Just For The Cameras

chapter 20 ~ what the hell is that?

CHAPTER 20 - WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?

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“Payton?” Nathan said my name when approximately half of the flight was over.

We had spent the last two hours in silence and hadn’t talked a single word. Nathan had been lost in thought and had consistently been looking out of the plane’s window. Meanwhile I had gone through every single app on my phone to relieve my boredom.

Right now my phone only had about two percent of battery left and my portable charger was somewhere in the depths of my suitcase, that’s why I was extremely happy that he had finally found his tongue.

“Yes, Nathan?” I replied and put my phone down onto the table between us.

“Can I ask you something?” He quietly asked.

I had honestly never seen him like this before. Nathan usually always was a cocky, narcissistic guy who sometimes had his “I’m gonna be nice to my friends now” phases, but even when he had one of those phases, you could still see that he was a very confident person that didn’t let anything get to him.

But right now he looked like a little schoolboy that asked his mother for something she would never give him. He literally looked as if I would scream at him for asking me a question, he looked vulnerable and shy. It was almost frightening.

“Of course you can.” I answered and leaned forward to rest my elbows on the table and to support my chin with my hands.

“Why?”

“Why what?” I asked somewhat perplexed and leaned back again.

“Why did you decide to fly here with me?”

“Oh that’s what you’re talking about.” I said. Now his question made sense. “Do you still remember the evening you told me about your family?”

He nodded slowly and so I continued talking.

“The week at my parents’ house showed me how much I missed my family and how much I actually need them and that’s why I often had to think about the things you’ve told me about your family. I know you miss them but I also know that you would never contact them because you’re way too prideful to do so. I was finally able to see my family again and now I recognize how much better it made me feel. While I was still in Los Angeles I never recognized how much I actually missed them, but now that I was there I have much more energy for my future projects and seeing how proud they are of me made me so extremely happy and made me forget about all my worries for a bit. And even though you haven’t seen your family in two years, I feel like seeing them again could help you as well. No matter what they’ll say, believe me, it will help you. If they reject you again, you can be sure that they don’t love you and you’ll be able to finally draw a line under the relationship with your family. But they might also agree to talk to you and might finally agree that becoming an actor was a good decision, because you’re successful and you definitely aren’t living on the streets because you’re getting no job. It’s a win-win situation, no matter what happens, it will be positive for you in the end.” I finally ended my little speech and waited for him to reply to me.

But Nathan was just staring at me, I knew that my whole explanation was a lot to take in and so I just sat there and waited until he finally started talking again.

“Maybe you’re right.” He replied after another few seconds.

“Cross out the maybe and repeat that.”

“Okay, you’re right.” He admitted and I grinned broadly.

“So you trust me?”

“Well, you kind of made me say I do, didn’t you?”