ONE
I walked as
fast as I could without breaking into a jog while I maneuvered my way through
the terminal. I’d always hated airports. Today, I hated them even more than
usual. It was only a matter of time before someone would recognize me and the
last thing I needed just then was a slew of fans following me all the way back
to the check-in counter, not that I wasn’t grateful for their admiration. After
all of the years I’d spent in LA, I knew better than anyone how fickle fame could
be. Although, it wasn’t ever the fame I was interested in.
The
only son born to an award winning film director and a former super model, I was
practically Hollywood royalty. My face had been plastered on the covers of
magazines since before I could walk. By the time I was old enough to understand
what it all meant, it had become so second nature to me that I didn’t think
twice when my then model turned fashion designer mother handpicked me as the
new face of her up and coming clothing line for the fashion forward teens of
America. Having inherited my mother’s good looks and my father’s charm and work
ethics, I guess I was the obvious choice.
From
there, the modeling gigs just kept rolling in until one night when I was
seventeen and out with a bunch of guys. We were on our way to a game when we
passed a billboard displaying none other than yours truly wearing next to
nothing along with my mother’s signature pout. It was the same pout I’d seen
her practice in front of the mirror since I was in diapers, the same pout I had
inadvertently and unknowingly copied. My friends were kind enough to ignore the
abomination hanging some forty feet above us, but I don’t remember ever feeling
more humiliated in my entire life.
I
gave up modeling shortly after and then took off the second I graduated. I had
foolishly believed that I could run away to some obscure part of the world and
backpack my way from Point A to Point B while enjoying what would have been my
very first taste of actual privacy. However, it was too late. The fame monster
of Jack Cole had been brooding for nearly two decades and there was no escaping
it. So, I reluctantly boarded the private jet my father had sent for me and did
the next best thing to hiking in Europe…doing charity work in South Africa.
Initially
sick of people, I signed up to volunteer at a Big 5 Wildlife Conservation in
the Limpopo Province. Honestly, it was to date, one of the most incredible
experiences of my life and I became addicted to this simple and isolated way of
living where I gained a completely new and unexpected perspective.
When
my stay on the Conservation came to an end, I was nowhere near ready to leave
and head back to the life I had left behind. However, I was ready for more
human contact, and so I volunteered again, this time dedicating myself to
orphanage education in Cambodia.
I
was only nineteen at that point, so my teaching skills were limited. This left
me to pass on the only knowledge I had acquired growing up with parents who had
the combined knowledge of all things photography, given their vast experiences
from both behind and in front of a shutter. So, after hitting up every one of
my parents’ socialite friends and accumulating a large variety of cameras and
lenses, I started my new journey as a teacher.
It
wasn’t long before I was seeing more life from behind a camera than I was
without one. Things just looked different when viewed through that tiny window
and its red square center. I was able to focus in on the most remarkable
details and see new aspects of the world I had missed before. I discovered the
beauty of the human face and each intricate perfection visible through its most
vulnerable expressions. I unveiled treasures that had been buried only by my
own ignorance and obliviousness. In short, I found myself and I learned far
more from the children I taught than they ever could have learned from me.
When
I returned home, I was twenty-one and I finally knew what I wanted to do with
my life. Photography had given me an intimate look at people and their emotions
and I had been fascinated and touched by what I’d seen. So much so that I
wanted to learn to emulate those feelings, to someday touch others. I wanted to
act.
While
I preferred theater, I learned early on that the money wasn’t on the stage but
in front of the camera. And given my father’s connections, frankly, there were
too many offers to turn down. So these days, much to my disappointment, most of
my acting took place without a live audience.
Now,
as I was scurrying along the crowded halls of the airport, I was eager to avoid
an audience all together. Ducking while talking to my buddy Crisco on the
phone, I only lifted my head as much as I needed to in order to keep track of
where I was going. When I spotted the doors closing on an empty elevator, I
jumped at the chance for temporary seclusion.
