1: Fifty-Five Cents
“Okay, daddy, I have to go.”
“All right, Zo, but call me as soon as you’re done.”
“I have to head to work right after, but I’ll call you tonight?”
“No, call me as soon as you’re done. Okay?”
Zooey sighed heavily but smiled at her dear father’s relentlessness. “Okay.”
“Good luck, sweetheart.”
“Thanks. I love you,” she stated factually, pulling into one of several open parking spots on El Camino Drive. “Bye.”
She hung up her phone just before turning off her car and pulling her iPod out of its dock. She gave herself a look in her rearview mirror, making sure she didn’t have any cheese in her hair or lip gloss smeared across her teeth. With everything seemingly in tact, she grabbed her purse and got out of her still-new car, her happy spirits falling when she realized that she needed change for the parking meter. Knowing she had spent her last available cents on a Coke, she started to look around for help.
Just then, just behind her, a young, attractive guy stepped out of a charcoal grey Audi, change already jingling in his hand. He looked over to her, a pair of blue sunglasses covering most of his chiseled face, and greeted her, “Hello.”
“Hi,” she grinned at him, knowing that this was her best shot at a fast and simple resolution. “Umm, kind of awkward, but… could I ask you a huge favor?”
Deeming her harmless enough, he replied, “Okay…”
“Do you have any extra change, by any chance? Like a quarter or two?”
“Umm.” He stopped feeding his meter long enough to look through the coins in his well-manicured but masculine hand. “Yeah. Sure.”
“You’re a lifesaver. Thank you so much,” she replied genuinely. “I spent my last dimes in the vending machines at work. I should’ve known that was a bad idea.”
“Well hey, I’m glad to help a stranger in need,” he answered, offering her a total of 55 cents. “I hope that helps.”
“Thank you so much,” she repeated. “I’ll pay you back next time I see you.”
“I hope so. I’m pretty strapped for cash these days.”
“Well, you’re driving an Audi, so I figure you can wait a couple… years?”
“Works for me.” He finally smiled at her as he parted from the scene, headed for the swanky building across the street.
She filled her meter, which allotted her a whopping 27 minutes, and headed for her final destination, also across the street, at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. Making her way to the elevators and up to the seventh floor, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the charitable stranger was there, too, meaning he was either pretty talented, pretty rich, or an even more delightful mixture of both.
“Good morning, Justin,” the sickeningly pretty receptionist eventually greeted her stranger. “How are you today?”
“I’m good, Ricki. Is Patrick here?” he asked.
“Actually, you’re meeting with Ari today, if that’s all right with you.”
“Uh oh. Am I in trouble?”
“Not at all,” Ricki smiled. “Have a seat and I’ll let him know you’re here.”
“Wow, Ari Emanuel,” Zooey commented, impressed, as he passed by. “You are clearly hot shit.” The moment he took off his sunglasses, she felt like an idiot, because she realized that he most definitely was hot shit and then some. He looked every bit as cool as he should, but at the same time, there was something surprisingly unflashy about him, even understated. Such a contrast to so many of the other A-listers she’d met in her short time in Hollywood
“No, I’m just me,” he smirked, taking a seat behind her.
She approached the desk, waiting for Ricki to return, but suddenly, she didn’t know how to act, knowing that Justin Timberlake was sitting directly behind her, possibly watching all her nervousness materialize.
“Are you in anything I should know of?”
She turned to make sure that he wasn’t on a phone call and was, in fact, talking to her. “Excuse me?”
“Are you on TV?”
“Me? Oh god no, I’m not an actress,” she sputtered uneasily.
“Hi,” Ricki smiled to her as she returned. “Can I help you?”
“Umm, yes. I’m here to see Sharon Sheinwold?”
“Zooey Levin?” Ricki confirmed.
“That would be me,” she grinned happily at the confirmation that this wasn’t all a fluke. “I was supposed to meet her at nine; I’m sorry I’m late.”
“No, it’s fine. You can come on in,” she offered to escort her to Sharon’s office, while Justin watched the beautiful stranger fade out of sight.
