Siwan sat on the tube, her head buried in a book, trying desperately to ignore the stares coming for the drunken man sat opposite her in the carriage. She swayed slightly with the train as it travelled on the track, letting the rhythmic clacking calm her thoughts. The train journey that took her from the bright lights of Broadway to the dimly lit roads with occasionally broken street lamps that surrounded her building was a journey of over an hour with one change in the middle. It was a journey that she typically travelled in the late hours of the night, and one that scared her out of her wits every time. Yet, still, it was a journey that she took whenever she could.

Ever since she first moved to London fresh out of university four years ago, Siwan had begun her on going flirtation with the bright lights of Broadway. The fancy costumes and the stage make-up that become the second identities of every performer, a second skin that they slip into, night after night. All with a thousand peeled eyes watching on, entranced and spell-bound by the sequins and drunk on the songs, in their own performances, with high-heels and faux fur, too tight waistcoats and shining shoes, sipping champagne and talking of things they didn’t understand.

Siwan enjoyed joining in with the charade. She spoke of politics, when she really knew nothing of the subject, sipped champagne when it was bought for her, and perused the programmes with eager eyes.

Eventually the quiet business man in the corner slipped out of the doors, and two stops later, the drunken man left too, passing a little too close to Siwan for her comfort on his way out.

Twenty-five minutes later, Siwan turned the second key in the apartment door and pushed it open.

“SIWANNIE!” Kwanghee’s voice echoed in the tiny apartment and drew Siwan through into the kitchen where a glass of half-full cheap white wine stood on the two seated table, and Kwanghee held out a full one to Siwan.

“Hello.” Siwan smiled and took the glass from Kwanghee, taking a sip.  “What’s the occasion?”

Kwanghee smiled, but said nothing. As Siwan sat down, she noticed the bottle of wine, lying on its side on the counter, and recognising that Kwanghee’s sleepy smile meant that she had already drunk the majority of the bottle.

“What happened?” Siwan asked quietly. She was used to Kwanghee’s frequent fights with her boyfriend, and she still failed to see why the two were together.

“We argued.” Kwanghee giggled.

Siwan didn’t smile. “Break up with him.”

“No.”

“You two are as fake as his tan and your s.” Siwan sneered slightly.

“Well, at least I have a relationship.” Kwanghee laughed again. “At least I don’t trail over to Broadway three times a week to watch my crush on stage.”

“I don’t-“ Siwan began.

“Don’t kid yourself. You spend your life watching her on stage.  Grow a pair.” Kwanghee gulped down the last drop of wine in her glass and took Siwan’s from her and drank it in quick succession.

“I’m going to bed.” Siwan snapped. Wine always brought out the sharp truth from Kwanghee, a trait that Siwan severely disliked.

She never enjoyed the truth slapping her in the face. Maybe that was why she enjoyed Broadway so much, becoming someone else who could avoid the truth of real-life by playing her own charade as an audience member. Siwan could pretend that she came from a high-class family, with money to spare, without a problem in the world. She could ignore the harsh reality of her own life. Of real-life. That she was half in love with a Broadway actress. That she was stuck in a modelling career, when she would rather be the one designing the clothes that got paraded down the runway. That she didn’t spend half her nights with her pillow pressed firmly against her ears in order to block out the crude sounds of her flatmate having loud fake through the paper thin walls of their ty apartment.

Siwan buried her head in her pillow and closed her eyes tightly, desperately trying to see the bright lights of Broadway.

I'm sorry that this was a: so short and b: such a long time coming

I don't really know where this is going, and I have very little time to write anything, so updates will be slow, but hopefully I will write it at some point...probably when I go home for Christmas >.<

It is a little unusual compared to what I normally write, so I hope you like it