by Chloe Summer
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‘There’s a fuckboy if I’ve ever seen one.’ Katy whispered in Liana’s ear the first time she saw Jason, strutting from the break-room like he owned the place. His wavy gold locks tucked under a backwards cap and his apron only done up at the waist so the top fell down the front, Jason looked as if this were his one-hundredth day, not his first.
‘A what?’ Liana asked when she saw what Katy was talking about.
‘A fuckboy.’ Katy clarified, biting the bottom of her lip with apparent hunger as she eyed him off. Liana, knowing her friend only too well, could only roll her eyes. ‘It’s the kind of guy that adds you on Snapchat just to try and get you to send nudes.’
‘What? Guys don’t actually do that do they?’ Liana asked sceptically. At least the guys that she usually dated didn’t.
‘Either way, makes sure you give him my Snapchat OK? Thanks. By.’ Katy finished up, still eyeing the fresh meat coming her way.
‘I will if you leave right now.’ Liana said, indicating for Katy to leave. ‘I don’t need you around mentally undressing him while I train.’
‘Yo teach.’ Jason approached her and Katy, feigning a military stance as he did. ‘Reporting for duty.’
Offering Jason a wink, Katy ducked out of the way, leaving Liana too it. ‘Will you cut that out?’ She said, pretending to be annoyed.
‘Oh right. Of course.’ Jason said earnestly, dropping the shtick straight away. ‘I guess you’d prefer the attentive college grad? He’s only here on weekends but because he’s an over achiever he’s still going to be the best darn Starbucks barista there ever was.’ In a split second Jason’s attitude turned to stern and serious; crossing his arms while holding his finger up to his chin attentively.
Liana rolled her eyes, purposefully not smiling. My god he was annoying.
‘First thing is first. What’s bigger? A venti or a grande?’ Jason asked, trying not to smirk at his own hilarity. ‘I always get those two confused.’
And so the tone was set. Jason was an actor, or at least he claimed to be. And as most actors are, he was loud, over the top and constantly thriving to be the centre of attention. And of course everybody found him to be hilarious.
‘How many times do you think I can slip the phrase ‘thanks a latte,’ into a conversation before the customer realises?’ He joked as Liana tried to teach him the basic differences between cold pressed coffee and single drip.
And it wasn’t just jokes and funny quips. As she tried to show him how to steam the milk his natural instinct was to make a ‘mooing’ noise, acting as if he were being milked. This was of course greeted by thunderous laughter and cheering from her co-workers. To Jason the whole world was a stage, one he needed to be at the centre of.
There was one thing that Liana did like about Jason, at least for now. And that was his passion. When he wasn't goofing around trying to make somebody laugh, he was talking about acting. That’s all he wanted to do, something that he would do anything for. It was a passion that Liana knew only too well.
--
By the end of the day, Liana was pretty sure that Jason hadn’t learned a thing. Mr Jenkins had specified that he was to be on barista duty, but his total apathy and unwillingness to learn had he redesignated to the checkout.
Feeling confident that she could leave him alone, Liana started up her end of day tasks. Ones that always began with wiping down the tables. Spray and wipe, back and forth, spray and wipe, back and forth. It was mind numbing stuff. It didn’t matter though as Liana liked to use this time to think. And, as was her life, more often than not her thoughts would turn to her screenplay. She was close to finishing it. So close. It was just the ending that she was having trouble with. She just couldn’t find that inspiration to close the thing out. This was a constant problem that Liana had been having. She had the willingness, she just didn’t have the…
…and besides. What did it matter when, or if, she finished the screenplay anyway? She knew that she would never send it out. Just the thought of sending it to that agent made her shiver with fear. What if he didn’t like it? What if he told her it was no good --,
‘That one, right there. Are you telling me you don’t know what it is?’ A voice bellowed from the front counter, just behind Liana.
‘Of course I do!’ The voice of Jason replied, clearly angry.
Snapping from her thoughts Liana spun around to see what the commotion was. She rolled her eyes when she saw that it was Jason, currently embroiled in a yelling match with a young business man in a suit.
‘Then prove it. Tell me what that one says. Right there.’ The business man ordered, pointing up at the Starbucks drink menu.
Jason looked up at the board, then back at the man. In the entire day that Liana had known him, she’d never seen Jason look uncomposed. Not once. Even when he made a mistake he somehow managed to make it look like it was on purpose. But right now, looking from the board to business man, he looked terrified.
‘What? You can’t read or something?’ The business man asked suddenly realising what the problem was. ‘Is that it?’ He finished, beginning to laugh now.
‘Of course I can read!’ Jason replied, looking more and more embarrassed. The entire population of the Starbucks was watching the encounter now. Jason was, as always the centre of attention. Only this time it was clear that he didn’t want to be.
‘OK then. That size right there? Third one down? What is it? I want that sized latte, skim milk.’ The business man mocked as he continued to point. ‘Come on handsome. It’s a two syllable word.’