If she wasn’t an actress, then what was she, he wondered. She was very pretty, but in a plain sort of way that didn’t scream “movie star,” and she seemed too pleasant to be a reality television type of girl.
“Hey Ricki,” he requested when the receptionist returned, “who was that girl?”
“Zooey Levin?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not sure,” she shook her blonde hair out of her face. “I think she works for NBC.”
“She’s on TV?”
“I’m really not sure,” she answered regretfully. “I’m sorry.”
“Ricki, stop harassing people,” the famous Ari Emanuel announced, entering his reception area to greet his client. “Justin, how are you, sir?”
“I’m good,” he nodded, rising from his seat.
“Come, come in. We have a lot to discuss.”
“I hope a good movie is in there. I just heard I’m supposed to be playing Boo-Boo in a Yogi Bear biopic... Do I actually need to tell you No?”
Ari chuckled happily as he welcomed Justin into his swanky office and made sure to inform his assistant, “Hold my calls.”
____________________
“So Zooey, now that you’ve gotten two of your scripts on air, it’s pretty safe to say that your spot on The Office is solidified. Now you need to start thinking of big picture stuff,” Sharon Sheinwold was telling her potential star. “Where do you want to go with this?”
“Well. As a writer, I do think I’m on an upward trajectory, and I really just want to keep getting better at this. I actually just got another script that’ll most likely be airing in February, so… I feel like I’m doing well. Ultimately, I would like a producer credit. Eventually, create my own show. I mean, the sky is the limit, obviously, but at the moment, I’m just trying to sharpen my craft.”
“Okay,” Sharon nodded enthusiastically. “That’s great. Now we briefly discussed this before, have you given any more consideration to doing anything onscreen?”
“Well,” Zooey grinned tightly, “like I said before, that’s really not my forte at all. I would be terrible as an actor.”
“But the thing is, you’re a comedienne. You guys have that innate knack for acting.”
“I don’t,” she shook her head vehemently. “I write because I can’t act.”
“Okay, I won’t push you. You’ve been in Hollywood for, what, two years?”
“Almost,” she nodded. “I actually just got my first place last month, so…”
“Trust me, you are on the cusp of something spectacular here. But I understand your want to keep it low key for now.”
“Probably for quite a while,” she offered straightly. “I don’t want to sign with you guys and then have you trying to push me into acting for the next five years.”
“It’s just that you have this face!” Sharon marveled. “Those green eyes were made for a big screen. It’s hard.”
Zooey pulled out her dorky pair of red eyeglasses and perched them on her small face. “Concentrate, Sharon! I’m not an actress!”
“Fine!” she laughed, sitting back in her seat. “Have it your way, Zooey. Do we have a deal?
Grinning wildly at the idea, and her sun-kissed skin turning bright pink, she nodded. “We have a deal.”
“Wonderful,” she smiled back, finding Zooey’s file on her cluttered desk. “And I promise I will not try to turn you into an actress every three months.”
“Every six?” she guessed.
“I have to.”
“Fair enough.”
Sharon began pulling out several papers for her newest client to sign, both of them ecstatic about their new relationship. “Did you enjoy the Emmys last night?”
“It was interesting,” Zooey noted with a diplomatic grin. “I was starving throughout the entire show, though. “
“I hate award shows.”
“That was my first one, and hopefully, my last. By the way, that’s another reason I have no desire to be an actor.”
“Now that is understandable,” she chuckled, passing her a pen. “Just sign at all the sticky things on these. And then,” she handed over a folder, “take these to your lawyer, have him look over everything, and bring them back to me by Friday?”
“Sounds good,” she nodded “Oh hey, Justin Timberlake was out there. Do you guys already represent him, or is he shopping agencies?”
“Ari represents him,” Sharon confirmed. “As an actor.”
“Not for music?”
“Not for music. But… you saw him last night, just won another Emmy.”
“He did, didn’t he.”
“Stick with us, kid. I promise, we’ll take you places.”
“On that horribly corny note, I’m gonna get out of here. But thanks, Sharon. For all your help.”
“Put me on your speed dial,” she instructed, walking her client to the door. “We’re about to be best friends.”
