Jackie watched the hand on the clock slowly tick past every second mark. No professor ever went the entire period the first day of class, let alone up until the very last second. She had a meeting she had to be at in the city, so sitting still was hardly an option. Of course her last class of the day had to be the only one she needed to end early. At last, the professor wrapped up. Jackie quickly grabbed her bag from the floor and made her way to the door, but found herself stuck in the middle of the mob of other students trying to scurry out. She began to regret her decision to sit in back, lesson learned, but did so to draw the least amount of attention to herself possible. It was when she was fighting her way through the crowd of students socializing in the hall, that she caught eyes with her. They both looked at each other in shock, surprised to see one another there.
"Jackie?"
"Hannah?" Jackie returned the question, "How are you?!"
"I thought that was you!" Hannah replied.
"You go here?" Jackie asked, thrilled to see a familiar face.
"Yeah, actually I think I'm in your class. Psych 212?"
"Yeah, oh wow, it's great to see you!" After the shock wore off Jackie remembered the hurry she was in. "I hate to do this, but I have a meeting I'm late for in the city. Catch up with you on Wednesday?"
"Yeah, I'll save you a seat!" Hannah smiled.
Jackie rushed to the car glancing at the time on her phone. Wade was going to kill her if she was late for this meeting. Even though she was stressed and in a hurry, especially dealing with the traffic, there was something else on her mind as she was driving-Hannah. To be honest, she hadn't thought much about her, but seeing her just now brought back so many memories. Hannah had been her first. Back then they were just two kids in Hollywood, both feeling lost and confused, different than the others. They had confided in one another and helped each other through some tough times growing up, but once Jackie left the Hollywood scene, they had lost touch. It was nice to see her again, she was looking forward to having a friend she could relate to in class with her. After cursing her way through the thick Los Angeles traffic, she parked and checked her phone for the hundredth time. She was five minutes late already, so hurried her way through the parking garage and up to Wade's office. "I know I'm late, I'm sorry!" She said before letting him get a word in. Out of breath, she collapsed in his chair as he sat silently, looking at her as if she were on fire.
"Are you good? Need a glass of water?" He asked.
"That would be much appreciated," she replied.
After Wade poured her a glass, he sat down and waited.
"Proceed" she insisted, waving her hand.
"Okay, here's a copy of auditions a few of the networks sent me. Look them over, let me know which ones catch your eye-which ones you want to take a shot at, and I'll schedule them. I've got your class schedule here so a few of them you may not be able to swing."
"I'll figure it out," Jackie said as she looked over the paper. "Do we have a time frame for the Neptune sequel yet?"
"No word on exact dates, just starting sometime in the spring. We should be receiving the contract here shortly."
"I can't wait!" Jackie replied, as she began circling on the paper. "These I know for sure I can swing, so go ahead and set them up" she said, sliding the paper across the desk. "The others I will have to get back to you on, but I should be able to squeeze a couple more in."
"Are you sure Jackie?" Wade asked hesitantly as he looked over the paper. "Given that you're back in school, I think you're overestimating your abilities."
"Is my agent supposed to say things like that?" She asked playfully. "Anyways, you should be happy that I've been giving you consistent work for the past two years," she smiled.
"Oh, I am very grateful. I just worry about you. You're going to wear yourself out sooner than later."
"What can I say, I like to stay busy," she winked.
After returning to her apartment after the long day of classes and meetings, Jackie poured herself a glass of wine and retreated to the couch. Before mindlessly turning on the television like she usually did, her mind went to Hannah. It was so weird to run into her today. It hadn't been as awkward as she'd imagined it would. That is if she ever had expected to run into her again, which she hadn't, but it was nice. There were very few people in this world who Jackie felt she could connect with, and Hannah was one of those few. Hannah had been her escape when she was on the Neptune 26 series. A way to get out of the drama of Hollywood, where she had always felt so lost and alone growing up. That is of course except for Mark, who had always made sure she was taken care of. But he was gone and she had lost contact with Hannah shortly after.
After another full day classes, Jackie spent the evening going over a script she had an audition for later in the week. She tried her best to learn lines on the nights she didn't have much school work to do, determined to continue juggling both acting, and getting the education she wanted. This was her second term back at it since leaving Bloomington, the first being last year when enrolling at UCLA after wrapping the first Neptune 26 movie. After its success, they decided to make a sequel. This time wanting something bigger and filming overseas, which Jackie was ecstatic about. However she couldn't deal with not keeping busy, so auditioned and took as many small roles as possible. The last two years had been a whirlwind of emotions, so staying busy was the only way she knew how to keep sane.
When she arrived at her psych class the next day, she skimmed the room until she spotted Hannah, smiling and waving. "Hey, sorry I ran out on you last time. I had a meeting with my agent and he's a real stickler for being punctual."
"Oh it's fine, I'm glad to see you back acting."
"Yeah, I took a long break but then they decided to make the Neptune movie, and I couldn't pass it up. Are you still acting?"
"Yeah, nothing as impressive as Neptune 26 though," she smirked. "But I've been consistent with some smaller roles that help pay the bills."
"Consistency equals success in acting if you ask me. How long have you been in school?"
"This my third year, how about you?"
"Um, this is technically my fourth term, but I've been inconsistent. I actually went to college in Indiana for a year before Neptune, then took some time off to film that. I started here last year and enroll in classes when I'm not filming."
"Indiana? Wow. You really did take a break from Hollywood."
"Yes I did," Jackie laughed. "It was much needed, but I'm happy to be back."
