"She was like the moon-part of her was always hidden away." -Dia Reeves
"Great show, everyone," Graham Norton said as the cameras shut off and the audience applauded. "Thank you all for being here. Well done."
After handshakes and hugs, everyone waved to the audience and left the stage, heading back to their dressing rooms. Daphne held onto Jack's hand for stability until they were backstage, then she dropped it and slid her shoes off.
"Mother Mary," she sighed in relief. "These things are so uncomfortable!"
Jared laughed as he walked by. "I can totally relate."
She stuck her tongue out at him and smiled. "You're funny. But I doubt you've had to wear shoes this high." She held one black pump up to him by the four inch stiletto.
He shook his head. "No I haven't. You win," he nudged her as he kept walking. "By the way," he said, turning back to face her. "I'm not sure if I'm going to watch your show or not."
She laughed and nodded. "I MIGHT buy your album. Not sure yet."
He gave her the Finger and a joking smile before disappearing into his dressing room to clean up and get his microphone taken off.
"So you two are kind of familiar with each other?" Jack asked as he walked next to her to her dressing room.
"I guess. I mean I don't really know him that well. We've really only spoken about character stuff to this point," she replied, walking in her room.
"So you're not that close?" he asked, leaning against the door frame.
She shook her head. "Nope, not really. But we will have to be soon. It's kind of important for the character work we're doing." Understanding what he was getting at, she sighed. "We aren't involved with each other nor have we ever been. He's my costar and I don't date people I'm working with for the same reason I don't work with people I'm dating. It's too complicated."
Jack sighed and nodded. He'd been holding a candle for Daphne for a few months now, but he knew it was basically pointless. They had agreed that there would be no intimate encounters or anything as long as they were living together and after they were living together she was too busy working on press and other industry things for them to really have any time for her. He kept waiting for the right time to talk to her about it, but it never seemed right. He went back to his room, sighing as he changed. He walked back out into the hallway and headed back over to Daphne's room. She smiled as he came in and sat on the sofa. Kelly was on the phone with someone, setting up an appointment for something. Daphne glanced up as a knock came on the door.
"Hey, are you two free tonight?" Shannon asked, ducking his head into the doorway. "We're going to hit a bar or something because our flight leaves really early and we wanted to see if you'd be interested in keeping us company."
Jack shook his head. "It's the first time I've been home for a bit so I'm going to go see my family tonight and tomorrow because we're doing press for a bit longer. But maybe next time."
Shannon nodded and fixed his gaze of Daphne. "What about you, Golden Girl?" he joked. "Have any spare time for us lowly semi-successful musicians?"
She glanced at Kelly with a smile. "Do I have the evening free?" she asked quietly. Kelly nodded and gave her the thumbs up symbol but didn't get off the phone. "I guess that means I'm free tonight. For the first time in ages, too."
"Good," Shannon said. "We're leaving in a few minutes."
She nodded at him and turned to Jack. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"
He shook his head. "You should go. You'll have to spend time with Jared sometime, why not start now?" He stood up and stretched. "I'll see you in a few days in Paris, alright?"
She smiled and nodded, hugging him as he passed by. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Be safe," she said softly as he left with his assistant.
"Daphne, you coming?" Tomo asked as their group walked into the hallway.
"Yeah, I'll be right there," she said, grabbing her shoes and sliding them on.
"Daphne, this is Emma Ludbrook. She's our assistant, manager, and general brain," Jared said, indicating a youngish brunette who was behind them.
"Hi," she said, holding her hand out to Daphne. "I think we've spoken before."
Daphne laughed. "Yeah, I guess so."
"I am such a huge fan of yours," Emma gushed.
Daphne smiled. "Thanks so much. You're so sweet." She glanced around for Jared. "Where are we headed anyways?"
"You're coming with us?" Jared asked in confusion. "I thought you and Jack had other publicity to do."
Daphne glanced at Shannon, who met her eye before looking away. "I mean, if you don't want me to come…"
Jared laughed lightly. "You'd be welcome. It would be our pleasure. I just wish Jack was coming too. He's a cool kid."