“Crap, that means I have to start inviting you places and buying you Hannukkah presents?”
“Pretty much.”
“Looking forward to it,” Zooey offered her a hug. “I’ll see you later.”
As she happily headed down the halls of WME, she pulled her phone from her purse and fulfilled her father’s wish of calling him when she was done.
“Paul Levin,” he answered his phone after what felt like a million rings to her.
“Daddy?”
“Zo?”
“Yes, it’s me. It happened!”
“It’s done?”
“Yes! I have an agent!”
“I’m proud of you, sweetheart.”
“Ahhh, I’m so psyched,” she replied giddily. “What the hell, how do I have an agent?”
“Because you’re talented. And talent in Hollywood means having people take your money in order to convince other people to give you money.”
“I love this city,” she laughed.
“Listen, don’t tell your mom about this yet. You know how she feels about your… career choice.”
“Dad, you really have to stop caring what she thinks. You’ve been divorced for like fifteen years now.”
“I still know your mother better than anyone. Just… hold off a bit.”
“Will do,” she relented, too happy to do otherwise. “Listen, I have to get to work, but I just wanted to let you know.”
“All right, love, you have a good day. And I can’t wait to see your episode this week.”
“Nope, next week.”
“Next week? Really?”
“Yes. It’s called ‘The Promotion.’ October first.”
“Well okay.”
“Okay, daddy, I gotta go.”
“Zo, I’m proud of you, you know.”
“I know.”
After a long pause, full of happiness for his daughter, he let her go. “Bye.”
It seemed that hanging up her phone was the magical move to get Justin Timberlake to walk into her life, because no sooner than she was stuffing her phone into a pocket of her bag, did he escape his meeting with the illustrious Ari Emanuel.
“Long time, no see, stranger.”
“In which case, you owe me that fifty-five cents,” he reminded her with raised eyebrows.
“Crap. Can you bill me? I wasn’t prepared to see you again so soon.”
“So soon? It’s been nearly twenty minutes!”
“I’m sorry!” she rebutted dramatically. “If only I didn’t have this destructive addiction to Coke. And Sprite.” She put her hand over forehead, feigning dismay for just a second too long, and then looked up to him with a happy smile. “If you wanna walk me to my car, I can probably rustle it up in pennies.”
“That won’t be necessary,” he waved off. “I’ll bill you.”
“Should I give you my address?”
“That would be ideal.”
“Or you could just bill my agent!” she realized excitedly, starting to walk with him towards the elevators. “They do shit like that, right?”
“All the time.”
“Yes. Sharon Sheinwold. I’ll let her know.”
“Thank you,” he accepted, holding the elevator door for her as they entered together. “That reminds me, I never did find out what you do.”
“Are you that interested?”
“Well, you said you’re not an actor, but William Morris clearly has a keen interest in you, so…”
She waited until they reached the lobby and had exited the building before stopping to answer him. “I’m a writer.”
“Really?” he was visibly surprised. It was his experience that attractive women in Hollywood had been told more than enough times that that they were, in fact, attractive. To the point where he hated to even meet pretty girls anymore, figuring they’d have enough ego for both of them. Not that it really mattered anymore anyway, but… that was how he felt.
“Why is that surprising?” she wondered as they resumed their walk to their closely parked cars.
“Well, it’s mostly been my experience that they don’t put people who look like you behind the camera.”
“I think that was a compliment, so thank you?” she blushed. “But honestly… I have absolutely no desire to be an actor.”
He nodded at the notion and accepted it at face value. “That’s refreshing.”
“And what do you do?”
He hadn’t heard that question in ages. It was actually a bit awkward for him to meet a girl that didn’t already know who he was and at least ten things about him. “Umm… I’m-I’m a m-musician,” he stuttered slowly. “And an--.”
“I’m-I’m f-fucking with you,” she chuckled. “I know who you are.”
“Well, you never know.”
“You seemed a bit flabbergasted at the idea.”
“Not flabbergasted. Just, you know… taken aback.”
“Well, I’m glad that I could take you aback,” She grinned. “Sometimes, we need to get knocked down to size.”