After class they decided to grab a cup of coffee and catch up. It seemed as though no time had passed, and after that they began hanging out often. Mostly they studied and helped each other with scripts, which was refreshing having a partner to run lines with and offer insight. This was the first friend Jackie had who completely understood her lifestyle, and just being with her made her feel so much more relaxed- a feeling she hadn't felt since Catherine.
A few weeks into the term, Jackie had a question on a research paper she was working on, so planned to catch the professor after class.
"Want me to wait for you?" Hannah asked.
Tables at the library were hard to come by, so Jackie told Hannah to go on and she'd catch up. Given there were only fifteen minutes in between each class, Jackie hurried to the front to make sure her question got answered. When her turn finally came, she began to notice the students filing in for the class that proceeded hers. As she was wrapping up, she noticed the class settling down, and a woman in a suit approaching the desk. She figured it was the professor, so became anxious as she hurried. Midway through thanking her own professor for his time, she glanced over, quickly doing a double take when the face looking back was all too familiar. She suddenly felt her stomach leap into her throat.
"I'm sorry Professor Stark, we will get out of your way."
Hearing her name spoken aloud made it all too real, even though there was no denying who was standing in front of her.
Catherine broke their equally stunned gaze and cleared her throat as she looked back at Jackie's professor, "That's quite alright" she replied.
Jackie was paralyzed, unsure of what to do. Catherine looked at her again and smiled subtly, but as hard as Jackie tried, she couldn't force her facial expression to change from anything other than pure shock. Instead, she just looked away and thanked her professor once more before quickly exiting the room. The rest was a haze. "Can I help you?" Jackie snapped back into reality, not remembering even walking to the coffee shop.
"Sorry, yes-two cappuccinos please." When she arrived to the library she spotted Hannah busy at work and made her way over.
"You're a lifesaver!" She whispered gratefully as she reached for the cappuccino. "Are you okay?" She asked, studying Jackie's face.
"Yeah, I just ran into someone I haven't seen in a while and it caught me off guard."
"That seems to be a current theme for you recently," she smiled.
"Tell me about it" Jackie responded, raising her eyebrows before sitting.
"So who was it?"
"Just someone from Indiana."
"Indiana? Wow, no wonder you're in such shock."
"Yeah, small world." Jackie couldn't concentrate the entire time they were studying together, her heart racing at the realization that Catherine not only was in California, but was teaching at her school. She tried to look invested, but Hannah wasn't buying it.
"Jacks, you're not into this, I can tell."
"I'm sorry. I'm just mentally exhausted, it's been a long couple of days."
"How about we ditch the books and go get some drinks."
"That sounds perfect, but I think I'm just going to head home and get some rest. Rain check?"
"Of course."
When Jackie got home, she sat on her couch and stared at her cell phone as her leg shook in anticipation. How could Catherine move to Los Angeles without letting her know? How long had she been here? They hadn't spoken since Jackie left Bloomington, but she thought she'd at least have the decency to give her a heads up, letting her know she was coming. Los Angeles wasn't exactly a small city, but obviously small enough for them to cross paths. Jackie picked up her cell phone and searched through her contacts for Catherine's number. As she was about to press send, she threw her phone down on the coffee table and went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. As she reached in her liquor cabinet to retrieve a bottle, her eyes caught site of a bottle of scotch and grabbed that instead. It felt appropriate she thought, smirking to herself.
The next morning she awoke on her couch, her head pounding as she noticed the half empty bottle of scotch sitting on the table. She pushed it aside, nauseous at the sight of it, and noticed her cell phone blinking. Her stomach knotted, not only because of the scotch, but because of the possibility that Catherine might have actually called. When she picked it up she sighed in disappointment, it was just a text from Hannah asking if they were still running lines before her audition this afternoon. Shit. Jackie responded back that they were still on as she headed to the bathroom to swallow a few aspirin and take a shower to expedite her hangover recovery. Just as she had finished getting dressed, Hannah was knocking on her door.
"Hey! I got you a cappuccino" she said cheerfully, handing Jackie the cup of pure gold that would hopefully wipe out the remnants of her hangover.
"Too cool to drink with me?" Hannah asked, as she eyed the scotch bottle sitting on the table.
Jackie quickly grabbed it and placed it back in the cabinet. "I just had a small drink to help me sleep."
After Hannah left, Jackie headed to campus for her classes. This time she was more aware of her surroundings, convinced every blonde she saw was Catherine. She was torn between the equal amount of relief and disappointment she felt every time it turned out not to be her. She struggled paying attention in her classes, and returned home that night having yet another day slip by with no communication from Catherine. Why did she have to run into her now. Why now when life was finally staring to go so well for her, as if she hadn't spent enough time being distracted by her. Determined not to let this ruin the progress she made, Jackie kept herself busy studying lines and working on her research paper before falling asleep. The next morning she was greeted in class with Hannah who supplied her a coffee. "I thought you'd might need this since you were working hard last night."
"How did I function before meeting you?" Jackie asked, touched at her thoughtfulness, and also becoming aware of her caffeine addiction.
"We still on for tonight? Big audition tomorrow!"
"Yes! I'll supply the Chinese food."
Jackie was on edge all day, unable to fully concentrate. Perhaps the abundance of caffeine wasn't helping, but she knew this was going to become a routine feeling every Monday, Wednesday and Friday considering she could run into Catherine. Hopefully she had a class before this so the chances would be slim. Jackie would just need to make sure not to stay after at any costs. Looking up at the clock she was thrilled when she noticed the professor ending class a few minutes early. Every minute he let them go early was another minute she had to distance herself from Catherine. Feeling at ease, she casually walked out of class with Hannah when she was caught off guard. She stopped in her tracks as she saw Catherine rise from a bench in the hall directly in front of her.
"Hi Jackie."