Chapter 2

I was waiting in line at a coffee shop when my phone suddenly rang. “No caller ID. I’m not answering that,” I muttered to myself. Shortly thereafter, it rang a second time. I ignored it again.

The line was moving at a glacial pace and, as I turned around, noticed that it kept getting longer. I was stuck behind a girl doing a coffee run for, what it seemed, her entire building. Impatience was getting the better of me and that’s when my phone rang again. I figured it would pass the time.

“Hello?” I answered a bit defensively.

“Hi! Do you always screen your calls?” I suddenly realised who I was speaking with.

“Er, no, I mean, yes, especially when it’s a private number.” I said a bit confused.

“Oh, I see. So, what are you having? I’m buying.”

“Wait, what?” I looked around the busy coffee shop. C was a few customers behind me in line. “WTF?” I smiled when we locked eyes. I hung up and walked over. “Well, this is awkward.”

“Why?” He smiled from under his baseball cap.

“It’s like you’re,” I hesitated, “stalking me.”

“Maybe I am!” He leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “How are you?”

“I’m quite in shock, that’s how I am.” I noticed a few heads starting to turn our way, but luckily the line was moving forward.

“What can I get you,” a black-rimmed glasses wearing beautiful tall girl asked.

“She’ll have...” C started.

“I’ll have a double americano in an 8 oz cup, please.”

“Make that two. Thank you.” He paid the girl. She looked up at him for the first time as she handed him his change. Realizing who he was, she almost dropped all the coins on the counter. “Thanks.” He smiled broadly at her.

I watched the whole scene like many of the other patrons: in disbelief. We were all there at the right time and the right place. Some discreetly taking pictures of a poor man who just wanted a coffee.

“I did say I was gonna call.” We stepped over to the side to wait for our coffees.

“Well, the question is, would you still have called if you hadn’t seen me here today.” He scoffed and paused for a second.

“Well, to be honest, I am quite shy, so it may have taken me a bit more time.”

“It’s been a few weeks.” I remarked. He answered only with a nod. “Somehow, I knew you were the shy type. I am too, actually. I kept playing back that moment when I gave you my card: it was so totally unlike me to do that.”

“Really? You seemed quite confident about it.”

“I was quite drunk, I think.” I said embarrassed.

“Excuse me,” interrupted a young woman. “Would you mind if we took a photo together?”

“Sure,” C answered. “I’m sorry,” he said to me as he put his hand on the small of my back.

“I can take the photo. I’m an experienced photographer and am really good at it.” C laughed at me. I handed the phone back to the girl.

“Two double americanos,” the barista shouted. I walked over to grab them as C was finishing up a conversation with the young woman. I put a lid on my cup and grabbed a napkin. C put his hand on my back.

“Here’s your coffee,” I pointed at the cup next to mine. “I don’t know how you take it.”

“Thanks, he said as he prepped his coffee. “Do you have some time right now? I was just going to walk my dog, if you want to tag along.” I looked at my phone.

“Let me make just one call.”

“Sure,” he said as he let me walk out in front of him. Once outside, he pointed in the direction of his car in the lot and walked ahead to allow me to make my call. A few people caught up to him to take photos.

“Great, I’ll see you in a little bit. Bye.” I finished up as I caught up to him. “I thought you guys were going for a walk,” I said as he opened the car door for me.

“Yeah, but not around here. Too many humans. Easy, bub,” he said to his excited dog. I let him smell my hand, which he sniffed once and then proceeded to licking it. “D likes you.” He said, relieved.

“I was told not to get into cars with strangers.” He laughed. “And he’s bait!”

“Get in.” He closed the door and walked around. D watched his every move excitedly.

“So, how did you know it was me,” I asked once we were on the road.

“You turned around at one point, but didn’t see me. I just thought that was a sign.”

“You needed a sign to call me? That’s weak.”

“I knew I needed to call you. It was just a sign for me to get over my being shy.”

“Well, that worked. Now I’m in your car.” I paused. “How was the rest of your boys’ night out?”

