The One That Got Away.

The Roller Skating Rink

"Celeste?"

The woman lets out a terrific scream. 

"Holy shi- I didn't know someone was in there!"

"Oh, man, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Her heart is racing from being startled and she realizes her contraband is sitting right out in the open. She shoves it away as quickly as she can.

"You're Celeste, right?"

She can't believe she's hearing that name again after so many years.

"Uh, no. No, my name is Kelly."

"Oh, yeah, I guess Celeste was your stage name."

Kelly flushes red with embarrassment. She never thought she'd run into someone who knew her as Celeste. Especially not after this many years.

"Yeah. Um, who are you?"

Now it's Jared who's embarrassed. 

"I guess you don't remember me?"

"Mm, no sorry." 

She walks over to the main door and props it open- for safety. She grips her phone in her hand tightly. Jared senses her fear. He knows it's in his nature to come on strong. He steps back and casually puts his hands in his pockets to give the signal that he means no harm.

"I met you at Pure Platinum years ago. I'm Jared Leto," he makes sure to emphasize his name. 

She doesn't give any clue that she recognizes him or his name. He's starting to wonder if this was a mistake after all. 

"You signed a teeshirt for me. You know, I think I still have it somewhere," he laughs nervously, and she doesn't crack a smile. That was a stupid thing to say, he thinks to himself.

"Ok," she responds flatly.

"Anyway, I uh, I'm kinda stuck here in Orlando. And man, how crazy is it running into you!" 

Kelly is unable to hide how embarrassed and uncomfortable she is. She looks down at her feet and not at Jared.

"Yeah, you know, I don't work there anymore. I didn't even work there for very long anyhow."

"Oh yeah, no, of course not. I just mean like wow, what a small world!" Jared feels himself bombing big time but he's not ready to give up yet. Not after obsessing all these years. He needs to make some kind of headway with her. 

"Some rainstorm, huh? It never rains like this in LA."

"Yeah, hail sucks," she says quickly.

Kelly positions herself in front of where she shoved her stash and tries to discretely push it in a little farther.

"Oh, hey if you're worried about the weed, I'm not gonna narc on you or anything, " he laughs and grins but it doesn't lighten her mood. 

"So what can I help you with?"

Uh, that's a good fucking question, Jared thinks to himself. 

"I have some time to kill, maybe we could catch up?"

"Look, dude, I don't work at that place anymore. Besides, I was just a dancer, ok? Nothing else," she says defensively.

Jared is horrified that she would think he thought that way of her. He knows she was just a dancer. He watched her constantly and followed her home a few times- but he sure as hell couldn't tell her that. Especially not right now. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off like an asshole, Kelly, " Shit, her name is Kelly, I fucking love that name. "I don't know anyone here and I'm kinda stuck. I'm supposed to be headed to Miami for a thing with... work. Long story short, I didn't make it to Miami and I'm not sure how long I'm gonna be stuck in this hick ass place."