I
slid my hand inside just as the gliding door was about to touch, setting off
its sensor and causing it to retract its motion instantly. I took one step in
and paused. The elevator wasn’t nearly as deserted as I had thought. A woman
and her daughter were standing on the inside corner, where they had been
previously hidden from my view. Oh well, it was too late now. I barely glanced
at either of them as I joined them inside the elevator, still mid-conversation on my phone.
“...No,
man. That's what I'm trying to tell you. I get here thinking I'm going to
surprise her, only I'm the one who ends up surprised when the old friend from
college she came to visit turns out to be her ex!” I was still reeling from
that conversation. Thank God I had called her the moment my plane landed,
otherwise I probably would have walked into her hotel room and seen things that
could not be unseen.
“Yeah...well,
whatever. It's done and over with now...No, I'm still here at the airport.
Yeah, I'm just headed there now.”
The
elevator had already stopped again. Reacting without thinking, I looked up just
as the doors slid open revealing a group of people, two of whom seemed to
recognize me right away. In spite of the evidential sparkle of excitement in
their eyes, neither of the newcomers said anything to me, but repeatedly
exchanged knowing glances with one another as though they were communicating via
their brainwaves.
I
quickly averted my eyes and turned inward toward the corner.
“Shit,
I gotta go,” I blurted into the phone and hung up. Attempting to look busy to
avoid interacting with the people now standing within a two foot radius of me,
I continued to play with the screen of my phone as though there were some
incredibly interesting things happening there. I was so engulfed in this ploy
to appear distracted, I didn’t even notice when the woman and her daughter
exited the elevator.
*
Holy Shit.
That’s freaking Jack Cole! What do I do?
Nothing. I do nothing. Shit. Am I blushing? Don’t blush. Do NOT blush. What am
I talking about?! Forget blushing! Don’t faint! I could already feel the
telltale signs of a full blown anxiety attack announcing themselves via the
heart pounding out of my chest like a sledgehammer and the cold numbness
setting in around my ankles.
My
first instinct was to shut my eyes and take several deep breaths, but then I
realized how insane I’d look and squashed that plan immediately. Instead, I
focused all of my attention on the silver metal doors ahead. Still slightly
maniacal, but then Mr. Cole seemed too wrapped up in his own problems to take
notice of mine.
With
my eyes steadily staring straight ahead, my ears were free to drop in on his
conversation with unconscionable ease. My frantic heart froze the moment my
brain registered what my wandering ears had heard. Jack Cole had dropped his
model of the month girlfriend. He was single! I had to remind myself that in
all reality, this information – however exciting it seemed – actually would
have no bearing on me or my relationship status.
In
the midst of forcefully hiding all of my Jack Cole madness, I had forgotten one
minor detail. The tiny person to my left, who at any given moment could glance
up and recognize the man of my every fantasy and sell me out faster than a girl
scout peddling cookies to a pothead.
My
daughter was no evil genius, but she was five with no inhibitions and a knack
for listening in on my grown up conversations. She wouldn’t think twice before
blurting out his name and asking him to marry me. In fact, I’d once had a
daydream just like that, only in my warped and lonely mind, he had found her so
adorable he had said yes on the spot. To be fair, my daughter didn’t hear ‘no’
from people often, something I hoped would work in my favor one day, but I
digress.
I
carefully lowered my gaze from the safety of the elevator doors to take a peek
at Jessa. Much to my relief she was far too involved in chatting with Mermella
the mermaid to pay attention to anything else.
Just
as my eyes re-centered themselves on the shiny metal ahead, the door slid open
revealing a large group of people eager to board the elevator. This was my
floor. I had two choices. Either stay on and ride the elevator aimlessly in
hopes of basking in Jack Cole’s presence a moment longer like a stalker, or get
off.
Before
my head had a chance to decide, my body took over, moving on autopilot and
taking me onward as I had originally programmed it to do when I first boarded
the moving metal box.
I
said a silent goodbye to my once in a lifetime opportunity with each painful
step I took. It wasn’t until I had safely removed myself from what had been
loaded with potential for the most humiliating scene of my life, that I finally
turned around to look at Jack full on.
