stories from the city; damon albarn

65-

Ewan McGregor was currently at lunch with his youngest daughter. She was staying with her father for the weekend while her mother was headed up to New York to watch Damon Albarn's fantastically animated band play at Madison Square Garden. Their two eldest children were attending as well.

Ewan, had custody of his daughter on that weekend though, and since he was due in London for a few weeks after that, it was decided that it would be best for him and Thea to have quality time together in Los Angeles. It had actually been his ideas. Chloe had offered to get them both tickets for the show, to make it a family affair. But Ewan had declined.

Maybe to be petty.

He didn't exactly know. Or hadn't figured it out.

But now, he simply ran a hand through his hair, looking out onto the sea that was a short distance away. The two weren't even in LA at the moment. They'd driven up to Malibu, as he'd unfortunately let Thea pick their lunch location.

She'd decided on Nobu. Which meant Ewan got to shell out more bucks than he'd wanted to, and that he would be wearing his sunglasses the whole time. He didn't feel like being recognized, not after the wimpy photographs of him in his ex wife's backyard had come out.

He didn't want to be Obi-Wan Kenobi, Christian, Christopher Robin, Curt Wilde, Mark Renton or any of his characters right now. He didn't want to sign a damn autograph, or take a photo. Unless his daughter wanted one. That was a different scenario.

So he sighed, glancing around the somewhat packed restaurant and took a sip of his water.

"Are your sister's in New York yet?" He asked hesitantly

"I don't know. They were still on the plane last I checked." She mutters, more interested in her cellphone, than a conversation with her father.

"Oh, good. Hope they're having fun."

"Why couldn't we go? We could've had fun too. You like Damon, I mean, you used to. And it's New York, Dad we could've gone-"

He cuts her off "I like Damon fine, but what if I wanted some you and me time?"

"Private plane, New York, backstage to see a band. Isn't that cooler than us eating seafood?"

"Bloody expensive seafood." He mutters before saying "Also, how many times have you done all of those things? You were at Coachella less than a few weeks ago and you've flown to see your grandfather plenty of times."

Now that he was thinking about it, he wasn't sure his daughter had ever been on a regular airplane.

"Dad." She whines

"What? Is there anything you wanted to do specifically?" He asks "besides this?"

"I wanted to go see Gorillaz." She mutters

"Haven't you seen them enough?"

"Damon's a good musician. I thought you'd understand since you like singing his songs and all."

"I like his music fine."

"Then why didn't we go?"

"Thea, eat your sushi. That was too expensive to waste." He says, desperately trying to change the subject.

She rolls her eyes, popping a piece into her mouth and then turning back to her phone, her thumbs moving quickly as she maneuvered her way around her social media platforms.

"Are you jealous of Mum and Damon?" She asks, not even looking up from her phone. "I thought you and Mary were happy."

"No. I'm not jealous of them. I'm very happy for your Mum."

"Then how come you don't talk to her? Or come inside when you pick me up?"

He sighs "I just don't think this is an appropriate conversation to have."

"Why?"

"You're my daughter. And you're your Mum's kid too. It's not my place to say anything or fuck anything up."

Thea rolls her eyes. "Can you take me to the Marc Jacobs store after this?"

He wrinkles his nose "Marc Jacobs? Jesus, haven't heard that name in a hot second. Are they still pumping out clothes?"

She shoots him an irritated look and puts her phone down on the table before turning away again.

"Fine. We'll go."

"Thanks."

The rest of their lunch was eaten in somewhat silence, except for when a semi-drunk influencer stumbled over to the table and asked for a photo with space Jesus himself. Her words. Not his. He obliged and then made his escape from the restaurant with his daughter in tow soon after.

And then after an extended and ridiculously long shopping haul, he eventually found himself at home, daughter in bed, and now sitting on his own bed- with his current partner in tow.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead was running her lines casually in their bedroom, running her hands through the script, trying to figure out what she felt she was doing wrong. Until she felt the duress that was engulfing the entire room. And it was coming from her partner.

"What's the matter?" She asks, tossing the script down. "You seem fucking miserable."

"Should I have just gone to New York? Sucked it up and gone? Thea's pissed she's not there."

"I think you made the right choice for yourself. If it made you uncomfortable, then you shouldn't go."

"But Thea-"

"Will understand some day. She's a kid right now. She doesn't understand right now."

"This is such a ridiculous situation."

"Tell me about it. I get about a dozen comments a day telling me I'm a homewrecker or something."

Ewan groans, rolling his eyes a little bit. "I'm sorry. She's just being difficult. I wish she would just come out with everything. Make all of our lives easier."

"She did offer."

He shoots her a look.

"But she's not anymore."

"Maybe you should've taken her up on it then, instead of trying to be the noble ex."

"Maybe."

He continues on "I just, I can't get over it. I don't love Chloe. I don't. But I'm still hurt by the whole mess. It's haunting. I didn't even recognize half of the house. It's all different, as if she wall papered up 20+ years of memories. And now she keeps them in her archives, as if it's work."

"We all process things differently Ewan. Maybe she just wanted to start fresh."

"20 years of deceit." He mutters "we even went to fucking counseling at one point, they were still fucking then too. And they stopped. And then started again."

"I know." She says gently

"I sang his songs to my kids. They grew up hearing him. They knew of him as some larger than life family friend and now he gets to play dad."

"I don't think that's true. You're their father. You always will be. And I don't think Damon wants to replace you."

"You don't know Damon. He's a cheeky bastard."

"Maybe twenty years ago he was. But people calm down."

He shakes his head and then shuts his eyes for a minute, thinking about everything.

"I'm just hurt. I feel edged out."

"That's normal. Especially since your kids are grown. It's expected to feel out of place."

"Is it?"

"I believe you're doing fine."