“Oh, you can imagine it, can’t you? A bunch of guys, joking around, drinking...”

“And?”

“It’s just such a great time for me to see my buddies and be myself. I don’t have to watch what I say or do. We usually don’t really go out, but it was a buddy’s birthday and we were all here, so we partied out for a change. But then again, as you witnessed, there is always a bit of ‘work’ for me involved.”

“Well, the boys wanted a night on the town, so you obliged! No matter what that required of you. That’s being a good friend.” He glanced quickly at me. “I feel really lucky to share a very rare moment with you, though I’m not sure how much if it is really you. No offence, but I don’t know you.” I sipped my coffee.

“Well, that’s a first.” He turned a corner.

“How’s that?”

“Usually people just assume they know me because of all that’s out there in the media.”

“I mean, I know who you are, but I don’t know you know you. From my experience, you’re a fun, polite, patient, friendly guy.” I looked at him for the first time. “And, so far, not a creep!”

“Ha! So far. But even if I were, I would still say that, so, you may be in big trouble.” We smiled as he parked the car. We got out of the car and started to walk to the beginning of a trail. I stopped.

“Wait. Don’t get in cars with strangers, and certainly don’t do into the woods with them.” I hung my head. “I am in big trouble.”

“Come on! Let’s go! C laughed. D had already ran ahead.

We walked in silence for a little while. It was nice to see him as himself, not through a lens or through someone else’s eyes. He was quite a warm, charismatic person with a density that is probably forgotten by most. He had lots of layers to peel off. To see him with his dog, you’d just think he was a normal guy. And he was. Humble, not too affected by his success if at all. Sure things have changed for him, but he dealt with it all very well.

“So, are you from LA or what brings you here,” he asked when we were well into the woods.

“Oh, I was just here visiting a friend. I haven’t seen him for 6-7 years. Plus, I haven’t been here in a long while, so I’m just checking things out.”

“Do you like it?”

“I do. It’s quite different but I do think I am and always will be a east coast girl. The west coast is nice to visit, but I’m not sure I could live here.” I shook my head. “Well, that’s not true. I would be able to live here. I can pretty much live anywhere.”

“Where do you live now?”

“I’ve been pretty much living out of my suitcase for the past little while. Right now though, most of my stuff is in Toronto.”

“Don’t you ever get tired of it?”

“Funny enough, no. I have all I need right here.” I pointed to myself.

“That’s amazing.” We came to a clearing. “Let’s sit for a bit. D will be fine: it’s his favourite spot.” We sat on a nearby tree trunk.

“I’ve realised that I am okay with going with the flow, to see where the next project will bring me.”

“Projects in what, if I may ask?”

“Dance, performance art, photography.”

“Nice! He said, surprised and impressed. “Travelling for that is amazing, well, so long as you have a home base.”

“I mean, for me, my base is just where my stuff is, but I’ve rotted in stability for a long while and I decided some years ago to put myself outside of my comfort zone to see where it would lead me to. I don’t think I’ve found the edge of that comfort zone yet. I’m finding out that I’m much more adaptable than I thought I was. Which is great!” I paused to think for a moment. “But I’ve come to realise that one shouldn’t have a comfort zone.”

“I can see that, sure.” He stared at me for a moment.

“What?”

“Nothing, I was just thinking about what you just said.” We both sipped our coffees.

“Ah, yes, thanks for the coffee.”

“Sure, sure,” he smiled. We watched D running around and sniffing about for a little bit.

“What’s it like to constantly have to deal with people? I mean, presumably you can’t do anything without having a stranger around asking you for photos and stuff.”

“You haven’t.”

“I was going to, but never quite found the opportunity,” I joked.

“Funny. Well, you try to make the best of it. It’s part of it all. You take it as it comes. Then you meet people like you who understands more than most what it can be like to be in my shoes.”

“You have to remember why you are doing this in the first place: for the love of acting or for the celebrity.” He looked into the distance.

