Dar

The one thing Artemis does not inform me on is the fact that he will have to follow me everywhere. I start to freak out when he's on my heels as I walk to my apartment. I am still thinking that this is a dream and that when I turn around when I get home, he will be gone. But he doesn't leave. I don't say anything though because I don't want to validate this entire thing. Sure, he had given me a burger. That didn't mean anything.

So as I'm crossing the street and hearing the click clack of his very expensive looking shoes, I whisper, "Giver, I want a taxi home." Artemis hears me because there is an instant wave of something I can't quite put my finger on and a taxi comes whizzing by and stops right in front of me.

"Hey darling, do you need a ride home? It's late for a girl to be walking by herself," the elderly taxi driver tells me kindly. I smile at him and then at Artemis and I open the door to get inside. Artemis slides in on the other side of the taxi through the door. Seriously, he goes through the door.

"Cool trick," I whisper under my breath before telling the taxi driver where I live.

We get dropped off in front of my building in Silverlake. It is a kind of run down looking place that still manages to trendy. Like we meant to paint the door a musty orange and have untamed vines going up the entire façade.

I pay the driver and offer him some extra for tip. He thanks me and I turn around to find Artemis looking up at the building with an unnerved expression. "What?" I question him defensively. He shakes his head and murmurs a low, "Nothing."

"I suppose that you are going to leave now," I say.

"Nope, not quite," Artemis returns with a cheery grin.

I shrug my shoulders apathetically and type in the code quickly on the dial pad to get into the building, hoping that Artemis doesn't see me. He seems to realize my intention and murmurs under his breath, "Five, four, seven, two." We climb up the three flights of stairs up to my apartment. The air smells of beer, weed, and curry. It's a smell I've gotten accustomed to since moving into this particular high rise.

The Giver looks a bit concerned when we finally reach my room. There is another piece of paper tacked to the door with an angry and loud EVICTION printed in bold across it. I yank it off and crumble it up in my hands. I know that I am not giving the best first impression, solely because I feel like it is a dream. I am delirious from my awful Chatz4HawtSingles shoot and this man is just a hallucination. He will disappear. Poof. Gone.

My apartment is cold when we step inside. I turn on the light and Artemis stiffens in surprise. Maybe he expected something different. There are pink floral curtains, a Cinderella comforter draped across the bed, and an abundance of other Disney princesses in the kitchen and living room.

"What?" I ask, "So I like princesses."

"Like? You like them? I think the term 'obsessed' is more accurate."

I give him a hard look. "I'm getting ready for bed," I say airily and move to reach for my nightgown in the dresser. Artemis stands above me with a strange expression on his face.

"Hattie. I can give you anything you want. Anything in the world. And you're going to bed?"

I stop too. "Well," I say quietly, "I don't think you're real." The Giver looks at me with a startled and somewhat angered expression. "You don't think I'm real? I thought we went over this already," he says.

"Well, I mean. Yes. But. I still... it's impossible that you are what you say you are."

"Okay," he took this in, "Let's sort it out. Ask for something. Want something," he demanded.

I look at him for a second. "Giver, I want a chocolate shake from Betty's Diner back home in Tulsa. I want it with two cherries on top."

Artemis smiles. "Open your fridge." I walk back into the frilly kitchen and open the pastel blue fridge and there it is. There it fucking is. A milkshake from Betty's with two cherries and her signature happy face with chocolate syrup on the whip cream.

I take a deep sip of the drink and close my eyes. It tastes like home. When I resurface from the chocolatey goodness, the Giver is smiling again at me. This is the only time he really smiles; it is something I will grow to learn. He only smiles like this when he is giving someone something.

"Now. Do you believe me?" he asks with a tugging up of his brows.

"Okay. You are real," I finally conclude.



When I wake up, I know that something is out of place. Then I remember the strange man that is sleeping on my pink couch. When I look to see, I find Artemis standing rigidly staring at his watch and looking quite impatient.

"When did you wake up?" I ask him.

"I don't need much sleep. So I've been up for... about seven hours," he responds.

I realize that he is wearing different clothes than the day before. His lanky frame sports dark jeans and a Bob Dylan tee shirt with a vest over it. I look at his clean white Vans and he grins at me. "Nice clothes, you hipster," I tease.

He scoffs and I realize that I look like crap. There is a mirror right next to my bed and I almost recoil at the sight of myself. My black hair is matted in the back and my eyes are ringed with mascara and sleepiness. I am surprised that Artemis hasn't hissed and covered his face like a vampire ambushed by light when he looks at me.

I get up and head to the tiny bathroom to shower. "Watch TV or something," I aim at Artemis and he looks like I've just told him to jump off a cliff. "Come on, we have a world of endless possibilities at our fingertips. And you're gonna shower?" he states.

"Um, yes. This world of endless possibilities will seem more appealing when I don't look like a banshee," I return.