"Nah, he wanted to go visit his family. He's been in L.A. for a while and hasn't been able to get home," she replied. "You never answered my question," she said, nudging Jared. "Where are we going?"
"Let's get a cab and decide on the way," Shannon said.
"Works for me," Tomo said with a crooked smile.
The small group headed out to find a cab waiting for them. They squeezed in and had the driver take them to the closest decent bar. Most of the ride, Daphne was squeezed against Shannon, who was doing his best to keep up a conversation with her about anything in an effort to distract himself from her. They arrived after about thirty minutes of driving. Jared and Emma were in a heated discussion about tour matters and Tomo was in a text conversation with his wife, leaving Shannon and Daphne to talk between themselves. They piled out of the cramped cab and looked around.
Daphne had a pretty good grasp of where they were, having spent a good amount of time in her childhood in London and around the United Kingdom while filming for the 'Harry Potter' series. She knew immediately where they were and knew that if they didn't get inside quickly, photographers would recognize them immediately and swarm the entire building. She followed Jared inside, giving the bouncer a smile as he recognized her name. She saw the hint of recognition in his eyes and tried to move past him as quickly as possible. They all got drinks and found a quiet table in a corner to relax in.
"So," Jared started when they were all settled. "We start filming in two months."
Daphne nodded. "And you're touring right up to filming starting?"
Jared nodded. "Yeah, so that kind of means you and I will just have to sort of wing it as to how we communicate."
"Well, you guys get to tour for the next two months," she started. "I have to go finish this press tour then go back to Los Angeles and learn how to pole dance."
Shannon's and Tomo's heads perked up. "Say what?" Shannon asked.
She laughed. "I have to learn to pole dance. There's this really important scene in the script that has me doing this complicated pole dancing sequence and moves and all this shit."
Shannon glared at Jared. "Lucky bastard."
Jared laughed loudly. "It shouldn't be too hard for you though. You're pretty physically fit," he responded.
It was true. Daphne had always been in shape. She had started out in dance, doing lots of ballet classes. It was her father's way of distracting her from the family that was falling apart at the seams. She had become really good at dance in general when she was cast in 'Lord of the Rings' and had done quite a bit of her own stunts because of it. She didn't really dance as much as she used to, but she was always very physical in most of her films. It wasn't a choice she made; it just sort of worked out that way.
"It's so much harder than people think," she replied. "I've been researching it and there's so much core strength that goes into it, it's ridiculous. Those girls are amazingly strong."
"You'll figure it out," Tomo said with a grin.
"So Tomo," Daphne started. "You're the only one married or in any type of relationship?"
He nodded. "Yep. It would seem these two aren't ready to settle down quite yet."
Daphne glanced between Jared and Shannon opposite her. "But doesn't it get really hard to manage a relationship when you're away touring and stuff?" she asked him.
"Yeah it does, but I'm fortunate enough that she can join us when we're away for too long and it makes things easier in that respect," he responded.
"I can totally get how difficult it is to manage a relationship with a crazy schedule," she laughed.
"I mean, how do you manage it? You're one of the hardest working people I know," Shannon said. "It seems like you never sleep."
She shook her head. "I really don't date much. I haven't dated much actually. A lot of people assume I have, but I really haven't. It's hard to date when you're hunted by photographers."
Daphne had never really had very lasting relationships. She'd mostly dated other celebrities because that was the only pool she could draw from. Usually things fizzled out because of conflicting work schedules or the guy would get jealous of her accomplishments so she'd dump him. It was difficult to find a decent guy who was comfortable enough in himself to deal with her. Dating wasn't really a priority for her for a long time. She had way too many things on her mind to be worrying about getting a boyfriend or anything like that. She barely had time to sleep by herself, why would she spend that meager time sleeping with anyone else?
Jared nodded. "But sometimes it's easier to be able to handle everything when you don't have to juggle a relationship along with it."
