A lot of you guys have wanted an update, so here we go!
"Hey, mum," Clary called out as her Skype call was answered. She waited a moment, the screen still all dark and kind of blurry, and then the screen was jerking back and forth and there was a bright light and Clary blinked, shielding her eyes a little. "Oh my god, mum, where are you skyping from? And do you seriously still not know how to use the webcam?!"
"We're in Greece!" Jocelyn Greymark's voice called back to her, although Clary still hadn't seen a visual of her mother yet, now just staring up at blue, cloudless sky.
"How are you this inept with technology?" Came a low, teasing voice and then the camera was moving again before it steadied out and Jocelyn and Luke Greymark came into view. "How you doing, sweetheart?"
"Hey, Luke," Clary gave a little wave at the pinpoint of the camera at the top of her computer. "How are you guys doing? Let me see where you are! It looks so sunny there!" Luke picked up the laptop that they were using and he turned it to face outward. They were on a balcony of the hotel, and the sun was shining down brightly. It looked as though they were up on a cliff, because Luke went right to the edge of their balcony and tipped the computer slightly and it showed a gorgeous beach below, waves crashing against the rocks. "Wow," she blinked as he panned around, showing Clary the rest of the view before walking back over to where Jocelyn was sitting and putting down the laptop on the little table. "It looks amazing."
"It is, baby, it's absolutely incredible," Jocelyn gushed. "You need to come out here sometime. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that there are only about five sunny days in total in Seattle, and you know that Vitamin D is good for everyone."
"I will, mum," Clary smiled as she braced her elbow against her table top and rested her chin in her open palm before wiggling her nose and smirking. "Although that's not the Vitamin D I'm after—"
"Clary!" Jocelyn gasped with a laugh while Luke just rolled his eyes. There was a few yells behind Clary and then there were two dark haired children sprinting into the lounge where she was sitting and she laughed, turning away from her computer to look at the two boys.
"Is that your mum, Aunty Clary?!" Isaac Bane-Lightwood jumped up and down next to her, peering into the camera. "Hi, Jocelyn!" He announced, waving at the camera, giving a toothy smile. "Hi, Luke!"
"Hey, little man," Luke grinned as he looked through the screen and waved. "How you doing? You having fun with your Aunty Clary?"
"Yeah!" Isaac grinned and started listing all the things that they had done this morning, meanwhile his brother, Rhys Bane-Lightwood, tugged at Clary's jersey pocket and asked if he could have something to eat. Once Isaac had finished talking to an attentive Jocelyn and Luke, and Clary had cut up an apple into quarters for Rhys, they skipped back over to the adjoining lounge to watch a movie.
"God, they're getting so big!" Jocelyn looked a little teary eyed.
"You're so sentimental, mum," Clary teased and rolled her eyes. Jocelyn started telling her about what they had been doing over the past week since they had last spoken while Luke flitted in and out of the camera. After about twenty minutes, Jocelyn folded her arms on the top of the table she was sitting at and fixed Clary with her serious 'mum' look. Clary knew what was coming before she even said anything and she sighed. "Do we really have to do this again, mum?"
"Well? Have you made your decision yet?" Jocelyn asked. Clary shook her head mutely. Jocelyn sighed and turned her head for a moment to listen to something that Luke was saying. It sounded as though he was saying something like 'just let our girl make her own decision' but then Jocelyn rolled her eyes at that and looked back to Clary. "I think it would be a good idea, to go back to New York. Even if you just go for your exhibit, and then leave. Going back to New York will be good for you—it's home!"
"No. This is my home, mum," Clary retorted. "Home doesn't have anything to do with a place, it's to do with people." Jocelyn gave her an understanding smile and nodded.
"I know, baby," she murmured. "But I still think that you should go. Besides," she continued. "You've never been to one of your exhibits. I've gone to a couple, and I know that Izzy, Simon, Alec and Magnus have all gone, but you've never gone. Your art is gorgeous, baby, and you deserve to go and see it hanging up for the world to see." Clary licked her lips and swallowed hard, ducking her head at that. "You've worked far too hard not to be able to see what it looks like, hanging on beautiful walls for people to enjoy." She went quiet, waiting for Clary's response, and when she didn't get one, she leaned in closer to the camera. "I love you, baby."
"I know, mum," Clary's smile was a little wobbly. "I love you too." Luke came back into the screen and he rested his hand on top of the computer.
"I think it's time for us to head down to the beach, sweetheart," he said, but he was clearly saving Clary from further uncomfortable conversation. "We'll speak with you again soon." Clary gave him a smile of relief before waving at the pair of them, the screen going dark when they ended the call. She continued staring at the dark screen for a few more moments before she heard calls coming from Rhys and Isaac.
