Today is where Joy will come to my house, and I feel anxious all day long. I keep pacing around the house, I've been cleaning my room repeatedly, and whenever I sit down, I find myself standing up the second later. She should be arrived in about a minute or so, but I've got more impatient.

"Daphne, our daughter, is shaking," My dad said while putting on his coat.

"Honey, why are you nervous?" My mom said while she was putting her things inside her bag.

"Because Jocelyn Wright is coming over," I said while avoiding eye contact with my parents.

"Look at you, moving on from a toxic relationship," My mom kissed my cheeks, and I cringed.

"I didn't say I like her," I lied. Of course, I like her. Gosh, do you see how gorgeous she is?

"Wright? Is her father's name Wayne Wright?" My dad asked me, and it surprised me that he knew something about Joy's father.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Oh please, I'm a realtor and I sold the house he's living in right now," My dad said in pride.

"Wait, you sold that mansion?" I asked in shock, "you sold a freaking mansion and didn't tell me?!"

"There's a lot of things that you don't know about me, Claude," My dad said as he dusted himself. My mom cut her eyes at him, and he cleared his throat, "No, scratch that, I said that. It was supposed to come out cool. It didn't."

"Sure it didn't," My mom playfully punched his chest.

"Hey, that's hurt," My dad whined, but my mom ignored him. Finally, the bell ringed, "that must be your date."

"I'll get it," I said as I jumped from the couch and opened the door. I saw Joy in her hoodie and hair in a messy bun, but she's still rocking the outfit, "Hey," I greeted as I saw an Audi drive off, "was that Martin?"

Joy sighed and pursed her lips, "yes, and you already know we argued on our way here."

"Well then, prepare to meet my parents and remember, they joke a lot, so put up a face and laugh," I said as I rubbed her shoulders in comfort. I let her enter the house as my parents were already prepared to leave.

"Hi there, you must be Joy," my dad said with a weird accent, and Joy shook their hands, "we heard so much about you."

"Dad, don't," I said as I bring my hand to my face.

"Likewise. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Harris," Joy said politely.

"Oh please, you can call me Daphne and this is my husband, Charles. Anyway, we're just going to leave the house and please babysit my daughter. She can be a bit-"

"Mom, please," I said as I pointed at the door.

"Right, we'll be back before you know it. I love you," My mom said. After I kissed my parents goodbye, we watched them leave the house.

I closed the door behind me, and there was silence before I spoke, "so, we have the place to ourselves. Do you want to work in the living room?"

"Do you have a beer?" Joy asked. I went to the kitchen to grab a pair of Heineken and Corona Extra and clinked each other at Joy.

"Fuck yeah, let's finish this," Joy moaned as she took the beer from me, but I was stunned at the moan. It sounds so seductive and dangerous at the same time. I shouldn't even feel this because I look like a creep. I dismissed the feeling and went to the living room.

I put the actor's CV on the coffee table as I turned on the TV even though we won't be watching it. While looking at some actors, I've been stealing glanced between the papers and Joy. She looks attractive when she's calm and focused. The way her mouth talks about the actors and asks my suggestion, I can't get my eyes off her lips.

And when I was enjoying looking at Joy, my smile turned upside down when I saw a particular person, "Lydia? Why is she here?" Joy hissed as she tried to grab the paper from my hand, but I pulled away, "why is she here, Joy?"

Joy sighed as she lay her back on the couch, "I will tell you, I promise. When we auditioned yesterday, I told you to buy me a drink when Lydia auditioned."

"Why did you hide it from me?"

"Because I don't think it's a good idea for you to meet your ex."

"Oh yeah? I also don't think you two should meet since she slashed your tires."

"She apologized to me and moved on! She's still my friend and my cheerleader's teammate," Joy said as she grabbed the paper from my hand and settled it on the table.

"Sometimes, I forgot you're still a cheerleader," I said, shaking my head.

"Cheerleaders is my life," Joy narrowed her eyes at me.

"I thought this is your life," I said, pointing at the papers on the table.

"This just entered my life. Cheerleaders have been in my life since the start of high school- ohh, what do you think of Roger here?" Joy said as she brought another paper.

I sighed, and I took the paper from her hand, "Roger, six feet tall with muscular body and an angelic voice. What do you think he's fit in?" I think he's one on the football team. He has voluminous black hair and a low fade cut.

"I thought he could be the gardener, Philips," Joy suggested.

"Don't you think he's too handsome to be a gardener? Can't he be prince Leo who's marrying Princess Aurora?" I said as I picked another paper, "How about Micheal?" His brown skin matches flawlessly with his temple fair hair.

