. She picked the call.

“Hello?”

“Casey, I heard that you are back in town,” she heard her sister say over the phone. She sounded excited.

“Yes I am.”

“That’s just great, but why didn’t you call us to tell us anything?”

‘Cause as soon as I landed in a Oricon I started working instantly,’ she wanted to say, instead she said, “I was caught up doing some things so I couldn’t call.”

“Oh, well will you come home, mom’s already cooking some of your favorite food,” Casey could hear her mom in background saying that she would love them. Casey smiled at this.

“Ok fine, I would be there in the next couple of minutes.”

****

The McAddams household was a fairly big home with a comfortable aura around it, it looks peaceful and serene, probably due to the fact that her parents tried their best to make it that way, even though they had their few bickering every now and then, they always still manage to resolve it.

Casey parked the car that she rented on the driveway that led to the house. The last time she was seen here was when she was packing her things to get out of the house to chase a career in acting.

She took sometime before she stepped out of the car and walked up to the door, she was contemplating wether she should knock on the door or she should just walk in since it’s her family house.

But she felt that since it’s been long since she’s been home maybe she should just knock.

She knocked three times, there was shuffling before the door opened and revealed her sister, her sister had pretty brown hair and hazel brown eyes, she had an apron wrapped at her body. Her face broke out into a smile as she dragged Casey into a hug, Casey hugged her back.

Rachel dragged Casey into the house and announced that Casey was home. Her father was the first person to come and greet her.

“The prodigal daughter have finally come home, after how many years,” he said hugging her and kissing the top of her head, Casey smiled back at him. Her mom came from the kitchen to envelop her in a hug, Casey noticed that her mom still had that sweet smell of cinnamon that she always liked since childhood.

After all the greetings, the family settled down to in the dinning table to eat. The table was packed with different dishes from mash potatoes to sandwiches, to chicken filled with gravy, also a jug of orange juice was by the side.

They all said a prayer before they began eating, Casey reached out for the sandwich, taking a bite out of it and letting the taste fill up her taste buds.

“So Casey how is Hollywood?” Her father asked.

“Oh it’s ok,” Casey answered with her mouth full.

“I heard that you are shooting a movie here in Oricon?” Her mom asked.

“Yes I am.”

“Casey i just want you to know that I have watched pretty much all of your movies. You can call me a fan,” her sister said with a smile on her face.

“After you left you didn’t bother to call up on anybody, not even your family members,” her mom tone was a bit sad.

Casey didn’t mean not to call them, it’s just that she was busy with her acting career, so you couldn’t really blame her.

“Also have you heard from Andrew?” Rachel asked.

Casey swallowed the remaining bits of sandwich in her mouth, “to be honest I haven’t heard from him since I left Oricon, aside from some couple of phone calls, that is,” she said in all honesty.

“Well would you believe that he is about to get married soon.” Casey was surprised that he hadn’t even married yet.

“Really, well I guess that’s good for him then,” Casey said shrugging.

Rachel narrowed her eyes, “you seriously don’t care about the fact that he is getting married to Gwen Lowe?”

Rachel was expecting a reaction but not the type that Casey showed. All the color was drained from her face, and it looked like she saw a ghost, her lip was in a thin line. Rachel knew that Casey and Gwen were never close so the fact that she mentioned that she was getting married to Andrew just made Casey feel sick.

But Casey tried to act nonchalant about it, “Well if he is getting married then I wish him nothing but the best.” Casey was trying her best not to seem bothered but Rachel could see that it bothered her.

The conversation went to another topic entirely as soon as her mom caught sight of Casey uneasiness.

After Desert, Casey retired to her former room, on entering her room a wave of nostalgia came over as she saw her room, there was nothing moved or touched it looked the same, she went to the cupboard that was in the corner and opened it, she saw her drama books that she read.

Going in deeper she saw the gift that Andrew gave her years ago, it was a small ring it also came with a note but she didn’t remember where kept it. It was on her birthday that he gave her the gift.

She missed him but at the same time she didn’t want to see him, she didn’t need those feelings that she felt, to comeback.

And the fact that he was engage to Gwen, well he probably had a type that’s for sure. She just wish him the best and she hoped not to see him while she is here in Oricon.