Train Of Life
The key turns in the keyhole and the door opens striking the small bell that alarms when the main door to the big apartment in the floor 30 of the tallest tower in the city opens. It is half an hour to the midnight and children are in a deep sleep in their room. Ed is swaying to and fro in the living room impatiently with the newspaper in hand, mumbling words of anger and churning in his agitated mood. When hearing the door ring, he reacts by instinctive stumble to the door and stands in front of Stephanie rising the newspaper with his left hand while pointing with his right index finger to the picture of Stephanie on the paper:
‘Stephanie! Who is this man that papers are talking about?’ said Ed, with a jittery voice that partly was soliciting for clarification and partly full of accusation and was hardly controlled to keep quiet, not to awake the kids.
Stephanie, jolted by this shocking scene, paused for a moment then continued her normal pace by taking off her shoes and putting them in the shoe rack. She put the keys in her purse, which was covered by snake skin reflecting light in the murky and quiet entrance corridor and put the purse on the table. She then hang her jacket on the wall. Only then, she attended to Ed, who was burning slowly in his breaths fueled by his hidden rage.
‘I need to explain to you Ed. I wanted to talk to you long time ago, but every time I did not know how to start.’ said Stephanie with a very placid face.
‘Have you thought about the consequences? Do you realize your critical situation? Your name is everywhere…’ howled Ed in agony, releasing the accretion of his anger to her face.
His words moved something inside Stephanie. This triggered a nervous tick in her, the one that touches a deep pain in their relation.
‘Yes! Work matters more than me to you! Business is the only thing you consider in our relation! I am an object to make money for you… I am your slave! But not anymore. I am earnest to resolve this situation. And you Mr. Producer, better find another actress for your movie.’
Stephanie stumbled hastily to the bedroom and took some of her clothes from the closet and filled a suitcase with them. Ed was shocked and he did not know how to react to this surprising scene. He finally could wrap-up his mind and say some words: ’You…you are kidding me! Are you leaving? What about the children…what shall I tell them tomorrow when they look for you?’
‘I am determined Ed, I do whatever I can for their future. But I cannot stay in this prison anymore. I am a human not a doll, and I have chosen my way now. I regret every moment I shared with you.’
She went to the children room, kissed them silently whipping her tears not to fall on their face. Then she went out and staggered to the main street with her heavy suitcase. Ed tried stopping her, but he finally gave up and she vaulted into a taxi. Ed ran back and jumped in his car and followed her all the way. The taxi went for twenty minutes until it entered a poor neighborhood. This was shocking to Ed. How can she leave her celebrity life and destiny for such a peasant man?!
The taxi stopped in front of an old house and Stephanie stepped out. The house door was opened and a man with a muscular body and an old man came to welcome her. They entered the house and closed the door.
Next day, Stephanie held a press conference to announce her decision. The conference room was filled with press and everybody was waiting to listen to her explanations on the rumor that filled the media.
Among the reporters, every often there was a voice dominating the crowd and reaching for Stephanie to answer. A person shouted in the middle: ’you are seen out with a man on different occasions. Was that a business meeting or are you in relation despite your family status.’
‘I don’t want to comment on that, but I am not anymore with Ed. ‘, she replied.
A woman from the corner asked: ‘How does your family situation impact your career?’
She responded: ‘I am very thankful to my fans for their love and support. Without them I could not make this name in the cinema. I have decided to end my profession and leave for a simple life.’
A man from the front said: ‘What will happen to the movie you are starring at now? ‘
‘I have decided not to continue that. I will pay the compensation to exit the contract!’, she replied.
It is five clock in the evening and the sun starts going down on the horizon. A slight wind starts blowing mixing the warm weather in the sun with the cold weather stagnant in the shadow of the large building that covers a big part of the platform. The platform is full of photographers and press. Mark carries Stephanie’s suitcase and boards the train. He comes back to hold her hand and she steps on the stairs of the train and leaves the platform in myriad of camera flashes. This is the last time that her body is going to be bombarded by light, the same as her personal life.
When she is seated next to Mark, she looks out from the window, trying to find her three years old daughter and five years young son between the faces of press crowd. Of course, they are not there. She has asked Ed not to bring them to the train station. She did not say good bye to them.
Thinking about her children, she finds a big warm hand pressing her right hand. She turns to her right, to find herself lost again in the big eyes of Mark. Those eyes charge her like a light that burns the ground after departing from a heavy cloud loaded with love. The thunder of his voice follows the light of his eyes:
‘Everything will be alright, my love. We are going to have a simple life of two innocent children. We breathe the mountain and drink the river. Fresh harvested olive oil will blow our veins. The morning will start with the crowing of roosters: ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’. You will count the stars in the night before you die in my arms and you come to life again by a kiss in the morning.’
She takes a deep breath from heart and falls like a half fainted body on his chest. This is the voice that has pushed her to the new destiny. A simple deep manly voice. A voice that can shake her strings inside to sing the life story that she waited for.
The train sounds two long horns, follows by a short one. Rome moves to the right of the window and disappears slowly. Mark puts his arms around Stephanie’s body, which is in a deep sleep on his chest in the night train to Naples.
