Jay

It's easy to be a movie star. The shoes are already there. They just put you in the shoes – Jason Patric

Jay couldn't remember the last time he'd sat at such a fun table. The conversation was easy, the laughs were plentiful, and he'd hardly stopped smiling from the moment that dinner had begun.

He'd been an actor for a long time. Over half of his life had been spent in front of a camera and during that time, Jay had come to know a lot about people. Observing them, studying them, imitating them – anything he could do that would improve his craft. The subtle things were what he liked to pay the most attention to. Small intricate moments like the way someone might run their fingers through their hair when they were stressed or the little touches and sly glances between people who needed no words to communicate.

Yet as Jay talked and laughed with Brock and Bailey and her family, all of that went out the window. Analyzing the people seated around the table didn't even cross his mind. He was too caught up in Bailey's sarcasm and Noah's quiet teasing. In Caroline's carefree laughter and the way that Stephen and Travis poked fun at each other like brothers.

Jay floated through the group as they rose from the table and moved towards the more comfortable sitting area in the living room as the pie Bailey's mother had made warmed in the oven. Plush leather couches and understated furnishings lined the room, most of latter seemed like antiques or the sort of thing that someone might find at a flea market. Photographs were scattered around the room. Family portraits, team sports, horseback riding and rodeo competitions.

The space was so familiar to Jay though he'd never stepped foot in it before. It felt like his childhood home. A place where people were welcome with no questions asked.

Noah, Stephen, and Travis sat near to Jay, asking questions about the places he'd travelled to and what it was like to work in film. In return, they regaled him with stories about their adventures in rodeo and even showed him some of their more memorable scars.

"What's it like being a film star?" Travis asked at one point. "You must have been in some pretty cool places for filming."

"Well, a lot of what I do is filmed on a stage, not on location. Though I always prefer to shoot on location instead of a stage. I find it easier to play off of the environment then but it's a more controlled setting when you've got the stage. I did get to film one movie a few years back on location in Tunisia. That was fun. I even stayed in that Star Wars-themed hotel that formerly served as the filming location for the Lars homestead on Tatooine."

Noah raised his eyebrows. "That would be cool. My little brother was a huge Star Wars fan. I think I must have watched the original trilogy at least a hundred times."

"Are you talking Star Wars?" Caroline called from across the room.

She was sitting with Bailey and Brock near the fireplace, above which a television displaying the L.A. Dodgers game hung. Their heads had been bent close together, discussing music, though Jay had seen Brock shoot a few curious looks during the last half-hour towards Travis as if there was something intriguing about the man. Nothing about the dark-eyed man stood out to Jay but then again, he wasn't paying as close attention as he normally did.

"Yes," Noah replied over his shoulder. His mouth quirked up in a smile but it was sad, as if talking about the movie series was painful in some way.

"God, we haven't watched those in forever. Aaron really was obsessed with them," Caroline told Bailey who cocked her head to the side. "When he was little, his whole room was Star Wars themed. He had the sheets and the comforter and everything."

"Even had lampshades with a Darth Vader and stormtrooper helmets," Noah added.

Caroline laughed and Jay saw that edge of pain in her eyes as well. A dark feeling coiled in his gut as she said, "I forgot about those. Didn't he also have lightsabers mounted on the wall?"

"Green and blue. Right above the bed."

"I think it might be time for a movie night," Bailey interjected. "I've never seen Star Wars."

Everyone in the room looked at Bailey incredulously. Noah was shaking his head and laughing. "I'm learning lots about you tonight, Bailey Grant. First the asshole ex-boyfriend and now this? What other dirty little secrets are you hiding from me?"

Bailey winked and flashed Noah a grin from across the room. "Just keeping you on your toes, Noah Hartley. Rethinking our whole relationship yet?"

Noah said, with mock seriousness, "A little bit, yeah."

The room dissolved into laughter and that sadness dissipated some from the siblings' faces. Bailey was sputtering, trying to come up with a retort and failing miserably, as Travis jokingly told Noah that failing to give Bailey a complete movie education was his biggest pitfall as her elder brother.

Jay chuckled along with them as a quiet knock sounded at the front door and a young woman entered. Of average height and curvy, dressed in pair of simple blue jeans and a white blouse. Voluminous dark curls framed the heart-shaped face which displayed the elegant twist of her pink lips, slightly-rounded nose, and sculpted black brows that were set above the eyes.

Eyes that, from a distance, were brown and warm like the pallor of her skin. But Jay knew that a closer inspection of those eyes would reveal flecks of lighter caramel towards the iris. Eyes that were currently flicking around the room as if she were unsure of her reception.

Ginger.

Jay perked up when he saw her. She was beautiful in an unassuming kind of way. Kind eyes. That had been the first thing Jay had noticed about her when he'd first approached the counter in the diner earlier that afternoon. He was aware that she had recognized him, it was in the way that her face had lightened with understanding, but she had only smiled and treated him like any normal customer. Any normal guy.

