"JJ, I would like you to meet Spencer Reid. He's written quite a few good scripts mostly for sci-fi TV shows. He's won several awards. Spencer this is Jennifer Jareau."
"Hi," Spencer said rather shyly.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you," JJ said shaking his hand, causing Spencer to blush all the way to the tips of his ears.
"I've been wanting to introduce you for sometime," Aaron said. "Spencer is very talented in writing scripts for sci-fi and fantasy."
"It's nice to meet you too, Miss Jareau," Spencer said politely.
"Just JJ will do," JJ said. "There's no reason to be so formal."
"JJ then," Spencer said after a pause. "It was nice to meet you, but I had better get back to work."
Aaron and JJ left and once they were out of earshot JJ asked, "Okay, what was the purpose of that meeting?"
"Nothing really, except to introduce you to someone I like very much and is a good friend. He's just incredibly shy, mostly around females. He does have some friends, me included, but anybody new just takes him awhile to warm up to."
"So he's not a people person or is at least shy around females and yet he works in this place where there is hundreds of people all over, even if he doesn't have anything to do with most of them."
"He's very talented and it took a lot to convince him to work for the studio," Aaron said. "He was originally going to join the FBI, the behavioral analyst unit and while I have no doubt he would've done good work, I can just see the other agents resenting him, because he's not the usual type and also because he was incredibly young at the time. I knew he would go far, as he had won several story contests in college and he was already very good writer, even though he wasn't quite 20. Once he graduated we had already signed a deal and he came to work for the studio. I paid to move him out here to California because he didn't have much money. His mother couldn't help as she is in a sanitarium in Las Vegas."
"And his father," JJ asked.
"His father is useless," Aaron snorted in contempt, shaking his head. "From what little Spencer has told me about him he abandoned his wife and children when Spencer was 10. I don't have many details on that. From what I understand William Reid, Spencer's father, refused to pay child support, even though he makes good money as an attorney, so Spencer had to figure out a way to take care of himself and his mother."
"Some of those writing contest come with big cash prizes," JJ realized.
"Yes, they do and he won quite a few of them. The money helped see him, and his mother through until he left at 14 to go to college. I didn't discover him until he was in college for several years, but one of his works caught my attention. It was very well written for a 16 year old and to prove it, it won the contest."
"So you mentioned children," JJ said.
"He has a sister," Aaron explained. "His sister is just as intelligent as he is and went to college at the same time. She lives in Los Angeles too, but didn't come to work for the studio. She also has a better social skills and is definitely more confident in herself then Spencer is. She made sure I knew what she would do to me if I did something she didn't like."
"A what? 16-year-old told you that?" JJ chuckled.
"18, nearly 19 actually, as she's only a little over a year younger. She's just very protective of her brother, which I can appreciate, since Spencer took care of her when the mother couldn't," Aaron said. "Both of them were nearly done with their college education by the time I discovered them. I think Spencer stayed a couple extra years at home until his sister was ready to go to college to. That's just a guess on my part though, but I can see him not wanting to leave her behind, to handle their mother on her own."
"So who looked after their mother with both of them gone?"
"They had an arrangement with some of the neighbors, to look after her, make sure she ate at least, took a bath, got into fresh clothes. They were warned to be careful though as the mother could be violent if she didn't recognize them."
"So what kind of disease does she have?" JJ asked.
"Schizophrenia," Aaron said. "It's actually the sister, Rochelle, that told me that, once she realized I only had the best of intentions, as Spencer doesn't like to talk about it and I don't blame him. While Spencer won quite a bit in some of those contests, he had to choose carefully as a lot of them included public appearances. Some of those contacts you can win up to $10,000."
"That's a lot," JJ whistled appreciatively
"Yes, it is, but most of the contests he won had smaller prizes like 100 or 500 for the grand prize winner. It was certainly enough to buy groceries and clothes and things, so long as they were careful on what they spent, but not pay for utilities or the mother's medication. Once he got to college he could enter into the bigger contests, as he wasn't a child anymore, even if he was still young. He entered every contest he could he told me, mostly ones involving sci-fi and fantasy, as he loves shows like Star Trek and Dr. Who."
"Well, I think he did well for himself," JJ said. "He and his sister found a way to survive without resorting to thievery or some other crime to get money."
"Yes, he did. I'm really proud of him, even though I didn't know him back in those days. You don't want to know what I want to do to the father," Aaron added his expression rather upset.
"I can't blame you for being mad at the father, as he seems like lousy human being," JJ said. "I would never abandon my sons for anything."
"Yes, he is a lousy human being," Aaron chuckled appreciatively, though it came out sounding sardonic, instead of amused. "Spencer is making far more now than he ever would have in the FBI. He's paid quite well for every script he submits that's accepted and nearly all of them are. He might not make as much as I do, but then few people do. He works mostly from home. I knew he had come in today, which is why I wanted to introduce you."
