A Stranger In A Strange Land

Part 1: Lost in a daydream

It was mid January. I had arrived back in L.A 2 days ago, after spending Christmas with my mum in Minnesota. I really needed this getaway, close to my mother. 4 months ago my ex-boyfriend told me he had cheated on me with a co-worker. I moved out of his apartment, got me this little place by myself, and buried myself in work at daytime and cried myself to sleep at nights. After almost 3 months I had enough and had to snap out of it. Weeks contemplating on why he did this, if I weren't good enough had to end. My profession and passion was photography and my pictures was published all over the world: magazines, advertising, books, movie posters and cd/lp booklets. I had worked with lots of different artists in the entertainment industry the 5 years I had lived in the City of Angels, and I loved everything about it.
It was Wednesday, and I called my best friend Amy to ask if she was free to go out with me barhopping on Friday. I needed some fun with my girl, drinks included. Luckily she accepted. We hadn't seen each other for about a month due to my time off with my mum. After the phone call, I started the process to upload my pictures from my memory cards over to my computer. Then I put them in a new folder marked "Xmas with mum 2004" - opened PhotoShop and went on sort through my pics, edited some of them, and sent them to my mum by e-mail as I had promised her. I also uploaded a couple to the website I used to order prints from, knowing they would arrive in the mail in a few days. I punched in my credit cards details, pushed the "Send"button and reminded myself to get frames for them tomorrow. The hours while I worked flew quickly, and I felt my stomache growl of hunger. I had forgotten to buy food after I came home last night. My fridge was a sad sight as it only contained orange juice and jars of mayonaise and strawberry jam. I sighed, closed the door, put on my shoes, grabbed my jacket, my purse and my keys and went out.
It was 7 in the evening, and the Pacific breeze was cool, but mild. The sun was setting and I walked down the street towards my favorite China Restaurant two blocks down. I had gotten to know my neighbourhood well, and it was a safe, middle class residency in the area, with workers and stay at home-mothers. It was only a couple of miles from downtown LA and it contained schools and a community college, a sports centre, incluing a youth centre. I greeted my neighbours good evening as I walked pass them, getting closer to my destination. Once I arrived, I opened the door and I entered, the bell over the door made a slight "ding" telling the waiters they had a new costumer. An Asian woman (Linn by her name tag) greeted me, showed me to a table for two by the window, handed me a menu and I took off my jacket and sat down. I ordered a coke and some water to drink, she went to get them for me, and I started to study the menu.
I quickly decided for "kong pao chicken" and ordered that as soon as she brought me my drinks. Linn took my menu off the table and walked over to the door as I had just heard the door bell again. I followed Linn with my eyes, as I had nothing better to do while waiting for my food. I noticed the man she showed to the table oposite me. He took the chair that faced me, and I studied his movements. He was taller than me, looked slim but muscular and his stance was straight and he oozed self confidence and masculinity. He looked kinda familiar, but when he sat down, I roamed my purse for my phone, found it and woke it up from sleep mode, scrolling through my facebook. I couldn't keep staring at him or else he'd notice. But I glanced at his face while he ordered still water to Linn and started to study the menu I had just looked through. I smiled at that when I noticed his brown hair, his strong jaw line, his button nose and his thin, but soft looking lips. My eyes went back to my phone to scroll through it again, and I noticed him staring at me. I looked up at him and was met by a killer smile and eyes as blue as the Pacific ocean. I just grinned back, raised my glass of water and said "Hi. Good evening"
Jared's POV
