Virtually Mine: a love story (13 page)

“Charlie, you’re an angel!” Just like
that, Kate threw her arms around Charlie and gave him a spontaneous hug.

There were two things that Charlie
realized immediately. One: it was the first time he’d ever been embraced by a
woman within two decades of his age. (He didn’t figure that his mom, his
cousins, or any of his dad’s parishioners should count.) And Two: Kate’s hair
smelled of tangerines, which he immediately decided was his favorite fruit.

Charlie could feel his face going
scarlet. He worried that Kate might notice until he saw that her attention had
been diverted over his shoulder to M.J., who was fast approaching with two
small dogs on leashes.

M.J. froze, agape at the sight of Kate’s
yard sale. “Kate! That...that’s our couch! Remind me never to leave you
unsupervised on Saturdays. What are you doing?!”

Kate returned a cheery grin. “Selling my
stuff. Wanna buy it?”

“It’s already ours,” M.J. insisted as
Shortie, the Sheltie mix, and a yet to be named part Chihuahua yipped at a
passing poodle. “What are we supposed to sit on? Shortie, no!”

“We can sit on the floor. Pillows. We’ll
come up with something. I need the money.” Kate stooped down to give the pups
on M.J.’s leashes some attention. “Where did you get these dogs?”

“Adopted, like me.” M.J. turned to
Charlie. “Charlie, I know, I know. I’ll give you a deposit.”

Before Charlie had a chance to respond,
M.J. rotated around to Kate. “Back up. You’re selling off life and limb for
what?”

Even though Kate lowered her voice to
sotto tones, Charlie was still close enough to overhear. “For him,” Kate said.

M.J.’s brow furrowed. “Who him?”

Charlie leaned closer, as discreetly as
he could, his curiosity piqued.

“Him-him,” Kate whispered. “You know.”

M.J. rocked back, her volume increasing.
“You mean, your imaginary rent-a-guy?”

Kate snapped a finger to her lips.
“Shhh!
 
And he’s not imaginary. He’s
real. You said it yourself.”

“I meant real in the sense that he’s
human as opposed to actually being your boyfriend.”

Charlie listened in, hardly believing his
ears as Kate went on, her face growing more animated.

“It hit me this morning like, bing!” Kate
enthused.
 
“The week I had with him is
almost over.
 
I can’t let that
happen.
 
Sure my credit card is maxed
now, and I have to reserve rent, but I don’t need all this stuff and it’s as
good as gold.”

“Aren’t you still paying for half of this
on that credit card?” M.J. protested. “Isn’t that sort of why it’s maxed?”

Kate glanced around at her former
purchases. “What do I need with a wok or a foot massager or a DVD player—”

“You’re selling the DVD player?!”

“Why keep it when I sold the TV?”

“Noooo!” M.J. roared.

Kate hiked her eyebrows with glee. “I got
seventy-five bucks for it. Can you believe it?”

M. J. buckled at the knees. “Kate, this
is crazy.”

Charlie watched as Kate took her roommate
by the arms and looked at her squarely.

“I know it seems nuts, but Mom always
said, love makes you do kooky things.”

Charlie steadied himself against the back
of his newly purchased chair. It kept him from keeling straight over.

“Love?” M.J. spouted. “Who said anything
about love?”

Kate smiled understandingly. “Maybe it
sounds ridiculous but—”

“That’s because it is!” M.J. spat.

In a way, Charlie was glad that M.J.
continued the conversation, but the turn it was taking worried him.

Kate didn’t miss a beat. “You’re the one
who was all about investing in the possibilities.”

“I said ‘invest’ not divest!”

A dreamy look crossed Kate’s face as she
leaned toward M.J. confidentially. “You know what he told me last night? That
I’m his first girlfriend ever.”

M.J. shook her head. “And you believed
him? A guy who looks like that? He’s playing you. And all his other clients. He
probably read it off a script.”

“No. Uh-uh,” Kate answered. “I get a
really genuine kind of vibe from him.”

M.J. yanked at her already unruly hair.
“This is insane. I am living with a loony bag.”

