A Different Reality (Lasting Love)

Is It Worth The Outcome?

I'm Jennifer Theroux, wife of Justin, and aspiring actress. We've known each other since we're young; little young, and finally, after years of dating, got married 2 years ago and moved from NYC to LA to fulfill our dreams.  Last month, after Justin enrolled in college for English and writing, I decided to take bigger chances, and get more auditions.  Some people may think that having a famous father would help me, and maybe it will, but I don't want to be known for that. I want to be known for the talent that I have, for the actress that I am, not for being the offspring of another actor.

"You up yet?" Justin walks into our room "It's your first day!"

"I know, babe." I laugh at his enthusiasm.  He's my biggest supporter, and I would never be where I am today without him.

"I'm too tired to get up," I complain, pulling the blankets over my head "You should go for me."

"I can't play Rachel, Jen." He laughs pulling me out of bed "Let's go!"

I complain for a few more minutes, stalling since I know we have the time. He eventually pushes me into the shower, fully clothed, and turns the water on forcing me to give in and get ready.  30 minutes later, I emerge from the bathroom clean, dressed and somewhat ready for the day.  Truthfully, I'm so nervous I almost don't want to go.

"You nervous?" Justin asks as I play with my breakfast. I nod my head.

"You shouldn't be. You already got the part because they loved you so much. This could be your big break."

"I know that," I force myself to smile, and act happy for him "It's just that this happened before, and the show never took off.  What if FRIENDS is like all of those?  I can't keep doing movies that aren't getting me very far.  We can't live in this small apartment forever.  I need something bigger."

"Jen," He sits down across from me, looking deeply into my eyes, knowing I need help "You're 21. There's plenty of time for you to take risks and get disappointed and still end up with a huge part. This could be that part, though, and you sitting here worried isn't going to help you be the best actress that you can be.  We'll be happy wherever we are."

"Now," He stands up not giving me a chance to think everything over "Let's go.  You can't be late on the first day."

I walk out with him to my car.  He opens my door, kisses me, wishes me luck, then gets in his car driving away to class.  I take a deep breath, listen to the advice he has given me many times in my head, and drive off to the studio, hoping that the chance is worth the outcome.

"Hi, Jennifer!" The director yells cheerfully as I walk in "Follow me and I'll show you to your dressing room."

I follow him through a long, dimly lit hallway.  It seems like we pass a million doors until we finally reach mine, which has my name written in big letters.  He opens it for me, motioning for me to walk in.

"Here's the schedule for this week," He shows me a paper on the wall "And your script is on that table.  The other cast mates are all around here somewhere, so feel free to roam around."

I wait for him to leave, and it all hits me in a good way.  I'm on the set of my breakout show.  I came out of my little shy shell and took the chance that I needed to take.  There was never anyone but myself holding me back, and now I finally realize it.

After exploring my whole dressing room, which is huge, I go out to find the cast.  I walk back through the long hallway, to where I see two other girls, around my age, talking.  They must be Courteney and Lisa.  I take this as my chance to meet them, and walk up, hoping I'm not interrupting them.

"Hi!" I say way too enthusiastically once they see me "I'm Jen."

They both look over at me smiling brightly, motioning for me to sit with them.  I take a deep breath and hope this works out.

"I'm Courteney," the darker haired one speaks up "And this is Lisa."

We all talk for awhile, getting to know things about each other.  They end up being extremely funny, and very welcoming.  Like me, they both have had failed attempts at this whole acting thing in the past, and are hoping that this is their big break.  We decide that in order to get to know each other better, we're going to eat lunch together today.

3 men walk up to us, all looking just as new and confused to all of this as we are, and we decide that they must be David, Matthew and Matthew. They joke around with us for awhile, trying to break the ice, making us all laugh.  We do alot of that this whole first day.  They invite us to hang out with them over lunch, so we all decide to pick the closest cafe and meet up there.

"So, Jen," Matt LeBlanc looks across at me "You're wearing a ring. Are you married?"

"Yeah," I reply smiling as I think of Justin "2 years now to my high school sweetheart.  We've known each other since we're little."

"Aw, that's so cute!" Lisa adds "So did you guys get married right out of high school?"

"Pretty much," I think back to our amazing wedding "We were 19 and had talked about getting married for awhile, so one day after we moved here, we talked about it and decided to. It wasn't anything big, just us going to get our marriage license then a small party after it, but it was still amazing."

"What does he do?" David asks "Is he an actor too?"

"Well right now he's in college for English and writing," I answer him "He likes acting, but has had more success writing."

"Justin, right?" Matthew asks "I've heard that name before." I nod my head to answer him.

We spend the rest of the lunch with everyone else telling us some things about them self.  They each come from different backgrounds and all have different life stories.  It's amazing to see how we can all get along like we've known each other forever, when in reality, we just met hours ago.

"I guess it's time to go back," Courteney suggests once we're done "We don't want them to fire us already."

"Okay, so this is how a basic day of filming will go..." The director starts talking to us.  He goes on about how it'll be in front of a live audience, and how important it is to read our script and know our lines, but also how they want us to have fun, and make some mistakes.  The writers join him eventually, adding that if we ever have suggestions we should let them know.  They all wish us good luck, and after a tour of the set, we're told to meet here at 8 am tomorrow morning.

I leave set right away, excited to tell Justin about everything, but when I get home he looks like he wants to tell me something.

"What's up, babe?" I ask walking over to him "You okay?"

"Let's go somewhere to eat." He suggests. Before I can argue he's pulling me out to his car. He looks happy, like he has good news, but I honestly don't know what's about to happen.

After sitting at the table for awhile, he finally breaks the silence.

"Let's move."

"What?" I ask knowing that we can't afford that yet "We can't do that, Justin.  Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Jen." He looks across at me, giving me time to study his face "I got an offer today.  They want to make a movie out of one of the scripts I wrote.  I accepted it."

"That's amazing, baby!" I practically jump out of my seat "I knew you could do it."

He sits across from me, remaining quiet, with a definite look of excitement that he is trying to hide. He wants to talk about this whole moving thing.

"Are you sure about moving?" I ask, but get cut off.

"I'm sure, Jen.  Our lives are finally starting to get better.  We can finally find the house that we've always wanted and we can afford it now.  We can move on from where we are now to bigger and better things."

"Okay, then let's move."

So, I promised there would be another story!  Hope y'all like it, and the new twist on Lasting Love! :)