"Hayden? Hayden? Do you understand what I'm saying to you?" Tonya asked.
Hayden broke her gaze from the window. She'd been looking out at Los Angeles, trying to find some meaning in the endless landscape of concrete and asphalt. She used to love talking to her agent, but lately it felt more like speaking to a disappointed parent.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"I need you to say yes to this," Tonya said.
"It's a documentary," Hayden said.
"It's still money. And it'll get you in good with Disney again. You do this and they'll think about you next time they're looking for voice work. More cartoons, more kid movies, more money. It all connects."
Hayden nodded. She felt numb.
"Okay, okay," she said, feeling smaller by the moment.
Tonya was an agent, but she also was sympathetic. She softened her tone as she saw Hayden curling into herself.
"Are you still having problems with Brian?" she asked.
Hayden shook her head, "I'm done with Brian. Done-done. I'm not gonna get hit anymore."
"He was a terrible guy and you never deserved to be treated like that," Tonya said.
Hayden nodded silently. Inside, she considered the way his slaps felt. She hated that she hadn't hated it. Ever since they'd arrested her ex she'd been an advocate for battered women. It was horrible that, sexually, she craved a strong hand. She'd read more about abuse and consent and the lines were clearing up in her head. Still, the last few years had left a string of bad memories.
Tonya continued, "Have you talked to Vlad, or Kaya?"
"Not lately," she said. Vlad was back in Ukraine, with their daughter. When Hayden had gone to rehab, letting Vlad have custody of their child seemed the logical choice. Now that she was self-reliant again, not having her daughter around felt like a hole in her life.
Tonya brought her focus back, "The movie last year was good. You're still working and we're making progress, but little things like this can pay big dividends down the road. Do the documentary. Do it right. It'll pay off next year."
Hayden nodded, "Mars rovers... got it. I'll be good."
Tonya gave a polite smile and sat back, "They'll send a car for you on Tuesday to take you to JPL. It's a NASA facility over in Pasadena."
As soon as the car door opened, she spotted the director coming down the steps. He wore a suit and tie and looked very official. He had one of those lives that she hoped never happened to her. Black and white and stuffy. Still, she had to make nice.
"Miss Panettiere, so nice to meet you. I'm Kenneth Johnson. I'm the head of the Mars program. We're so glad to have you here."
She flashed her red carpet smile and put a hand out. "Thank you. It's great to be here."
"I'm sorry, they didn't tell me about the change in schedule until about half an hour ago. I've got to get to a meeting, but I've got one of my people to take you around."
She frowned slightly, but suppressed it, "Oh, that's okay. I didn't mean to make trouble. Disney had to move things around, so they asked me to come this morning for the prep."
He waved away her concern, "Oh, it's fine. I'm gonna have Brandon take you around. He's good for this kind of thing."
"What kind of thing is that?" Hayden asked as he led her inside.
"Public relations," the director said.
"Oh. I was hoping to talk to one of your engineers," Hayden said.
"Oh, he's an engineer. He's just... talkative. Brandon is who we use for presentations. He's our PR guy. And he knows his stuff," the director said.
Down a non-descript hallway, they paused at a door that was decorated with movie posters and a couple of cartoon characters, "He's also a little eccentric," the director said, before knocking.
The door opened in a flash. Her first impression was a nerd. Glasses, boring haircut, classic studious looks. But as she took him in, she realized that he went beyond cliché.
For one thing, he was big. She guessed 5'10 and easily over 250lbs. He had bulk. She liked that. Boys were better when they were bigger. She liked his face. It had an honesty that was hard to find in Southern California. He was cute, in a way that she didn't usually go for.
His eyes went wide with recognition. He knew who she was. That wasn't strange, but seeing him light up with surprise definitely made him a little cuter. She flashed her trademark grin and waited for the introduction.
"Miss Panettiere, allow me to present Brandon. He's our resident rover tech. He'll take you around and show you how Adventure works. Won't you Brandon?"
He stammered for a second. She liked that she had that effect. Her days of turning-heads were far from over. And his head was pointed squarely at hers.
"Y...yeah... wow... hi," he said. She'd heard worse from stunned fanboys.
"I sent you an email earlier. I told you she'd be here and you'd be giving her a tour," the director said.
"I'm about 3 emails away from yours," Brandon said, tearing his eyes away from her to look at his boss.
"Well... show her around. She's going to host the Disney thing tomorrow night. You're good with tour groups."
"I'd be happy to," Brandon said, smiling again as he caught her eye.
"I've got to get over to building 70. Call me when you're done," the director said.