"Hmm, no, but he's fit for Prince Leo, though. He's muscular, his voice is beautiful, and he can be intimidating," Joy said.

"Hmm, you got the point there," I said as I put both Roger and Micheal's CVs to the Yes side. Micheal can look intimidating, while Roger seems innocent. As I strolled through the other's CV, I saw Joy slowly putting Lydia's CV on the Yes side. I stopped her hand, but she flinched a little. Great, Claude. You just triggered her, "I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's okay. I'm just surprised," Joy said as she held her hand. I leaned back and bit my bottom lip in guilt. What have you done? What should I do? Should I talk about it? As I was about to open my mouth, she asked, "can we talk about it later? We have to start matching the right actors for Philips and Aurora."

I sighed and nodded, "Okay, but can you explain why you're trying to put Lydia on the Yes side?"

I saw Joy biting inside her cheeks and settled the paper on the Yes side, "She has a decent voice, Harris. She's blonde, short, good voice, like how I picture her as Aurora."

"What about Maggie?" I asked as I showed her Maggie's CV.

"She's too depressing for Aurora."

"But Aurora is depressed because she will marry the guy he doesn't love," I said as I found another CV, "how about Gina?"

"She's too loud."

"Okay, how about Makayla?" I asked.

"She's too tall."

"Alright, how about... Evelyn? She's hot, and she's also one of your teammates."

"But she's a bitch, and her boobs too big."

"I can't believe you're boob-shaming her," I said as I put down the CV, "I thought Maggie suit for Aurora."

"No, Lydia might be fit for Aurora."

"How do I know she is when I didn't even watch her auditioned?" I asked as I put both of my hands on my hips.

Joy stood up and walked to the kitchen and back with a pair of beers, "We will need more beers to talk about this," after a long convincing from Joy about how Lydia is perfect for Aurora. I give Lydia a chance to try the second audition if Maggie can try the second audition for Aurora.

"So the second audition will determine who's perfect, Princess Aurora, and I promise not to let my problems into this job," I said as she shook my hand.

"Deal," Joy said.

"Deal," I said as I chugged my beer, "I guess we will start the second audition on Monday?"

"Yes," Joy answered, that we were staring at each other because there was nothing to talk about anymore.

"Do you want another drink?" I asked as I grabbed the empty bottles.

"No thanks," she said.

"Alright then, I'll just grab another one for myself," I said as I walked to the kitchen. I heard her footsteps behind me. I turned around after I grabbed another beer, and I saw her leaning on the wall, "can I help you?" I asked and raising my eyebrow.

"Can I see your room?" she asked.

I nodded, "well, I already saw your room, so I don't see why not," I answered as I led her upstairs and went to the door at the end of the hallway. I opened the door and stepped aside to let her in, "so, this is my room. Nothing is interesting in this room."

"No way," Joy smirked at me as she examined the room, "everything about you is interesting."

"How come?" I asked. I can tell that she's already tipsy just by looking at how she walks.

"Whenever I'm with you, I feel comfortable telling you my stories even though I'm not good at it," Joy said as she strolled around the room, "I don't know anything about you, but you know things about me."

"Well, what do you want to know except you know about my crazy ex and my hippy parents?"

"Your parents are not a hippy, Harris. They're the cool parents," Joy cut her eyes at me playfully and her attention back to my bed, "tell me about yourself, Claude."

"I'm boring. The story of my life isn't as unique as yours," I said.

"Why?" Joy looks up at me, and she strolls towards me. I found it intimidating that I couldn't make up a sentence about myself.

"Because my whole life, I've been following Lydia around like a dog- Jake's right," I said as I pinched the bridge of my nose. As I recall my memories, I've been doing things with Lydia. I've been doing everything she loves and avoiding things that she hates, "I love music. I love playing guitar, I always play it for Lydia, and I always try to make a song for her. I always hang out with Lydia, like a date, or do things she loves. I always do everything for her," I said as I gave her a weary smile.

"How does it feels to know that you've been doing everything that isn't for you?" Joy stopped in front of me.

"Disappointed?" I hesitantly answered, "sad? It's confusing."

"That's how I feel. But, imagine you doing it for almost the rest of your life," Joy said, and I understood her clearly. Her father became strict when her mother died when she was ten years old and when she was sixteen going to seventeen pressured her into an arranged marriage.

"It is about Martin or your father?"

"My father. I will tell you about my life, but I need you to keep it a secret," Joy said to me, and I brought my hand in the middle with my pinky finger.

"We can make a pinky promise," I smiled as she took my finger.

"Pinky, promise," she added and sat on my bed.

"Which story do you want to start with?"

***