Hell is A Cold Cold Place
"Hey babe," Beck said after answering his phone.
He was on set in his dressing room on a break from filming. He only had a few more days left until he wrapped. Playing a guilty criminal had been a great experience. He had learned a lot from his guest spot. Being a working actor was great and he was anxious to land another role soon.
"Hey, how's filming going," Jade inquired.
"Pretty good. We're still filming the interrogation scenes so that's been interesting. It takes forever though. I think it will probably be another late night though. You left this morning before I woke up. You should have woken me up."
"You were out and I had to go to work early but I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."
"Yeah, that's not quite true though. When I got home late last night or rather early this morning, you rolled over and said hello. We had a short conversation about pop tarts."
"No, we didn't," Jade said.
"Yes we did. You don't remember do you? You wanted me to make sure the toaster was off because you had used it earlier to heat up a pop tart," Beck claimed.
"I did eat a pop tart last night but you don't turn a toaster off."
"I know, that is why it was a ridiculous half asleep induced conversation."
"Well, anyways I have good news. That writer's assistant is quitting. She already told them that she's leaving at the end of the season. I haven't talked to Robert, the head writer yet. I thought it would be wise and in good taste to wait a few days before I advocate for her job. I mean it is pretty much the same job I have now but I get paid a bit more and have more responsibilities. Hopefully I get people a little less coffee."
Jade's job was on the set of the tv show Loyalty on Netflix. It was a mob drama, at which there had been tons of mob dramas but this one still managed to have a unique voice through focusing on the family's day to day lives and its dark tone. Jade was a research assistant/receptionist/assistant so she got to do things like research blood spatter and research the best specialists to bring in when they needed the expertize of a doctor or lawyer or cop or even an actual mobster. Jade hated admitting that she had to frequently get coffee for people. When she spoke about her job to people like Tori she left out the detail that getting others coffee was part of her job description.
The mention of coffee reminded Beck of a phone call he and Jade had on her first day as an intern for Loyalty.
"I have already gotten twelve people coffee today and it's only 10 a.m. I have to do lunch orders at eleven o'clock."
"It will all be worth it. This is an amazing opportunity. It puts you years ahead of the others. Everyone else will spend years pounding the pavement and this internship gets you on the inside and ahead of everyone else. Before you know it you'll have people getting you coffee," Beck reassured her.
"In fact tonight there may be some coffee waiting for you."
"Sounds good."
"Well my little over achiever deserves a treat."
"So how is daytime college life without me?"
"Oh, it is dull. It's black and white like the beginning of The Wizard of Oz. When you're here it's colorful like when Dorothy opened her door after her house landed. I think the gray sky and the rain falling right now is quite symbolic."
"That reminds me if I hear one more person comment on the "awful" rain I am going to scream. I was born and raised in LA but these people are so annoying. These people live in the freaking desert they are supposed to be freaking grateful for the rain. They should spend their time doing a rain dance praying for rain and then when the rain comes they should be dancing in the streets praising the fact that rain has fallen on their barren over populated striped of resources land."
"That is why you should really love Vancouver. It rains all the time and the people don't mind."
"Yeah, but the people are weird."
"Jade, they are just being friendly and I have to go. Don't kill anyone. We're about to start filming that short student film. Love you and text when you leave for home."
"Love you too and I will actually try to not kill anyone but don't be too surprised if you get a collect call from jail."
"So are you still going to your Dad and Kelly's for dinner tonight if you get off in time?" Beck asked.
"Do you mean am I going to hell tonight?"
"Just hang with your little brother as much as possible."
"I will but he's only nine so he's not the greatest buffer yet. And my dad is going to be pissed because I told him I could only attend dinner if I get off in time. He doesn't understand that my job is not 9-5. If the writers get off on a tangent I could be there until the sun rises. When he called to ask me to dinner he was upset because I couldn't guarantee I'd be there. But he has missed so many dinners because he was working or with a mistress."
"Unfortunately that response is not a surprise from your dad."
"I better go before one of the writer's needs something and I have to finish research about the ratings so the show can use it in some meeting with the big wigs that are coming tomorrow. I also have to put together a power point for the writers for the meeting. We women in the office also have to put together a spread for the meeting tomorrow so I have to come in extra early," Jade said with malice in her voice.
"Alright, bye babe. Say hi to Ben and I miss you."
"I will and I miss you too."