"Let's watch Zootopia, Aunty Clary!" Isaac yelled, bouncing up and down excitedly on the couch.
"Yeah—can we watch Zootopia?!" Rhys chimed in and Clary laughed as she closed her laptop. Isaac was the eldest at six, and Rhys was four, and the two were brothers. They had been adopted by Magnus and Alec when Isaac was two and Rhys was a couple of months old, their parents had been killed in a car accident and they didn't have any close relatives. Magnus and Alec doted on the boys, and they had quickly become a part of the extended family.
"Okay, I think I've got it on one of my hard drives," Clary smiled at them as she picked up her iPad and walked over to them.
"You do have it on one of your hard drives, Aunty Clary. But you should get the DVD because of the pictures," Rhys stated as he sat back down on the couch, kicking out his little feet that were hanging over the edge of the couch. "I know you have it because we watched it with you before and you cried."
"I did not!" Clary protested, shooting a mock-frown over her shoulder at the two boys.
"Yes, you did!" Isaac laughed. "When Nick had the muzzle put on him when he was a baby fox!"
"Yeah, well, that part is sad!" Clary protested as she plugged in the correct hard drive and then moved back to sit on the couch. Rhys sat in the middle, with his brother on one side and Clary on the other. Rhys curled his legs up underneath him and leaned into Clary while Isaac spread out of his legs on the couch and rested his arm across his brothers shoulders. The movie started and the boys stared at the screen intently. Clary watched with them for the first hour, and then turned on her iPad and tapped in her pass code.
One of the things that she, along with many other actors and actresses and singers, was that googling herself was never a good idea. It had been a long time since she had, mainly because there wasn't all that much new about her, except for the occasional paparazzi sighting. But after the re-run of the Where Are They Now? program was on, she couldn't help but wonder if anything else had come up. Even though she knew it wasn't any good, her fingers itched to tap her name in, and when she did, there were some recent hits that came up.
She clicked on one website that had streamed the re-run and there were comments underneath. There were a couple saying that they had really enjoyed their original show, City of Glass, others that said her and Jace had made such a good couple and they were disappointed when they had broken up. There were a few more that said they were pretty sure they had seen her around, which may or may not be correct, because it wasn't as though she was hiding exactly, just keeping a low profile. There were lots that were raving about Jace's new movie, saying that he looked badass and it was going to be awesome. The name of it was Rogue City, and she typed that into her search bar.
A ton of hits came up, with promotional pictures and a trailer. She licked her lower lip as she saw the photos, her finger hovering over one article that apparently went into an interview that he had had this morning, promoting the film.
But she didn't click on it.
For a year or so after she had left the Hollywood scene, she couldn't help it. Clary had needed to follow everything Jace was doing; the new movies he was in, the photo shoots, the news reports, the fansites. But it wasn't good for her, even as she was doing it she knew that it wasn't helping her move on with her life. Eventually she stopped.
She couldn't do it halfway either, she had to completely stop, sever the tie. So she purposefully set her computer to block anything with his name, didn't go and see any of his new movies and wouldn't talk about him with her mum or her friends. It took a few years, but eventually it didn't hurt quite as much. She was proud of everything that he had accomplished and she was glad that she had gotten to be a small part of that.
The way that it had ended, with the sex tape being sprawled over the internet and trashy TV shows, had been a lot for her to get over, but it didn't mean she had loved him any less.
I wanted to say a big thank you to all you beautiful reviewers. Seriously. I love writing, and the support I get from you guys encourages that love. You're the reason I write so much and so often, and am willing to try new ideas and things like that, so a massive thank you to all you guys :)
Also, I wanted to say that I've loved the support your guys have had toward my new stories. If you haven't already had a look at the short synopsis, they are up on my profile. Your feedback in reviews and in the private messages have been awesome, it's great to talk about them with you guys! If you guys have any requests or anything specific you guys want to see, let me know, and I'll see if it's something that I can work in.
Now! Guess what? I've been married two years. What. The Fuck? I feel way to young for that. LOL. But yeah, it's our anniversary next week. So that's pretty awesome :)
Other awesome things are; the TV show Designated Survivor. I've been in love with Keifer Sutherland since 24, and Maggie Q is in it, and she's fucking badass, although maybe not quite as badass as in Nikita. The song I Hate You, I Love You by Gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien. OMG. I'm addicted. And I've been blasting the cover of Lean On by Openside every time I'm in my car. I heard it live and had to download it as soon as I got home. It is FUCKING AMAZING, as you would know if we're friends on snapchat because I've sent out several of me singing along. Hahahaha.
As usual, leave a review, let me know what you think, recommend songs or TV shows or other fics for me to check out. A couple of nice words will go a long way with the shitty week I've had :( I'll send out a preview of the next chapter for anyone logged in :) xx