Please remind me (who I really am)

Chapter 14

Lisa didn't think this evening could possibly have taken a stranger turn. She'd had a terrible few days, and now being stuck on the sofa watching the reason for her heartache on the TV was decidedly not helping. This was really what she'd meant when she'd told Jennie about not being able to go anywhere without being reminded of Jennie. And now, apparently, Rosé and her friends were helping in her torture.

She felt her traitorous heart skip a beat when Jennie smiled her glittering smile at Ellen, and Lisa tried once more to get up. Jisoo elbowed her in the side and Rosé put her arm across her middle, preventing her from moving. She looked over pleadingly at Rosé and whined.

"Trust me," Rosé said quietly. "You really, really want to watch this."

I really, really don't think I do, Lisa thought to herself, but resigned herself to watching it anyway. She swallowed a mouthful of whisky, feeling it burn a line down her throat as she watched Ellen and Jennie smile at each other.

Ellen: So, Jennie. Thank you so much for coming on the show today! I know it was a bit last-minute.

Jennie: It's my pleasure. It's always nice to talk to you!

Ellen: So, tell us a little about the film you've just finished shooting?

Jennie: I can tell you that it's set mostly in space. My character is a scientist who's trying to design a safer, faster way to travel between planets, and she and her team are on their way to another planet when they sort of... get kidnapped by space pirates. I'm describing it really badly, but it's honestly great. It's a comedy, and we've had such a laugh shooting it. I even got to do most of my own stunts in this film, which was a lot of fun. My stunt double was wandering around a little bored while she waited for the rest of the stunt department to decide whether or not I was allowed to do certain things. But I had to wear my hair in a high ponytail for the majority of the shoot and I have to say, the hair headaches were really something else!

Ellen: This film is a little bit of a departure for you. If I recall, you haven't done much in the way of sci-fi before now. What made you choose this one?

Jennie: To be honest, I had been sent the script by a friend who I'd worked with before. She wasn't going to be able to do it due to work schedules. I hadn't had time to look over it until a couple of months ago, when another friend of mine convinced me that space pirates and laser gun battles would be a fun thing to do. I read the script a few times, and looking at it through her eyes, I was convinced that this would be very entertaining, not just to film, but for audiences to watch as well. I called the director and set up a meeting. And here we are!

Ellen: You shot a lot of it in the Moab desert, is that correct?

Jennie: Yes! It was very beautiful there. I hadn't been there since I was fairly young. It was boiling in the daytime, but freezing at night. I was very grateful for my hot water bottles when I was sitting outside at night.

Ellen: You sat outside at night? That's brave.

Jennie: Well, it's the best way to see the stars, right?

Lisa found herself staring intently at Jennie whenever the camera was on her. She looked confident, like she was glowing even. She looked completely put-together.

On the screen, Jennie was smiling indulgently as she described how the low levels of light pollution make the stars much easier to see. On the screen behind them, Ellen put up a photo Jennie had taken of the Milky Way using some very expensive camera equipment, and the audience ooh'd and aah'd, and Ellen asked her whether photography was a hobby of hers. Jennie rested her hands on her thighs explained that it was the only creative art she'd ever been good at. Jennie attributed this to her teenage self's desire to master the science behind a camera and spending time that she should've been studying practicing her photography instead. Something, she added with a laugh, that her mother was not especially pleased by.