“I’m a loony bag?” Kate retorted. “Am I
the one who’s allergic to dogs and just adopted two of them?”

Just then, a surfer dude pushed past
Charlie toward Kate, eyeing Kate’s retro convertible at the curb. “Hey, how low
can you go for the rag top?”

Kate turned receptively to the surfer.
“Twenty-five hundred, as is.”

M.J. positioned herself between them.
“Stop it, Kate!
 
No.”

Realizing that he was the cause of all of
this, Charlie intervened, pained by his meager wallet. “I’ll give you three
thousand dollars in, let’s see, six easy monthly installments...if you keep
your sofa.”

Immediately, Kate shook Charlie’s hand.
“Done.” She handed him her keys.

“Kate, this is L.A.!” M.J. implored.
“You’re an actor. How are you going to get around?”

Kate zipped through traffic on a
motorized razor scooter. She glided to a stop in front of the casting co-op,
picked up the scooter, and raced inside.

There was only a minute or two for Kate
to find the right studio, sign in, and speed through her lines. Soon, she heard
Wissy call out above the din of the busy waiting area.

“Okay, Kate and Jerry, you’re up.” As
Kate and Jerry rose, Wissy called out again. “Anybody else, come in for the
explanation.”

Kate followed Jerry into the small
casting studio, her portable scooter in tow. A director and an ad exec barely
looked up as a half a dozen other actors squeezed into the room. Scanning the
other auditionees, Kate did a double take at the last guy in line.

It was Brad.

Kate caught her breath. It couldn’t be,
but it was. There was no mistaking Brad’s face from the photo that she’d been
sent from
Virtually Mine
. Suddenly, Kate realized, her Imaginary
Boyfriend wasn’t so imaginary. Everything in Kate tingled. Her stomach
flip-flopped.

Wissy stepped in front of the
auditionees. “Everybody listening. This is casting very quickly, so be
reachable. You’re at a party. Very casual. Guys approach, turn on the charm.
Ladies, you like him a lot, so do your best to keep up appearances, even when
you sense your unnamed but obviously inferior hygiene product is, shall we say,
letting you down.”

Try as she might, Kate could not keep her
eyes off Brad. She attempted not to be too obvious, but couldn’t help cutting
her eyes to him. At least he was so focused on Wissy that he didn’t catch her.

Wissy waltzed toward the door. “Okay,
Kate and Jerry stay. Everybody else out. Size cards and photos on the table.”

Kate watched as Brad exited. He had been
the last in the door, so he also was the first out. Everything in Kate hoped to
get Brad’s attention, but she was first up and the session was ready to start.

Wissy stepped behind the camera to shoot.
“Kate, you can put your scooter down there.”

Kate shyly stepped to the side and
propped the scooter against the wall, dying to follow Brad, but knowing she
couldn’t, at least not yet. She reminded herself that he’d still be there when
she finished, waiting for his turn to audition.

Wissy pointed to a small piece of white
tape on the carpet. “So, on the marks. Give us your names, then go right into
it.”

First in line, Jerry started. “Hi, I’m
Jerry Fontaine.”

Wissy panned to Kate. “And you’re...”

Distracted, Kate turned back to the
camera. “Uh...Kate Valentine.” Kate fought to rally her focus, hoping somehow
that her discombobulation would play in to the scene.

Jerry approached in character, barely
referring to his lines. “Hi...you know, I couldn’t help but notice you. That
white dress...you look so amazing in it.”

A demure smile crossed Kate’s face.
“Thanks.”

Jerry extended his hand to her. “I’m
Michael.”

“Michael. I’m... Listen, I’m really
sorry. But could you excuse me?” With that, Kate walked away, grabbed her
scooter and headed for the door.

Wissy stopped recording. “Okay, good.
Kate that was just what we were going for—”

Barely acknowledging Wissy, the director,
or the ad exec, Kate opened the door to leave. “Great. Thanks.”
 

