Chapter Sixteen: Fame Ascending

After my latest acting gig, I received word from my agent that I was officially considered a "Proper Celebrity". Although not quite at Global Superstar levels, it was still pretty impressive.

Still, I felt I needed to improve my acting skills even more. I always felt rather silly speaking dramatically in front of a mirror, but it seemed to help.

One thing I noticed was the number of people who showed up in the penthouse hallway. 

"Excuse me, are you lost?" I asked.

"Umm..." said the woman.
"This is a private residence," I replied. "Can you please leave?"
"But - "

"Don't you have any sense of decency? Would you like it if some random stranger turned up at your house? I have a right to a private life. My children have a right to not be disturbed. If you don't leave right now I'm calling the police."

"Fine," she said sulkily, like a small child. She pressed the button next to the lift and was soon out of sight.

Back in the living area, the rest of my family didn't seem to have any idea of what had happened, and I decided not to bother them with it. Apollo, for some reason, was playing keepie-uppie with his football. Part of me wanted to tell him off for playing indoors - what if he broke something? - and part of me was impressed by his skills. Only Xanthe was seemingly uninterested in his skills, but she could always watch him another time.

Now that Erytheia and Xanthe were halfway through childhood, they had decided to adopt a slightly more grown-up way of dressing, namely ditching the dresses with bows and the frilly socks for oversized t-shirts, denim skirts and trainers. I was fine with Erytheia going across the city to Jasmine Suites to visit Alexander, as she had her phone with her and I knew Anastasia would keep an eye on her. 

What with working and being a mother, I didn't always take much time for myself. So, I decided to switch on a New Age radio station and practise meditation. It was just as while that my favourite colour was blue (as well as Peter's) as it was so calming. 

A couple of days later, I got the opportunity to show Artemis my magical skills when the computer broke. After waving my hands and uttering "Repairio!", the blue screen of death disappeared.

"Wow, cool!" Artemis grinned, switching the computer on again. "Thanks, Mum!"

Unfortunately, when I attempted to fix the bathtub later, it went very, very wrong... it caught fire.

"Jesus! What the hell?" I yelled. 

Grabbing a nearby fire extinguisher, I managed to put the flames out.

"Phew, that was horrifying," I muttered. "At least no-one else was here. Imagine if the computer had burst into flames with Artemis sitting in front of it..."

The next day was Summer Festival day, and we went to Ohan'ali Beach as we usually did. Artemis met up with her friend Malia, and I got the chance to met her dad, Keanu. 

"Oh, you're Artemis's mother!" he exclaimed. "That's awesome. My wife loves your films. I like them too but my wife is a particular fan."

"Thank you! I always enjoy meeting fans," I replied, thinking of the incident a few days ago. "Sometimes they can be a bit intrusive, though."
"Yeah, that's not cool," he said. "No-one wants their family life to be disrupted."