Most of Megan Richards' dreams for the future had been shattered... the only one that remained in tact was her dream to use her talents in Hollywood some day... one way or another. She was every bit as talented as her mother, Diana, and she'd always thought her slightly superior intellect had come from her father... Her Daddy, Charles, was a highly intelligent and rational man, but she'd not inherited her smarts from him... except maybe by osmosis.
Her biological father, Thomas Seldon, was also very intelligent and a logical thinker as well as a very brave and confidant man, from whom she must have gained her inherent self-confidence. Megan had always wondered why her mother still doubted herself and her talent at times, and she'd learned why when her mother finally revealed her painful checkered past to her.
She'd been especially surprised when her mother told her about the weekend affair she'd had with The Duke, John Wayne, back in 1954... although it had explained a lot about why her mother was always dragging her to see his movies! Megan had almost dismissed that story as a fantasy until her Dad confirmed it was real and produced invitations they'd received from him over the years to most of his movie premieres, some of which they'd attended.
Megan remembered meeting The Duke at one of the premieres... in June of 1969, she and Charlie had also been invited to see
True Grit
and both of them had loved the movie. She had fully identified with the character of Mattie Ross... a confident and strongly independent tomboy avenging the murder of her father. Megan had grown up as somewhat of a tomboy and that was the last summer she'd felt like one because the following summer was when her body had blossomed dramatically...
She and Charlie had enthusiastically told Mr. Wayne how much they'd enjoyed the movie and he'd seemed genuinely happy to hear their praise. She'd also mentioned to The Duke how big a fan of his her mother had always been and she recalled the slightly sad smile he'd given her when he replied that he'd always been a big fan of hers, too. Megan remembered wondering briefly what he'd meant by that until he changed the subject quickly by remarking to her Daddy that he'd better keep his eye on his little girl because he was sure she was going to turn out to be as beautiful as her mother...
Megan had been accepted to and was going to attend Northwestern University because she'd read what an impressive performing arts program they had. She figured that would be the school to help her discover which of her talents she would find most rewarding to pursue, both personally and financially.
So, instead of spending most of the summer with Brad as she had planned, she was going to the movie studios answering open audition calls. She was also making a little money on the side as a demo and backup recording singer for a couple of the music companies who'd called upon her the past couple of years after some of the execs had caught her high school musical performances.
A couple of the recording companies had talked to her parents about the possibility of signing her to a contract. Her parents had left the decision up to her, saying they'd support whatever she wanted to do, but they would not let her make all the decisions regarding her career until she was at least twenty-one. Megan had almost jumped at it until she started looking at the problems some kids her age went through when they suddenly became rich and famous and she understood why her parents had wanted to stay involved. In the end, she'd decided she just wasn't ready for instant celebrity... She was confident that when she was ready to pursue the stars in her eyes, fame would come...
She and Brad had mostly been avoiding each other for several weeks. Barbie was giving her updates every so often, telling her that Brad was keeping busy getting ready to leave in less than a week to begin practice for the football team at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. The fact that his father was a highly regarded FBI agent and a decorated World War II hero in Marine Intelligence, along with a letter of recommendation from Megan's grandfather, a retired Air Force Colonel with high level security clearances, and Brad's high scores on the ASVAB tests as well as his good academic record had virtually assured his appointment to The Academy. Brad had stars in his eyes as well... his goal was to train as a jet pilot and eventually work his way into the astronaut program...
Megan swallowed a lump in her throat as she recalled how she and Brad had joked that even though their goals were so different, they were also similar in some ways... They had worried at times that their career goals would lead them in such opposite directions that they'd never be able to work out how to share their lives together. But they'd both felt so confident that their love was real and when the time was right, things would've all come together. She was beginning to see that it was just another sign that they'd been ignoring in their need to believe that how they felt about each other was real and right...
Megan sighed heavily and pushed the dull ache inside her away as she pulled into a movie studio lot and parked the Chevy Monza that her parents had bought for her and Charlie to drive. She was answering another open audition call for older teenage girls for a bit part in a western movie that they were hoping to begin shooting soon. She'd have to let the studio know that she'd be leaving for college in less than a month, in case there were any delays in the shooting schedule.
As she was heading for the building that the guard at the entrance had directed her to, she heard someone calling her name behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks when she recognized the voice and turned around slowly to see her half-brother running up behind her. "What are you doing here?" she asked nervously.
Brad instantly saw the fear in her eyes and heard it in her voice and he knew it was a mistake to have made the spur-of-the moment decision to follow her when she passed him coming out of their street. But he had to see her at least once more before he left... it would be months before they saw each other again...
"I'm sorry, Megan... I just had to see for myself that you really are doing OK. I've been so worried about you. I thought Jonnie would be able to tell me how you're doing but he says he's hardly seen you since that night. And Barbie says all you do when she sees you is ask about me... So, I just wanted to know that you're going to be OK before I have to leave. I won't be around to look after you any more..."
"Goddamn it, Brad... I never asked you to look after me in the first place! But now I wish your weird need to look after me like a sister would've told you something and that you'd stayed the hell away from me! I can't handle the thought that you still feel the need to look out for me after what happened between us! Maybe some day I'll be all right with that, but right now... it's just too strange. So, please... just stay away from me and let me figure out how to handle this! I promise you... I will be fine... you don't need to worry about me!" she stated emphatically.
She paused and took a deep breath when she saw the pain in his eyes. "Oh, Brad... I know you'll always care about me, just like I will always care about you... and love each other... like family... but we can't let it be any more than that!!! And right now, the deeper feelings are still too close to the surface... and it may take more than just time and distance to make us let go of them! So I'm going to do whatever I have to do to let go and I want your promise that you'll do the same! OK?!!" she pleaded earnestly.
Brad looked down sadly and nodded. On impulse, she threw herself against him and hugged him and found herself wrapped in his steely embrace. Then she pushed herself out of his arms and backed away from him as she headed toward the corner of the building saying, "Good luck at The Academy, Brad... and don't you dare dream about me..." she added jokingly and then spun on her heel to run around the corner of the building out of sight before the sob that was threatening burst forth from her.
Megan only got a few feet before she ran into someone and she stepped sideways as she mumbled, "I'm so sorry," keeping her face down so they couldn't see how upset she was and just kept going. She ran into the building where auditions were being held and stopped inside to duck into a ladies room and burst into tears. She let herself cry for a few minutes and then blew her nose and splashed her face with water until she looked presentable and then headed toward the auditions.
