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Zip Afron
Zip Afron, the boy who has stolen every tween girl's heart, sat alone at a table for four at outside table at the Emerald Café. Paparazzi were taking pictures of his every move, but he didn't mind. He felt a little lonely, but it was alright. He had lost most of his dignity already anyways. Its hard to maintain dignity when you are put in front of a huge national audience in film wearing pull-ups and velcro shoes for his hit movie series, Gisney's Pre-Kindergarten Musical. But he made millions for doing it and just released the final movie in which he graduates from pre-kindergarten and joins the big boys in the kindergarten class. Sure, it was degrading for a twenty one year old to play a three year old, but it paid off in the end, right? Since the release of the first movie he had been thrown into the spotlight as if he had always been there. His dreams had come true: he was successful and has become a household name. His stint on Stars & Starletts further boosted his fame, appealing to a different demographic than Pre-Kindergarten Musical appealed to. Zip sat alone at the table, remembering how he got to the point where he is today.

She was just passing through, honestly. Lela didn't spend much time in cafe's after what happened with the last celebrity she'd met. She had a shoulder bag on that looked older than she was. One look at the paparazzi that were outside of the cafe should have warned her way, but she couldn't. Once she saw Zip, she had to stop and see if he was anything like his movies.

She was glad she was a no-one right now, otherwise she might have gotten pictures taken of her. As she slipped inside, she moved to order a regular iced coffee and moved to sit in front of him. Honestly, she wasn't trying to be rude. Lela was just so curious. Bangles made noise on the table as she set down her drink and smiled. "Mr. Afron? I'm Khahlela Umfula... ....You look a tad alone right now."

Aye... can I observe the obvious anymore? Good one, Lela.

Riley's ponytail swished as she jumped back up from the table she had just been sat at. She was a little excited that he remembered her, and perhaps it was the fact that she was still a teenager, but after watching the movies she had been given by the company and talking to Ana, she had a bit of a crush on him now.

She walked over to the table and before sitting down, leaned over to give Zip a hug. "Hi, Zip," she said bubbily. "How have you been?" The last email she had replied was thanking him for some information about upcoming auditions for Gisney specials, but nothing much since then.

Riley sat down at the table and laughed good-naturedly at the question. "Well, I don't really seem to have a knack for acting at all, so I heard a lot of the 'We'll call you' thing." She shrugged. "But they keep letting me come back for auditions, so I'm hoping to find something with them sooner or later. Maybe they'll hire me on as a dance instructor when I've got more experience under my belt."

She sipped her ice tea that she had ordered at the other table and brushed a stray hair back. "Other than that, I've been pretty good." Riley smiled mischievously. "Lorenz asked how it was working with you last time he spoke to me. He's still nursing that healthy obsession, hm?"

Zip Afron
"Aw, well best of luck with the auditions, hopefully Gisney will pick you up for something. If not I can try pulling some strings to see if I can hook you up with something in a Pre-Kindergarten Musical film, if you don't mind being in a movie where you play a three year old," Zip teased. She probably wouldn't pick him up on the offer - it was really a horrible horrible deal. Sure, it was good for him, but he wouldn't want anyone else to go through the humiliation he has gone through. His only demographic is females - most males seem to be ashamed of him as a member of the gender. Zip then turned to the other woman. "You mean with Lourdes Milton?" He remembered hearing about that. It was so sad! The woman seemed pretty upset about it too. "That was horrible, I'm sure it wasn't your fault. Don't beat yourself up about it, hun." Did he say hun? That was pretty feminine of him. He should say something masculine to counteract that. "I mean, woman."

Riley remembered hearing something about it, but hadn't heard the specifics (or rather, hadn't read far enough in the story to get the details), and assumed the other girl wouldn't want to talk about it, as it sounded embarrassing.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She exclaimed, sticking out her hand. "I'm Riley, sorry I didn't introduce myself already." She had been living here for awhile and had noticed that her accent was slowly starting to integrate into the general populace's.

"You're hair is so....cooool," she said, not able to look away.

Lela blinked at Riley and her statement about her hair and offered a quiet 'thank you' before turning back to Zip. She nodded a bit, and bit her lip. "Not known yet, no, but I am. I've been singing since I can remember. Back in Africa, I sang village songs, songs I'd heard from soldiers, or that I picked up in my head. Though the last one was very few. I do not like writing my own songs. No good at it."

She moved one hand to her hair and messed with it, knowing it couldn't possibly look anymore frizzy than it did right now. Riley liked her hair for some reason, but well.. right now, Lela couldn't stand it. She needed a change. Maybe a shave.

Zip Afron
"For me when I have to sing, I just practice with a recorder and listen to myself on the playback, see areas I need to keep practicing and tune better," Zip said. He had to learn a lot about singing when he signed up for the movies. Now singing has become a part of his free time, he sings a lot to Trinity Tears or Hayley Cyrpress, occasionally some Kacey Cherry. At times he felt like he should record an album, but he felt that its best to stick with acting. He'll probably do better off being known for his face than for his voice.
"You know, Lela, have you ever tried straightening your hair?" he asked. "I think it might be a good look for you to try one time. I straighten my hair everyday, then a put a bunch of product in it to keep its luster and apply a little bit of make up here and there..." He was getting a little too feminine again. "I mean shaving cream, and then I shave...my face, not my legs." He lied, probably a bad lie to make too, considering he had shaved his legs this morning and was wearing shorts today.