The Actor Next Door

By Kathleen Bell

Laura Dobson has lost her job and she hates the new one she has found.

She secretly dreams of being a movie star, so when a major Hollywood actor moves in next door and offers to give her free acting lessons, she jumps at the chance. Unfortunatley, some of his teaching methods are a little unorthodox.

She's also self-conscious about her weight, as she's larger than she ought to be, and she's worried it might affect her chances of becoming an actress, so when he also offers to act as her personal trainer to help her get back in shape, she agrees.

Of course, spending so much time with her Hollywood hunk is starting to give her romantic notions about him, but would he ever be interested in someone like her?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9780244989095

Book preview

The Actor Next Door

The Actor Next Door

by

Kathleen Bell

ISBN 978-0-244-98909-5

Copyright© 2018 Kathleen Bell

Published by Kathleen Bell

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work, in whole or in part, in any form is forbidden without written permission of the author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination, or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

First Edition

www.kathleenbellauthor.com

Cover art by Kathleen Bell

Acknowledgements

Thank you to God for making this possible. A very big thank you to everyone who purchased and read this book, it means so much to me and I really hope you enjoyed reading it. And thank you to my husband and children for all their support.

Other Books By This Author

The Accidental Actress

For Younger Readers

Another Dimension – Journey into the Unknown/Friend or Foe

Chapter One

You're laying me off? I couldn't believe it, I'd worked so hard to get promoted to deputy manager at Din Din's restaurant, and now they were getting rid of me?

I'm really sorry Laura, but with the economy being the way it is, people just aren't eating out as much as they used to and we have to cut back somewhere. Rachel told me at the end of my shift. She put her hand on my shoulder, Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find something else soon.

Thanks Rachel. I let out a sigh. Yeah, thanks a lot! I stared at the ground, unable to meet her eyes. She knew as well as I did, that finding a new job wasn't going to be easy.

I left the office, grabbed my bag and coat from my locker and headed outside. I had barely taken two steps before the sky opened up, drenching me with the equivalent of an Olympic swimming pool of rain.

Of course my comfortable flats that I wore for work, were pretty well worn in now, and one of the soles was starting to crack, so the rainwater had no trouble whatsoever finding its way in and soaking my foot, then of course my shoe started to squelch.

It had been a lovely dry day when I left for work, if a little chilly, so I hadn't bothered with an umbrella, which was clearly a mistake on my part, it was a fitting end to a horrible day.

I hurried home at a slight jog, I wasn't one for running, that was for sure. Normally I would've taken the car, but it was in the garage for an MOT and a service. Thank goodness I got it in before I lost my job, I'd probably struggle to pay for it otherwise.

It wasn't long before I was back in my street and as I passed my next door neighbour's house, I noticed a for sale sign had been put up. I stopped to stare at it for a moment, raising an eyebrow, it was certainly a surprise to see the for sale sign, but I was secretly relieved. It wasn't that they were horrible neighbours, not at all, but their dog never stopped barking, and their kids never stopped screaming and shouting. So yes, I was glad they were moving, just so I could have some peace and quiet. On the downside though, sometimes it's better the devil you know. I mean, who knows what kind of people would move in next.

I carried on to my own house, opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door on the world behind me. I stood there for a moment, let out a long sigh and closed my eyes. When I opened them, I found I was making a puddle on the parquet flooring in the hallway. No, I hadn't just wet myself, it was just the rainwater dripping off my clothes. I quickly slipped off my soggy shoes and hung my coat on the radiator. I grabbed a cleaning cloth from the kitchen cupboard and mopped up the puddle, then hurried up the stairs, ran myself a nice bubble bath, and stripped off my wet clothes.

It felt so good to lie there in the warm water, bubbles tickling my neck, relaxing my aching muscles after a long day on my feet. After an hour of well deserved relaxation, I hauled myself out of the bath and dressed in my pyjamas and dressing gown, then headed downstairs.

I didn't feel much like cooking, so I ordered a pizza, which arrived promptly just twenty minutes later, then I sat down on the sofa to eat it while I watched a DVD and wallowed in self-pity.

Okay, so working at Din Din's wasn't the greatest job in the world, but it was my job. It may not have been my dream job, but it was the only one I had. The one that paid my bills, and let me get new clothes, and put food on the table, and petrol in my car.

What was I going to do now? I'd have to go and look for another job in the morning. The thought was so depressing, that after the pizza, even though I wasn't hungry, I ate my way through two packets of crisps, half a pack of dark chocolate digestives, and a Mars bar, that had been in my handbag for a week. I felt extremely bloated and a little sick afterwards, so went to bed to try and sleep it off.