“But then you knocked me back up to a non-size, because you do actually know who I am, so…”
“That’s true,” she acknowledged with him. “I take it back. Who are you?”
He smiled at her warmly, enchanted by everything about her. Her brown hair, highlighted with small amounts of blonde, perfectly accented her warm olive complexion. Her bangs came to just the right point above her mesmerizing green eyes, and her playful smile brought her entire face to life. He couldn’t not stare at her. “I’m sorry... I have to go.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah… I really shouldn’t have done this.”
Confused, her smile faded away. “Done what?”
“Spoken to you.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m sorry. I have to go,” he repeated, flustered. “But it was nice to meet you.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I’m… sorry.”
“Wait.” She couldn’t help but stare at him for a moment either. She could’ve gotten lost in his happy blue eyes if she wanted to. “If this is about what I said, I was just kidding. I know who you are.”
“That’s shocking,” he laughed genuinely.
She smiled again, her green eyes dancing in place. “This feels so ridiculous to ask, but could I have your number maybe?” She winced, waiting for him to respond, quietly chanting, “Don’t say no, don’t say no.”
“I really wish… I can’t.”
“Are you all right?”
“I really, really need to go.”
“Okay. Well… have fun…?”
“It was nice to meet you…”
“Zooey.”
“Justin,” he offered a handshake.
“Yeah… I got that,” she laughed, returning with her hand. “Nice to meet you, too.”
Feeling a bit dejected, Zooey watched as Justin Timberlake disappeared to his Audi, replaying their conversation in her head as she wondered what she could have done in a matter of two minutes to make him scurry away that way. But… she had gotten herself an agent, and that was her big news of the day, so she decided not to care about the rest.
____________________
About an hour later, Justin was waltzing into his Hollywood Hills mansion, pleased with his meeting with Ari, and quite smitten for the beautiful stranger he met in the process. Of course, he would have much preferred to have not given her a second thought, but truthfully, he enjoyed the prospect of running into her again when he went to meet with his agent. Just for small talk. It was all very innocent, he swore to himself.
And with that, he entered his home in a happier mood than he’d left it in, smiling at the sound of his dogs barking at his return. “I’m here, I’m here,” he greeted his boxers, Buckley and Brennan, as he made his way inside.
“Hey, babe,” a female voice announced when she heard the sound of the back door open.
Justin entered his home to find his fiancée, Scarlett, sitting at the kitchen table, devouring a bowlful of fruit among a table full of paperwork and a huge book. He immediately went over to her, placing a kiss on her cheek before saying, “Mornin’.”
“How was your meeting?” she wondered, devouring a strawberry.
“It was very good,” he nodded, making his way to the refrigerator. He grabbed a bottle of water and joined her at the table. “I met with Ari.”
“Whoa,” she looked at him with an impressed expression. “Hot shit coming through.”
He forced himself to push the thought of Zooey from his mind, as those were her words, as well. “Right?”
“What was that like?”
“Not as intimidating as I thought it would be. He’s a super nice dude.”
“Well yeah, he’s trying to please you; not the other way around.”
“True.” He grabbed one of her cherries and went to town on it. “But he got me out of that whole Yogi Bear nonsense. And found me two projects that I already really wanna do.”
“Elaborate.”
“The first one is called ‘The Social Network,’ and it’s directed by David Fincher…”
“Seriously?!”
“Right?” he shared in her excitement. “And that’s about the founding of Facebook. It was written by Aaron Sorkin, all kinds of crazy shit.”
“That sounds terrible. And by terrible, I mean fantastic.”
“I think it will be.”
“And the other one?”
“That one is a comedy--.”
“Which I’ve always said you should do,” she inserted knowingly.
“Right. It’s written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who write for The Office, so that’s exciting. And Jason Segel is already signed on to do it.”
“I heard about this one,” she recalled. “My agent wanted me to look into it, John Krasinski is up for that.”
“Seriously? Ari didn’t mention that part.”
“They never tell you the things you need to know, just the things they want you to know.”
Justin rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. “I have the script in the car, so… I’ll have to read through it and see if it’s something I wanna fight for.”