She agreed. "I mean, I could take time off in between films if I wanted to and just focus on that, but it's not really a big deal for me right now. I'm twenty-six. I'm not dead yet," she laughed.
"What about Jack? He seems really into you," Emma asked.
Daphne nodded. "I know. But I don't date people I'm working with or work with people I'm dating. It's just too messy."
"So every report of you dating your costars is false?" Jared asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Daphne blushed a bit. "Not EVERY report, but most of them are. I like forming friendships with the people I work with, so it's usually mistaken for something else when photographers see me out with a guy I'm working with."
"So you're not dating anyone right now?" Shannon asked.
Daphne eyed him across the table with a bit of a smirk. "No, I'm not."
Tomo laughed. "She's way out of your league, Shan."
"Oh I know," he replied with a smile. "She's like a twelve out of ten and I'm a four."
She smiled at him. "I don't know. You're a drummer in a popular band. That's gotta count for something right?" He tipped his glass at her and smiled. "Plus, don't the drummers always get the freakiest chicks?"
Jared hooted with laughter. "On a scale from one to ten how freaky are you, then?"
She laughed. "Well, you'll have to find out," she said with a little wink in his direction. "Is it true though? Do the lead singers always get the pretty ones, the drummers get the freaky ones, and the guitarists get what?"
"I think it's divided, honestly," Emma said. "I mean, girls go crazy for Jared, but not just because he's the lead singer. More because he's the one in the front that they all recognize."
"But he's a pretty good looking guy though, right?" Daphne asked her. "I mean, they both are-no offense Tomo, but you're married. It kinda ruins the mystique," she laughed.
He gave her a mock sad face before breaking into a smile. "Fair enough."
"But they're both obviously attractive guys. I mean," Daphne said. "I'd date either one of them."
"So you'd date an old guy?" Shannon asked in a self-deprecating way.
She laughed. "Honestly, you do not look to be in your forties. You look like you're young thirties. If that."
"Do we need to leave you two alone or something?" Emma asked, jokingly. They all laughed. "Daphne I'm curious I know you and Jared are working together on 'Suicide Squad', but what made you agree to do it? I heard for a long time you were sort of against it?" she asked.
Daphne smiled at Jared. "He convinced me. I guess I just thought that he had lots of good ideas and that it was worth a shot. Plus it's a much different tone in this film compared to other scripts I'd read for the same film."
"Do you have like a philosophy as to how you pick films? Like is there one thing you absolutely will not do in a film?" Jared asked.
She sat back in her chair and thought. "I'm pretty adventurous. I mean, I'll generally try anything once if it can be justified. But probably just sex for the sake of sex. Like I only take roles with sex scenes if the scene is justified for my character. I'm not big on mindless sex."
"So no porno then?" Jared asked, making everyone laugh.
Daphne leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "Not in your wildest dreams."
He smiled and met her gaze as he bit his lip. "Oh trust me, it's come up."
Daphne blushed a little bit and rolled her eyes. "My God you've got two settings. Off and Flirt."
Everyone laughed again and they settled into easy conversation. After a while, Daphne got a call from Kelly asking her to come back because she had an early television show to film in the morning.
"Alright, I'm going to go," she said, excusing herself. "I've got early press in the morning." Everyone stood. "It was so nice to meet you for real," she said, hugging Emma. "Keep these guys in line. And you," Daphne said, giving Tomo a kiss on the cheek and a hug. "Don't stay away from your wife too long." She turned to Shannon who gave her a massive hug and a kiss on the cheek. "So good to see you again!" She turned to Jared last.
"I'll walk you out," he said, taking her hand. She waved to everyone as they walked out. Jared called her a taxi. "I guess I'll see you in a few weeks for the table read, right?" he asked, hugging her tightly.
She nodded. "Definitely. Thanks for having me out tonight. It was a nice break from the craziness."
He smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, still holding her hand. The taxi pulled up and he opened the door for her. As people slowly started to recognize both of them on the sidewalk, they said hurried goodbyes. Jared let go of her hand at the last possible moment as the cab drove off and photographers descended upon him.