stories from the city; damon albarn

23-

Maxis gestures for him to sit down and says "Your name is Ewan correct?"

He nods his head "Ewan McGregor. Yes. You'd be correct."

"Well, I'm glad they've picked someone good looking enough to play me and Iggy apparently. Who's this movie for?"

"Todd Haynes is directing it. It's called Velvet Goldmine, and well my character, he's like a play on you and Iggy from what I understand."

"Are you a music fan?" Maxis asks

He nods his head eagerly. "I like your records sir. I would call myself a fan. Heck I've even seen you live."

He chuckles "That's good. I would've wondered why you'd take on a role like that if you weren't a fan of music. What advice were you looking for?"

"Well, I'm just unsure how to combine elements of you and Iggy. Because Iggy is more or less the same, you've sort of evolved. On stage and off stage. I mean you're very different than you were in the late 60's and 70's."

"Well, there was a lot more acid in the air. And then I had kids. And I wanted to do them better than my pop did me." Maxis answers honestly.

"But how would you describe yourself before that?" He says leaning in

Maxis shrugs "Wild. I liked to slam my guitars, stretch them. My hair was pretty damn long. I liked to party. Do drugs. Get drunk. And then I fell in love, had kids and cleaned myself up, evolved into a butterfly and completed my metamorphosis."

Chloe looks bored, as if she's heard all of this before.

"I think Chloe might have a better perspective, as she runs my photographical archives these days." Maxis says, tossing the floor over to Chloe, who immediately perks up, making eye contact with the boy.

"What was the question?" She asks

"Er, how'd you describe your dad back then? When you were a baby? That might be a tough one." He says, slightly laughing

She pauses to think. "A bit of a wreck. Lots of attempts to do makeup and to kill himself honestly. That's what it all reads as."

He nods, staring at her, which she notices.

"Sorry, it's uh, just I like your flower. Very psychedelic." He says grinning a little

"You think so?"

He nods his head. "It's pretty. It looks nice."

Maxis stands up, stretching a little bit. "I'm off to sign someone's shirt. Have fun talking about me or whatever else. I feel old now."

And with that, Maxis Erlich was off, leaving Chloe alone with the actor.

Ewan's gaze follows Maxis as he leaves, and then returns to make eye contact with Chloe once he's no longer in eye sight. "I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation, I just saw an opportunity and took it. That's all. I'm very sorry-"

She cuts him off "You didn't interrupt anything. Besides, I'm very sure my dad is glad we're having a conversation. He's not too fond of my friends at the moment."

Ewan frowns, tilting his head "Oh no...Why not?"

She shrugs her shoulders "I think they remind him of what he didn't like about himself back then. Silly stuff. Nothing too terrible I hope. Besides, I think he's mainly upset I haven't published a photography book."

"You should!" He blurts out, before correcting himself "I mean, you should put one out. Everyone likes your work from what I've heard. I mean I've seen it before, it's quite nice."

She looks at him curiously.

"Are you the fan?"

"The what?" He asks

"The fan. Danny Boyle said that I had fans on set . Are you my fan?"

He shrugs "I suppose so. I can appreciate art can't I?"

She grins. "What's it like being a film star? Are you a high roller?"

He laughs "God no. I've barely been in anything. But I love acting. I like getting to pick roles that are fulfilling and entertaining. I love a good serious film and all, but I think the ones that set out to be different are best."

He seems to go on a bit of a tangent "I mean take this movie, it's going to be viscerally beautiful, but also completely different than anything else. It's not going to be completely serious. It's a fucking comedy for fucks sake.

I like acting in projects that make me happy, or that give me opportunities to explore-"

She cuts him off. "That makes sense. That's how I feel with photography. I only take jobs that will make me feel good, or I know will have a satisfying end result."

He nods his head a little and the two continue conversing, engrossing in various other topics, eventually finding out that they both had been out to drinks with Oasis and thought that the Gallagher's were quite funny individuals.

"I've got some hot information about Liam, but you can't tell anyone." Chloe teases

He leans in, and let's her whisper the secret into his ear.

He laughs a little. "No way."

She nods his head. "I didn't fucking believe it till I saw it with my own eyes."

"You saw them?"

She shakes her head "I wanted to gouge my eyes out. It was traumatizing."

The conversation sullies on, neither one of the two getting bored, and as the day wrapped up, she began to wonder if perhaps she could be friends with the boy in front of her, and perhaps her dad had been right.

Spotting him outside his trailer, preparing to leave for the day, Chloe dashed over, practically zooming.

"I know it's late notice. But are you free tonight?"

"Why?" He questions

"I'm going to drinks with a few of my mates, maybe you know one of 'em, Damon Albarn? Do you want to come?"

He thinks about it and shrugs "I need to finally meet him. I like his music, plus his band plays in the movie."

She beams, giving him the information and then dashing off, jumping into her own car, and zipping off, ready for the night in front of her.