It was rare for Jay to interact with people like that. Most had a habit of clamming up when they recognized him while others screamed or asked for photos and autographs. If it hadn't been for Ginger, that likely would have been Jay's fate earlier that afternoon, swarmed by a crowd of fans as he tried to enjoy a peaceful lunch.

Ginger's interference had happened so quickly that it had taken Jay nearly an hour to process it after sneaking out the back. He'd spent the afternoon in a deserted section of Pennington Creek Park, watching the water flow idly by. It was there that he realized he hadn't thanked her for what she'd done.

The words had been forming in his mind in the hours since – trying to figure out just what he could say to truly thank her for sneaking her out and lending him her car – but everything he had planned to say to Ginger vanished from his head the moment that he saw her lingering in the entryway.

Her fingers raked through her curls hesitantly but before Jay could so much as stand, Noah had tapped Travis on the arm and Bailey's brother had looked up to where Noah indicated. Travis lurched to his feet and crossed the room, ducking to peck Ginger on the cheek.

"Hey," Travis said to her, a faint smile on his face. "I heard you'd be stopping by. How'd your trip to the reserve go this morning? Get any good photos?"

"Don't know yet," Ginger replied. "I haven't had the chance to check them on my computer. I mean, I got a few of a red-shouldered hawk that looked pretty good on my camera display but I need to take a closer look at them before I know if they're any good."

An amused little smile appeared on Travis' face. "Perfectionist."

"You know it." Ginger shoved his shoulder lightly, affectionally. Her gaze roamed around the room until it fell upon Jay, still sitting beside Stephen and Noah. The two had fallen off into a conversation about their plans for the rodeo school this week which was fortunate because Jay had found himself a little bit captivated by the woman across the room.

As Ginger's eyes met Jay's, she smiled and offered him a little wave. Jay offered her a smile in return before she turned back to Travis.

"Ginger!" Bailey exclaimed from across the room, lurching to her feet and away from Brock and Caroline in one swift movement. "You're just in time for dessert. Pie?"

"I wouldn't want to intrude..."

It was Noah who got to his feet and said, "Not at all. I was just about to pull it out of the oven. We've got plenty and you're more than welcome to join us."

"Well...Okay, sure. That'd be lovely."

Ginger consented to be led by Travis over towards the couch. She took up the vacated spot that Noah had left as Travis sank back down onto the couch beside her. Her eyes once more landed on Jay. "I'm glad to see that you seem to have survived your afternoon in one piece. Did you get hounded anywhere else?"

"No," Jay replied with a shake of his head. "Thanks to you, I've had a very quiet day. Peaceful and just what I needed."

"I bet you don't get many of those," Stephen said.

Jay chuckled without humour. "Hardly any. And the only reason I came out here with Brock is that the film I was working on is going through some...complications. Shooting has been put on hold for the time being so it gave me the time to come out here."

Ginger scoffed, those brown eyes alight with amusement. "I still can't believe you came to Oklahoma on a vacation. This is the last place I would come."

"Where would you go?" Jay asked.

"Anywhere but here. I really want to travel and see the world but right now, the interior of Annie's Diner is about as exotic as I've gotten."

"Ginger likes talking photos," Travis added as Bailey and Noah began to re-enter the room carrying plates of warm apple pie and cold vanilla ice cream.

God, after the burgers from last night and the dinner he'd had tonight, his nutritionist was sure to hate him. Jay couldn't bring himself to care, though. Not when the pastry was so flaky and the scent of cinnamon, nutmeg, and apples was threatening to overwhelm him.

As he accepted the plate that Bailey offered him, he turned to Ginger and asked, "What kind of photography are you into?"

Ginger flushed as if she wasn't used to talking about the hobby openly. "Everything, really. Today I was just out in nature but I like telling personal stories most of all. People, places, undiscovered gems...Those are my favourites."

"You know," Jay started as he leaned forward, bracing an elbow on his knee. "I met this guy once a few years ago who had been in Japan in two-thousand-and-elven during that earthquake and tsunami. I can't remember what city he'd been in when it had hit but he told me that he was lucky. Very little damage. He eventually managed to get to the Miyagi prefecture and documented a lot of what he saw. When he got back stateside, he did an exhibition on his work in New York. I went and...It was some of the most powerful stuff I'd ever seen. The images he brought back were incredible. I can see why telling stories is something that you like to do."

Her eyes flared wide and bright as excitement blossomed on her face. "Are you talking about Charles Acosta?"

Jay nodded. "Know him?"

"Know his work. I took a photography class a while back and my teacher showed us some of his photographs. They were beautiful in a really tragic kind of way. There was one...A young boy standing up to his knees in water and holding onto a stuffed bear. It stuck with me because he was so sad. So alone."

"I remember that one. Charles showcased it during his exhibition."

