Memories Ch 01 5

"I remember the first time I laid eyes on her. It was at an open call audition for a 4 episode gig on a tv show that only ended up lasting for 2 years anyways. I had been in several movies by then, some of them somewhat well known, at least amongst certain demographics. Regardless to say, I hadn't made a habit of frequenting open calls much for a while, so it was a miracle I met her at all.

The line, as you can imagine, was insanely long. In typical fashion, I arrived late. I may be able to get up at normal hours now, but if there's anything you should know about me, I used to be the antithesis of the morning person. If I didn't have anywhere or anything to be doing, I would easily sleep in until noon or 1pm. Just a night owl, I guess." Chris smiled. "But, I'm starting to ramble already," he ran his hand across his face.

"So anyways, I start getting antsy and notice someone has come up behind me in line, so I try to nonchalantly steal a glance. Luckily, she's looking at a picture on the wall to the left of us. I think my heart literally stopped that moment. She was, and still is, the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Her amazing full, red lips, shiny golden blonde hair, and that sparkle that you could tell she was trying to hide in her ocean blue eyes when she caught me staring at her."

"What happened next, grandpa?"

"I caught her trying to hide the smirk on her face before she looked down at the floor trying to avert her eyes," he smiled as he stared off into space, replaying the memory in his head.

"I hadn't realized I'd been staring at her until she looked up again and raised an eyebrow at me, still fighting the smirk that was making her mouth twitch humorously at this point. I have no clue how long I'd been staring at her. I must have had a pretty stupid look on my face because your grandma finally cleared her throat while still staring back at me curiously."

"Did you say anything?"

"All I could manage was 'Uh, sorry' and spun back around."

His grandson giggled.

"Smooth, huh? Now, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but it wasn't as if I had a hard time talking to the ladies back then, if you catch my drift. Don't let your aunt Katherine tell you stories. I wasn't nearly as bad as she makes me out to he. But I had never felt more awkward in my life as I did when I first met your grandmother. Possibly as much as my teenage years combined, and that's saying something...But you'll find out all about that soon enough, buddy," he playfully tousled the boys shaggy, dirty blonde hair. He couldn't help but see himself in him. The boy looked so much like him in his younger days. They got along so well too. They were buds and he hopes they always stayed that way, even through those weird teenage years he was about to embark on. "Well, hopefully yours aren't as bad as mine", he beamed down at his grandson.

The boy looked at him like he was slightly crazy. He continued on with his story.

"Anyways, about a minute goes by and your grandmother says shyly, 'Was there something in particular you wished to say to me?' I was taken aback, of course, thinking I had totally just messed up any opportunity with this girl. It took me a second to respond."

"'Excuse me?' I spun around slowly and nervously met her eyes."

"'Sorry. I have a bad habit of quoting movie lines when I'm nervous,'" she looked down at her feet briefly.

"'Movie lines?' More dumb things, just flying out of my mouth." They both giggled.

"'Yah, it's from Cold Mountain. It's one of my favorite movies. I don't suppose you've seen it, though. Sure, it has blood and war, but it's kind of a chick movie.'"

"I shook my head and was finally able to form coherent thoughts. 'Oh! I'm sorry. I just didn't hear what you said. I mean, I heard you. I just didn't catch what you said exactly you spoke so quietly.'"

"'Oh,'", she laughed. "I'm sorry. Now I'm rambling for no reason. Agh.'" She threw her hands up, jokingly, and we both smiled and looked each other in the eyes. There was another awkward pause. Your grandma will deny it on her end, but it was that second that I already knew I was going to marry her. Sounds crazy, huh?" His grandson smiled broadly at him and nodded his head in agreement."Maybe one day you'll be lucky enough to find out what I'm talking about for yourself."

"Then what, grandpa?"

"And then, your grandmother found her voice, thank God, because I was sure as he-, ahem, heck still trying to find mine.."

"It's ok, grandpa. You can say 'hell' around me. It's not that bad of a word." The elderly man couldn't help but laugh.

"I know, sport, but I don't think your mother would be very happy with me. If you only knew what a potty-mouth I used to be," he winked. "I won't tell if you won't tell, but don't be using any of those words around your parents, got that?" The boy nodded again.

"Anyways, your grandma starts staring at me kind of funny and cocks her head a little and says,"'You look so familiar.'"

