Andrea's Travels

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Alright. I was inspired by Zoe's plotline of Andrea's disappearance, so I decided to flesh out the storyline a bit. Here's the first excerpt I vomited not really onto the keyboard yesterday. Enjoy<3

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Mexico. It turned out things did come full circle in life, after all. Andrea couldn’t remember much of her life before El Paso, Texas, but she had a hunch the emotions stayed the same. Mexico. Everything she spent the last year working on spun down the drain. Mexico. And all it took was four heartbreaks, a pregnancy scare, and her best friend sleeping with her father to pack her bags and start running. Andrea’s cheek was pressed against the cool window of her father’s car. This was the first step of the isolation she needed. This was the first step to unscrambling the person she had been and the person she had become. This was it.

Her father hadn’t given her a lot of information to go off of. He’d literally told her to pack her bags and get in the car. It sounded more like a kidnapping than an escape, though Drea didn’t look at it that way. Richard had been nothing but generous to her since he reentered her life. Despite The Choice’s sour ending, she was grateful for all his credible recommendations that landed her the role of Amy Torres. Walking away was probably a dagger to her career’s heart, but she didn’t see the point of fretting too much. Hollywood was behind her. If she had thought she’d be an exception to the glam, Andrea Melendez was dead wrong. All she became was another statistic, another rolemodel gone wild.

Andrea bit her lip as the landscape passed before her eyes. If she’d only gone to college and pursued a stable career like Anna asked, she wouldn’t feel obligated to run away. Maybe it wasn’t too late for her to become a veterinary assistant. Anna always promised her that God believed in second chances. If she wasn’t already damned to live her life after death in hell, maybe he’d be so gracious as to give her one more shot to live her life virtuously. Helping out the strays of Mexico sounded innocent enough. She’d never be out of work. Perhaps Richard might even let her complete some charity work, too. Stars weren’t the only individuals who could give back to their communities. Andrea had seen some of the most ordinary people change lives just by being around to help. At this prospect, a gentle smile overcame her lips.

For the rest of the car ride, Andrea’s thoughts had a heyday brainstorming ways to redeem her former glory. Occasionally she took on the task of toggling with the radio station when the songs hit too close to home. A year ago, she hadn’t known Holly Cartwright or Phoenix Grace. Hits like One More Night caused her grief because part of didn’t want to leave her new life behind. But Richard was right. Leaving was the best option for her at the moment. There wasn’t much either could contribute to a conversation anymore. Twenty-six hours of driving time wasn’t necessarily ideal, and their relationship wasn’t strong enough to joke around. Andrea wasn’t sure if her father joked at all. Business never seemed to leave him no matter where they were.

“We’re almost there,” Richard informed her. Drea glanced in his direction momentarily. She was much too eager to scope out the surroundings. The ocean waves lapped against the shore just a few hundred feet away, and elegant beach houses towered over her like a giant. Andrea was surprised when Richard surpassed the ornate front gate of the community. There were two facts Andrea knew for sure. One, no one knew where she was except Anna and Richard. Two, no one else was allowed to contact her, either. No cell phone. No television. No magazines. It was the ultimate cleanse she never asked for. Oh, and she wasn’t supposed to leave the house unless it was absolutely necessary. Richard was afraid someone might recognize her, and Andrea really couldn’t handle paparazzi attacking her Mexican retreat. By getting in her father’s car, Andrea had agreed to all these terms.

Finally, with the beach houses a few miles behind them, Richard pulled into a dirt road. Vegetation lined each side of the narrow pass, which winded and turned until a clearing came into view. The resulting view was surprising, to say the least. The house wasn’t any bigger than a small American one-story. Honestly, Drea was shocked. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but a small shack certainly hadn’t been in her cards. Nonetheless, she put on a happy smile and stepped out of her father’s car full of curiosity. A shard of hope propelled her into the house itself, but the interior wasn’t much more spectacular than the curb appeal. “Do you like it?” her father asked. His hand lingered on the small of her back. She didn’t really know what to say, so she nodded politely. Her mind was buzzing with possible improvements. Years of apartment living had made her acute to personalizing small spaces. What made this exotic shack any different?