Ventura's Highway

Jordyn had a momentary feeling of panic wondering what she might have forgotten. She pulled up Ventura's schedule and saw that she was home with a publishing executive, so no, she hadn't missed anything.

"I'm sorry, but there's no 8 o'clock meeting on her schedule. Do you remember when she set this up?"

"I kind of set it up myself. I didn't actually talk to Ventura myself, though. Courtney said she'd take care of it and well, shame on me, I um...assumed it was all set."

She smiled at the way he emphasized the 'ass' part of assume. Her father had said that a hundred times growing up and it still made her laugh.

"No worries. Can I call her for you?" Jordyn asked politely.

He held up his hands and said, "Oh, no! Uh-uh. Let's not do that, okay?"

"Ah, got it," Jordyn replied immediately understanding his reluctance. "Can I do anything at all to help?"

"Can you possibly have a bucket of reality delivered?" he said flashing the most gorgeous smile she'd ever seen. "I'll split it with you if you feel as deprived of it as I do."

By nature, Jordyn was a very engaging person, but she'd learned never to get involved in private conversation with her principals (currently Ventura) or the people closest to them without their permission.

She smiled politely but didn't speak.

"I'm sorry. I didn't even introduce myself," he said as he walked over to her desk. "I'm Sawyer Godwin."

"Yes, I know," Jordyn said sweetly.

"I don't know whether to be flattered or disturbed by that," he said in a kindly way.

Jordyn immediately 'ass'umed he meant he thought she might be a groupie or a stalker and said, "Courtney mentioned you and well...honestly? I hate to admit it, but I hadn't heard of you so I made sure to check. I saw your latest photo shoot. Very nice, by the way."

"Very phony is more like it," he said with disgust, but the anger wasn't directed at her.

She didn't need to ask for clarification. Sawyer was all too happy to spell it out for her.

"When I moved to LA in 2015, all I could imagine was a life of endless sun, surf, beautiful women, fast cars, fame, and money."

He shook his head then said, "Talk about naive, huh? Instead, I found smog, noise, and a whole bunch of rude people too busy to even say 'hello'—unless you're famous and then they try and bury their noses in your as...behind."

Jordyn covered her mouth knowing she couldn't avoid laughing.

"Los Angeles does have a lot of pretty women. Courtney Collins is one of the prettiest. So, it hasn't been all bad, has it?" she said taking a small gamble by engaging in conversation with him.

Sawyer made a snorting noise then said, "At the risk of sounding like the jaded, bitter cynic I've become in less than two years, I can assure you beauty often really is only skin deep. Unfortunately, some of us have had to learn that lesson the hard way."

Jordyn tilted her head indicating she was happy to listen so he continued talking.

"I guess now that I've finally had my first taste of..."

He did air quotes with his fingers as he said, "'fame' and while the money is unbelievable, I'd trade it all for a quiet little piece of land and a wife who's beautiful under the skin, too."

He smiled then added, "And maybe a couple of kids and even a dog."

Jordyn laughed politely but sincerely again.

"That sounds like it might just be a dream of yours. A dream that doesn't exactly fit with your life here in Los Angeles."

"Two years ago all I could think of about was graduating from college and moving to Southern California, getting the big contract, and becoming rich and famous. I'm not exactly rich or famous, but if this first exposure to it is a bellwether of what's to come, a little farm sounds real nice right about now."

He had the slightest, almost undetectable southern accent, and that only added to his charm.

"So what's keeping you here? In LA?" Jordyn asked knowing she shouldn't.

"That is what my father, retired Marine Corps Colonel Wes Godwin, used to call 'the $64,000 question."

"No kidding? My father is a retired Air Force colonel. Small world, right?" Jordyn beamed.

Sawyer smiled his first genuine smile then said, "My dad used to say, 'The Air Force is the best quasi-military service America has'. Not me, mind you. My dad."

"Oh, 'them's fightin' words' in the Stevens household. My dad is Air Force blue, through and through."

Sawyer laughed and said very quietly as though he was revealing a state secret, "My dad often said he loved the Corps so much he shit green."

Jordyn's eyes opened wide before she laughed harder than she could remember in a very long time.

"I miss my dad a lot," she said. "My mom, too."

"Same here. I haven't been back home since I came out west. My folks came to visit last summer and after three days, my old man had had enough. He said, 'Tinseltown is a shit hole."