“I have a meeting with my agent tomorrow,” she sighed, resting her foot at the bottom of Justin’s chair. “He wants me to do Broadway.”
“Well what’s it all about?”
She winced, flashing her blue-green eyes to the other side of the kitchen so as not to catch his gaze. “It’s for this sh--”
“I think you should do it,” he cut her off with an encouraging smile.
She grinned back, and looked down at the messy table. “I want to, I think. But… rehearsals start almost immediately, then we run from December until early May. And then I have to promote Iron Man, and I just really don’t want the first six months of our marriage to be spent apart.”
“I don’t either, but you know I’m not going anywhere, Tess. And I’ll be shooting movies too, so it may work out perfectly. We’ve been apart much longer without issue.”
She smiled at his encouragement, as well as his private nickname for her “ the middle name that no one knew besides him, her parents, and her twin brother. “I know.” She rested her head on the table, her wavy blonde hair falling over all of her papers.
“What’s all this stuff?” he suddenly switched subjects.
“Seating chart crap. Trying to rationalize my family is a lost cause, but I’m doing it anyway.”
“Who doesn’t get along again?”
“Oh, just everybody with everyone.”
“We should just un-invite them, don’t you think?”
“That would be so awesome.” She picked her head up from the table and gave her future husband a tired smile. “Planning a secret wedding is exhausting.”
“Can I help with anything?”
“You can just make sure you show up.”
“That, I will do,” he smiled happily. “But anything else?”
“I can’t even make half the calls without someone recognizing my voice, so I’m pretty sure you can’t.”
“But I could do, like, the seating chart or something.”
“Absolutely not,” she chuckled. “You can write your vows--.”
“Already done,” he returned proudly.
“Seriously?”
“Yep.”
“Wow, I need to fuckin’ step it up.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“Shut up,” she smirked, hiding the smile behind her full lips. “Also, we have a menu tasting on Thursday “ they’re shipping in food straight from Mexico “ so you can come to that if you want.”
“I get to eat? I’ll be there.”
“Awesome.” She closed her big book of wedding plans and got up from the table to take her empty bowl to the sink. “By the way, your mom called, she told me to tell you that she’s coming in Friday.”
“Why didn’t she call me?”
“Well, she called to talk to me; she just wanted me to mention that to you.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry, she’s staying with my mom.”
“Why would I be worried?” he wondered, watching her wash her bowl thoroughly.
“You know how weird you get when your mom’s coming to stay with us.”
“I get weird?”
“If you’re gonna deny it, we won’t discuss it,” she chuckled hoarsely. “But you do, you turn into that whole mama’s boy thing that you warned me about when we first started dating.
“But that was like five years ago. I’m pretty sure I’m not a mama’s boy anymore.”
She let out a loud cackle as she turned off the water and returned to the table. “Okay, babe.”
“What? I’m not!”
“I said Okay!”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t a real Okay. It was a sarcastic Okay, like ‘Yeah, I’m saying Okay, but actually, you’re kind of crazy.’”
Scarlett smiled at him warmly, loving that this was their relationship. So simple, so connected to one another. They had been together six years, and they were still nothing short of happy together. She couldn’t wait to marry him. “You are a little crazy, babe. But… you’re not a mama’s boy. You’re just a son that needs to have everything exactly the way his mother might want it…”
“Thank you.”
“God, you’re weird,” she grinned.
“In a really adorable way, though, right?”
“Obviously.”
He smiled back at his girlfriend, no longer thinking of the beautiful stranger that he left on El Camino Drive an hour earlier. Scarlett had consumed his thoughts, as she had been doing for over six years, and there wasn’t room for anyone else. Except maybe his mom.
Story Notes:
I said I wouldn't post this story until it was complete, but I don't know... there's something wrong with me. I get halfway through a concept and say I HAVE TO POST IT NOW! So here it is, the beginning of something that I will (hopefully) eventually end lol. I hope you guys like. - Ash
If you're interested, the cast!: (Copy & Paste the Link) http://i28.tinypic.com/33uxv6p.jpg
If you're interested, the cast!: (Copy & Paste the Link) http://i28.tinypic.com/33uxv6p.jpg
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