starstruck | joe keery

chapter four

Joe was the kind of guy who did things on impulse. He was also the kind of guy who believed in things like zodiac signs and love at first sight. Seeing Julia at the coffee shop wasn't the first time he'd seen her, in fact, it wasn't even the second. It was the third time, and he was falling.

The first time Joe saw Julia was two months ago, when he was on a run early one morning near the beach. It was barely bright outside, the sun barely rising, when he spotted a girl with wavy brown hair tied up slightly, flowing in the wind. She was sitting on a foldable chair with an easel in front of her and paints on the floor next to her, a pencil tucked behind her ear.

He jogged a bit closer.

Blues and greys covered the canvas, a clear image of the rough, yet calm waters. To women sat in front of the painter, laying down on a blanket with a dog in front of them, the three of them in such a peaceful scene. He could see Julia starting to paint them, taking out browns for the dog and reds for one of the woman's sweaters.

He loved art and he loved her art even more. He almost wanted to go up and ask how much it would cost for the painting, but he didn't. He was too scared. So he ran away, he ran for another hour until he came back and the girl with the wavy hair was gone.

The second time he saw Julia was at the grocery store. He needed a quick snack before a magazine shoot and that's when he spotted her. In the granola bar isle was the painter from two weeks before. He knew it was her from the wavy hair. She was dressed in baggy jeans and a green knitted sweater, tons of jewelry and a cream tote bag.

"Excuse me", she said to him, trying to grab a Kind bar from behind Joe and wow, was her voice beautiful, and so was her face. Though he could only see her eyes and forehead because of the hand sewn mask covering the bottom half of her face, he knew she was pretty.

It was fate that they'd met again, he thought to himself, but he wouldn't act upon it. What was he supposed to say in a grocery store? "Hey, I saw you two weeks ago painting, can I get your number? I think I'm in love", that would be crazy!

Instead he moved to the side, closer to the Luna bars and pretended like he wasn't captivated by the 5'0 girl in front of him.

That's why when he saw her at the coffee shop that Saturday morning, he knew he had to make a move. Third time's a charm, they always say. He saw her blush and her shaky hands and he wondered how much more flustered he could make this girl. If she was that nervous just from a little conversation, how was she going to react when he told her how beautiful she really was?

So he scribbled his numbers on a napkin and handed it to her when he got his drink. He walked away quickly, not wanting to make a scene, but he turned back to see her at the door. He was surprised to see she was looking at him, too. He winked, she blushed.

He left.

Now, later that night, he was finishing up a scene for the movie he was shooting, it was a romance and it was going pretty well. Your first big hit being the main character! his manager, Noel, told him. "But... why would I do that to you!?", Joe's costar, Miranda screamed at him, face red, tears in her eyes.

"CUT! THATS A WRAP FOR TONIGHT!", the director shouted and everyone dispersed in seconds.

"Great job out there, Joe, you're killin' it", Noel said, patting Joe's back as the two of them walked off the set. "Thanks, hey I'm gonna head home, do I come at the same time tomorrow?", he asked as he was handed his personal belongings by an assistant on set. "Yup, see you then, and remember, you have a shoot tomorrow at 5am, so be up!", Noel reminded him.

The two of them walked down the street to the parking lot and headed their separate ways. Sunglasses on and keys in hand, Joe got into his car swiftly and quickly took out his phone, desperate to know if he got a text back.

And there it was.

the text.