Page 40 of And They Had a Great Fall

He put an arm around her waist and brought her physically into their circle. He rubbed her hip with his thumb and gazed at her as she met all his fellow cast members. Her hands stopped shaking as he drew her closer to him, but she still felt jittery. She couldn’t decipher her feelings. In her day-to-day life, Kat often felt needed—by Becca, by her job, even by Jake. But the way he was looking at her made her feel wanted. Desired and special. Having a man want her—especially a man as passionate as Jake—stirred up emotions she had long since buried.

She vaguely recognized his other cast members. The conversation turned to the social media chatter. There was a flurry of apologies, but all were dismissive of its longevity. Each person launched into a story of their own of a private moment gone public. The more she listened she became innately curious: why they would choose this life at all? One devoid of privacy and full of scrutiny. She posed the question to the group and received different versions of the same answer. It wasn’t a choice:

“It was the only thing I was ever called to do.”

“I don’t know how to be anything else.”

“It’s the only way I feel alive.”

“I have to create.”

“If I hadn’t found acting, I think I’d be dead by now.”

They all agreed that the celebrity side of fame was the hardest part, but the art was inside their soul. It was who they were as humans, and separating themselves from their craft was an impossible task. She watched Jake as they were speaking. He remained silent but nodded along. She was beginning to understand the intense struggle she often felt radiating from Jake. Acting, living with your heart on the outside, would give hima sense of being human, while simultaneously trapping him in a life of public scrutiny.

Jake leaned over and whispered that he wanted to introduce her to Garren, who had just finished a conversation with his partner and the waitstaff. He pulled her out of the circle toward the back of the room. As they approached, she once again felt her hands start to shake. She was officially intimidated by the formidable man in front of her. He towered over her, his shocking blond hair falling over his forehead. His eyes fixed on her as if there were no one else in the room. His role and relationship to everyone in the room was palpable. There was no question he was their leader.

“Great to meet you, Kat, officially,” said Garren, shaking her hand. She cringed inside, realizing he would remember anyone that visited his set, especially one that created a flurry of gossip. It wasn’t the best first impression. Jake tightened his arm around her waist, and she let out a breath as she felt his protection.

“I’m sure you hear this all the time, but your movie,Ticket, just broke me … in a good way. I cried for an hour after I left the theater. Come to think of it,Numbdid that to me, too. I’m rambling, but I just wanted to say that I love your movies. I’m hopingTicketandNumbare part of a trilogy … sorry, I’ll stop now.”

Kat couldn’t keep herself from gushing over the Oscar-winning director. It wasn’t like her to be scattered—she sounded more like Jake than herself. She spied Jake smirking, and she imperceptibly elbowed him. Kat was nervous, and she could tell it amused him.

Garren smiled and bowed his head for a moment. “That’s very gracious, Kat, thank-you. And a trilogy just might be in the works, perhaps next year.” He gave her a wink. “Jake says you’re the head of product for PathMobile. What a great company. I love the new 4.6P. It’s been a game changer. I can stream dailies right to my device,” he said, holding up his mobile phone.

This was a topic she knew well, which allowed her heart to stop racing and her brain to settle down. She became markedly less awkward talking about mobile devices than movies. “Then you’ll love our virtual assistant coming out over the holidays. I’ll send you one. We just launched the pre-orders here in Denmark, and I have my hands on a few. It’ll have all the power of the 4.6, but with a much larger display and increased voice technology.”

Garren clasped his hands together. “Wonderful!”

A wave of relief rolled through her. She really wanted to change her first impression. She knew how important Garren was to Jake. She pulled out her phone and typed a quick note to remind her to get one of the PVAs to Garren.

“So, Kat, what brought you to Copenhagen?” Garren asked.

She didn’t really know how much to reveal, so she went with the truth. “We have a regional office here, so I came for work,” she paused. “Oh, and this guy.” She motioned to Jake, who grinned and nudged her shoulder.

“Well,” Garren started, “this guy is killing it. Really Jake, you’re giving us a brilliant performance. I was watching the footage from this morning, and it’s exactly what I was looking for.”

Kat beamed at Jake. When she’d arrived, she’d found a man with his confidence shaken, deep in a hole dug by his own fear and anger. She’d watched Jake pull himself out and now, judging by what she was hearing from Garren, he’d found his way back.

Jake said a quiet thank-you to his director, and to her surprise he elaborated. “Actually, Kat has been instrumental in helping me find the characterization and physicality of Tom. You know I struggled for a while, but she was key to helping me work through it.”

She could feel heat rising to her face.

Garren raised his glass as if to toast, locked eyes with Kat, and simply said, “Thank-you.”

Kat shook her head and protested. “Not true at all. He’s giving me too much credit. He—” She was interrupted by Garren’s partner’s booming voice asking everyone to take their seats.

They moved toward the tables and Jake grasped her arm, pulling her away from the group meandering to their seats. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Hey, why’d you do that? Don’t sell yourself short. Youdidhelp me find the character,” he said, and she could hear the earnestness in his voice.

But Kat needed him to understand that it was inside him all along. She put her hand on his cheek for a moment and looked at him intently. She felt so much love for the creative soul in front of her. “Jake, I didn’t help you find a character. I’ve been helping you findyou.”

He closed his eyes for a moment before he covered her hand with his and took a breath. When he opened his eyes, he took her hand off his cheek and kissed it. “Let’s sit,” he said, gesturing to the table.

They found their name cards and sat down in the center of the long table. Kat introduced herself to Garren’s partner, seated to her left. She spied the name card across from her: Sloan Stevens. She smoothed her hair and tugged at the hem of her shirt, wishing she hadn’t come straight from work. Kat wasn’t used to a world built on physical beauty. Up until now, she prided herself on favoring practical efficiency over anything extra. And Sloan Stevens was all kinds of extra. Looking around the table, she tried to be casual, but honestly, she was starstruck.

Sloan sat down with a flourish, her attention focusing only on Jake. “Hey, here, in case you need it,” she said, and tossed a package on the table. It slid toward them, dangerously close to knocking over Kat’s wine glass.

He didn’t pick it up. Kat looked at him, eyebrows raised. Jake ignored Sloan and turned his body toward Kat. “It’s an edible. It takes the edge off. It’s the oldest actor trick in the books.We’re all anxious and hungry as hell all the time.” He laughed and gestured around the table. “I bet half this room is high on something.”

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