Page 25 of Jason
“At least you had someone who noticed it.In my case, I was one of seven.Not the oldest, not the youngest, but just in the middle and I never felt as if anyone cared what I did.Except my cousin, Ross.He was a middle kid, too.He would come watch movies with me.”He looked down a moment, as if remembering.“So you discovered your love of three-ring binders in elementary school, and then what?”
“Then?”She snorted.“Then I began to organize the lives for my siblings.They are younger than me, except for Jet.But they needed help getting to school and staying focused, and I took that job on.”
Jason laughed.“You really seem to like organizing other people’s lives.”
“I do.But some people’s lives need a lot of organizing.Anyway, I drifted further and further away from my parents’ ideals and found my own.I discovered I wanted to achieve things with my life.I wanted to explore the world I saw in films and the stories I told myself,” she said, gesturing to her head.“I figured no one was going to do it for me.”
She remembered that years after she’d left home, Mallory’s sister Meghan had once suggested that the reason Mallory wore her blonde hair in a short bob was because it was the exact opposite style of her mother and father.“That’s not why,” Mallory had scoffed.“I wear it this way because it’s so easy to take care of.”But the truth was closer to Meghan’s theory.Mallory had never really thought of it until then, but even she could see that everything she did was the opposite of what her parents would do.Plus, it was a stylish cut.Her mother was not stylish.Her mother would point out that the desire tobestylish was not a proletariat virtue and was the very definition of vanity.
Mallory was okay with a little bit of vanity.She liked being stylish and frankly, it was hard not to want to be stylish when one worked in Hollywood.She’d discovered that the hard way when she’d graduated from college with a degree in theater arts from Chapman University and had started pounding the pavement in search of acting gigs.One casting director told her she looked like she was a receptionist at a third-rate hair salon.Needless to say, she didn’t get the part.So yes, she’d become a little more interested in style and her physical appearance since leaving home.
“For the record,” Jason said, “I am really glad you discovered you wanted to organize people’s lives and tell stories, because I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Mallory smiled with surprise.“Wow.That might be the nicest thing you ever said to me.”
“You have a remarkable story, Mal.I’m a little embarrassed I never asked more about your life.I’m a little in awe of you right now.”
“Please,” she said, with a flick of her wrist.“I survived, that’s all.Like anyone would.”
“Not just anyone.Some of us really struggled to survive.Some of us had every advantage a rich white boy can have and still struggled.”
“You’re comparing apples to oranges.I didn’t lose my parents.”
“Not permanently…but it sounds like in a way, you did.Sounds like we were both without that guidance.Sounds like we both used film to escape.”
“Yeah,” she said quietly.He was right—they’d been two kids missing the umbrella of parents over their lives.
Jason took a drink, then stood up, and picked up the plates.“Want some dessert?I think there is some pie in the fridge.”
“No thanks.”Mallory looked at the window.The rain was still coming down in sheets, but not as hard as in the beginning.It was cozy, and the whisky, while not her thing, was warming her.How odd that their lives, at opposite ends of the economic spectrum, were so similar.
She wasn’t mad at him anymore.She was glad she knew these things about him.
She also felt loose and warm, and while she felt this connection to him, he was still her boss.She looked at Jason’s broad back.“So are you going to tell me about these changes to the schedule?”
“I won’t lie, I’m a little afraid,” he said, and turned around, grinning at her.“It was a hatchet job that will probably throw everything out of whack.But Cass was insistent we get some of the shoots out of the way that didn’t require a lead actor.That’s our first order of business—we have to find a new star.”
He came back to the table with the bottle of whisky.Thunder rumbled again, but farther away.“You want to get comfortable first?”
Mallory blinked.“Excuse me?”
“I mean, settle in.The casting agency sent a link to some possibilities to replace Darien.I thought you might want to shower and change before we start to work.”
She didn’t know how she was going to settle in to her T-shirt and boxer shorts she normally wore to bed, but she could do with getting her bra off and a hot shower.She looked again to the window and the storm still raging around them.“You’re sure it’s okay if I stay here?”
Jason’s smile was dazzling.He leaned over her to pick up the bottle of whisky.“I’m sure.But I have one condition.”
“Lay it on me.”
A spark appeared in his eye.“If you have too much whisky and decide to make a pass at me, you promise to tell me it’s happening so I’m not confused.”
Mallory’s belly did a funny little flip.But she rolled her eyes.“I’m so not going to make a pass at you, Jason.”
“Famous last words.”He moved away from her.
“Oh my God, it’s true—you think you’re such a stud.”
“Hey, I wasn’t the one freaked out by my lack of shirt.Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