“Exactly. You have to have your reasons as to why you do it. They have to be crystal clear.”

“Although sometimes you have to indulge people like Amber. You know, you’re just another notch in her belt, right?” He nodded sadly. “I mean, I could treat this moment that way too. I could sell my story with the media and milk it.” He looked at me, panicked. “But I know better. I can’t take away from this moment, because I know it will be over way too soon and if I waste my time thinking about documenting it all and preparing my content, I would be taking away from this very moment. I better make sure I savour every single second. It doesn’t matter how famous, successful or handsome you are, this conversation is all that matters.” I paused. “Well, of course it matters how handsome and charming you are!” I scoffed. “I’m not fucking blind, pardon my French.” I glanced quickly at him; he was smiling. “I know you’re much more than that and that’s what’s more interesting to me. All the rest, I can read in a magazine if I wanted to. This though, I know only a few people get to experience this.” He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

“Wow...” he sighed. He took a sip of his coffee as he watched D running around. “You know, I’m always finding myself in a strange position when I meet new people, because I’m never sure of their intentions. You felt different. I mean, I get people’s number a lot—“

“Really?” I interrupted him. “I’m not sure why!” This lightened the mood a little. “I’m sorry, continue.”

“But there was something different about the way or the reason why you gave me yours. You might have been drunk, but the intention didn’t feel like you wanted something out of me. That’s what felt different.” He was resting his elbows on his knees, holding his coffee between his legs and looked at me sideway over his shoulder. I turned my gaze away and looked for D.

“If I didn’t know any better, Mr. E, I’d be saying you just turned on the charm.”

“Ha! No, this is me putting on the charm.” He put his hand on mine. I scoffed as I looked down at this hand.

“Excuse me? I said half jokingly, half alarmed.

“Too fast?”

“We passed the too-fast mark when you put your hand on the small of my back earlier.” I smiled softly at him. “Was this public C or private C I just experienced?”

“Both.” He squeezed my hand and slowly let go of it. “I meet hundreds of Ambers and it’s quite rare to find someone who is genuinely interested in me for me. I’m usually quite guarded.”

“Understandably so. Welcome to being a single woman!” We laughed. “It must be difficult to cope with. I mean, the challenges of living in the public’s eye. Of course, people only think about the perks of it all, but rarely do they think about how difficult it must be to live through heartbreaks, a wedding, grocery shopping, coffee with a friend under the scrutiny of everyone else around!”

“Could you cope with that,” he asked. I sat up to contemplate the answer more carefully. “Wow, that came out of the blue. I’m sorry, I—“

“It’s all right.” I interrupted him. “I think or I imagine I could cope with it so long as I knew or reminded myself that it’s all about my journey. I’m doing me. Maybe it would like I’m living my life with blinders on, but I suppose that’s the only way to live sometimes. Not to forgo awareness of my surroundings, but just to be aware that those people are out there. Just noticing they are there. That’s enough of my energy spent. Otherwise, it’s game over.” I looked at him. “You seemed surprised by my answer.”

“No, not at all. I totally get it.” He took my hand again. “We should continue.”

“Sure.” I got up with his help.

“Come on, D. Let’s go!” He said as he got up. D ran over with excitement. He kept running circles around us as we walked in silence. Suddenly, C looked at his ringing phone but didn’t answer.

“We really have to head back, huh?”

“Yeah,” he said disappointed. We walked a little faster. “Where can I drop you off?”

“At the coffee shop if that’s okay.” He looked at me, dubiously.

“I was meeting my friend there.”

“Oh, shit, really?” I nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not. I made my bed when I called him. He’ll be fine.” He opened the car door for me and then for D. I thought about how life is at times and how taking a spur of the moment decision can really change the course of your day. I received a text message and smiled as I read it. C closed his car door and put the key in the ignition.

“What’s so funny?” “I just got a text from a guy I met at a bar a few weeks ago.” I looked at him.

“He gave me his number to guard with my life.”

“That’s sweet, right?”

“Very.”