He looked at Jordyn then said, "Sorry, my dad doesn't pull punches."

"Tell me about it! My dad won't even come here to visit. My mom spent four days with me a couple of years back and although she wouldn't criticize it, I know she hated it. The traffic, the cost of living..."

"The smog!" Sawyer added.

"The rude people!" Jordyn chimed in saying.

"The endless noise!"

Both of them looked at each other then burst out laughing again.

"So you could use a dose of reality, couldn't you?" Sawyer said.

"You know, it's been so long since I had any, I'm not sure I could handle it. I might have some kind of allergic reaction, you know?"

Sawyer chuckled and told her, "Unfortunately, I do. And I have no desire to stay long enough to find out what it's like to start thinking this is reality."

"Maybe someone should start looking for farmland in North Carolina," Jordyn said with a smile.

"You know what's crazy, Jordyn?" he asked. "I made enough money from my first big shoot to buy a farm and all the equipment I'd need to run it, and keep it going for several years. I mean, in what world is someone's face worth that kind of money?"

"I take it you've seen your face, right?" she said very politely with a smile.

"A time or two," he said a bit sheepishly.

"Well, there's your answer. If you looked like me, you wouldn't be able to make a dime," she said not meaning to sound self-deprecating but honest.

"Um...have you seen your face?" he said.

"A time or two," she replied with a sweet smile.

"Trust me, it's as pretty as any I've seen in this...shit hole...and the really nice thing is I can already tell your beauty goes well below your very beautiful exterior."

Jordyn couldn't remember the last time she'd blushed, but she flamed on in a big way and had nowhere to hide.

"I"m sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you, Jordyn. I was just being honest."

The elevator dinged and when the door opened, Jordyn saw who it was and got very quiet.

"There you are! Do you ever pay attention to anything I say?" Courtney said as she walked up and put her arms around Sawyer's neck.

"I try," he told her with a fake smile.

"Then try harder, okay? This is so annoying. I told you we were going to Mother's place tonight, but I realized you probably missed the change so I had Edward stop the car so I could check. And sure enough, here you are."

She glanced over and said, "Oh, hello there, Jennifer."

"It's Jordyn," Sawyer said.

"Oh, sure. If you say so," she said dismissively. "Come on. We need to get going. Mother and I have some very important issues to discuss with you tonight."

"Oh, goody," he said half under his breath.

"What?" Courtney said having no idea what he was talking about.

She didn't wait for his answer as she hooked her arm in his and began dragging him toward the elevator.

Sawyer looked over his shoulder and called back, "It was a real pleasure talking with you, Jordyn. And thanks for the reality check!"

She smiled and just before he disappeared behind the silver doors she called back, "My pleasure. Next one's on you!"

She saw him smile and nod once, and then he was gone. She sat there and wondered how it was possible to be in such a good mood after such a short conversation. Yes, he was a gorgeous, gorgeous man, but she'd seen dozens of very handsome guys and had even enjoyed talking with several of them who weren't utterly conceited and self-centered.

But this Sawyer was different somehow. He not only wasn't self-centered, he seemed like 'salt of earth people' as her father called folks like him.

Jordyn thought about it briefly then told herself, "He's like...like a breath of fresh air in a smog-filled...shit hole."

She laughed out loud at her own 'joke' and allowed herself a few seconds to revel in the 'afterglow' of Sawyer's reality check before diving back into her never-ending to-do list.

Her second week on the job was even busier than her first. Ventura had secured her publisher and the book deal was now in full swing. That meant interviews with local TV stations as well as the three major networks, CNN, and MSNBC.

FOX was interested but Ventura refused to give 'Make-America-Great-Again fascists' the time of day so Jordyn politely informed them she was already fully booked. Lying for her principal was the thing she hated most about her job, but it seemed preferable to telling the truth. Especially if she wanted to keep her job.

It was around the same time the following Thursday evening when Sawyer got off the elevator again and said hello.

"Is someone lost?" Jordyn teased. "I am positive you are not on Ventura's schedule today, Sawyer."

His right arm was behind his back and he smiled before producing a bottle of very expensive champagne and said, "This is the closest thing I could find to reality and it's still pretty damn pretentious. Maybe I should have brought beer."

Jordyn laughed then asked, "Um...are we drinking straight out of the bottle?"

"Shit! I forgot the glasses," he said genuinely embarrassed.

