Shooting Stars

From a luxurious looking chocolate brown car emerged a man well covered. He was wearing a black hat which came down almost to his brows; a pair of dark shades hid his eyes from others, and a large beard, almost as black as his hat, obscuring the rest of his face, blended perfectly with the overcoat he was wearing.

The man gave some instructions to his driver, who drove off as his master had told him to. The hatted man then emerged onto the main street, and began to walk amongst the crowd, taking in his surroundings. 

It was a cold night, and a digital clock in a shop window showed that it was almost half past seven. But still there were a considerable number of people walking about on the street. 

The man surveyed all those walking around, towards and past him with a crooked and malevolent satisfaction. He was amused, amused because no one could recognize him. A little addition to his face, and he had been transformed from the celebrity that he was to a non-entity. He wondered and laughed in his mind: should he remove the hat and beard, a small mob would form around him, all fools, struggling and begging for an autograph, or a selfie or even a quick glance...

Suddenly the man found his thoughts blocked by a young girl who was in his way. The girl was about fifteen, neither too short nor too tall, with a kind, adorable face and lush golden hair. She was wearing goofy glasses and was looking at him with a curiously hungry expression. 

All of a sudden the girl took out a phone and clicked a picture of the man.

“Hey, what’s this?” the man protested.

In return the girl looked at him with an awed gaze. The man repeated his query.

“What’s this? Who the hell are you?”

“I’m...I’m...” the girl stammered. “Aren’t you Andrew Roberts, the famous movie star?”

Andrew was clearly surprised, for he had thought that no one would be able to recognize him in this attire. So he asked again:

“Who says so?”

“Oh I know you are!!” the girl said excitedly, almost jumping up and down. “The number of times I’ve seen you on screen...I almost remember your every move in every movie.”

For a second Andrew thought that he would deny his being himself. But then, looking at the girl, he could not bring himself to lie so blatantly to this pretty young thing. 

Also somehow the girl appeared vaguely familiar to Andrew. But he just could not remember exactly where he had seen her before.  But since he'd  had been involved with many women in his time, he just put the feeling away as a slip of thought. 

“Well you’ve got me." He replied with his trademark smile. "I am Roberts. But you still haven’t answered me, who’re you?”

“I...my...I’m Katrina Kuffing.” The girl stammered, apparently still in awe of her hero.

“I gather you are a fan of my movies.” Andrew said in his deep voice.

Katrina beamed in agreement. 

“A very big fan, Mr. Roberts; you’re sort of etched on my mind.”

This time it was Andrew who smiled. Even at fifty, he was still etched on his female fans’ minds. 

He returned from his musings and looked at the girl; she was still oogling at him.

 Considering something in his mind, Andrew suddenly said:

“As you are a very big fan of mine, and seem to know a lot about me, I guess I should get to know something about you too. How about going for coffee?”

“That would be a dream come true Mr. Andrew.” The girl replied, as if in a daze, still not able to believe her luck.

So they walked to a café together. As it was cold, the place was full of people merrily chatting over steaming cups, and Andrew had to pass some money to a nearby waiter to get a table. As the café was already packed to capacity, no one noticed the bearded man and the girl with the golden hair. Andrew ordered two espressos.

“Thank you, sir.” Katrina said after the drinks had been served.

“Call me Andrew and I’ll call you Kats.” Andrew said with a smile, the smile that had won so many hearts. 

“Thanks. I was waiting for this Andrew.” Kats smiled a lovely one. 

“So Kats,” said Andrew. “What’s your job, apart from seeing my movies?”

“My work involves shooting stars.”

Andrew suddenly felt a bit odd, because as Katrina said this, he thought he had seen a sudden spark of mirth flare up in her eyes for a fraction of a moment, and then die again. 

The very next second, as Andrew looked into her beautifully shaped hazel eyes, he rebuked himself for thinking such idiotic things.

“Shooting stars eh? Oh! I get it; you’re associated with some space agency, right?”

Katrina once more smiled one of her charming smiles 

“No, no.” she replied. “I didn’t mean meteors or such stuff. I’m a photographer for a film magazine, and I have to take shots of movie stars. I’m fairly new in the job.” 

“Really? So I guess it must mean a lot to you, this interview of mine.”

“Interview?” Katrina looked puzzled. 

Andrew put down his coffee cup, and looked at her with a serious face.

“Look Kats,” he said. “Photography...it’s nice for starting out. But if you want to rise in the media profession then you have to move on to bigger and better things. And let me tell you, I can get you some good photo sessions with some of the biggest stars in the movie business. You can also take their interviews, and I know for a fact that commoners adore reading about their favorite celebrities. It’s almost like an addiction for them.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’ll give me an interview with you?”

“Why not? In fact, we can go to my flat nearby and have dinner. It’s not very late. Come on.”

“Ooooh! You’re so kind Andrew. It’s almost as if I am...I really have nothing to say!”

 “You know Kats, you are very silly.” Andrew said jocosely.

“The best compliment for me.”

Andrew paid the bill, and together with Katrina he walked out of the café, towards his nearby flat, which was one of many he had all over the town. 

Even though it was only a quarter past eight, the streets were considerably empty. The stores were slowly closing down, and a chill draft was wafting about. Soon the two reached Andrew’s flat.

“Your house is so very beautiful Andrew.” Katrina said as she sank upon the sofa in the living room. By this time Andrew had taken off his disguise, revealing a handsome face even at his age, and his golden shock of hair. 

Suddenly Katrina said something to herself.

“Did you just say something, Kats?” Andrew asked, sitting next to her.

“I was just thinking...how rumours should not be believed. Just look at you; you are so nice, and people go about saying a lot of nasty things about you.”

“What kind of nasty things?”

“Oh the worst!” Katrina said hotly. “People say that you are very arrogant, selfish; that you’ve destroyed many people’s careers to make your own. Also, they say that you left your wife and little daughter for your own gains.”

Andrew looked suddenly away from Katrina. His face slowly grew dark and serious as his memories churned back to the days when he had been only a struggling artist. 

He had loved Samantha. She was a rising star in those days, and so marrying her had proved quite profitable for Andrew’s own career.

But then, as her fortunes began to fall, Andrew started to rise. But he had no regrets about leaving Samantha; the child...he'd turned her out before the thing was even born.

“You should not believe all that you hear.” Andrew said seriously as he came out of the shadow of his past.

“Of course I don’t believe any of it. Now, let me take a good picture of you.”

“O.K.” saying so Andrew stepped back a little, and struck a pose. Katrina stood up.

“You really like posing for picture don’t you? Well I’m going to make a good picture of you.”

“Are you going to shoot me with you phone?”

Katrina laughed a cold, high laugh, and drew out a revolver from her bag.

“I don’t need a camera to shoot you, father.”

                                  finis