I noticed her when I followed the waitress Linn to my table: she had blonde, long hair, looked fit with a natural body, nice boobs, a cute button nose in profile. I took the chair oposite her on purpose, hoping to catch her attention. I felt her eyes study me, but when I looked at her, she scrolled through her phone. I saw her smile at something she read and when I noticed it, I couldn't help but smile myself. When Linn returned with the water I ordered, I had decided to go for a vegetable stirfry with noodles. Linn wrote on her tab and walked to the kitchen. There weren't many guests here tonight, so she wasn't too busy with the costumers. I looked back at the woman at the next table and met her eyes: they were green and sparkling. She smiled heartedly, lifted her waterglass and greeted me. I smiled back at her, lifted my glass, noticed how beautiful she was. Her age must be around 28, just 3 years younger than me. I greeted her "Hello. Have a great night!". I blushed at this. What a stupid thing to say? We both took a sip of water, I put my glass back down and contemplated on if I should say anything else to her? I studied her, and she smiled shyly at me, blushed and continued to look at her phone. Was she texting her date? Was she single? And why do I suddenly feel shy and nervous as a scoolboy? I have no problem getting women: they usually come to me. But this one is the first that just continued her own business in my presence, without acting cool or hard to get. Mabye she is shy? I decided to talk to her, ask if I could join her. I went up and walked to the men's room. Inside I stood in front of the mirror and saw my old reflection: tired eyes after too much work, messy hair. Other than that, I looked ok. I washed the sweat out of my palms, dried them and went back out in the restaurant. I stopped besides her and cleared my throat:
"Excuse me, but are you dining alone? If you want, you could join me. It's better to eat in company, right?" I looked down on her in anticipation, smiled hopefully. She looked up at me, measured me up and down, smiled and replied "as a matter of fact, I am dining alone. I just came back here, and my fridge is empty, so here I am. A girl's gotta eat, right? And yes, I'd like to join you. Why not? Let's eat together. But why don't you move to my table? I like to have my back to the wall." I was glad she accepted so I just nodded, went to my table to get my glass and coat. I extended my hand to her, introduced myself "Hi, my name is Jared by the way. Nice to meet you!" She stood up from her chair, and I could measure her waist and broad hips and curvy thighs. She smiled at me and replied, still holding my hand: "Hi, I'm Jean. Nice to meet you too!" We released our hands and sat down. She put her phone back in her purse, took a sip of her coke, then asked me "so what brings you to this Chinese restaurant Jared? I come here at least once a week, and I haven't seen you here before? Do you live in this area?" I grinned at her bluntness, nodded my head and answered "I just got back here myself and I also have an empty fridge. I was to restless to get food and make something just for me again, so I decided to go here, to my favorite Chinese restaurant with the best stirfry. I live in Studio City, just up in the hill above us. Where do you live Jean?"
Jean's POV
I looked at him, puzzeled by his honesty to a stranger like me. We had definately never met before. I sure as hell would never forget those eyes or that smile. And his voice! Ah, it was smooth as silk. And his Adam's apple was very prominent each time he swallowed. He looked familiar, but I could not place him for my bare life! "I do actually live close to here. What do you do for living Jared?" Him: "I'm an artist. I sing in a band and we're struggling to make it. Mabye we will one day, mabye not. I've also done some acting, went to artschool and I've done a few commercials. You know, the typical Hollywood dream. What about you Jean? What do you do for a living?"
Me: "I'm a freelance photographer. I have an agency that backs me up. I also do some writing, edit pictures, do layouts, and occationally I get to travel. So I guess you can call me an artist too. Which band do you play in? Anything I could have heard of?"
Him: "That sounds so interesting! I'd like to know where you've been published. What's your last name? I might have caught your work earlier. You see, both my brother Shannon and I are in to photography. He's better than me though, but we enjoy the process of it all. It's very creative. My band is Thirty Seconds To Mars. My brother plays drums, Stevie plays bass, Tomo guitar and other percussision and I sing and play guitar. We've played a few clubs here in LA, but we get better responds on the east coast, for some reason"
Me: "thank you. My last name is Hansley. You might have seen Jean Hansley somewhere. I' ve been involved in so many publications, I lost count (laughing shyly). I don't think I've had the pleasure in hearing your work. But if you could send me your CD or demo, I'd love to listen to it. What's your last name, by the way?"
Him: "I've seen your name around, yes! I admire your work. So you're the one who shot those pics for that last ad-campaign for AT&T? Nice work! My last name is Leto. I have a better idea: my band is playing at 'The Boiler Room' this Friday. If you don't have any other plans, why don't you bring a friend and come and see us play?"