Of course I didn't sleep well, because I dreamed that vampires had moved in next door, but instead of drinking blood, they drank hot chocolate, only my blood had turned to hot chocolate, and suddenly they wanted to drink me dry, which was made worse by the fact that I had just landed a job at the local cafe, which sold hot chocolate, so the vampires liked to hang out there a lot and they were always following me to and from work, looking for an opportunity to devour me.

* * *

The next day, looking a little the worse for wear, I picked my car up from the garage, then dragged myself down to the job centre. It's such a degrading feeling, just walking through those doors, feeling like everyone is judging you for being a lazy, good-for-nothing, doley scrounger. I filled out the relevant paperwork to sign on, and went to see what jobs were available.

As I was looking through the limited vacancies, a scruffy looking woman in a track suit said to me, I've been on the dole for three years now, a part-time job came up in that electrical store down the road a couple of months ago, and over 500 people applied for it!

You're kidding! I replied, I could feel my face paling, as panic swept over me.

Yeah, it's just the way the economy is right now. Everyone keeps on losing their jobs, but nobody's creating any new ones.

Nightmare. I tried to busy myself looking at vacancies, in the hope that this woman would stop talking to me. I was already stressed out as it was, I didn't need her making me feel any worse.

Thankfully she left me alone, and after finding very little I could apply for, I made my way home, stopping off at the supermarket on the way. I had decided that as money was going to be tight for a while, I would stock up on food, at least a months worth, to make sure I didn't starve, while I was looking for a job.

As I loaded the trolley with tins and packets, I began thinking about how I should get some comfort foods in, to see me through these next few miserable weeks. So I also stocked up on crisps, biscuits, chocolate and sweets, then headed to the reduced area near the bakery section, to look for pastries and cream cakes that had been marked down.

Brilliant, I was in luck. Two apple turnovers reduced to 40p, a cream and jam sponge cake reduced to 90p, and a rhubarb pie reduced to £1.05, bargain. I bought the lot. Stuff it, I would just skip dinner and eat baked goods instead, and they contained fruit, so they weren't all bad. Y'know, if you don't count the horrific amount of sugar and all those calories. Oh well, you only live once. I even bought a new pair of flat shoes. No more wet feet for me.

Two hundred and fifty pounds later, I walked away from the check out, feeling pleased with my haul, yet depressed by how much money I had just spent. When I got home and started to unpack the shopping, I realised that I had bought a months worth of shopping for a family of five. What had I been thinking? Still, apart from fresh stuff like bread, milk, fruit and veg, I wouldn't have to go food shopping again for ages.

I sat reading a book and eating my haul of pastries for dinner, then finally went to bed at midnight. What can I say, it was a good book, and it's not like I had to be up early in the morning to go to work or anything.

* * *

I went to a couple of interviews over the next few days, but no joy.

The following week, I did manage to arrange an interview at the local Chinese takeaway, as a delivery driver. It wasn't my ideal job, but I needed money, and jobs were scarce, so I had to grab anything I could. Amazingly enough, I got the job and was due to start on Monday, so I was able to chill out and relax for the rest of the week, safe in the knowledge that I had a job all lined up.

When I arrived home from my interview, I noticed that the for sale sign next door had now been changed to sold.

They sold that fast. I mumbled to myself, and went inside to be greeted by the sound of a dog barking and kids crying, as their mum told them off next door. Oh well, at least they'll be moving out soon. Please God, let the new neighbours be quiet.

Chapter Two

The new job was even worse than my old one. The guy who cooked the food and was also my boss, spoke very little English, he kept shouting things at me in Chinese, which obviously I don't speak a word of, so I had to just read the labels on the packages to figure out where everything was going. It didn't help that his handwriting was about as good as his English.

I had to use a map for most of the deliveries, as I had only lived in the area for a couple of years myself, and I hadn't really ventured out that much to learn my way around.

Unfortunately, as a result, a few of the deliveries were late, and I didn't make as many tips as I had hoped, plus it usually resulted in more shouting at me, both in English from the customers, and Chinese from the boss.

* * *

After three weeks of hell, I was on my way out to work, when I noticed someone moving in next door. I didn't have time to wait around to see who it was, as I didn't want to be late for work. So I got in my car and drove off.

It was Saturday, and it had been another busy night. I was exhausted and relieved that my shift was almost over. I picked up my last three deliveries for the night, and set off to deliver them.

As I checked the address on the final delivery, I noticed it was for my new next door neighbour. Guess I was about to find out who was going to be living next door to me.

I pulled the car up outside, and taking a deep breath, I walked up to the front door and rang the bell, not knowing who to expect.

When the door opened, a good looking guy in sweatpants and a t-shirt, plus loads of stubble and scruffy, dark brown hair, stood before me. He looked