"'Oh...Do I?' I start getting nervous, hoping whatever she knows me from wasn't terrible. I did some movies I wish I hadn't back in the day. I'm sure a lot of actors have. Nothing, uh, dirty, just embarrassing, you know? Anyhow, I start talking again."

"Uh, I've been in some things. Mostly projects to pay the bills," I laugh nervously.

"'Name some of them,' she demands, not missing a beat."

"'I'd really rather not,' I chuckle and look away, starting to get embarrassed. Yes, it does happen," he winks.

"'Well, what's your name?' she holds out her hand to me to shake."

"'If I tell you, I'll have to kill you...,' I lean in closer to her and whisper dramatically.' Because then you might figure out where you know me from.' We both started laughing and I shook her hand."

"Chris."

"'Just Chris? Like Cher? Or Madonna?' I felt like my heart was going to melt. One of the sappiest moments of my life," the old man laughed. "Not only was she beautiful, she was witty too. I could hardly stand it. As far as I could tell, she was the whole package."

"Grandpa, who are Cher and Madonna?"

"That's a story for another time," he chuckled. "So I reply with, 'Ugh. Those are horrible examples. No offense if you like either of them.'"

"Meh. Old Cher is alright. Madonna, on the other hand...I hate to admit I listened to her in middle and high school. And not the "cool, old stuff" either," she grimaced.

"So hear me out. The way you feel about admitting you listened to shitty Madonna is how I feel about talking to people about what movies I've been in," I raised my eyebrow questioningly at her to see if I had gotten my point across. "I think first names are fine for now anyways. Didn't anyone teach you to not talk to strangers?" I gave her my best smile. My charm was finally starting to return now that we were talking about something, ANYTHING."

"Of course! But I'm bored and nervous and you seem relatively benign, so what could possibly go wrong by talking to a stranger in L.A.?" she teased. "I'm Larissa, by the way," she held out her hand again. I didn't want to let go of her hand as I got the opportunity to touch her again. I had to resist the urge to caress the back of her hand with my thumb."His grandson wrinkled up his nose at him.

"Sorry, buddy. Getting too mushy?" The young boy nodded. "Alright," the man laughed. "Why don't you run along and see what your brother and sister are up to? I'm getting a little tired." Chris sat back in his chair as his grandson ran out the door. He thought about the rest of the first time he and Larissa met as he drifted off into napland.

Normally waiting in such a long line would have driven him crazy. Patience was not usually one of his best virtues, but he and Larissa talked the entire time they waited. It had to have been at least an hour, likely more, but by the time it was his turn he felt they had only just begun conversing. In fact, he wasn't all that excited about his audition anymore. Chris just wanted to stay and talk to her forever.

They talked about everything and nothing at all in that relatively short span of time. He got the distinct impression she was playing hard to get...Or perhaps she had been burnt in the past. Either way, it made him want to spend time with her that much more. Larissa expertly avoided his more personal questions, like where was she from, when did she move to L.A., etc, by giving the vaguest possible answers then completely changing the subject. It was driving him mad, but he also liked it. She was most definitely nothing like any of the other girls he had ever taken an interest in, let alone dated. Finally, his turn came to audition.

"Next?" a bony, grumpy sounding woman with dark hair and cat-eye glasses to match called out of the door next to Chris.

"Guess that's me," he said more to Larissa than the woman who had the complexion of a vampire.

"Guess so," she smiled demurely.

"Wish me luck," he glanced back at her one last time before following modern-day Morticia into the audition room.

"Good luck."

Chris remembered next to nothing about that audition. There was a husky, middle-aged guy sat at the middle of the desk that vaguely reminded him of John Goodman for some reason. There might have been two women sitting on either side of him? He must have done well or they had low standards because he got the part. What Chris did remember was trying to come up with a plan as he went to exit the stuffy room.

"How did it go?" Just Larissa's smile brightened his day.

"Uh, good, I think," Chris began to stumble over his words again. "Listen, thanks for keeping me company. It was great talking to you," he ran his hand through his dirty blonde locks nervously.

"Next!" Morticia barked right next to his ear as she opened the door.

"It was really nice talking to you too, Chris." He noticed she wrung her hands ever-so noticeably.