"No problem. I have plastic cups in my desk drawer and actual champagne flutes in Ventura's office. What's your pleasure?"

"If you have to ask, you don't know me at all," the tall, handsome young model said nodding to her desk.

"Plastic it is!" she said as she pulled out two red cups.

She ducked when Sawyer popped the cork and laughed when the foam spilled all over his hands.

"You pour and I'll go grab a towel," she said knowing Ventura's private restroom had pretty much anything in it one might ever need.

She dampened one end, wrung it out, then went back to her desk.

"Here," she said trying to hand him the towel.

Sawyer had both hands full, and he was trying to hand her one of the cups he'd just filled. Jordyn reached for it just as he reached for the towel and both cups fell and hit the floor sloshing $300-a-bottle champagne everywhere.

Both of them were laughing as they bent down at the same time and nearly bumped heads.

"Oops! Sorry!" Jordyn said as she pulled back.

When she did she realized Sawyer hadn't and was kneeling there just staring at her.

"What?" she said trying to figure out what he was looking at. She'd just checked her makeup in the mirror and everything was fine.

"My God. You are so beautiful," he said without taking his eyes off of her.

Jordyn not only felt flushed again, she felt extremely uncomfortable. Not because the attention was unwanted. It was just—forbidden. Besides, he was so far out of her league it was ludicrous. Then there was the fact that she was 35 and he couldn't possibly be more than 25, if that, so...

She grabbed the towel and began dabbing at the spilled liquid.

"I'm glad this is tile and not carpeting," she said without looking at him.

"You're ignoring me, aren't you?" he said in the nicest way possible.

"Me? No. Of...of course not," she said as she busied herself with the clean up. "There we go. Good as new."

Jordyn stood up and turned around as she did to avoid making eye contact.

"I'll just go rinse this out real quick, okay?" she said without looking at him.

When she came back out, there was a cup with champagne in it sitting on her desk.

"That one's yours," he said politely. "And I'm very sorry if I embarrassed you yet again."

"Oh, no," she lied. "You didn't embarrass me at all. It was just an accident. That's all."

"I wasn't referring to the spill, but that's okay. We can pretend it never happened."

"It?" Jordyn said now flustered again.

"Yes. It. The mind meld. When we were on the floor and looked at each another. I know you know what I'm talking about, Jordyn, but we carry on as though you don't."

Jordyn sat there holding her cup feeling both uncomfortable and...and...something else.

"Okay," Sawyer said, moving on, as he let go of the 'it' issue and raised his cup.

"To...reality?" he suggested.

"I'll drink to that," Jordyn said as they touched their cups before taking sip.

"You know what?" Sawyer said after a first sip.

"What?"

"I wish I had bought beer. This is...sissy water," he said making a face as he looked at the cup with disdain.

Jordyn covered her mouth again as she laughed at his silliness.

"My dad would love you!" she said sweetly with a big smile.

"Any chance you might?" he said off the cuff causing Jordyn to nearly spew her second sip.

"I'm sorry?" she said somehow managing not to choke.

"No. I'm sorry," he told her. "It's been a shitty week for sure. It's funny, though. This was the first place I thought of coming to in order to kind of 're-ground' myself. Then again, it wasn't so much the place as the person I hoped to find here."

"Oh, okay," Jordyn said still a little rattled by his flip question about loving him.

"You're the most real person I've met since I moved here, Jordyn. If there were more folks like you out here, I think I might consider staying."

"Are you really seriously considering leaving?" she asked not sure what else to say.

"I am. Especially now that Courtney and..."

He smiled at Jordyn then said, "And...Mommy Dearest...are already planning our wedding and the rest of our lives together. I haven't even proposed, and they were talking and carrying on after we left here last week like I had."

She looked at him carefully then said, "Oh, my goodness. You're not kidding, are you?"

"I wish I was," he replied killing the rest of the cup in one gulp.

He held out the cup with his left hand and balled his right into a fist and put it over his chest then let out a long, loud belch that made Jordyn laugh so hard she thought she'd cry.

"It wasn't that funny," he told her after he recovered.

"No, it's just something you don't expect around here, you know?"

"Oh, yes. I do know. Not in this world. Not in LA which is the first half of LA-LA land, by the way."

Jordyn laughed again before asking him what he planned to do.

Sawyer shrugged his shoulders then said, "Run, Forest, run!"

