View With Your Heart (Heart Collection #5) - L.B. Dunbar Page 0,6
again.
“That reminds me. I have something for each of you.” I mean, Mum and Dad, and realize I’m an ass for not having a gift for Ethan and his girlfriend. Excusing myself, I return to the car where I left the gift bags, and take a moment to collect a breath.
Only a little longer, Gavin. You can do this.
I hate that I need to give myself a pep talk to speak with my parents.
Returning to the table, I hand Mum and Dad each a decorative bag. Mum removes the tissue paper first to reveal a pink headscarf while Dad rummages through the bag, crumpling the tissue to the side before pulling forward his present.
“A tie?” he asks, and I note the pattern of the tie and the headscarf match. My manager picked it out. I’ve kept Zoey on a retainer, although I’m not certain why. The gifts are a huge mistake.
“Yeah,” I say, scratching at the back of my neck. Shit. What does my dad need with a pink plaid tie?
“It’s beautiful, Gavin. Thank you,” Mum states, trying to lessen the tension between us. She clears her throat and tries another topic. “So, lovie, what’s your movie about?”
My heart flutters at my mother’s endearment. She says it on the phone when I call home but hearing it in person does something to me.
“It’s a film, actually,” I clarify, clearing my throat to swallow the lump in it. I don’t bother explaining the difference between a film and a movie—how one connotates giving information while the other is more entertainment. We tried to make this film informational with a touch of entertainment, adding in the personal trials and tribulations of our young star. “A documentary about baseball.”
“Baseball,” Dad snorts.
“The crew followed a young man for a few years through the start of his career. It’s meant to showcase the ups and downs of professional sports.”
My parents will be seeing the film on Thursday, but the expression on my dad’s face says he isn’t excited.
“We can’t wait to see it,” Mum states, and she must be squeezing my dad’s hand hard under the table because his face is red, and a vein stands out on his neck. Not to mention, it’s uncharacteristic of him not to speak.
+ + +
Later that night, a cocktail party is held at a resort in Traverse City. It’s ticketed to keep out the enthusiasts, allowing filmmakers, producers, and actors to mingle among themselves before the showing of films, question and answer sessions, and presentations from various names in the industry begin the next day.
I attend in hopes of shaking off the awkward dinner with my family, which I escaped as quickly as I could. Ethan asked me to hang out longer, but he understood when I said I have a thing.
“Yeah, a big shot filmmaker can’t hang with us little people,” he mocked. He didn’t understand I didn’t feel like a big shot. I felt like a man just trying to make his way in the world and continually struggling to get it right.
Once in TC—as the locals call Traverse City—I drink a locally brewed beer, shake hands, and take photos with actors for their social media. As a has-been baseball player, I don’t have quite the same status as them. After an hour, I need air and decide to cross the byway to the downtown business district. It’s late enough the stores are closed, but the streetlamps remain on. The town is quiet as I walk the few blocks, eyes fixated on the old State Theatre, a historical landmark.
Looking up at the marquee, I stop and allow a movie from yesteryear to play out in my memory.
I’d gone to the movies. I just needed an escape. I’d most likely had a fight with my dad, and I wanted to be alone, which wasn’t possible to explain to friends as a teen. Watching a movie alone was unheard of. I slipped into the broken-down theater in Elk Lake City. With one screen, there was a matinee and an evening showing of some outdated film I can’t even remember. It wasn’t the movie that was important.
When I was in line for concessions, only one other person was ahead of me. A lithe-limbed blond with subtle curves and tan legs. For some reason, I just knew she wasn’t from the area. Her short skirt showed off those legs, and a soft voice ordered popcorn—a giant tub of it. When she turned, startled to find someone waiting behind her, the