"Well, good luck," he reluctantly stepped to the side to allow Larissa through, but she ended up moving the same direction as him at the same moment. They stepped the other direction at the same time and laughed nervously before she was finally able to get through. Chris' inner introvert started feeling self-conscious as he realized everyone still waiting in line was staring at him as he stood there dumbly. But, he caught Larissa glimpse back at him before the door closed, which further solidified his plan in his mind.

10 minutes later, Chris finally heard the clink of heels on the stairs behind him. He stood up and turned towards Larissa, who was looking down at her feet as she descended the stairs. It wasn't until she was within reaching distance of him that she even realized anyone was there. She jumped and stopped abruptly, looking up at Chris.

"Hi."

"Hi," he replied softly.

"You're still here." Chris noticed she was starting to look uncomfortable. Crap. Bad idea.

"Should I have not stayed?" he winced a little.

"No...I don't know," she shrugged and giggled quietly.

"Am I coming off too stalker-ish?" he half-joked.

"Yes and no." They both laughed. Chris decided to just go for it.

"Do you wanna grab a bite to eat?"Larissa bit her lip and looked down, trying to hide another smile, but didn't answer right away.

"Chris, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure I'm ready to date," she paused, "L.A.people yet. I would love to go with you, but, I don't know..." she trailed off.

"I get it. I shouldn't have waited for you. We just met," he put both hands out in front of him. "I'm sorry, it's just...Can I at least get your number? Or give you mine?"Chris felt like his heart was going to plummet to the tile floor beneath him.

"I'll tell you what. If we both get the parts, I'll go out with you," Larissa offered.

"Deal," Chris agreed without thinking. "Wait. What?!" the rest of his brain finally caught up."Is that really the only way..."

"I have to go," Larissa interrupted. Chris suddenly felt like she was Cinderella and she was slipping away from him, as corny as that sounded. "It was really nice meeting you. I hope I see you again soon," she squeezed his hand one last time as she continued walking, back outside to the real world, leaving Chris with his mouth hanging open and heart aching.

***

The next two weeks were the most agonizing of Chris' life. All he could think about was her. He felt like he was cracking up. He'd never been so obsessed with anyone, or anything, for that matter, in his entire life. He had trouble sleeping. He could never remember what he was dreaming about when he woke up in the middle of the night, but he always woke up sweating, heart racing.

The tv show powers-that-be gave him a call a few days after the audition. Chris was already distraught by the fact that he could very well never see Larissa again. He remembered sighing with relief after getting the call about the part on "So This is Life". He felt like he should have felt more relieved that half the battle was won, at least. But he wasn't. In fact, that's when his mental state worsened. Chris asked the man on the phone who would be playing the female part opposite him. Cryptically, Chris was told that information wasn't available and that he would just have to find out the first day of shooting.

It was a beautiful, early May morning. Clear blue skies, high 60's. He didn't normally remember little details about anything unless it involved acting. Even that had changed since he met Larissa. Chris arrived at the studio early, both trying to beat the morning rush of traffic and to get his hair and makeup done. And, of course, his ulterior motive of trying to find out if Larissa had gotten the part opposite him.

As he walked down the hall of dressing rooms towards his own at the opposite end, Chris scoured the names on the doors. His heart sank when he realized they had only listed the last names of the guest stars on the temporary dressing room doors. The one next to his read "Olsen". He and Larissa had never exchanged last names. Chris couldn't help himself and knocked on the door. And waited. And waited. Shoulders sagging, he resigned himself to his adjacent dressing room.

The hair and make-up ladies came to his room, which he found unusual. He had never done any tv work before, so maybe it was normal. What did he know? The longer he waited through their primping, the more his anticipation was replaced by nervousness. His stomach started knotting up about 30 minutes before shooting started. "Suck it up, Pine," he scolded himself. "You're here to do a job, remember?" A knock came at the door.

"Mr.Pine, you're on in 10," a younger man's voice called.

"Ok, thank you!" he called, even though he knew the man was probably already walking off to whatever task awaited him next. That was the way of Hollywood: Rush, rush, rush. Chris shook his head at himself. "More cynical than usual today, aren't we?" he thought. Chris gave himself a once over in the vanity mirror, took a deep breath, and headed out of his room towards the stage.

