The last few days in Hollywood passed in a heartbeat. Jade was in the airport, her plane leaving in an hour. She was nervous. She didn't want to leave. Beck noticed. He hugged her from behind and placed soft kisses on her cheek and neck.
"Relax. Everything is going to be fine." He whispered. He felt her loosen up a bit in his arms. She turned around in them to hug him and kiss him. She wanted to remember that taste. She wouldn't be able to taste him for so long. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep in his arms. She wouldn't be able to see his face every morning. All those things she had lost before, and now it would be taken away from her again.
"I don't want to leave." She told him, her voice barely stronger than a whisper. He tightened his grip around her.
"6 months. Not a single day more." He told her, looking her right in the eyes.
"I… I can't. Not again."
"Yes, you can. I'll wait for you. Don't worry. We survived worse things. And this is for you. This is a good thing. You'll see."
The others arrived barely a minute later. The emotions were at conflict with each one of them. The loving part that wants their friend to succeed was at war with the selfish part that wanted her to stay with them. The result of the conflict was different with each one of them.
As they said goodbye to her, Jade watched her friend's expressions. Tori was smiling, but the smile wasn't the usual happy one. It was the type of smile you have when you finally accept something you don't like. The "okay, so be it" smile you give when you make a sacrifice. Andre didn't smile at all. His expression was stoic. He hated the idea that he wouldn't see one of his closest friends for so long. But he wouldn't say it out loud. It was hard enough for everyone, especially Jade. She didn't need any more pressure about this. Robbie had a secure smile. He was the only one who believed that everything would end up being better than ever. He knew his friends. He knew who would have the most trouble. He knew that it would be hard.
"You'll see. When you come back, you will be happy that you listened to us." He told his friend since pre-school as he gave her a hug.
The last one left was Cat. She had a hard time keeping it together. A tear or two would escape her resistance every now and then. She had a bag in her hands. Cat approached Jade and handed it to her.
"For you." She sad with a genuine smile, which was contrasted even more trough the tears running down her face. Jade looked inside. It was a photo album. She glanced trough the pages. It was full of pictures taken during the key moments of their lives. The cover photo of the album was taken only a few days ago. It was at the party they had at Tori's place. Jade watched the group photo they've taken. They were all happy that moment. Jade wanted that moment to last forever. And now, in some way, Cat made it last forever for her.
The now crying Jade looked up from the album to her best friend. She wrapped her arms around Cat and both began to cry softly. The others choked up themselves, but kept themselves from bursting out in tears. If anyone else did it, Jade would stay. And that wouldn't be right. It would be selfish.
After a few minutes, the two friends pulled apart. Jade heard the announcement. She had to go. She took a last look at her friends and boyfriend. She took one more look at her best friend, who was crying. Tori had her hands on Cat's shoulders. She gave Jade a nod. She would make sure Cat was okay trough this. Jade turned around and left. She got into the plane and found her seat. Jacob didn't joke around. It was first class. The seats were comfortable, but it was still a seven hours flight ahead of her. She took out her Ipod and earphones. She would listen to some music. Maybe fall asleep a bit. She asked the stewardess for a pillow and a blanket. She leaned on the wall and looked trough the window as the plane slowly rose from the ground. With some calming music playing, she fell asleep.
She woke up a few hours later, her neck stiff from falling asleep in the plane. She looked at the watch. She would arrive soon. After another hour, the plane landed. She got her luggage and went outside. She looked around, scanning her environment for her ride. Then she felt someone pat her on the shoulder.
"Jade?" she heard a familiar voice. She turned around to find Jacob standing behind her.
"Hey. I was already afraid you guys forgot about me." She said to the taller man.
"Don't worry, during my project, everything is taken care of. Come on, there is my car." he motioned towards the white Mercedes. She got in the passengers seat.
"How was the flight?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"It was okay. I've never traveled first class before. But my neck is stiff from falling asleep."
"Yeah, that happens to me too. Listen, I tried to find you a hotel close to the place we are shooting, but they were all already booked. So I found an apartment a block away from it. I hope its okay."
"Of course. I don't like hotels that much anyway. Brings back some memories." She said remembering their stay in Yerba.
"Bad memories?" Jacob looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"Let's just say, Yerba is a screwed up place." She simply stated. He shrugged it off.
"When does work start?" she finally asked him. She didn't know much anything about the schedule.
"Tomorrow. We will start the shoots around 11 am, so everyone should get enough sleep. I can't tell you how many days a week you are going to work. It all depends if we can keep the schedule. It does happen that you won't even have a week off in those 6 months." He explained honestly.
"I understand. I did somewhat expect a situation like this. I just hope I'll catch the drift to directing."