Again, it wasn't that funny, but no one in her 'orbit' spoke like that whereas pretty much everyone back home did.

"You can run, but you can't hide," Jordyn offered.

"True statement," Sawyer said in agreement.

He poured himself another half a cup then said, "I hate this town more every day."

"Then why are you staying?" she asked again in a different way.

"I'm not really sure," he told her with sadness in his eyes.

"Would you really go back to North Carolina and buy a farm or is that just something you say to make the point you don't like it here?"

"Both? Neither? Hell, I don't know, Jordyn. I don't know anything anymore."

He killed that cup in one gulp, too, then after stifling the next burp said, "Except that I really hate LA, and I really like hangin' out with you."

"Yeah, this is the life, huh?" she teased. "Sitting on a hardback chair in front of my desk late at night badmouthing Los Angeles."

"And Mommy Dearest. Don't forget her," he said pointing a finger at her as he reached for the bottle.

Jordyn laughed freely again as he changed his mind and set the cup back down before saying, "I want out."

"Of?" Jordyn asked.

"All of it. Courtney. The non-wedding wedding. Modeling. LA. All of it."

"It sounds like you could afford to leave financially, and if you don't have feelings for Courtney, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, what's keeping you here?"

"Hope," he said matter of factly.

"Hope is a good thing," she said not sure what he meant. "Anything specific?"

"Yep," he replied tersely.

"Oh, well, that clears it up," she teased. "Care to elaborate?"

"Nope," he said just as tersely.

"Well alrighty then!" she said using Jim Carey's famous movie line.

"I could tell you, but then you wouldn't let me come back and talk to you anymore."

He smiled a wry smile then said, "And if that happened, I guess that'd be reason enough to pull chocks and blow this pop stand."

"Pull chocks. My dad used to say that a lot, too. Or, 'It's time to light the fires, lift the tires, and blast out of here!" before we got in the car to go somewhere.

"My dad was an infantry officer. A grunt. But he did pick up some of that pilot lingo along the way. Infantry guys love pilots who fly in close and bomb the shit out of the bad guys when things go south. Even Air Force pilots," Sawyer said with the warmest of smiles.

Jordyn didn't reply again. She sat there just looking at this very handsome, very down to earth young man who seemed hopelessly sad and lonely when he should be on top of the world.

"Would you like to maybe go somewhere and talk or maybe even just walk around?" he said out of the blue.

Jordyn was caught off guard but recovered quickly.

"Um...sure. Let me just finish these last couple of things and then I have to make one call to a company in Singapore. After that, I'll be done for the night. Unless Ventura texts me to go get her a maple bar or something around midnight again."

"I'd ask if you're kidding, but I know that family too well already. She's a trip, isn't she?" he said.

"Well, I suppose she can be a bit...eccentric at times," Jordyn said being as polite as she could possibly be.

It was well after 10pm before Jordyn finally finished the things that couldn't wait, and she still had several things she should probably get done before leaving, but they could wait until morning. Leaving them meant she'd be on overload the first couple of hours or she'd have to get in around 5am. Either way, she needed some personal time and that was a luxury she rarely indulged in anymore. So even just an hour or two away from the office sounded very nice.

Sawyer had seemed perfectly content to sit there and watch her work the entire time. He barely said two words and never once tried to hurry her along. He'd even offered to help once knowing he couldn't really do anything.

Jordyn regretted it immediately after jokingly telling him, "No thank you. You just sit there and look pretty, okay?"

She'd meant it in the nicest way possible, but she knew as soon as she said it she'd hit a sore spot.

"I didn't mean that like it sounded, Sawyer," she told him when she saw his reaction.

"It's okay. I mean, that is what I'm good for out here. In fact, that's all I'm good for. I can sit and...look pretty. And get paid a shit load of money for doing it. At the risk of sounding like a woman, no one takes me seriously. I'm just 'the pretty face'."

Now it was Sawyer who realized he'd said something that crossed a line.

"I wasn't implying women are emotional or petty. I guess I'm just a little sensitive about the 'pretty boy' comments," he said kind of apologizing.

Jordyn smiled and only said, "I'll just be a few more minutes, okay?"

"Take your time," he told her glad they were off that subject.

He smiled that warm smile at her again then said, "I'm actually enjoying the view from over here myself. A lot."

Jordyn was thankful she didn't blush again, but what he said made her feel something she wasn't expecting, and it felt...very nice.