"Aww."
"Shut up and good luck on your scenes today," Jade said starting with malice in her voice but ended with genuineness.
Much to Jade's chagrin the writer's called it a day just in time for her to make it to her father's house in time for dinner. She had also finished all of her work. Jade seriously considered calling and saying she had to work late just so that she didn't have to go but she knew it would disappoint her little brother and that she did not want to do."
"So nice of you to make it," stated Jade's father Richard as he walked into the dining room to see Jade already seated.
"Yes, well I know how much you hate missing family dinners and I learned from you that…," Jade began saying with a sarcastic tone as she was interrupted by Kelly, her stepmother.
"So Jade how is the job of yours? It is so exciting to know a show business insider."
"It's going great. I'm in exactly the right position to advance and become a screenwriter."
"Have you met any famous people yet?" Ben asked.
"No."
"Have you met the stars of the show or any executives?" Jade's father inquired.
"No. The actors don't come around very often. They work on the studio lot and the writers work in an office building. The show is given a lot of creative freedom so the executives don't come around very often," Jade explained trying not to let the digs of her father upset her.
"How's Beck?" Kelly asked.
The one good thing about her father marrying Kelly was that the woman was an excellent buffer and felt sympathy for Jade as her father was unrelenting towards his only daughter. The woman was a bit too much of a "valley girl" and "trophy wife" for Jade's taste but due to Kelly understanding the strained father daughter relationship Jade and her father had been stuck in for Jade's entire life the two women got along fairly well.
"Beck's great. He's working right now on a tv show actually. He's also still pulling shifts at the restaurant," Jade boasted.
"So you two are paying your bills alright and keeping your money separate?" Richard West arrogantly said.
"Yes, to both," Jade replied with a fake smile on her face.
Truthfully Jade and Beck were not keeping their money very separate as their parents had advised them and they basically lived pay check to pay check. Beck's two jobs were greatly helping them both out and actually allowing them to save some money which was a very good thing because Beck would have to start paying his student loans soon. His loans weren't for an exorbitant amount, luckily only a few thousand, but it would hurt.
"Well, hopefully you'll be making a lot more money soon otherwise I wasted a lot of money on that college education of yours," Richard West directed towards his daughter.
"Would you have rathered I not attend college?" Jade questioned her father although she knew if she had not gone to college he likely would never have wanted to see her again.
"You should watch your tone young lady. You don't want your little brother learning bad behavior from you."
"Richard, please. Can't we just have a nice dinner?" Kelly pleaded.
Jade had never told a soul but ever since Beck had become a regular fixture at family dinner at her dad's house when Beck was not present her father seemed to be extra unfiltered and unrelenting when speaking to Jade.
"So Ben why don't you tell Jade how the class play is going?" Kelly said trying to change the subject.
"Well, you already know I'm Harry in the Horrible Harry in the play. We've had like two rehearsals. Mrs. Diaz said I'll be a great Harry because I'm the best reader in class. You remember my friend, Sam, he's Doug in the play, and some girl is Song Lee. Then some of the other kids have rolls as Harry's classmates," Ben excitedly detailed.
"Well, I can't wait to see it. How about Beck and I pick you up on Sunday and we'll practice your lines with you."
"That'd be awesome."
Jade could see and sense her father's frustration over the fact that Ben was going to be in a class play. She could tell he loathed the thought of Ben and Jade having more in common than a hatred of coconut.
"Yes, two actors in the family. Just what we need. I always thought you got the acting bug from your mother. She was always dramatic. However, based on the stubborn child you were, how attune to detail, and how hard it was to talk you out of something I thought you would've been a lawyer, a criminal lawyer. You probably would've been Distract Attorney by thirty," Richard stated.
"You remember Peter Proctor? His daughter is graduating from law school early this year. He'll probably set her up in a nice job at work where she'll start off making over 100 thousand a year with plenty of opportunity for advancement," Jade's dad remarked.
Jade gritted her teeth and tried to let go. She knew saying anything else would only give her father more ammunition and anger.
For the rest of dinner Kelly ignored her husband and tried to get Jade and Ben to talk but neither were in a very talkative mood as tension filled the air. Richard was silent and was the first to finish eating dinner. He promptly declared the chicken was "pretty good" and he was going to finish some work in his office.
After dinner Jade and Ben helped Kelly do the dishes and after a few minutes the tension evaporated from the air and the three felt free to be themselves.
