raindrops;

“I doubt that Kate Winslet gives a shit about us. She’s probably drinking caviar and reading scripts right now. I pretty much only watch movies when my daughters around and right now she’s been on a Frozen kick. I don’t even remember the last time I watched a movie that didn’t have singing or talking animals in it. I guess. But family is kind of complicated. You can love them,  but it doesn’t always mean you actually  like them. Not my business, though.”

“That’s cool, though. The movie industry has so much to offer, so I get it. Easy to get roped into stuff. I’m just…a very like. I get distracted a lot, I guess? So, movies are kinda hard for me to focus. That’s why I’m better at games and stuff, it’s like…I can interact and do stuff with it rather than just sit and watch. Takes a really good movie to get me to watch the whole thing. Aw, yeah. Nah I was like. I dunno. Not super romantic. I had a lot goin’ on, so I didn’t like…have time I guess.”

“I’m sure your mother did more than pretend to love them. I’m sure that she really did love them. I know that I loved every picture that my daughter drew. I still have a lot of them. I put them in a book.” She smiled, “The past is the past. This is the future and I’m sure your future will be amazing with many awards for your acting.”

“I haven’t met a single person who wanted Leo to die, though it infuriates me that kids these days have no idea what Titanic is. Like… how can you not know how Leonardo Dicaprio is? - I really didn’t like it, as much as I like them. It was… for lack of a better word, boring.”

Rhiannon frowned as she spoke, wanting to talk to her openly about her own background, knowing that it might serve as some support. She liked Josie. She was sweet - well, bittersweet, which was better in Rhiannon’s mind - and very cute. She was also ambitious and the part of Rhiannon that regretted leaving and never proving everyone wrong all over again craved being around someone like her. She shrugged, nonetheless, determined to keep the atmosphere as light as possible. “But talent alone isn’t everything. There has to be some foundation of work before you can get anywhere. Otherwise, it’ll just fizzle out.”

“Try again. If you want it, don’t let a couple rejections stop you, Jos. Get back up,” she said, telling her the same things she always told herself when she missed the target. Sensing her irritation, Rhiannon threw one leg over Josie’s body, straddling her. The sheet slide down from her form and she placed each of her hands by the other girl’s head. “Siblings are hard,” she said simply, not wanting to get into her own brothers but wanting to say something so Josie didn’t feel like she was left hanging. Rhiannon leaned down, peppering kisses from her jaw up to spot behind her ear that caused the other girl’s breathing to get heavier. She pulled back, arching a brow. “How about we do something else to distract you, hm?” 

        A groan left Josie’s lips as she listened to Rhiannon -- she knew the other was right, but she hated being told things like that. She was impatient, she had been working on becoming an actress for years ( even wasted an entire year on sucking a man’s dick who had been playing her ) and now she was frustrated and no longer wanted to wait. She wanted to snap her fingers and be who she always wanted to be. But of course it wasn’t that easy. “You’re fucking annoying when you’re being right, you know that?”, she mumbled, but there was a soft tone to her voice, and a small smirk slowly lifted one corner of her lips up.

Rhiannon smirked as Josie paced the length of the bed, tilting her head to follow the sway of her hips. She threw up her hands in feigned surrender as Josie waggled her finger at her. “Just wanted to make sure you were aware,” she teased. She sighed when Josie shot her a look. “Because I know you. You’re a passionate little shit and with how fucking dedicated you are, I’m sure you’re great,” she wanted to tell her how she worked her ass off to get to the Olympics. It was dedication and a need to prove her brothers wrong about her that made her succeed not pure talent. But Josie didn’t know anything about her past and she wasn’t about to offer up that information. She liked Josie but she didn’t trust anyone in Northport like that just yet.

“You know I’m always down to run lines with you for your auditions,” she said, deciding to ignore the liar comment. At least Rhiannon wasn’t scared to kiss her without liquid courage, but she didn’t say a word. She struggled with her own sexuality, she wasn’t about to make it worse on Josie. She sighed as Josie laid down, fingers curling around her phone and shutting it off. “I know you do,” she said, moving to slide her body next to Josie’s. “She seems like a bitch from what you’ve told me,” she commented, catching Josie’s chin and forcing her to look at her. “But you don’t need to talk about her right now, do you?” She asked, moving down to place a kiss on her jaw.

        It didn’t matter how many times the people around Josie reassured her that she was a good actress -- she didn’t believe it. No matter the attitude of confidence she liked to show off on the outside, she was crumbling with uncertainty on the inside with every new job she was declined. “Apparently passion and dedication don’t get you an Oscar,” she said simply, the frustration clear in her voice. There weren’t many people she showed this side of her too, but Rhiannon had successfully gotten herself a stance in her life that deserved it -- she didn’t know much about the other, and she wasn’t sure just how much she trusted her, but the magic she could do with her lips and the fact that Josie hardly had many good friends around Northport anymore was enough.

Rhiannon had sat up in bed, sheet wound around her chest as she scans the floor for her bra among the clothes thrown casually on the floor. The blonde wasn’t entirely sure what Josie was going on about, though she typically did something similar after their nights together to distract from the fact that Rhiannon had been kissing her senseless a few minutes prior. She glanced over to her, grin pulling at her lips. “Baby, you’re way hotter than Kate or your sister. And a much better actress, I’m sure. But, please, come back to bed,” she smiled, patting the space on the bed beside her.

