Sophomore Year || Parenthood Series, Book One || WATTYS 2018

Chapter One

       

SOUNDTRACK: 'Space Oddity' by David Bowie

Jared jerked awake and immediately winced and groaned in discomfort. He had left his blinds open the night beforehand and now the morning sunlight was pouring into his room. He buried his face in his pillow and rolled over, too lazy and tired to get up and shut the blinds. When he rolled over, he became faintly aware of another occupant in his king sized bed. He slowly popped one eye open, lifting his head from his pillow just enough to catch a glimpse of blonde hair and soft, fair skin. And then the events from the previous evening (and very early that morning) came rocketing back into his mind.

He had brought the girl up to his room after the party; convincing her to stay had been easy. She was eager to please and the sex had been satisfying, but she was just another in a long line of women. He would add her to his contacts and keep her in mind if he ever wanted an easy lay again. Most of the women he was intimate with were more than willing to remain friendly in the hopes of another intimate encounter. His fans called the group his 'harem', but he preferred the term 'associates', though he wouldn't extend 'friendship' to most of the girls he was with. Casual hook ups were common in the Industry.

Very carefully, Jared extracted himself from the tangle of sheets that he'd been caught up in. He sat up on the edge of the bed and ran his palms over his face. Looking over his shoulder, he was afforded a better view of the blonde. She had all of the makings of a model - hell, she probably was one for all he could remember. She was asleep on her stomach, leaving her back exposed as her long hair tumbled across the pillow. The smell of sex still lingered in the air and Jared suddenly felt the urge to shower. He left the girl to sleep and walked into his bathroom.

The room, like the rest of his house, was appointed with the essentials. He didn't see the point in making a bathroom extravagant - it's where you took a shit. It wasn't like he would refuse to use a toilet unless it was gold-plated or something. Minimalism was his style of choice and he stuck to it, splurging only on things that mattered. He grabbed a plush towel from the rack and slung it over the shower door. The water whooshed through the pipes and streamed out of the shower head. He stepped into the shower stream and sighed in relief. No amount of yoga, hiking, or clean eating and living could undo the effects of time on the body completely. At 43, he was just starting to feel the lag of sore muscles and fatigue that seemed to come a lot easier these days.

The party had been a celebration of Camp Mars and VYRT reaching a subscriber milestone as well as an opportunity for the band to come back together after a whole summer off. Jared had spent his time off working ironically. Now that his obligations for Suicide Squad had been completed, he was ready to put the Joker away for a while and focus on the music again. The final leg of the Love, Lust, Faith, and Dreams tour was quickly approaching at the end of September and once that was over, the band was turning its sights to recording new material.The final leg of the tour was primarily a reschedule of their Dubai date with two other dates added on. As much as Jared liked the album, it was two years old and he was ready for it to be replaced with some newer music. He was positive that the fans were ready for new material as well.

He shampooed his hair and rinsed it, rolling his head back and forth to release the tension in his neck and shoulders. He made a mental note to ask Shayla to pick up a new pillow for him. He shut the water off and wrapped his towel around his waist, stepping out onto the bath mat. He slicked his wet hair back away from his face, glad to be rid of the God-awful lime green color he'd had for the shoot. His hair was a very light blonde because he'd had the color stripped from it, but he could barely see the dark brown of his roots just beginning to show at his scalp. He made another mental note to get an appointment to dye his hair another color as soon as possible. Anything would be better than the grey - not that he'd had any issues pulling girls with it, of course.