I
was still mesmerized by the sight of him when I watched as one of the new
passengers opened his mouth, about to talk to Jack.
“Hey,
aren't you Ja-” the words never fully formed before I interrupted him.
“Brady,
are you coming?”
Unaware
that he was being spoken to, Jack maintained his iron clad focus on the screen
of his cell phone, while I began to panic. What the hell was I doing? This was
insane. Not only that, but if I wanted to avoid looking like a complete ass at
this point, I would have no choice but to fully commit and hope it didn’t end
with me being hauled off in cuffs by airport security.
“Brady!”
I repeated, this time more sternly.
At
last he looked up. Still not entirely sure what was going on, his eyes darted
back and forth between myself and the strangers beside him.
“Come
on, this is us.” I was looking directly at him. Jack was about to say something
when I gestured for him to follow me, now with a slightly annoyed expression to
go with it. I watched as he took one more look at the guy who had been about to
chat him up and then quickly fell into step behind me just in time to avoid the
elevator doors closing in on him.
“Thanks. I really appreciate that.”
He was looking around like a nervous animal trying to figure out his next move.
“No problem. I just got the
impression that you didn't feel like being on display at that particular
moment.” Instantly realizing how it had sounded, I quickly added, “not that I
was eavesdropping.”
He looked at me and chuckled,
clearly amused by my suddenly frazzled exterior and uncomfortable smile. “No,
it's fine. I was standing two feet from you, of course you heard.”
Another crowd was headed for the
elevator and so I gently led my daughter over toward a corner and out of their
path.
“Anyway, where did you need to
go? I'm sure we can get you there without you getting mauled by a bunch of
crazed fans.” I nodded at the most recent group of twenty something women
clearly here on spring break and anxiously waiting for the heavy sliding doors
to open.
Jack barely dared to glance in
their direction. “Oh yeah? How do you plan to do that? Keep calling me Brady?”
he whispered, sounding as though he was half joking, half hoping it was a
viable option.
I shrugged. “If it works...but I
was also thinking we could be a couple of Euro tourists here from Germany for
the next go around.” I lifted the hand still clutching my daughter’s and
pointed onward as I began to move again. It seemed almost automatic that Jack
fell into step beside us.
“Hm, not sure that's going to
work,” he said shaking his head. “My German's not quite believable.”
I had to bite back a grin
remembering the movie in which he had played an international assassin. His
German had been borderline pathetic, and I had laughed hysterically every time
I had heard him utter another butchered line. Now hardly seemed like the time
to bring that up though.
I leaned in toward him, feeling
confident. “No worries, mine is pretty good. As long as you can nod and add a
few 'Uh-huh's' in there every so often we can totally pull it off.”
“You’re telling me you speak
German?” His disbelief was only slightly hidden by the fact that he was now
clearly intrigued. “Why?”
“I’m German,” I replied very
matter of fact. “It’s kinda my thing.” I looked up and spotted another wave of
people coming our way. “Meanwhile, let’s start by blending in with all the
families on vacation.” I bent down to whisper to my daughter. “Jessa, baby, do
you think you could hold Brady's hand?”
Her little nose crinkled as she
knitted her dark brown brows in confusion. “But Mama, his name isn't
Brady...it's Jack Cole!” she whispered back loudly.
And there it was. I quickly lowered myself down to be face to
face with her, in hopes that Jack wouldn’t see me turn beet red, or worse,
express an interest in hearing why my five year old had recognized him. His
work, while extensive, had yet to include a family friendly project.
“I know his name is Jack,” I
explained quietly, “But we're playing pretend, okay? So, his new name is Brady.
What name do you want?”
Jessa thought it over for a
moment. Then her eyes lit up as she announced, “Ooh, I want to be Rapunzel!”
I had to bite my lip to keep from
laughing. “Huh...how about Jasmin instead?” It was a solid compromise.
“Okay! What about you Mama?”