He seems to take this into consideration and thinks better of it. "Hey!" I suddenly say, right before I'm about to close the bathroom door, "Why don't I just wish I was already showered?" He looks at me with a very pleased expression.

"That is an excellent idea. Ask me for it!"

"Okay. Giver, I wish I was clean. Ooh, and I want my hair to be silky. And to have my makeup done like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. And I want that cute dress I saw at H&M the other day –the one with the bow on the front."

Artemis's excited expression has drifted into one of irritation. He now has one eyebrow raised with a face that says something along the lines of Seriously? But he kind of looks at me with an intensive gaze and I feel a whooping sensation in my stomach. There is a whirl around me and before I know it, it is over.

I stand there with silky hair and wearing the pale pink dress from my favorite store. I flurry to the mirror and see my eyes lined with thick black. "Gah! This is so cool!" I squeal.

The Giver is grinning at me and I realize that he is happy too, but then we are interrupted by an all too familiar hard rap on the door with my landlord bellowing, "Hattie Hutchinson, you have to get out now! You are two months behind on rent!"

I send a panicked look over at Artemis and he reciprocates my expression. "Giver, I wish I had rent money!"
"You can't do that, Hattie," he says sternly.

"Oh. Dangit, you're right. Giver, I want him to say he will give me more time. I will pay him back in a couple of days. I promise. Let him know I'm sorry and that I promise," I say quietly.

There is a fleeting look of understanding and what I can only name as compassion on his face and he nods. There is a sudden change on the jolting knocks at the door and suddenly the landlord's voice is calm, almost soothing.

"Hattie. Take a couple of more days. I know you're sorry that you can't pay. If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you."

I walk over to the door and tentatively open it. It is the first time I have seen Barry the landlord in weeks because I have been avoiding him rather intensely. He doesn't look like the steamy hulking figure I've imagined him to be. Instead, Barry looks rather kind and accepting. I almost want to hug him.

"Thank you, Barry," I murmur. He nods and walks down the hallway, offering me a grin and a small wave as he goes.

Shutting the door, I am completely awestruck. The Giver is rejoicing too. "Artemis. You are the most awesome human being ever."

"Uh, thank you. Technically, I'm not a human being. But thanks anyway."

"What do you mean?" I question.

He looks thoughtful. "Well, I once was a human being before I joined the Givers."

"How do you join?" I ask eagerly. I realize that I am leaning into him like we are sharing a secret. Artemis leans conspiratorially back and whispers, "I'm not telling you."

"Come on!" I say and then another thought crosses my mind, "Wait, how old are you?"

He rolls his eyes and I know he wants to change the subject. "Physically, I'm twenty-eight. But I've lived for three hundred years."

My mouth drops open. The Giver is looking annoyed now and says, "Okay, let's start our day." I am still recovering from shock, but he clears his throat loudly and pulls me away from my thoughts. "What do you want me to want?" I ask him.

"No, no, no. That's not how this works. You have to tell me what you want."

"I've never been asked what I want," I say thoughtfully because it's the truth. You can think of a million things you crave and the minute a strange man shows up at your doorstep, begging to make all of those things happen, you are blank.

"Think of what you need at the furthest part of you being. What do you need?" Artemis asks in a gentle voice. Then, it suddenly comes to me.

"I want a major part in a movie... with big actors. One that will change my life for the better," I say softly, "That is what I want." I feel extremely selfish for asking this. There are a million other actresses in this town who audition and beg and can't pay their rent just like me, but I have a Giver.

Artemis looks at me for a long while. "Are you sure you want to be an actress?" he questions carefully. I nod zealously and reply with, "I've always wanted to be an actress. Since I was a baby. Ever since I saw Roman Holiday and Gone with the Wind. I want to be an actress."

He nodded. There was a shift in the room and there was a loud ringing of the telephone. I beam at the Giver as I answerit and surely enough, it is Gloria, my manager.

"Hattie. You will not believe who I just got a call from!" she gushes, "Irving Thompson! He's directing a movie and wants you to be on it! He said that Louis, the casting agent from Chatz4HawtSingles, referred you to him. Apparently, they're golf buddies!"

Tears are streaming down my face from elation and disbelief. Artemis is smiling while flipping through a magazine on the coffee table.

"What's it about?" I ask eagerly. She tells me that it is a romantic comedy based off of a book written in the fifties. Gloria goes on, "He said that when he saw your headshot, you were everything he wanted! You're going to be playing Rosette, the lead female, and it is just going to be beautiful! I cannot believe this. This has never happened before!" she sounds like she is jumping up and down and I realize that I am too.

"Who's playing opposite?" I suddenly inquire in a hushed tone of excitement. Gloria takes a deep breath and expels in a rushed breath, "Jude Armstrong!"

I nearly faint.