"The composition was beautiful. It was so raw and candid. He took it during dusk and the shadows and light were dancing across the boy's face and in the wreckage around him...I loved it."

Next to Ginger, Travis took a bit of his pie and murmured to Stephen, "I think we're a bit out of our element here."

Stephen nodded in solidarity and forked a few apples into his mouth.

Jay laughed and asked, "Not a fan of the arts?"

A flush rose on Travis' neck. "Just bad at them. My sister was always more of the artistic and musical one in the family and all of the science behind photography goes right over my head. Ginger's got a good eye, though. I know enough to know that."

"I'd love to see your portfolio," Jay said to Ginger and meant it.

"It's not really a portfolio," Ginger admitted, too quickly. "I'm just a hobbyist. It's only for fun."

Jay got the sense that it was a lie – at least in part. The passion was there in her tone and she had taken the time to enroll in a photography course at one point in her life which meant that it was important to her. Jay had a suspicion to her that she was better than she was letting on.

"Well, the offer stands," Jay told her then, smiling. "I'm sure you could teach me a thing or two. I've always been more comfortable in front of a camera than behind one."

Ginger nodded and returned his smile as her dark curls bounced around the frame of her face. She opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Bailey who came over, tapped Ginger on the shoulder, and promptly said that she needed to speak with her. Confusion danced across Ginger's face but she followed Bailey anyway.

Jay watched them go, his eyes on Ginger as she disappeared into the kitchen with Bailey and out of sight. She really was pretty, he thought, but it was more than that which had him a bit captivated by the young woman. It had been the enthusiasm in her face, the animation and spark that had arisen as they'd discussed photography.

He'd been around photographers before and in many ways, he'd begun to associate them negatively with the press. There were always people calling out for his photo, stopping him on the street or in parks as he tried to live his life just to document a glimpse of him. It was often the case of 'pics or it didn't happen' from his fans or the tabloids and over time it had begun to drive him a little mad.

The excitement that had coursed through Ginger had felt different. Newer and less fake. Like she wanted to take photographs that were real – that meant something. Not just a pic on a smartphone of a celebrity drinking a coffee or leaving a taxi.

And he couldn't lie...That excitement was infectious. It intrigued him more than anything else. But Jay wanted to see her photos, if only to conclude that what he surmised was, in fact, true.

Stephen was vacating his seat, being summoned by Caroline across the room, just as Bailey returned with Ginger.

"Sorry for interrupting," Bailey said as she perched on the couch's armrest next to her brother and Ginger reclaimed her spot on Travis' other side. "I just had a thought about your horseback riding problem."

"Oh?"

"When we were in high school, Ginger worked part-time at a riding academy in town."

Jay raised a brow. "Really?"

Ginger nodded.

Travis looked to Ginger and said, "I didn't know that. Was that at Hillcrest?"

"Yes," she replied. "I worked there until the end of the summer after graduation and then Annie hired me full-time at the diner so I had to quit. Couldn't make the schedules work."

"Well, that's perfect," Travis said. "You could teach Jay."

"That's what I thought," Bailey interjected, looking completely pleased with herself. Her hazel eyes sparkled as she winked at Jay. "I just didn't want to put Ginger on the spot by asking her in front of everyone."

Ginger laughed. "You should know me well enough by now, Bailey, to know that it would have been fine. Anyway," she added as she glanced at Jay, "I do have to work at the diner but if you're flexible in schedule, I can give you a riding crash course until you and Brock leave. Bailey said that we can do it here and with her and Noah's horses so it'll be private."

Jay beamed at her and Bailey. "That sounds perfect. Noah doesn't mind?"

"No," Noah called from across the room, still in mid-conversation with Caroline and Stephen. Brock left the conversation and migrated over to join the slightly larger group that Jay was a part of. He sat down on a vacant leather ottoman near. "Rafiki will be glad for the extra exercise, anyway."

"Rafiki is Noah's horse," Bailey explained when a look of curiosity danced across Jay and Brock's faces. "You can use him and Fawkes, who belongs to me. They're both easy to please and gentle as can be."

Jay turned to Ginger. "How soon are you available to start?"

"Tomorrow afternoon? I get off at noon and can come straight here if that works for everyone."

"I'll be here," he promised, relieved, as Bailey nodded her approval.

This was shaping up to be a more productive vacation than he'd planned. At least now he'd manage to, hopefully, look somewhat like a horse guy when rehearsals for the shoot started. It was enough to make some tenseness leave his body as he picked up his fork again. The next bite of pie he took was the best he'd ever had.

***

Hope you enjoyed! 

There won't be an update next week as I'm trying to rush and write a bit more for my ONC 2022 submission this week (if you haven't already, I encourage you to check out "The Golden Arrow" - a BXB hybrid fairy tale reimagining). First four chapters out now!

Broken Strings will be back with an update on March 12!

Brenna