*** Picture of Macarena's Hometown, San Bartolo, Lima Peru and song for this chapter Under the Bridge by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers ***

New York...

My favorite place on Earth, so far.

A city that welcomed me with open arms and that immediately became my home away from home.

But where is home?

First, let me introduce myself, my name is Macarena Santana and I was born by the Pacific Ocean in Lima, Peru.

I'm the youngest of three siblings and although my parents had a rocky road, they have been married for over thirty years now and they love each other much more than when they first met.

Since I am the baby of the family, my siblings and parents have always been overprotective and I have always hated it.

I'm a free spirit, I love the ocean, and I have always felt free riding its waves while dreaming of the day that I will be able to see the world.

The day I had always waited for, arrived when I was fifteen, on a hot February afternoon. I was surfing in my hometown, San Bartolo, a beach 50 Km. south of Lima. It was a nice day to go to the beach, the waves were high, the water wasn't as freezing, as it usually is, and since it was a weekday there weren't many people on the beach. My friends and I loved days like this, we had the beach to ourselves. However, there is only so much time you can be surfing deep in the ocean without needing something to eat, so I decided to call it a day. While I was coming out of the ocean, I saw a man taking pictures of me. That was very odd, I had never experienced that kind of intrusion, so I walked up to confront him. He was very polite, he apologized for invading my privacy and gave me his business card along with the warmest smiles. He said he was a professional photographer and that he would love to work with me. He said I had a natural beauty and that I had a brilliant future ahead of me.

Funny how at that age, I thought that my future would involve finishing high school, going to a good university, graduating as a lawyer and traveling around the world with my older siblings Antonia and Santiago.

Antonia had made the first step to discover the world, just a month before I was discovered by the mysterious photographer, she had left to the USA to be an au pair for a year, the exchange program had given my big sister the chance to study at the University of Chicago while living with an American family.

My brother Santiago, also known as Santi, he has always been my partner in crime, the seven years of difference in age has always been left aside when we are surfing alongside. When I got my first big chance in the fashion industry, he was almost graduating from Technological Engineering school and he was planning to go on an internship to Sydney, Australia. I didn't know what my feelings were on that, at the time, on one side I was very excited for him, he was going to have a brilliant career, moreover, he would be living in a fantastic city. On the other side, I was going to lose my best friend, he wasn't going to be close to ride the waves with me.

As you can see, the ocean has always been a part of my life, and it was by the ocean that I was discovered by the one and only Mario Torriani, the famous Peruvian photographer, he's so famous that he used to be best friends with the late Princess of Wales, and he's the one who took me under his wing and helped me grow in the fashion business.

I had been in the model Industry for a while. I have success in Latin America and Europe. After almost 9 years of working as a professional model for fashion houses like Chanel, Carolina Herrera, Revlon, among others. I can say I've had my share of experience in fashion but I'm totally new in Hollywood, I've done some commercials, some fashion campaigns but nothing major.

But that was about to change. My entire life was going to change.

Today, I am leaving the comfort of my small apartment in the Big Apple. Today I'm flying out to Los Angeles because I have an interview with the producers of Love the CEO, a movie adaptation of a romantic Best Seller and I am beyond excited since I am a big fan of the book. I mean, who wouldn't? It's a modern fairy tale with a dark Prince Charming and I can't believe I may possibly play the modern Cinderella.

I've just graduated with honors from New York's most prestigious acting school, Juilliard. This achievement was very hard because, during the four years of studies, I had to balance my career, my personal life, and my school. It wasn't easy, but once I set my priorities it all worked out perfectly for me.

I learned about the casting of this film from my dear friend Mario who had shown my head-shot to one of the producers of the movie and this person thought that I looked just like how they pictured the main character would be. I kind of hope this means I will get the main part but, at the same time, I don't want to set my expectations too high. After all, this is my first audition, and I know how the industry works, you need to start from the bottom and the main role of a major movie like this one is a goal too high to reach.

This doesn't mean I don't have faith, as a good girl who went to a strict Catholic Elementary School, I've always believed that anything that happens in my life is managed by Divine intervention, so I don't stress too much over things like these.

As I buckle up my seatbelt, I try to relax and enjoy the 6-hour flight. We will see what Los Angeles and destiny have in store for me.

*** Hello my dearest friends! Welcome back to Macarena's story!! I have changed it a bit so it could be removed from Fanfic where this story wasn't being as exposed as I wanted it to be. I feel this story can reach more and more readers, and with your support I can make it!!! The story is being edited so it will have some changes, I haven't got a Beta reader yet, so the grammar mistakes will be present. If you are reading this and would be interested to be my Beta Reader, PM me, please! For the rest of you, don't forget to show me your love with all your votes and comments!!! Love you all!!! Xoxo-Z***

Published November 6th2017

1017 words

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