October 22nd 2010. 9:50pm.
Jay had a problem. It wasn't a big problem. In fact, the problem wasn't even quite 3'5" tall yet...
"But I *hiccup* don't want *hiccup* Jay to lea- *hiccup* leave..." Lou sobbed uncontrollably, her little arms tightly clinging to her brother's neck.
Jay started to gently rock her back and forth while patting her back.
"I'm only going for a day baby, just one day, alright? I promise. You're a good girl, don't cry, if you cry I'll be sad." he said while wiping her tears. She had cried so much her face had turned beet red and she had trouble breathing through the intermittent hiccuping.
He honestly hadn't thought she would have such a strong reaction, he was already dreading her response to his month and a half long absence in the near future.
"Last *hiccup* t-time y-you *hiccup* t-took the the *hiccup* pl-plane you *hiccup* didn't co-come f-for a l-long *hiccup* t-time *hiccup*"
"But it's different this time? Back then it was super long but I told you that it would be, right? I'm coming back Sunday night this time so it really isn't the same. Look, even dad is coming with me." Jay pointed at Lee who was standing next to Helen and smiling wryly.
The man turned to his wife, "I don't remember her ever crying that hard, not even when she was separated from Anna for last year's summer vacation."
Helen looked worriedly at her daughter, "She's gotten attached, I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing."
Lou did her best to stop herself from hiccuping by taking big gulps of air but it wasn't really helping. She felt so stuffy and sad, she didn't understand why he was leaving again, she really didn't want him to. Anna had recently told her that her cousin, Cindy, had become mean ever since her daddy had went away on a plane and gotten a new wife and new children.
She was afraid he would leave and find another sister. Thinking about this, she tightened her grip.
But although Jay's heart had melted a long time ago, he couldn't let this become a habit. He thought for a second before taking off the necklace his mom had recently bought him.
"Let's exchange necklaces." he squatted down and said to the little girl.
That seemed to get her attention.
"Neck-necklaces?" she sniffled. Jay caressed her hair lovingly and took out a water bottle from his bag before letting her drink a few gulps in an attempt to calm her down.
"Hm. Remember the necklaces with our birthstones that mom bought us?" he asked and Lou nodded as she pulled hers out from under her tear-stained t-shirt.
"Let's trade, I'll give you mine and you give me yours." he said and didn't bother to wait for her answer. He took off her necklace and put his in its place, while he wore hers.
"Tad-ah!" he said and swooped the little girl back up, "Now you're wearing my stone and I'm wearing yours. My garnet stone represents trust, and legend says it has the power to light up the night and ward off nightmares. Your topaz stone, however, has the power to protect and heal. That way I'll be safe wherever I go and you will be able to sleep at night. Also, if you miss me... we can just FaceTime."
Lou absentmindedly nodded, too busy inspecting the crimson-colored stone hanging off her neck. This was Jay's, she thought, squeezing it tightly. She looked up to see the warm and loving smile of her brother and her face heated up. She had actually cried like a baby! This was so embarrassing, she was almost 6! She was glad no one from her class had seen her, especially Tim. He was so annoying he always made fun of her. She thought she should tell Jay when he came back.
Lou buried her face in his neck and stayed still for a second before mumbling, "You promised. No take backsies."
Jay lovingly smiled and kissed her cheeks, "Whoever lies is a rotten potato."
Lou giggled at that and Jay joined his parents back.
"Has the crisis been averted or are you here because you need backup?" Lee asked with a straight-face.
"I think we're all good here, aren't we baby?" Jay asked and Lou nodded.
Ruby arrived a few minutes later and they bade Lou and Helen farewell before boarding the plane.
Jay had barely settled down on his assigned seat that his phone rang. His mom had bought him the newly released iPhone 4 since it had the FaceTime function, and when Jay looked at the calling number he smiled wryly and accepted it.
The screen blurred and Lou's face appeared.
"Jay!" she delightedly exclaimed. His father, who was sitting next to him, chortled.
"Hey sweetie, what's up?"
"I forgot to say I love you!" she batted her adorable eyelashes.
"I love you too baby." he smiled warmly and a flight attendant reminded him that phones needed to be turned off. He nodded to the woman and turned back to face Lou's image on the screen. "I need to hang up now, we can't talk while I'm on the plane. I'll call you when we land in L.A, okay?" he said and she nodded before saying goodbye, then seemingly remembering her father, bade him farewell too.
When the call was over, his father looked at him. "Boy do I fear the day you get a girlfriend and have to explain it to her."
Jay ignored him. He wasn't getting a girlfriend anytime soon so that wouldn't be a problem.
Right now he was thinking about how to leave her for more than a month without her throwing another tantrum.
***
October 23rd 2010.
It was a 6 and a half hours long trip, and they arrived at LAX at 2am thanks to the time difference. Jay thought about his promise to Lou, but dismissed it. It was only 5am in Boston right now, she was definitely sleeping.
