A Side Effect of Celebrity

Ten

I woke up famous for about a minute, then stopped being famous again – Rachael Stirling

The first day Claire went to Jay's apartment to take Scout on a walk, there were three people with cameras standing on the other side of the street.  All of them were focused on the front door to Jay's apartment building but Claire had been strategic and worn a jacket with the hood up so even if a photo was taken, her face would be thankfully obscured in shadow.  No one had chased after her or even seemed to notice that Scout was Jay's dog so she managed to get in and out of the building without hassle.

            The second day was a similar scene. A few photographers, another hoodie, walking Scout without issue.

             By the end of her week with Scout, no one was waiting to stake out the apartment.  There were no cameras and the online articles hadn't reported anything new since that first piece about Claire leaving Jay's apartment.  It was a relief that Claire felt to have gotten away from the media unscathed.  She hadn't even received messages from her friends and former classmates about whether it was her in the photo, leading Claire to believe that Griffin and Ellie had only identified her because they knew her so well.

            "Well, I'm glad to hear that it went okay," Jay had said to her one evening.  She'd been at his apartment, doling out food into Scout's bowl, when he'd called.  Claire had flipped it to a video call so that Jay could see his dog but Scout had appeared disinterested and was more focused on his kibble.

            "No problems at all," Claire had replied.  "How's the press tour going?"

            "Busy and very repetitive, but that's normal.  I go to a few things a day, get asked the same questions and try not to go insane from answering."  Jay had smiled at her, his green eyes bright and hair perfectly styled.  He'd looked as if he'd just stepped off of a magazine photoshoot.

            "Sounds boring."

            "Believe me, it is.  I love my job but this is one aspect that I could live without."

            Claire had thought that it sounded very repetitious and hummed in agreement. 

            Jay had asked, "What's exciting in the world of deli working and dog walking?"

            "If you think your life is boring and mine is somehow more exciting, you are about to be severely disappointed."

            She'd been rewarded by his laugh and they'd fallen into an easy conversation about everything and nothing.  Jay liked to know about the everyday, mundane tasks that Claire did all the time like interacting with people or taking the subway without getting hounded for pictures and autographs.

            The lack of spectacle surrounding her trips to and from Jay's apartment meant that Claire was able to go about her life unencumbered.  Jay's parents picked up Scout from his apartment, leaving Claire with only her regular clientele to walk.  She continued her work at the deli counter and one day, she and her parents went to the Bronx Zoo for the hell of it.  It was a beautiful day and none of them had to work.  Claire had been able to juggle around when she walked the dogs and so they spent the better part of a day there, wandering and catching up on the events of the summer so far.

            With her father at work and her mother's business in full swing with the height of summer tourism, the Shaffer's had spent little time together.  And though Claire would be staying home when she began, they were all too aware that the dynamic in the household would be changing. 

Claire was officially entering adulthood.  Less dependent on her parents, working towards a career she was excited for...She was no longer a child but on that trip to the Bronx, Claire allowed herself to feel like one.  To feed into her parents' excitement and joy about having a family day together.