About to intervene, Liana was saved from having to by Katy of all people. She popped up beside Jason, a venti latte in her hand. ‘This was the one he…what he was ordering,’ she spoke softly, handing the coffee to Jason.
Face flushed with rage, Jason took the coffee, gripping it firmly as his hand shook. The business man, not noticing, or caring for that matter, held his hand out expectantly, expecting Jason to just hand him the coffee.
Liana could see what Jason was going to do before he did it. In fact, she probably could have stopped him if she really wanted. The moment seemed to go on for ages as the customer held his hand out, waiting for his coffee to simply be handed to him. And yet, she didn’t stop it. Really she wanted it to happen. Her opinion on Jason has just changed in an instant and she wanted to see him get revenge. And so he did.
‘You want your coffee?’ Jason asked the customer, smirking to himself. ‘Here, take it.’ Squeezing down on the plastic coffee cup so the lid burst off the top, Jason flung the hot coffee at the business man, making sure to cover his nice new suit.
As the customer screamed and cursed, Jason tore off his apron, throwing it in the air as if in declaration of his quitting. Then, before it hit the floor, he was out the door. Gone.
As the staff rushed to the aid of the business man, Liana went back to wiping down the tables. Now however, her thoughts were filled with those of Jason Kobe. One day was all the enigmatic young actor was able to last at the Starbucks on Hollywood Boulevard. It was a shame really, Liana thought to herself as she finished up what was left of her shift. After seeing Jason put on the spot like that, ridiculed and mocked, her attitude toward the young trouble maker had completely changed. It was a side that she hadn’t seen yet. A side that proved he wasn’t all jokes and antics. Hell, she thought, given time she may have even grown to like him.
CHAPTER THREE
An Indecent Proposal
The sun was just beginning to set over the Hollywood Hills as Liana left work that evening. It had only been an hour, maybe two, since the one-time employee Jason had quit in dramatic fashion and already Liana was beginning to forget about him. By tomorrow she was sure he would be a memory and the day after he would barely even register as that.
‘Hey, Liana!’ A voice yelled out. To her surprise it was Jason, running across the car park towards her. ‘Hold up a second.’
More confused than anything, Liana didn’t stop when she s
aw him. In fact she didn’t even slow down. What the hell could he want? She thought as she picked up her pace slightly. When he did eventually reach her she offered him little more than a quite ‘Oh, hi.’
‘I didn’t think you were ever going to come out.’ He said, falling into step beside her.
‘You were waiting for me?’
‘Of course.’ He responded, not in the least bit concerned with how that might sound. His confidence and lack of caring indicated that he was back to his old, over-confident ways. That shy, embarrassed boy from earlier was clearly a onetime deal.
‘Ah OK…’ Liana said. ‘Why?’
‘I wanted to apologize. For earlier.’
Confused, Liana slowed her pace slightly. ‘Apologize? What for?’
‘For how I acted…with that customer. You were put in charge of me and…and I just hope that I didn’t get you in trouble or anything?’ He offered, earnestly.
To put it simply, Liana was shocked. This was the last thing she had expected, especially from someone like Jason. And quite frankly, she wasn’t buying it. He didn’t strike her as the humble type and the fact that he had gone out of his way to apologize….yes, he was definitely up to something.
‘Don’t worry about it. Really. The only person who would have gotten in trouble quit, so…’
‘What a selfless act.’
Liana tried not to laugh. She sensed that he was coming to the real reason why he was here. She just wanted him to get it over with so she could say no, go home and it would all be over with.
‘Anyway, I still wanted to make it up to you.’ Jason said. ‘And I was thinking, there’s this great place --,’
‘I’m going to stop you there.’ Liana interjected, pulling up as she did.
‘What?’ Jason asked, also forced to come to a halt.
She knew that this was coming. The inevitable ‘ask out.’ Just to be clear, this wasn’t a case of Liana having tickets on herself. This was a case of Liana being a realist. No doubt she was pretty; a petite body with long auburn hair and big brown eyes to match. But that wasn’t the point. Liana was the type of girl that boys liked to ask out, most likely because they thought she was the type of girl who would say yes. But she wasn’t. She had a type and it wasn’t this.
‘Yeah...’ Liana scoffed as she picked up her pace again, forcing Jason to follow suit. ‘I’m sure that you were really aching to apologize. Such was the pain in your heart that you had to wait around and see me.’
Maybe she was being a little harsh here. But it had been a long day; from the embarrassing situation with the agent through to this moment right now.
‘What do you mean?’ Jason asked, ignorant of what Liana was suggesting.
‘If you want to ask me out just…just get it over with so I can say no. It’s not personal but I really need to be getting home.’
‘You think that’s what I’m doing?’
‘Well aren’t you?’ Liana responded, not so sure she had read the situation correctly now. God, what was up with this guy? He had the ability to turn a moment completely on its head in an instant. Was this just another act or was he being earnest for once?
‘Wow. I didn’t pick you as the type?’ He said, even managing to sound disappointed in Liana and the way she acted. He had suddenly made it seem like she was in the wrong.