Kate knew it was customary to wait to be
excused, but something inside her had shifted. Suddenly, she didn’t care about
living in the imaginary world of acting, not when the real, live version of
Brad was waiting outside. Just before she pulled the door closed, she heard
Jerry’s bemused voice say, “So, I guess that’s it?”

Kate scanned the busy waiting area for
Brad’s familiar face. Finally, she spotted him. There he was, across the room,
working with his audition partner.

Her heart pounding furiously, Kate
approached, listening in on their rehearsal of the commercial’s copy.

“I’m Michael,” he said.

“Michael. I’m... Listen, I’m really
sorry, but could you excuse me?”

As Brad’s partner wandered off in
character, Kate gathered her courage. She stepped up behind him and called out,
“Brad?”

Right away, he turned back to Kate and
flashed a receptive smile. “Hi. Actually, it’s Eric.”

Kate returned an understanding grin. “No,
really. You’re working under a stage name here, right?”

Eric showed her his headshot. He pointed
to where his name, Eric Bender, was printed at the bottom. “No, it’s really
Eric. See?”

Confused, Kate pulled Brad’s snapshot out
of her pocket. “No, it’s... Look, you’re even wearing the same jacket.”

In a moment, Eric recognized the shot and
nodded with realization.

Kate took a step closer, checking around
to make sure she wasn’t overheard. “Brad, it’s okay. You didn’t break any
promises. Us running into each other, it was totally an accident. How can your
boss fire you over that?”

Eric rubbed his clean-shaven jaw
good-naturedly. “Actually, she’s not my boss anymore. I’m picking up my last
check right after this. And this is kind of awkward...but my name, it isn’t
really Brad.”

A light started to dawn for Kate. “Oh.
Okay, Eric, gotcha. Of course. They had you use another name...but I’m used to
hearing you with your accent. Without it, I didn’t even recognize your voice.”

All too soon for Kate, Wissy called out
from the studio door. “Judy, Eric! You’re up!”

Though Judy headed over immediately, Eric
lingered. He softened to an understanding tone as he spoke to Kate. “Look, I’m
really sorry, but it’s just...I’m not that guy. I was only a face they hired
for one of their Operators to hide behind. Truth is, I’m an actor, just like
you, reduced to reading for embarrassments like this so I can eat.”

Wissy’s voice rang out again. “Eric,
let’s go.”

Overwhelmed and humiliated, Kate fought
tears. She could see Eric floundering about what to do. “It’s all right,” she
assured. “I should have known.”

“I feel really bad that... Are you going
to be okay?”

Understanding, Kate pulled herself
together. “Go. Get the job. I’m fine.”

A reluctant look on his face, Eric left.

Tears spilling down her cheeks, Kate
watched Eric go, all the way across the waiting area till he followed Wissy
into the casting studio and closed the door.

For a while, Kate just stood there in
shock, her face streaked. He had seemed beyond perfect for her, too perfect,
she realized. What it was that had made her fall so hard so fast, Kate didn’t
know. All she knew was that her heart was breaking all over again, on a level
far beyond the healing properties of full-fat Rocky road.

As fast as her feet would carry her, Kate
fled from the casting studios, outside where she could be alone with the
complete and utter fool she felt sure she’d just made of herself.

♥   
♥    ♥

Across town, Charlie sat quietly at his
Virtually Mine
Operator’s
station, staring at Kate’s picture. He recalled what she’d said about love.
Could
it be?
Inspired, he picked up his desk phone and dialed, once again
adopting Brad’s country boy twang.

Charlie
listened to Kate’s outgoing message, enjoying the cadence of her voice. He knew
she wasn’t there and how much she enjoyed coming home to find the light
blinking on her answering machine. Via the disguise of a phone call, he would
give her what she’d bargained for and more. He would pour out every
unapologetically affectionate thought that crossed his ever-loving mind.

“
Hey,
Katie-girl,” he started. “Sorry I missed you; but I was just thinkin’ of
you...which for me has become a constant state of affairs these days. I know
this whole imaginary thing is, well, it is what it is, but somehow... It’s just
that my real heart’s got itself wrapped so far around you I’m not sure what to
do.”