Jade then tucked her little brother into bed. They read the book "Danny and The Dinosaur" and Jade even sang him "A Few of My Favorite Things." Even from upstairs Jade and Ben could hear the distant fighting of Kelly and Richard. She stayed by his bedside until he was soundly asleep. She waited to go back downstairs until the fighting had ceased for a few minutes. It reminded her of when she was a little girl or even when she was older and had to spend her weekends in this house. Before leaving the house Jade looked for Kelly to say goodbye. She saw the woman sitting quietly by the pool. She would've loved to leave but her conscience told her to talk to the woman. Since starting college Jade did not often come to her father's house. She and Beck would usually pick up Ben and take him bowling or to the movies and drop him off. But Jade could sense the distance that had come in between her father and his second wife. She had heard the fights and she could feel the tension. She had been witness to it all before when her mother was at war with her father.
"Hey," Jade quietly whispered to Kelly.
"Hey," the woman said sounding a bit shaken.
Jade sat next to her and they just sat in the quiet dark night. The air was humid. It felt sticky and heavy matching the tension between the two women.
"When you were a kid and your parents were married what do you remember?"
"I don't really remember us being a family. It was always me and my mom. I remember my mom being sad and angry. I remember my dad being angry. I remember them fighting. I remember breaking things with a hammer, cutting things up, and faking sick trying to get them to stop fighting and give me some attention," Jade sadly recalled.
She didn't often talk about her early childhood. Her parents' marriage had scared her for life. In her heart she knew she and Beck would probably be engaged if not married at this point if the thought of marriage didn't send her into a panic. But Jade knew that Kelly needed honesty right now.
"I don't want Ben to suffer. I'm at the end of my rope. I've tried and tried. I even told him that if he wanted to have affairs he could but I wouldn't be his wife in that way. I deserve better."
"You have to do whatever you have to do to ensure that Ben doesn't suffer."
"The last few years I tried so hard to make it work. I tried to be the kind of wife I thought he wanted. Nothing was ever enough. I thought I had to make it work because if we had an awful marriage Ben would suffer but if we got divorced Ben would suffer too. If we stay married Ben has a life filled with opportunity and financial security. What am I going to do? I've been a stay at home mom for a decade. Leaving is hard but so is staying."
"I think my mom felt the same way. It wasn't easy but she did it and we were both better for it. If there is one thing my dad will do right it is that he'll make sure that Ben is taken care of financially," Jade reassured Kelly.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for burdening you with this," Kelly apologized.
"It's okay. I have no allusions about this situation or my father. Good night."
After a very long day Jade was relieved to see the warped door that led to her and Beck's one room apartment. After pushing her door open she walked through the dark apartment turning on her bedside table. She then took a shower. After getting out of the shower Jade put on her pajamas and wiped the steam off the mirror continuing her nightly routine. She then picked up her cell to call Beck.
"Hey, how is shooting going?"
"Good. I got your text. How was hell?"
"Oh, it was not as hot as I thought. It was more on the cold side. I think Kelly's going to file for divorce soon," Jade said. She felt it was best to just come straight out and share.
"Wow," Beck was not shocked to hear the news but it was still surprising.
"That sucks but I guess it's for the best," Beck thought aloud.
"Definitely. Anyways, I told Ben we would come get him Sunday afternoon and do something."
"Yeah sounds good. When is his school play?"
"It is two weeks from Friday. Maybe we could help him go over his lines. So do you think you will be getting off before the A.M.," Jade said and then looked at her watch, "Oh that's actually in twenty minutes."
"Yes. I think I will," Beck stated.
Jade then heard the door unlock and saw Beck step through the door smiling.
"Hey," they both said hanging up the phone.
Jade, who was sitting at the foot of the bed crossed the apartment as Beck made his way to her and thrusted herself in his arms. This, apartment 12B, with Beck was the only home she needed.
I know this was a sad chapter. I did not intend for it to go that way but it did. The next one will be happier. I do feel that in a future chapter Beck and Jade need to have a fight. They're adjusting to living together and financially on their own for the first time so that can create a lot of stress and they're Beck and Jade so I feel like they are overdue for a fight or at least some heavy bickering. However, I have no idea what the fight should be about. I feel like now that they live together they have to remedy their fights because they can't leave, they live together and they're grown ups. So if you have ideas I would love to hear them.