“True. Parents love when their children buy them gifts. I know I do. Unfortunately some children aren’t old enough to speak out either when it comes to their money.” Chana nodded in understanding, “You know I could be very wrong too. Maybe this tape will be amazing and you’ll be winning the Oscar next year.”

“Really? Do you have a favorite genre at all or is it just kinda whatever is on is on? I wish I had that like…varied of a taste. I do for some stuff, but not movies. They just require you to give up so much time that like you have to just sit and pay attention and you can’t do much else. Ah, yeah I wasn’t…at all romantic as a teenager. I don’t think anyway.”

The younger woman clearly wasn’t impressed with Charlotte knowing her sister, or perhaps her sister in general. “Not much sisterly love, hm? Don’t worry,” she started, quiet and conspiratorial. “I won’t tell Johanna.” She couldn’t really blame the other woman; her relationship with her siblings was difficult to say the least. She couldn’t entirely relate to Josie’s situation, mostly because she didn’t know specifics, but she had been the seemingly perfect older sibling. Her younger siblings made sure she knew exactly how annoying that was. She imagined Josie felt the same. “Charlotte Hunter. Lovely to meet you.” She could tell that the other was curious what Johanna shared about her, but Charlotte wasn’t letting go of that information just yet. 

“True and unfortunately I don’t think some of these parents are really helping their kids either. They’re living off the success of their child and not teaching them what to do with the money.” She grinned, “It’ll work out. Some careers just take longer to get started than others. Just look at Harrison Ford and Kathy Bates.”

Charlotte nodded as she spoke, remembering her. “Ah, yes.. Johanna,” she mused, using her formal name rather than her nickname. They were never friends, not really. They used each other because they made the other look good. If she remembered correctly, the other girl was every bit as image hungry as she was. She respected that, of course, but it didn’t leave the best impression on Charlotte. She chuckled at her comment, “I can’t say I would be interested in an autograph. I knew her well before she got famous, gangly arms and big dreams. I don’t care for her name on a napkin,” not when I have her number buried somewhere in her multiple black books, she thought. Of course, the publicity that would come with the pair of them leaving a brunch place would be helpful, but she hardly. needed Johanna’s little sister to help with that. “You must be Josie, then.”

“Oh, I see. You’re one of those people who thinks that there aren’t masterpieces being created today too. That thinks beauty can only live in the past?” Fiona couldn’t help but smirk just a bit, raising a challenging eyebrow toward Josie. It was Fi’s MO after all: to challenge whoever was on the other end of the living think-piece that created every part of her being. And Josie? Well, she couldn’t help but want to challenge her. The beautiful girl who just didn’t seem to think she was good enough… not that Fiona could blame her. She had never had a sister, but she had spent her entire life comparing herself to those around her. Having your own flesh and blood to remind you that you might be failing at your own goals couldn’t exactly be easy. “Oh yeah?” Fiona inquired gently, watching the blonde over a long sip from her glass. “What if you tried just… not comparing yourself to anyone? I mean - I’ve never seen you act, but I know you’re fucking gorgeous.” She shrugged it off to try and downplay the cheesiness that threatened to invade on their conversation, “Maybe what you need is to just accept that you’re not like anyone who’s come before you. You’re not better than anyone out there - you’re not worse - you’re just something different. Take it from a New Yorker. Sometimes in showbiz, babe, that’s all you fuckin’ need.” 

“Exactly. Like, I don’t know. If I can’t relate to it, it’s hard to really get into it. I can appreciate some stuff still, but I guess the whole romance genre just hasn’t caught me yet. Definitely open to giving it another try, though. Who knows, maybe now that I’m more grown up I can appreciate it more or something.” 

“I do, yeah - I get it. I’m sure you would have been great, even if - I mean, do you even act? Or have any training?” Personally, Amelia couldn’t do it if her life depended on it. Saying things that were scripted felt far too … weird, and she was anything but believable while doing so. Drama school in high school had been a complete nightmare because whenever she just tried to have fun with it, her teacher would tear her apart. And to think, there were people that actually missed that point of their life. “I suppose. Think it depends on the movie, though. I mean, the Titanic was terrible. A happy ending wouldn’t have been fitting. It’s like Inception - people talk about it because the ending. Not happy, but not sad. You just don’t fucking know.”

A smirk settled onto Marcus’ features as his gaze rested comfortably on her features. “You said you could out-perform the great Kate Winslet, with a claim like that I would imagine you could rock any scene. I’ll let you choose. Give me all you’ve got” He offered a light nod after his words. His words were teasing with a little challenge in them, but there was no harshness or judgement in his demeanor. That wasn’t who Marcus’ was, but nevertheless he was curious to see what she’s give him. “Hey, just so you know. My performance skills are close to zero if even that, so by just agreeing to do anything you’ve already out-done me.” 

“He was daddy back then, now he’s got dad bod.” Adam cleared his throat, amused by her reaction, “Sounds like your beef is more with your sister than anything else. While poor Kate Winslet is getting caught in the middle of it. I’m not judging. I’ve got my own little Cinderella story. But let’s not sugar coat anything. What’s going on between you and your sister? And I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that interviews are just the tip of the iceberg.” It was so much more fun talking about other people’s hangups. It made him feel like he had his life together.