They checked into the nearest hotel and Jay was out as soon as his head touched the pillow.
***
When he woke up it was already 8am, which was way later than he was used to.
He nonetheless didn't skip his morning routine, and when he was done breaking a sweat he jumped into the shower.
He dressed in beige chino pants with a dark teal colored shirt and leather brown chukka boots, and stood in front of the mirror to add a bolo tie with a white colored stone. He looked at himself for a second; his three-day stubble was a little more pronounced which was a good thing. If he got the role he would need to dye his hair back to black, he caught himself thinking, before slapping both his cheeks and exhaling. No, not if. When.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, but nervous was good. Nervous meant you cared.
He rolled up his sleeves just below his forearm and got out of his room and down the hotel's restaurant where he ordered two croissants and a cup of hot chocolate hazelnut flavor as well as an orange juice.
Ten minutes later, at 9:30am, his dad showed up, followed by Ruby a while after.
They greeted each other and the woman eyed Jay appraisingly, "You look dashing."
"Thank you. I dressed to impress." he smiled at her and she returned it with a nod.
"That's the spirit."
Lee also looked at his son in appreciation, "Are you trying to grow a beard?"
"Yeah, I need to look about ten years older in the movie, the beard will help me get there."
Lee nodded in wonder, "You're lucky you have an Irish maternal grandfather, I'm guessing his genes overpowered my ancestry. I remember not having any facial hair until I reached 23."
"You always shave now though?"
"Well, your mom says it tickles her." Lee shrugged.
"... Got it." Jay took a sip of orange juice.
"When and where is the audition?" Ruby asked.
"At the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Carmen and Mrs. Marin will come and show us the way. It's at 2pm so we have some time to kill. Want to hit Sunset Boulevard?" Jay asked after checking his watch.
Lee begged out, citing a movie he wanted to watch, but Ruby was all for it.
They ended up just strolling around for a couple of hours, before they stopped at a tacos stall for lunch.
Ruby got one with extra hot sauce, and Jay winced. "I'll just have a Fresh Baja fish tacos, please. With white sauce." he told the tacos guy who nodded.
His soon-to-be agent stifled a laugh at his face, "You don't like spicy food?"
"... I have nothing against a little bit of regular black pepper, but this," he added, pointing at the hot chili sauce, "Is nothing short of a crime. What can you actually taste when your tongue is on fire?"
Ruby shook her head in amusement and they went on their way. They ended up having vanilla ice cream for dessert before going back to the hotel.
When they got there, Lee, Carmen and Mindy were already in the lobby.
"Sorry, did you wait long?" Jay apologized after greeting the women.
"No it's okay, we just got here." Carmen chuckled before curiously eying him, "Did you get taller?"
"Nope, maybe your heels just aren't as high as last time?" he smiled.
Mindy who had up until now kept staring at him unblinkingly, smiled broadly.
"God, I hope your acting is decent." she anxiously exhaled before looking at her watch and urging everyone out.
Jay merely smiled at that. He dragged behind a little.
"System, add my available attribute point to Charm and show me my stats."
[Showing host's current status.]
Jay Aslan - Male - 15 Years Old
Level 4. Exp 350/1000.
– Attributes –
Appearance: 17
Intelligence: 18
Charm: 18
Strength: 17
Agility: 17
Health: 20
– Skills –
[Prime]
Singing: 39/50
Acting: 31/50
Piano: 33/50
Guitar: 40/50
Krav Maga: 30/50
[Sub]
- Languages -
ENG, KOR, SWE, FRA, RUS, SPA, ARA, GER: MAX.
Chinese (Mandarin): 3/5
- Divers -
Cooking: 24/50
Drawing: 25/50
Attribute Points: 0
Skill Points: 0
Overall Evaluation: Host is awesomely great!
He had gotten 500 EXP from the Homecoming concert, and had leveled up. He had added his 5 SP to Acting, and had kept his AP all this time, just in case.
His attributes hadn't budged, but his skills had all underwent some kind of change. Except Acting and Guitar. In the first one's case, 10 of those skills points were from missions, he had only managed to get 1 SP by training, which was pathetic.
Guitar though, had been at 39, and he had gotten to 40 after repeated training, but then nothing. He had asked the system, and apparently every 10 points was a watershed for skills, and any points after 40 was hard to get by simply training. Also, the SP only furthered his understanding of the craft, he still needed to work hard. Practice made perfect.
Arabic and German had been maxed out. He had gotten Cooking after making a potato gratin at Lou's demand, and Drawing after designing some of the tattoos he wanted to get in the future. He was better at the latter than he remembered being in his past life. He reckoned it had something to do with his mom's influence.
31 points of Acting, it should be better than some rookie actors' understanding, he thought. He had also trained a lot for this.
He exhaled a breath and caught up to the others before getting in the car.
It was game on.