“I think I'm going to stick with
Mama.” I gently tucked a long strand of dark blonde hair back behind her ear
and kissed her cheek before I stood up again.
“Is that what I'm calling you,
too?” Jack was smirking.
I’d seen that look on his face a
hundred times, but on screen was nothing compared to seeing it in person. It
set off a storm of butterflies in the pit of my stomach and the jackhammer had
returned to my chest. Then I watched as Jessa reached up and clasped his hand and
I nearly lost it.
I swallowed hard, trying to force
down the flutter now rising into my chest. “No, you can call me Embers.”
Desperate for a distraction, I
searched our surroundings for the arrival monitors. When I spotted them just a
few feet away, I made a beeline for them, dragging the other two along as I
went.
My mind was still whirling from
the onslaught of inappropriate feelings that had hit me after being on the
receiving end of Jack Cole’s trademark smirk. No amount of daydreaming could
have ever prepared me for that.
I had to scan the large screen in
front of me three times before I was actually able to absorb any of the
information.
“Okay,” I glanced up at the clock
above the monitors. “Aunt May's flight is on time, but we were early so it shouldn't
be any problem to get you to the ticket counter of your choice and make it back
to the gate in time to meet her.” Halfway through my statement I had redirected
it at Jack who seemed surprisingly less enthused by the news than I had
expected.
He was waving his hand, already
dismissing the idea. “Oh, I don't want to screw up your plans.”
Not understanding, I insisted, “Not
at all. It's just my sister. And she doesn't expect me to be on time anyway.
So, where are we headed?”
I had already started walking
again when I felt myself jerked to a stop by Jack who was still standing in
place.
“You know, I just spent the last
six hours on a plane, I'm in no hurry to get back on one. Let's just go and
meet your sister and I can figure things out after.” As he said it, he took
several steps into the opposite direction headed toward the arrival gates,
gently tugging Jessa and me along as he did so.
“But wouldn't you rather just
hurry up and get out of here?” I hissed as I scurried to catch up with him. “I
mean, the longer you hang around, the more likely someone will recognize you
sooner or later.”
“Nah, I think I'm in good hands
with you.” He turned back to wink at me. “Besides, I kinda want to see you
break out the German tourist routine.”
I shook my head, laughing.
Partially because the thought of breaking into German improv sounded downright
hilarious, and partially because this entire thing was so entirely bizarre it
was either laugh or black out…and blacking out seemed like an ineffective move
just then.
So, the three of us made our way
to the arrivals, doing our best to blend in with the multitude of other
travelers being shuffled along the large corridors of the airport.
When we reached the gate, Jessa
wasted no time in pulling us over to the wall of windows from where she was
able to watch the airplanes as they came and went.
It wasn't long before two women
standing close by began to take notice of Jack. Huddled together closely, I
overheard them whispering excitedly to one another. I peered over at Jack. Even
with his face somewhat hidden in the shadow of his fedora and his trademark
tats covered, he was entirely too recognizable.
Swaying any diehard female fans
would require total dedication to my cause.
“Das Wetter hier ist echt toll,
oder?” I nodded at the window as I spoke. “Wenn das jeden Tag so ist, wird das ein
echt toller Urlaub, meinst Du nicht?”
This time I directed my attention
back to Jack and waited for his response. Without skipping a beat, he fell
right into character, a minor part all things considered, and replied with a
confident sounding ‘Uh-huh’ as though he had understood perfectly.
“Ja, denke ich auch!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I
watched as the two women walked away looking sorely disappointed.
Jack leaned in and whispered,
“Nice.” Adding an appreciative nod at the end.
“Thank you, thank you.” I bowed
playfully. When I stood upright again, I saw Jessa’s hand fly up into the air.
She waved it around with excitement.
“There she is!”
Buried in the sea of people
marching toward us, a small pink Mohawk could be spotted bobbing up and down as
the flood of passengers came streaming in through the arrivals gate.