"Don't worry. As long as you know what exactly you want, there shouldn't be any problems. Just get your idea on camera the way you want."
"You seem calm about this. What if I fail?" she asked him, genuine concern in her voice. She was nervous. She directed smaller theatric plays, but never a full fledged big production movie.
"You will find many obstacles during work. Equipment won't work. The special effect will fail. Actors will have a bad day and forget their lines. A whole week could get wasted on shooting a single scene. You are finally done and happy with your movie, and then the MPAA tells you to cut some content. The critics rip the movie apart for stupid reasons. I've seen them all. Some movies succeed, others don't. It doesn't matter. Paramount had great success until now. We produced some failures too." He calmly said and looked over at her.
"And every producer screws up once. So don't be nervous, but do the best you can. I believe you will do a great job." He encouraged.
"You really think that?"
"Not only me. My higher ups agreed with me. And I told you; right now we are looking for the younger talent to do these things. The older "horrormaisters" seem to loose the grip, while way too many go for the simple blood and gore in this genre. You went a different route, story and atmosphere, and we liked it. That's all." He said as he stopped the car in front of a tall building. "We're here." He said as they got out. Jade took her luggage and they walked into the elevator. On the 8th floor, Jacob unlocked one of the apartments and motioned Jade to go in.
Jade stood there, a smile appearing on her face right away. She had a great view over the beautiful beach. A big flat screen TV hanging on the wall of a comfortable living room. The bathroom had both a shower and a hot tub, and the king sized bed in her bedroom was the icing on the cake.
"You like it?" he asked with a smirk.
"I love it! How much does this cost?" she yelled from her bedroom, sitting on the bed.
"Not your worry." He said as he put down his suitcase on the table and took out a few things.
"This is your business phone. You have my number in there, so if you need anything give me a call. And yes, you can do private calls on that too. The money for your script is on your account. You will get your salary every fifth of the month. The studio is down the street on the right. Trust me, you can't miss it. They made sure to have a big Paramount sign on it. So, if you don't have any questions, I have to leave. I've got a date." He said with a smirk.
"No, I got everything. Thank you again. And good luck on your date." She said.
"Thank you. See you tomorrow." He said and left.
She walked a bit around the apartment. She could get used to it. She turned on the big TV in the living room. She even had a bit smaller one in her bedroom. She laid down on the king size bed. It was so comfortable, especially after a 7 hour flight. Beck would have loved it. Beck. Sadness overcame her at the memory of her boyfriend. He would have loved it here. She wished he could be here. She already missed him. She missed her friends. And she wasn't even here for an hour.
Jade got up of the bed and sighed. Time would fly once she began work tomorrow. She walked over to the table and took the phone Jacob gave her. "And yes, you can do private calls with that too." She remembered. And if she could, she damn sure would. She typed in a familiar number.
"Yes?" a familiar voice picked up.
"Guess who just arrived at a big apartment with a flat screen TV, king sized bed and a hot-tub?" she teased, a small smirk appearing on her face.
"Oh, is that how famous producers from Hollywood live now Miss West? It must be though." Beck joked. "How was the flight?"
"It was okay. Fell asleep for a while and now I have a stiff neck. But a bath will fix that." She said and then sighed. "I miss you. I wish you could be here. You would love this place."
"Oh I'm sure I would, especially the hot tub." He joked, making her laugh.
"Jerk. I really mean it." She said, her voice turning sadder. She heard him sigh on the other line.
"I miss you too. But don't worry; 6 months will pass really quickly, especially since you are going to have fun at directing your own movie."
"I'm nervous. What if I fail? What if I screw up this project? Maybe coming here was a mistake. I could have simply sold the script. I would have probably gotten a chance to direct later, after college maybe."
"Jade, you won't fail. You've been waiting for this for so long. During every movie we watched, you would always explain to me what which director did. What techniques he used. Why something worked. Why it didn't work. You know so much already. I know you won't fail. We all here believe in you. So get your self confidence up and make us proud." He said.
"I love you." She told him, happy that everyone had so much confidence in her. She always had self doubts, and this really meant the world to her.
"I love you too. What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to relax. Take a bath and go to sleep. Work starts tomorrow. What about you?"
"I'm going to the movies with the others. I'll let them now that you arrived and are okay."
"Tell them I miss them and that I'll call them soon."
"Will do. I'll call you tomorrow; I got to pick up the others. Have fun at work. Love you."
"Thanks. I love you too." She said and hung up. She took a long bath and laid down on the bed. She turned on the TV and searched the channels. She found the horror channel. 24/7 horror movies and documentaries. She placed the remote on the small table next to her bed and set her alarm clock. She relaxed and watched some of the other movies, looking for ideas. She fell asleep shortly after.