October 22nd 2010.
The next day, his mom started making calls left and right trying to find him an agent, or at least a temporary one. Although his dad would be there with him, it wouldn't always be so.
Helen was someone who had run off to America in order to pursue her artistic career. She had financed herself through college afterwards and now had her own gallery. Although it was true that she worried and cared very deeply about her children, she would never stop them from following their dreams. And Jay was very grateful for that.
His parents had called Mindy and Carmen back afterwards in order to ask them for agent recommendations, and the two women couldn't have been more helpful.
They had emailed them a list of trustworthy people from either L.A or Boston within the hour.
His mother had went through all of the agents available, and had ended up setting her sights on Ruby Ryan.
Ruby was a retired 44 year old agent, mother of two kids, who used to work for UTA (United Talent Agency) and was looking to get back in the business now that both her children were in college. Jay suspected that was exactly why his mom had chosen her.
He, of course didn't have any objection, better someone older and experienced than the riff raff hipsters who had invaded the industry in recent years.
Those punks were sorry excuses of agents who'd drag their protégés to parties where alcohol and drugs flowed like water on a rainy day.
Helen didn't hesitate to pick up the phone and give the woman a call, and the latter answered on the third ring. His mom put her on speaker.
[Hello?]
"Hi, is this Ruby Ryan?" Helen asked.
[Speaking... and you are?] the woman questioned, sounding bemused.
"My name is Helen Aslan, and I'm currently looking for an agent for my son. I was led to believe that you were available?"
There was a moment of silence before Ruby answered.
[Who recommended me to you?]
"Carmen Cuba did." Helen stated, which was true, Ruby had been part of her list.
[I see, are you also in the Boston area? I'm indeed available, I'd rather do this in person than on the phone, if that's alright with you.]
Helen smiled, "It's also the way we feel. We live in Needham, where would you like to meet?"
[Needham? I'm from Newton, how about we meet halfway? There's a Starbucks at the midway point.]
Jay made an OK sign to his mother. He, of course, knew where the coffee shop was. He had been dragged there by his friends on the first day of school. It was roughly twenty minutes away by bus, so it should take less by car.
Helen told Ruby that it wasn't a problem and they settled on a 3pm meeting before hanging up.
It was only 11:34am right now, so they still had some time to kill. Jay had left school at 10:30am, and didn't have any classes in the afternoon so he would also be present at the meeting. Helen had taken a day off, while Lee had taken two despite his busy schedule, which meant he essentially had a three-days vacation since he never worked on Sundays.
Jay found it a little funny. Both of his parents worked on their own accounts anyways, he doubted anyone would question them for their absence even if they didn't notify anyone.
"What do you want to eat for lunch?" Helen asked.
Jay looked at Lee, who shrugged, before opening up, "How about we order pizza? I'm craving a margherita."
His father dittoed him.
***
They arrived at the Starbucks coffee shop at 2:50pm as a show of politeness, and waited for Ruby.
And wouldn't you know, at 3pm sharp, she waltzed right in. They, of course, hadn't recognized her since the list they'd been provided didn't include pictures, but she did. She walked right up to them, and smiled.
"The Aslan's, I presume?" it might have sounded like a question but it wasn't one. She looked at Jay's mother, then his father, before lingering a little on him and going back to his mother again.
They all stood up and acknowledged her by shaking hands before sitting back down.
"You already know who I am and this is Lee, my husband, and Jay, my son." Helen made the introductions and the concerned parties nodded.
"I'm guessing I'm here because you want me to represent Jay." Ruby softly smiled and took out a file from her bag. "These are my detailed credentials," she continued, "I thought you might want to have them.
Helen thanked her and asked if it was okay if Lee and her looked through it for a minute. Ruby said it was fine.
In the meantime, the woman turned her attention to the young man in front of her. Contrary to popular belief, the first thing she noticed wasn't his hair, but his eyes.
"You want to become an actor, or maybe already are?" she engaged.