"I would just like to inform the father how well his son and daughter are really doing and watch him have a heart attack," JJ said chuckling wickedly.
"While that would be very amusing, it's probably not a good idea," Aaron said. "I'm sure the father would try his best to get the money his children earned, as he just seems like that type. The type that is so sure that his children will never succeed in life and when they do wants at least a part of their hard work, just to make him go away. I can think of several things the father could do to try to get at least some of their money, including blackmail."
"I suppose that while I would like to see the father brought low it's not a good idea," JJ sighed in disappointment. "Spencer and his sister don't need the kind of trouble it would likely bring."
"No, it's not, though I wish we could do that," Aaron said. "In any case, Spencer and Rochelle paid me back for helping them with expenses once they had solid ground under their feet."
"So they probably think of you like a brother," JJ said. "You're not that much older 10 years or so. You helped look after their futures and they're bound to be grateful for that."
"More like fifteen for Spencer and 17 for Rochelle," Aaron snorted, with laughter in his voice "and yes, they were very grateful. I really didn't expect to be paid back, but both of them insisted and I didn't want to wound their pride. They didn't want to seem like they were just taking money from me, though borrowing is a different thing altogether. They both make good money now, more than enough to support themselves, even in California."
"I would love to meet the sister," JJ said.
"You will eventually," Aaron said. "I invite them to every dinner party I have. Spencer isn't really comfortable around a lot of people that he doesn't know, so I'm sure it's his sister that gets him to come. Also, I only invite people that he knows well, when I invite him. David Rossi, he is one of the directors, Alex Blake who is one of the actresses, Emily Prentiss..."
"Oh, yes, I know Emily, she's one of my best friends," JJ said. "We've known each other since we were children."
"How do you think I learned about you," Aaron chuckled.
"Emily mentioned me," JJ said in realization. "I bet you anything she was trying to play matchmaker. That would be just like her."
"She showed me a picture and I was immediately attracted," Aaron admitted. "After that, I wanted to ask you out, so she kept me informed if you were dating or not."
JJ decided that she was going have to have a word with Emily about setting her up. Had Emily known that she had a crush on Aaron Hotchner? It was quite possible, as her friend was very perceptive.
"I know Alex to, just so you know, though I haven't known her as long as I've known Emily," JJ said. "We've become good friends. She isn't all arrogant, rude and demanding for one thing like so many actors and actresses are."
"Well, you would be familiar with most actors, since you design a lot of costumes," Aaron said. "There is also Penelope Garcia who is very good on computers and editing footage together. Derek Morgan, who is one of the stuntmen and is also a good friend, Jason Gideon and finally Kate Callahan."
"So you're good friends consists of half women," JJ said
"I can't help who I'm close to," Aaron shrugged. "I know what you're asking and I'll tell you that was one of Haley's major problems. She thought I was cheating on her with one or all of the women I know, but I respect talent and all of them are very talented in their different fields. I didn't go seeking those friendships they just happened."
"So Haley mistook your friendships for something more," JJ said believing Aaron, as he was just to honorable to cheat.
"Haley was jealous of all the beautiful stars I hung around. She was sure I was fucking every single one of them. I think part of her cheating had to do with revenge for supposedly cheating on her, even when she had no proof I was."
"Relationships can be so fucked up," JJ said shaking her head. "Humans are a jealous species."
"Yes, they can be," Aaron agreed. "I want someone that's going to trust I'm not cheating on them unless I actually am, as there are signs. Haley should've been able to see the signs and I told her I wasn't cheating on her, but she was so jealous and suspicious of every female I encountered, unless they were senior citizens, so that the fact, I wasn't cheating at all went right over her head."
"That's not really love then," JJ said and Aaron agreed. "When you really love someone you trust them to be loyal to you and trust that they aren't cheating on you unless they have proof you actually are. Haley probably listened to the rumors that went around about you and should have known that they were a load of tripe. Actors, actresses and movie people in general just love to gossip, but that doesn't mean that the gossip is true. Also, those rags that call themselves newspapers just love to make up stories about people like you. Haley should've known you well enough to know that you weren't to type to cheat."
Aaron was nodding at what his girlfriend was saying because JJ was absolutely correct. Rumors did go around a movie studio and the tabloids were always looking for connections to famous stars. Whether it was true or not a lot of people believed it, including Haley.
"Let's just forget about Haley. She's out of my life. It doesn't matter if she gets jealous that I'm seeing someone else, as we are divorced now, so I can see anyone I like," Aaron said.
The two of them enjoyed a pleasant day together, as JJ met more people than she ever had before. People that normally didn't pay attention to someone like her, not because they were stuck up, but mostly, because they just didn't have time. There were a few though, that were very stuck up that JJ had met over the years and that she didn't want anything to do with.
Aaron couldn't blame her for that, as some actors or anybody really, could be stuck up, but so long as they were good at what they did people put up with them.
~~~Aaron and JJ~~~