A/N: Nice to see people responding to this story. I don't know, I've always enjoyed reading and writing things that challenge the status quo. My "EDGE" trilogy is a good example. That was fun to write because we got to see our favorite Latina as a badass.
Here, I wanted to take it to its extreme and make her this tough as nails gym rat with no phobias. I will do my best to be descriptive enough when mentioning Tori's physique. To give you and idea, those women you see on WWE; something akin to that. She's muscular but she's not She-Hulk or anything.
"Here is your door," Ira, the landlord yawned as he used the key to open it.
It was small but clean. Didn't have the smell that it was freshly painted or carpeted, but to Jade's relief whomever lived here prior took care of the place.
"That's...odd," Jade noted, tilting her head. "The windows I mean."
The landlord turned as he stroked his 5 o'clock shadow.
"Yeah, that was a real choice by the lady who built this building."
The windows in question, around the main area were all the same, very thin. Kind of reminiscent of the narrow windows in an old medieval tower. They were also pretty low, only less than a foot from the floor.
Jade looked at the silver metal blinds. She preferred vertical vs horizontal, its an apartment not an office, but that was minor in the grand scheme.
"I've got some things I need to take care of," Ira sighed. "So, let's make this the quick tour."
"Um...alright?"
He opened a bi-fold door adjacent to the front door.
"Closet."
The landlord pointed as he walked.
To the right, "Living room..." to the left, "Dining area..."
That tiny bit of space between the closet and the kitchen was probably big enough to fit a table and some chairs.
"Okay, now kitchen! This is one of the more recent models, so your kitchen comes with garbage disposal, electric oven, electric range, dishwasher, the works."
Ira leaned in close to Jade.
"Many of our tenants shower in the morning, so if you could turn that dishwasher on at a later time, that would be great."
Jade nodded, making the mental note.
"Okay..." he proceeded to show off the few feet that made the hallway. There were three identical white doors at the end. "Left, full bathroom, center, your water heater, and finally, right is the bedroom."
The landlord stepped in and Jade followed.
"Right here, if you look in the bedroom closet," he began opening another bi-fold closet door. "This panel are your circuit breakers, they can get weird sometimes. You blow a fuse because you have the microwave and the curling iron on at the same time! Hey, I'm not an electrician. Anyways, if that doesn't do the trick, give Steven from maintenance a call and he will check it out. Anything breaks, Steven's your guy."
"Steven, got it."
The grizzled man checked his gold watch.
"Need to wrap this us, okay Miss Wiest?"
"Actually, it's West."
She could tell that he gave no fucks about that, so she just followed along.
"If you smoke, please use the balcony," he pointed as he approached the living room.
The "balcony," which was about 4 feet squared, was accessed through sliding doors in the living room.
"Our smoke detectors are pretty sensitive. I strongly urge you use the fan above the range when you cook!"
He then handed her the key.
"Okay," Jade said.
"It's...no pets. No loud music after 10 p.m. and rent is due on the fifteenth."
Ira was about to leave when he turned around and faced her again.
"Which reminds me, you have two months' rent?"
Jade fished the folded check out of her pocket, as per the lease agreement. She had to prove she could afford the rent and this would also serve as her safety deposit. If she doesn't leave the apartment in good standing upon moving out, she will not see that money again.
"Take care, Miss Wiest!"
He rushed out the door like the apartment was on fire.
"It's West!" Jade huffed. "Ah, forget it."
She closed the door and now that she was all alone, Jade was able to really take it all in.
This was a far cry from Haworth, New Jersey. If her old friends could see her now!
There wasn't a whole lot for her back home other than the occasional call from her mom, or grandfather, which was always pleasant. The rest of the east coast can suck it! Jade had wanted to make her break into Hollywood for some time. Moving away from Jersey was an added bonus.
Not that it wasn't a cool place to grow up in, but for Jade things got really rough in high school which made her enroll in college with gusto. Higher education meant more opportunities. And by opportunities, Jade was looking for a way to get out.
And in a gesture of mercy, Jade's true calling just happened to be on the other side of the country!