‘What, no I didn’t…I just assumed that you were…Look. I’m sorry. Really. It’s been a long day…although that’s no excuse. I should have waited to see what you were going to ask.’ She stumbled over her words. ‘Now what were you going to ask me?’
‘You’re a writer aren’t you?’’
‘Well yeah…’
‘I want to show you something. Something that will really help you with your writing.’
‘What makes you think I need help?’
‘Nothing.’ Jason assured. ‘I just have a lot of writer friends and they swear that this is one of the best things to do. To you know...get their juices flowing and all that.’
Was he serious? Did he think that giving her some new meditating positions was going to make her suddenly go all goo-goo eyed? ‘What are you talking about?’ Liana finally asked.
‘We’re here.’ Jason came to a sudden stop, forcing Liana to do the same. He then indicated to the building in front of them, as if this answered the question.
Liana looked the building up and down, noting how depressingly normal it was. It was just an inconspicuous bar that Liana passed literally every day on her way to work, or at least she thought that she did. Truth be told, this bar was so plain looking that she couldn’t even remember it. ‘This place? What about it?’
‘It’s a stand-up comedy bar.’ Jason announced, the excitement, obvious in his voice. ‘A real underground place. And, as luck would have it, tonight is amateur ad-lib night. Can you believe it?’ He smirked, as if this were all the explanation it needed.
Unfortunately for Jason, Liana wasn’t buying what he was selling…whatever that might have been? She wasn’t an actress, she was a writer. A point she was quick to point out.
‘I know, I know,’ he assured her as he grabbed her by the arm, attempting to literally drag her inside the bar.
‘Will you get off?’ Liana yelled, yanking her arm from his grip. ‘Jesus. What’s the matter with you?’
The normal person would have been embarrassed, maybe even apologetic. But not Jason. Instead he fixed her with a look that suggested shock at her resisting him. ‘I told you. My writer friends said it the best thing to do to get your juices flowing --,’
‘Can you please stop saying that?’
‘I thought it might be fun to give it a try? Trust me.’ He held his hand out for her to take; similar to earlier in the day when he convinced her he wasn’t real. Only this time he was, and his passion and natural charm were slowly winning Liana over.
‘Just to watch right?’ Liana asked, slowly taking his hand.
‘What? No. We’re going to take part in it silly.’
As quick as a flash, Liana yanked her hand from his as if it were on fire. ‘What? Oh no no no no no.’ She took a quick couple of steps back too, as if the idea were a literal snake threatening to bite her.
‘Don’t worry.’ Jason burst out laughing trying what seemed to be his hardest to control himself. ‘You don’t have to get up on stage. That’s what I’m here for.’
‘Really?’ Liana asked.
‘Basically an audience member…me…get up on stage to act out a scene from a chosen movie. The other audience members then shout out movies to mix the scene in with. Like a movie ad-lib. The idea is to get me to forget what role I’m playing and mess up. I thought you might want to sit in the audience and contribute towards trying to embarrass me?’
Truth be told, when Jason mentioned that he had a way to help her ‘creative juices,’ as he put it, Liana’s heart did skip a minor beat. She had been struggling to finish her screenplay and was desperate to try almost anything…within reason. And surely, watching a few actors perform ad-lib fell into that category?
‘Embarrass you, you say?’ Liana asked, not wanting to admit the real reason she was interested.
‘Dreadfully embarrass.’ He smirked.
--
The bar was exactly as Liana had thought it would be. A hole-in-the-wall if there ever was one, the plainly decorated (if at all) room housed no more than five round tables, all aligned to face a make-shift stage. Each table had either a lamp or candle, burning just bright enough to illuminate the face in front of you, and not much else.
Applause greeted Liana and Jason as they entered the bar, almost like they had been waiting for them. Within an instant Jason had embraced it, leaping forward onto one of the small bar tables while throwing his hands in the air as if he were accepting the applause for himself. Liana watched with a mixed combination of embarrassment and…awe. At first she was severely embarrassed for him; she could never do what he was doing. But after a few moments, this unkempt bravado couldn’t help but
turn her. So much so that by the time he climbed down off the table, she was clapping along with the rest of the crowd.
‘I’ve been known to come here from time to time.’ Jason said, puffing a little from the performance, but seemingly pleased with himself.
‘I couldn’t have guessed.’ Liana joked back, starting to enjoy herself.
From there the night was a riot; a better time than Liana had in…well truth be told, as long as she had been in L.A. Jason of course volunteered himself to perform straight away, clambering onto the stage in excitement. And as he performed, Liana couldn’t help but admire his passion and zeal. It was something she could really relate too.
The aim of the game was to get the person on stage out. First, a member of the audience would volunteer a movie. The actor would then begin to act that movie out, jumping from character to character as seamlessly as their skill allowed. As they were doing so, someone from the crowd would yell out another film. The actor then had to try and include scenes or characters or anything from that movie into the first one. This continued until the actor could no longer juggle all the roles and plots. And, not to Liana’s surprise, Jason was excellent at this.