"Sure thing, chief," Brandon said, not looking at him at all.
"Nice meeting you," she said to the suited man as he turned to leave. Then she looked back at this cute engineer caught in the headlights of her 1000-watt smile.
He put a hand out, "Miss Panettiere, I'm Brandon... I'm 90 percent sure that's right. Looking at you, it's hard to remember."
She laughed, "Oh, aren't you sweet? And please, call me Hayden."
"I'll be good if I can avoid calling you Claire, or Cheryl," Brandon said.
"Big fan?" she asked.
"Hard not to be," he said.
She blushed just a bit, enough to not seem haughty, "Aren't you sweet? Well, it's great to meet people who like my work. So... you can tell me all about this Mars rover that we're gonna talk about?"
He grinned, "I sure can. Adventure is my girl. I've been on the team since I got here. We've got some fun stuff I can show you," he said, stepping out into the hall.
She stole a glance at his office. It looked small and dark, festooned with toys and posters.
"This is your office?" she asked, more to set him up.
"Oh yeah, it's not much. Most of the time I'm over at mission control," Brandon said.
She pushed the door a bit and poked her head in. It was cramped, but it didn't smell, "What are you working on now?"
She leaned forward and could sense him looking at her, but he kept his eyes off her ass. He's either gay, or he's a gentleman. Could go either way.
"I've been playing around with the orbit calculator this morning. It's not really a Mars thing, but you wanna see?"
He was an excitable little puppy and she felt like playing fetch with him, "Sure... show me," she said, pushing inside and finding a chair.
He followed her in and sat at his desk, pulling his laptop around so she could see.
"What's your favorite planet?" he asked.
"Um... is Saturn too cliché?" she asked.
"Not at all," he said, then clicked a button on the screen, "And when's your birthday?"
"August 21st," she said. He punched in a few more numbers and then wheeled himself to the side.
"So, I'm telling the computer to plot us a flight to Saturn that leaves on your birthday. Let's see where it takes us," he said.
A green line on the screen started spreading out from a circle near the center, crossing over a few others and arcing around to a larger circle on the outside. On the right, a bunch of numbers scrolled past.
He read them and spoke, "Seems like we'll need to swing by Venus once time, then Jupiter, but we can get there in about three years."
"What?" she asked, slightly perplexed.
"It's a gravity slingshot program. This shows that we could launch a rocket from Earth, we could aim it towards Venus and it would sling around the planet and use gravity to fling itself all the way out to Jupiter, where it would do it all over again and then head for Saturn. The whole trip would only take about three years."
She gave a polite laugh, "Very cool. So you know how to find your way to Saturn?"
"Well, the computer does, but yeah. With these numbers and a big enough rocket, we could go see the rings. Wouldn't that be something?"
"Well, I'm kinda busy for the next three years, but sure," she said, smiling a bit. He got up from his chair and she did too.
"Well, in that case, let's go look at a Mars rover..."
For the next couple of hours, he showed her all around JPL's Mars lab. She asked a few questions here and there, but mostly let him talk. She was far more interested in him than his words. Mars was interesting enough, but she liked the look of this young buck. She guessed he was a few years older than her, noted his lack of a wedding ring, and made a bet with herself that he was absolutely oblivious to her attention.
She got traces of a Southern accent, but suppressed. It was something he tried to hide. She was intrigued by that. She watched his strong arms gesticulate grandly when he talked about his rover. She made the right comments and only stole glances when his back was turned. By the time he walked her through mission control, she was sure that she was going to make a move.
Coming back to the front entrance, she saw the towncar was waiting for her. She was fine letting the driver wait.
"So, you feel ready to host our little show tomorrow night?" he asked.
"Yep, I have what I need. Are you gonna be there? I might want to interview you," she said.
"Wouldn't miss it," he said. The twang slipped out a bit. She smiled.
"See you tomorrow, then. Good meeting you, Brandon," she said. She smiled and waved as she walked down the stairs. There was plenty of time.
The next night she gamely hosted the documentary for the landing. She managed to get him on camera for a few questions, but the highlight of the night was watching 30 super-nerds jumping around and hugging each other as the Mars probe landed safely. She felt their elation right through the glass divider and when she spotted her new friend finishing off a bad dance move, she gave a girlish giggle and sent a thumbs-up his way.
After the show was wrapped, she lingered a bit, not wanting to miss an opportunity. When he was nearby, she tapped on the glass and pointed, sending him around to meet her in the hallway.
"Congrats! That was quite a show!" she said.
