Page 1 of From the Moment We Met

Chapter One

Jacob

If one more person walked past him and said, “better luck next time” or “you should have won,” he’d punch them in the throat. Externally, Jacob fit the picture of a dignified, gracious actor. But internally, he was seething.

He wheeled his suitcase towards the airline gate, returning to London defeated instead of a celebrated victor. Granted, most folks wouldn’t see it that way.

Jacob was the definition of a Hollywood success story—lead roles in blockbuster films, million-dollar endorsement deals and adoring fans who would endure a hailstorm for an autograph. Despite these accolades, he felt like an utter failure.

He was snapped from his reverie by a squeaky voice at his side. “Excuse me, Mr. Edmonton, may I have your autograph?” Gazing down, he saw a girl of about six with a wide toothless grin; she reminded him of his niece, Elizabeth.

For the first time in the last twelve hours, his smile was genuine as he knelt by the little girl. “I'm honored. What’s your name?”

“Susan.”

Jacob chuckled as it came out “Thuthan”, skewed by a lack of front teeth. His gaze drifted to Susan’s mother, ogling him like an alligator eyeballing a ribeye. He always enjoyed a good romp, and she looked like a willing participant, but Jacob was in no mood, even for sex. Ignoring her carnal stare, he signed Susan’s paper, adding a smiley face below his signature.

The little girl beamed, first at the autograph and then at him. “My mommy says you’re the most handsome actor ever and she wouldn’t have dumped you for that Latin singer.”

Jacob glanced back to the mother, her face paling at her daughter’s candor. “Come Susan, let’s leave this nice man alone.” With a nod, the duo departed down the airport corridor.

Jacob arrived at his gate and slumped into a seat, pulling his hat over his dark blonde curls. He hoped the beard and long hair would disguise him from the public eye, but his attempt was moot. His reputation in the last few months preceded him, thanks to the relentless media tracking his every move.

His life wasn’t always media fodder. Jacob spent years training to be a serious actor whose primary—and only—focus was his craft. Then he met Victoria, and life as he knew it unraveled.

Victoria—one of the biggest names in show business—was a larger-than-life singer both on and off the stage. It didn’t matter that her talent was mediocre; Victoria was a marketing legend. Her entourage tailed her everywhere, with assistants fulfilling every whim from applying makeup to walking her teacup chihuahua.

Her personality was exhausting and demands relentless, but Victoria epitomized beauty. She was an Amazon at six feet, with platinum waves cascading over her silicone implants. But it was her eyes, emerald green too bright to be natural that stopped you dead in your tracks. And Jacob should know, she hooked him the moment their eyes connected at a charity event.

Jacob's friends bombarded him with warnings when he returned from the bar with Victoria by his side. Her reputation as a femme fatale was well deserved. She possessed an extensive line of past lovers, and once they outlived their usefulness, were swept into a black hole beyond moral and critical reprieve. God help anyone who angered her; she had a legion of fans serving as ruthless foot soldiers, defending her honor at all costs. It was her very own teenage, hormonally-charged Mafioso.

But it didn’t matter. Warnings from friends fell on deaf ears once Jacob tasted her forbidden fruit. Her sexual prowess should have been a red flag for Jacob, she had more tricks than a prostitute. It was a relationship built on pure lust, as fiery and superficial as the town in which they worked.

Their romance burned out within months, and the media buzzed around the dying carcass before Jacob knew the cause of death. It turned out monogamy was only a requirement on his end of the deal. Victoria had screwed at least six other men during their courtship.

He swore he would never fall prey to the wiles of a woman again, his life would be filled with unforgettable films and nameless fucks, a rotating lineup of starlets and models. The rotating lineup was easy enough. He never wanted for company, but after a couple weeks in bed with a different woman every night, the thrill was gone. To get even with Victoria, he behaved exactly as she had, but it left him cold and empty. Hell, he couldn’t even be bothered with the last woman; he sent her packing from his hotel room only fifteen minutes after her arrival. She was as stimulating as a post-it note.

Time to refocus on what was important, his acting career. But he soon realized the awful truth; the world now considered him a media darling instead of a serious thespian.

Jacob was the shoo-in for the Best Actor award. His latest movie was box office gold; a fast-paced adventure about a doctor working in Africa amongst the toils of revolution. The movie grossed 150 million dollars the first week, while critics and fans alike raved about the film and its leading man.

However, his breakup with Victoria surfaced in the tabloids, along with eyewitness accounts of Jacob pleading for a second chance. It didn’t matter that he never begged Victoria to return; the media concocted their version of events and the public ate it up. His reputation, carefully sculpted through the years, was ruined.

Jacob’s buzzing phone interrupted his mental pity party, but he shut it off without looking at the screen. He wasn’t in the mood for a pep talk with his agent. A few seconds later, it buzzed again, and once again Jacob shut it off without a glance. Only after the phone vibrated a third time, with palpable urgency, did he look at the screen.

It was Audrey, his sister-in-law. Why in hell was she calling? She made no secret of her contempt for Jacob and his egoist lifestyle. They were close once, in fact, he convinced his parents that his sister could still be the quintessential daughter with the white picket fence and 2.5 kids, even with a wife instead of a husband.

Sighing, Jacob answered the phone. “Yeah?”

“Jakey? It’s Janie. I misplaced my phone, and I wanted to check on you.” His baby sister, Janie—the kindest soul he’d ever known—choked out her words.

Sitting straighter, he adjusted the phone. “Janie, are you okay? You sound out of breath.”

“I’m hiding from Audrey. If she sees who I called when I borrowed her phone—” Janie broke off in a flurry of coughing.

Jacob chuckled at an image of Audrey chasing Janie down a London street, yelling about contemptible siblings. Janie’s innocuous cough cut his laughter short, bringing him back to the conversation. “Are you sick?”

“Who knows? I’ve had this awful cold for the last couple weeks. I can’t seem to shake it. Mum made me her famous ginger concoction. Remember when she used to feed us that mess? I swore the virus would run away screaming at one whiff of that glop.”

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