Ever since Jade was a kid, she was an enthusiast for movies. Going to the local theater, renting videos, downloading scripts online. She felt like a real archeologist one day when she figured out how to get her dad's VCR working to watch his old tapes. She held onto that 22" TV that he also owned...until it took a shit after decades of service. Jade could just get a monitor and rig up a connection if she wanted to, but hooking up a VCR to a modern TV was not ideal. VHS tapes were not produced with high definition in mind. It had to be a cathode-ray tube television (CRT for short) for the best picture an analog format like magnetic tape could offer. Good luck trying to find one. Because of their bulk, Goodwill, pawn shops, even eBay sellers refuse to carry them for the after market. It's either a garage sale, or nothing!
(Okay, restate your plan, Jade:)
(Step 1: Move to L.A. CHECK!)
(Step 2: Secure the apartment. DONE!)
(Step 3: Wow them at the interview.)
"Tomorrow!" Jade sang with a twirl.
In no way would she act this goofy unless she was by herself.
Jade didn't know how she still had this energy. Maybe it was the adrenaline.
The drive to California was insane, but she made it. Now, her car was parked downstairs packed with her belongings.
"Alright, then."
Jade pocketed her key and bounded out the door. It would be the first of many trips back and forth until she was "moved in."
Tori was working the bag over at Champion Gym in West Hollywood.
She preferred wrapping up her hands before a workout rather than boxing gloves. Her reasoning was if you have to fight, you're probably not going to have any gear handy. It's extremely likely you will be in a bare knuckle brawl, similar to what she's doing. But Tori isn't dumb, hence why she wrapped her hands to soften the blows.
While the fists make all the contact, it's really a great exercise for the arms.
In her white tank top, her guns were on full display. Tori caught some glances from men in her peripheral vision, guys whose muscles paled in comparison. Something about a strong woman sends a lot of dudes in the opposite direction. Had any one of them just walked up and asked for advice or to spot, Tori would be happy to help.
But guys were quite often intimidated by her, the only ones to walk up and chat with her guys she knew from working in movies or her gym friends. Sometimes those two worlds would collide, like when Arnold Schwarzenegger of all people came by to film part of a YouTube video for his channel about the best fitness places in town that you haven't heard of. The superstar noticed the Latina doing chin ups and commended her proper form. Despite being in Hollywood, Tori's kind of used to running into an actor or a singer sometimes, like the gas station or grocery store. Then you get a celebrity of his status and even Tori Vega can get starstruck.
He shook her hand and asked her name. At first he assumed she was an MMA fighter but Tori said while she trained alongside a few, she's actually a stunt performer. That endeared him with the girl even further, being a veteran of many action movies and having a longtime stunt double himself, Peter Kent. Tori did meet him once before. Schwarzenegger agreed to a selfie and shook her hand to say goodbye, commenting on her strong grip. Tori showed the picture to everyone the following day.
After landing the final blow of the set, Tori grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her shoulders. She dabbed her forehead, which was pouring sweat. The tan woman sat down and took a much-needed break until her breathing and heart rate slowed down.
Tori can push herself a bit too hard sometimes, which was why training by herself was always a risk. She needed that person to tell her that she's had enough and to hit the showers. Her trainer, Vito, couldn't make it for today's workout so Tori was on her own this time.
"Thought I'd find you here!"
Tori smirked as she knew that voice and turned her head to see her agent, Ralph Deering.
The man seemed to only own bowling shirts, in every color and pattern possible. Being a Hollywood agent, he stood out from the crowd as he wasn't slicking back his hair (what's left of it anyway) and refused to wear some lame grey or black suit.
"What's the story, Ralph?" asked Tori, with a sigh.
"Nothing much," he shrugged. "Heard everybody's excited for the movie."
She stood up and stretched.
"Yeah, I guess."
"How's Ari?" he asked.
"He's good. Taking a sabbatical to Greece to see family. Told him to send me a postcard."
Ralph chuckled.
"You probably were excited to get that shoot done and over with."
"Am I that transparent?" Tori grinned.
It was understood that Tori didn't mind car stunts, she just preferred being inside the vehicle. You can flip it, crash it, drive it into the river; but being affixed to the hood (which got very hot when the engine was running!) was too much.
"Mmmm..." he mused.
"What?" huffed Tori.
"I may have another movie lined up already."