Chris stopped in his tracks and gasped as he caught sight of the commotion on stage. Among the dozen or so people milling about, fixing furniture, going over directions with the actors, etc., stood Larissa, going over something on the script with one of the studio employees. He knew it was probably just him, but the way the lights shone on her made her stand out even more, like she was the center of everything. Chris tried to compose himself and walked slowly toward the stage.

As he stepped up she saw him and stopped talking mid-sentence, mouth falling open, staring at him. She clearly had no idea he had been cast opposite of her either. The look on her face was priceless as he approached her. Chris was so happy he wanted to cry. In fact, he had to fight back the water that dared to pool in the corners of his eyes as he smiled broadly and held his hand out to shake hers.

"Chris Pine," he waited for Larissa to gain her composure as well and take his hand. She fought valiantly to hide it, but her eyes glimmered with wetness too as she tried to control her smile.

"Larissa Olsen," she finally took his hand and played along. The studio employee who Larissa had been talking to, who had watched their entire exchange in silence, finally spoke up.

"Do you two know each other?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes and no," Larissa answered. Chris stifled a chuckle. It wasn't until the woman looked down at their hands that either of them realized they were still holding on to one another.

"I'll let you two get acquainted, I guess," the woman gave them a strange look as she walked away to speak with one of the regular actors on the show.

"This is crazy," Larissa whispered as she finally let go of Chris' hand. He wasn't sure what to say and just stared at her for a long moment.

"I, I know!" Chris grew excited. "I can't believe you're actually here!" Larissa cocked her head to the side.

"Not that I'm saying you're a bad actress. Hell, I don't know. I've never seen you act before. That's not what I meant," he began rambling. She couldn't help but smile at his awkwardness.

"You don't strike me as the type that gets easily flustered," she teased.

"I'm not. Usually. This is the..."

"Find your places, everyone!" a director interrupted. "We roll in two!"

Chris couldn't wait again. He knew he would see Larissa for the show, but he had to know if she intended on keeping her promise.

"Larissa Olsen, will you go out with me?" he looked earnestly into her eyes.

"Of course," she squeezed his hand as she walked to her place on the opposite side of the stage.

***

"Would you hate me if we went somewhere cheap for our first date?"

"Who said there was going to be more than one?" Larissa teased. Chris grabbed his chest in mock hurt.

"Ouch." Larissa just laughed.

"Where did you have in mind?"

"There's an In-N-Out Burger around the corner..." he trailed off, waiting for her answer.

"That sounds good."

"Oh, thank God. I was afraid you were going to be a vegetarian or something," they both laughed.

"No way! I love me a good burger!"

"Good. Otherwise we couldn't even be friends," Chris joked.

"Wow. That much of a deal-breaker? That's a little shallow, isn't it?" Chris just shot her a smirk and held out his arm to her.

"Shall we walk?"

"Sure," Larissa laced her arm through his. "Hopefully it's still nice out. What time is it anyway?" Chris looked at his watch as they started out the studio.

"Almost 7:30."

"Jeese, no wonder I'm starving."

"Yah, that took a lot longer than I expected. Not that I had anything better to do," Chris looked at Larissa and smiled. "Have you ever done tv before? You were great today, by the way."

"Aw, thank you. It was easy with you around. Didn't feel like work. And not exactly. I've done a couple super, super small things on some other shows, but nothing like this."

"How long have you lived here, anyways?" Chris asked as they stepped out into the cool night air. "You said at the audition that you weren't sure you were ready to date 'L.A. People'."

"Oh. That." she looked down at her feet like she was embarrassed. "About a year and a half."

"Wow..." Chris paused, not really sure what to say. He was used to meeting plenty of people who weren't from L.A., but all the questions he would normally ask "outsiders" seemed trivial asking of Larissa. Anything non-cliche eluded him.

"So how do you like it?" His own words made him grimace.

"I'm still here, aren't I?" she smiled wanly.

"Where are you from?" Larissa sighed and laughed at the same time.

"Can we get all of the boring, customary questions out of the way so we can move on to something more interesting?" Chris smirked, but couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about how much she kept trying to avoid questions about where she was from.

"Listen, Larissa, it's none of my business, but is there a reason why you don't like talking about certain things? I'm just trying to get to know you. Did something...happen to you, in the past?" He felt like he was pushing his luck, but he wanted everything laid out on the table, for some reason.