PERMANENT - Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 4 - 'Pussy Posse'

Tuesday – 2.17am

Entering with his pack of friends, or the 'pussy posse', as some internet articles have termed it, he wandered over to one end of the bar, his entourage trailing behind like lost puppies following their mother. It almost seemed laughable, but I restrained. Deciding not to attack him right away, I held back, opting to just watch him for a few minutes.

He wore a button down t-shirt, and the jacket he had been wearing a couple of minutes ago was now displaced, god knows where. And that's precisely how long it took for the girls to be all over him – a couple of minutes. They draped around him shamelessly, laughing and whispering in his ear. Not that he seemed to mind. He was taking it all in, entertaining the girls further, whispering back, smirking and flirting. And it wasn't even one girl, it must've been 2 or 3 girls at a time. I guess he really was living up to his name. If I didn't do this now, I probably never would, so I stood up and walked over.

"Leo?" He looked up from his cohorts, and parted his lips as if he was waiting for me to continue. The girls looked pissed beyond belief that I was trying to talk to him when they had his attention, but I continued. "Hope I haven't caught you at a bad time or anything", he shook his head slightly, still not saying a word. "I just wanted to talk to you about Titanic and, you know, Jack Dawson's role." I managed that sentence without completely stumbling, I deserved at least a shot from the bar for that alone. He looked at me, perplexed, and his eyes squinted and scrunched up, just how I remembered them from his films I had seen.

"What?" he asked. Oh god, I should've introduced myself first, like any other normal person. In my mind I was consuming the whole back shelf of the bar. "Oh I'm Rose. Well no my name's not Rose but I'll be playing Rose. Penelope Nava." I stuck my hand out to him, which he shook, still bemused, but with a sideways nod of his head, his entire entourage, including the girls, dispersed. I sat down next to him.

"So Rose, huh?" he quipped, that famous smile returning as he took a sip of his bright blue drink (one to match his boyish persona). "She's quite something isn't she?" I replied with a lopsided smirk. "Listen I know you have your reservations about the role, but there really isn't anyone else that's as good as you. You are Jack, Leo, and you're bloody brilliant! Me and Jim both think so. I watched your audition and it just doesn't compare, you're the only one that really does it justice, you know?"

He stayed silent, looking down at the table as if that would help him find any answers, or help him make his decision, in this case. "I don't know- I mean," he shifted in his seat, restlessly, still gazing down "Commercial roles – they're not really my thing, you know?" he finally looked back up, the squint returning to his eyes. "I've mostly been doing independent films and they've been working for me so far. I wouldn't wanna mess that up."

"Hey, no I understand that but, it's good to experiment. Don't limit yourself. Please, at least consider it." He nodded in understanding, and I leaned in slightly, jokingly "And don't tell anyone, but I'd much rather work with you than the other guys." He grinned and snorted, chuckling slightly, but sincerely. "I'll be sure to consider it."

And my work was done for the night. I stood up, collecting my things. "Not staying for a drink?" I heard him ask, the cocky tone in his voice back. "Can't. Driving." I said, as I fished my car keys out of my purse and held them up. "Well okay then. Have a good night. Drive safe." He offered a genuine smile, and his hand, which I shook for the second time tonight in only a space of 10 minutes. "Thank you, it was great meeting you. Enjoy the rest of the night."

We stood, still shaking hands for an excessively long time, neither one of us letting go, which reminded me so much of Jack and Rose's Titanic scene up on deck that I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "See! You're meant to play Jack, it comes naturally to you," With that, he laughed too, his melodic laugh only slightly drowned out by the music, and let go of my hand. "Alright, alright, just go," he said, in between laughs. So that's what I did, with a final "Goodnight", I left the building and headed for my car.