I felt Jessa slip out of my grip
as she launched herself a few feet forward and began jumping up and down
shouting with elation.
“Aunt May! Over here!” Her little
hands were still flapping back and forth above her head when May caught a
glimpse of them and began to veer away from the crowd and in our direction. I
watched as my sister’s eyes traveled from Jessa to me and then over to Jack
where they did a clear double take before jumping back to lock eyes with me in
search of an explanation.
Try as I might, even as a twin, I
had yet to master the skills of telepathy. So, I simply reverted to my standard
crooked grin and shoulder shrug, reserved for situations such as these.
“Hello...” May’s tone was
tentative at best as she knelt down to catch Jessa who sprinted forward.
“Hi!” Jessa’s sweet enthusiasm
was still bubbling out of her as she loudly whispered in her aunt’s ear. “We're
playing pretend. My name isn't Jessa, it's Jasmin. And Jack Cole is Brady. Who
do you want to be?”
“Um, I don't know. How about you
pick?” May pulled back to look at her niece with an unwavering confusion still
lingering on her face.
Unaware of the unusual
circumstances of her current situation, Jessa beamed back at her.
“Okay, you can be
Mother Gothel.”
May snorted. “Gee,
thanks.”
I leaned down in an
attempt to help move the conversation along.
“Or, she can be
Ariel.”
Jessa seemed
perfectly fine with that.
“Okay.”
Meanwhile, I noticed
Jack hadn’t said anything since May showed up. I turned back to make the
official introduction when I saw him curiously studying the two of us. I’d seen
that look plenty of times before. May and I were identical. Well, our faces
were anyway. Something people tended to only become aware of after they saw
everything else. Like May’s pink hawk and various tats or my long jet black and
purple locks and the fact that I wore a wardrobe that looked like a mixture of
painting attire and beach wear.
Suffice it to say,
there were plenty of things about us that people found distracting before they
had the chance to look close enough and realize we were each other’s mirror
image.
“Twins,” I mumbled
stupidly. I always felt the need to confirm what was pretty self-explanatory.
“Yeah, I got that,”
Jack grinned. “Ariel, nice to meet you.” He held his hand out toward my sister
and she took it, moving like the tin man from Oz after he had begun to rust.
“Yeah, you
too...Brady?!” She was staring directly at me.
“I'll explain later.”
I completely ignored the impatient look in May’s eyes demanding I start talking
now. “Where to next?”
“Baggage claim?” Jack offered.
May was too
busy still boring into me with her stare to realize she had been spoken to.
When she finally became aware of it, she smiled awkwardly.
“I only have
my carry on.” As if the words alone hadn’t been explanation enough, she lifted
her bright fuchsia duffle bag decked out in all things Beatles, for everyone to
see.
Brady took it from her and
started walking. “Cool. Let's get out of here then.”
Wait. What?
“Don't you want to try and get
another flight?” I called after him, still frozen in place beside the wall of
windows.
“You know, I can just take care
of that later. It'll probably be easier by phone anyway.” He had barely even
slowed down. Apparently, the California stop applied to more than just driving.
“Besides, I'm starving. How about I take you ladies out for lunch? As a thank
you for saving my butt earlier.”
May nodded, “I could eat.”
Then Jessa took things up a notch
by jumping up and down and squealing, “Yes! Yes! I want to go to lunch!”
Seriously, the kid was acting like she’d just been offered a free trip to
Disney World.
“Looks like we're going to lunch
then.” I finally followed the rest of my party, but at a considerably slower
pace. This whole thing had just gone from surreal to alternate dimension and I
needed a little distance to regain some sort of perspective. Only there was no
distance great enough to help me fully comprehend how Jack Cole had jumped from
my TV screen and into my life.
As much as I wanted to dislike Bentley as much as I did his sister, I just couldn’t. He was easy to talk to, he pushed me to go outside my comfort zone, and he challenged me to let go of my past, something Paulie’s been begging me to do for years. Not to mention, he was easy on the eyes and I still can’t forget the way I felt with his hands on my waist.