Tori threw her towel down.
"Really? What?"
"It's the new Shelby Marx picture!" he said in that old-timey mogul voice.
(Who does he think he is; Louis B. Mayer?)
"The title is: DOUBLE AGENT JESSICA!"
"Here we go..." Tori sighed.
"And she wants you to be her double for some of the fight scenes and, obviously the dangerous gags!"
Tori stepped forward and pointed at her agent.
"I swear to God, Ralph; if you don't drop that stupid showbiz accent, I'm going to kill you!"
"Sorry," he winced, returning to his normal speaking voice.
Tori mulled over the title.
"Double Agent Jessica...wasn't that a TV show?"
"Yes!" he beamed with a victorious fist. "And this is the big movie adaptation."
Tori groaned.
"What's wrong? I thought you liked Shelby!"
"I saw for like...a day!" Tori shrugged. "For that stupid movie she did where her boyfriend's crazy ex tried to murder her."
Ralph really couldn't contain his enthusiasm.
"And she remembered you, isn't that great?"
"Of course she remembered me!" Tori rolled her eyes. "I was pushed out of a window for her!"
He slapped her shoulder.
"Oh, come on. That was a pretty hefty payout for one day's work! Who knew defenestration was a premium rate?"
Tori looked at him confused.
"De-what?"
"Defenestration," he stressed. "The act of getting thrown out of a window? I know I couldn't believe there was a word for that either!"
The Latina facepalmed.
"That's not it!"
"Then, what's the issue?" Ralph asked.
"Because this is going to be her first action movie and she's gonna wander onto the set and not know anything! Movie stars who try to experiment are just the worst. I'm probably going to have to train Shelby, the whole deal! I can't just get in and do my thing; I have to hold little miss leading lady by the fucking hand!"
There was a long pause.
"So you'll do it?" he asked.
"I gotta eat, don't I?" Tori threw up her hands. "Fuck's sake."
Ralph grinned and gave her the finger guns.
"You're a legend, Vega!"
Jade was absolutely spent when she dropped the last box from her car. She couldn't believe she was able to fit so much in her Honda Civic.
The woman groaned when she remembered that she had no couch to collapse on.
Not only did the previous tenant leave the apartment spotless, but they also managed to only not leave a single piece of furniture or anything. There wasn't even a coffee maker. Jade was aware that chances are she was going to move into an unfurnished space, but it doesn't hit you until you are surrounded your stuff and no place to rest your tired ass.
The job was pretty much in the bag, but Jade's grandpa still gave her some advice. Kind of a superstitious man, he said it may be bad luck to buy a bunch of furniture before she got the handshake from her boss. It was annoying, but he had point. Without the brief interview over the phone and the recommendation from her professor, Jade's travel to the west coast would have looked insane.
Wait until after the in-person interview and have it in writing that she's got the job. Then Jade could worry about furniture shopping.
She would just have to grin and bear it for at least tonight. Luckily, she came prepared.
Jade found her old sleeping bag from college and unfurled it on the grey carpet.
Her luck wasn't perfect as she neglected to bring a pillow when she left home.
(I knew I should've swiped one from that motel in Des Moines.)
She improvised using a stack of her folded shirts.
(Maybe the others back home shouldn't look at me right now. Give it a few days and then check up on little old me!)
Jade hung up her outfit for tomorrow, the same midpoint between business and business/casual she wore for her college admission. Hopefully it's good luck with interviews hadn't run out in the long car ride.
It had only just gotten dark, but Jade wanted to not be late. Plus, she was an early riser anyway. If there was one thing Jade detested it was feeling rushed in the morning. Besides, no food or a means of brewing up some java meant she had to pick up breakfast on the way in.
"Welp," she sighed. "First night in Hollyweird!"
She set her phone's alarm, plugged it into the charger right by her head and drifted off to sleep.
A/N: I thought it would be fun to reference Liz Gillies' actual place of origin. Rather than have her be an L.A. native, it would give her some additional interest how she's this out-of-towner in a strange land.
Also, Jade's apartment is beat for beat the EXACT apartment I had when I first moved out. Right down to the bizarre windows. It was small but it was mine! Feels like a lifetime ago and I wasn't in Hollywood, that's for sure.