"I'm a better singer, but I aim to please." Jay smiled.
Ruby let out a gentle laugh, "But all this… endeavor is because of a movie, correct?"
"Yes, I've been... should I say encouraged? To audition for a certain role, and as long as I don't, pardon my language, 'suck balls', landing it shouldn't be a problem." Jay half-whispered, afraid his mother would have something to say about his interesting choice of words.
Ruby patiently smiled and nodded, "I see, have you ever acted before? Experienced what a set is like maybe?"
"I unfortunately haven't had the opportunity yet." he admitted.
She nodded and stared at him a little before asking, "I'm sorry, this might come off as rude, but how old are you? I'm usually pretty accurate when it comes to guessing people's age but I'm not sure about you."
Jay raised an eyebrow and asked with a mirth-charged voice, "How old do you think I am?"
She hesitated, "My eyes are telling me 20, but my guts tell me you're younger. It's a little unsettling."
"20?" Jay muttered before nodding, "What if I had a beard?"
He had actually stopped shaving since Carmen had told him the good news two days ago, and had the beginning of a stubble on that should be more pronounced tomorrow, but it should take a few more days to grow it to a decent size.
She thought about it for a moment before asking back, "What kind of beard?"
"A trendy type, a well trimmed one."
"... Probably 23? Maybe older?"
Jay let out a smile, "That's a relief, I was worried I would appear too young for the role I'm about to challenge. I'm fifteen, I'll turn sixteen in January."
Ruby widened her eyes, "You're kidding me."
"I promise I'm not."
"You're really fifteen?" she asked again and Jay nodded. "My God, what did they feed you?"
"6 years of IV drips." Lee answered, which earned him a glare from his wife.
He and Helen had finished leafing through the woman's resume and were impressed.
"Before we mention anything further, would you be willing to represent our son?" Lee asked, getting straight to the point.
Ruby stayed silent for a moment, obviously debating the answer. When she was done, she looked at the three family members and smiled.
"How about this? I'll go with you to the audition Jay is supposed to undertake, and consider it after seeing him act." Ruby carefully said.
Lee, Helen and Jay nodded at each other before turning back to the woman.
"The audition is tomorrow afternoon, my husband and Jay are leaving by plane tonight."
"Which flight? I'll make sure to book the same."
They chatted some more and exchanged cell phone numbers again, since Ruby hadn't had either Jay's or Lee's. They agreed to meet up at Logan International Airport at 10pm before going their separate ways.
"Does that settle it?" Jay asked when everyone was back in the car.
"If you're going to be away on set for a month and a half, it's my way of compromising." Helen said, softly but firmly.
Lee added, "I think the woman's fine. Her resume was really impressive, she seems to know her craft."
"I like her. Let's see how useful she'll be during the audition but for now I take it we're all in favor?" Jay asked again and his parents smiled and nodded.
"Sweet. By the way, are the tickets coach or first class?"
"I booked us in coach, just in case you pass the audition and they decide to reimburse the tickets. I don't think they'd be happy to pay off a first class trip for a newcomer." Lee answered matter-of-factly.
Jay nodded. Right, no reason to make enemies.
He looked out the car's window and noticed most of the trees had lost their leaves. It had almost been a year since he'd come back in time, and although it had taken a while to settle down and get his affairs in order, he was really happy and grateful for the second chance he had been given. He now had parents and a sister, he didn't have to be alone anymore.
Thinking about the little girl brought a smile to his lips, her birthday was approaching and he'd been thinking about what to get her. He had a general idea but nothing concrete yet.
"Can we stop by the Tucker's and say goodbye to Lou first?" he asked his mom.
"Huh huh, she'll definitely cry if she comes home tomorrow and can't find you anywhere. She can sleepover at Anna's another day, so let's bring her home." Helen said.
Jay happily agreed, "Right, good idea, let's do that."
His parents laughed at his enthusiasm, but he simply ignored them. They were just jealous.