This is designed to show a different side of Hayden - a side that hasn't been depicted in any of my other stories...
As most of you also know, music and lyrics are a big part of my story and usually tie in with the emotion of the storyline...
Disclaimer: I don't own Hayden, his family or John Mayer's song, "Something's Missing"
His Life --
I'm not alone, I wish I was.
Cause then I'd know, I was down because
I couldn't find, a friend around
To love me like,
they do right now.
They do right now.
~~~~
It took him a minute to remember where he was - in a suite at the Chateau Marmont.
He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and feeling the overwhelming sensation he was going to be sick.
The nausea was a straight result of a bad combination of way too many cigarettes and liquor.
Hayden looked down at the sleeping figure - was her name Janice? Jennifer?
The truth was, Hayden didn't have the slightest clue who she was or how he even got in this hotel room.
Ending up in strange places with different people had been a common theme in his life as of late -- for the past six months he'd been taking an extended vacation from projects and had been living it up on the L.A. party circuit.
It was his 'shy man's revenge' for all of those younger years of being too shy to go to parties and socialize. He'd even been dumped once due to his reclusive nature. He considered himself to be much more outgoing now -- although, the liquor still helped with that to this day.
He leaned down to quietly gather his clothes from the floor with vague memories of the night prior buzzing in his brain.
The night before
He was attending yet another Hollywood party for the release of a new film by an up-and-coming director. There were gentlemen in business suits and women in sequined tube tops - this soiree had certainly brought the various masses.
Hayden had been fine to sit and observe the scene from his chair with multiple glasses of champagne. He surveyed the scene to find Tove talking with several well known producers. Tove was still much better at the 'networking' business aspect of their production company.
Two women were standing off to the side watching Hayden -- they caught his eye and he gave them his signature grin before turning his attention in the other direction.
"Hello, Hayden," the blonde said in a sultry voice stepping over to him.
"Hello Denise," he said smiling.
"This is Jane, she's visiting from Phoenix," Jane said introducing Hayden.
~~ That's it!, Hayden thought bringing his mind back to the present. Her name is Jane!
Hayden dressed quickly and quietly, walked to the door and with a final glance at the sleeping girl, opened the hotel door and walked out.
~~~
Tove sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean and took a sip of his coffee, flipping his magazine to the next page.
When Hayden and Tove had made the decision to move back to L.A. a little more permanent, they had managed to persuade their former landlord to rent to them again. This time around, they were renting a three bedroom beach house in Malibu that overlooked the ocean and was near the PCH.
Tove heard the front door slam and turned to see Hayden walking through the corridor of the kitchen and out to the balcony.
Tove shook his head- Hayden looked disheveled at best- hair tousled and wearing the rumpled clothes he'd been wearing the night before, a look common for him after a night of hard partying.
"Look what the cat dragged in," Tove commented, looking down at his magazine again.
Hayden sat down in the deck chair and poured a cup of coffee, "...man...I may still be drunk...I don't know."
Tove laughed, "Yeah, you were pretty toasted when I left."
"When did you leave?" Hayden asked, sipping the hot coffee in an effort to wake himself up and rid himself of the impending hangover.
"I left at 2:30 -when you were surrounded by four dancing girls, a bottle of tequila, limes and salt," Tove replied.
Hayden smirked, "that's where the fun began."
"I can imagine, and I don't wanna know," Tove said.
"Aww c'mon man...you should've stayed..."
"Yeah...Melanie would have been thrilled I'm sure," Tove said, referring to his longtime girlfriend who had had to decline the party invitation due to an early meeting at work.
Hayden laughed, "well, I had a good time."
"I can see that you did," Tove commented, observing Hayden's disheveled appearance.
"This is my vacation, I don't do this when I'm working - I take my work seriously," Hayden suddenly felt the need to defend himself.
"Hey, I didn't say a word," Tove put up his hands.
"You don't have to, I know you too well...I know what you're thinking," Hayden said.
"Oh yeah? ....and what is that?" Tove asked.
"You're thinking that I shouldn't be sleeping my way around L.A." Hayden replied.
Tove stifled a laugh, "hey...you said it, I didn't."
Hayden rolled his eyes, "...well I'm not married- I don't even have a girlfriend....so I don't consider it to be wrong."
"Once again - I never said a thing," Tove said. "I'm not judging you or anything you do...as long as it makes you happy."
Hayden looked at Tove for a moment.
"Well, I hope you still have some energy left for tonight," Tove spoke up.
"What? Oh yeah! I completely forgot!" Hayden exclaimed.
"What time is the Forest Park party?" he asked.
"Doors open at 9- just at least make an appearance, since you've been a virtual no-show to the other functions lately," Tove said wryly.
"Tove, man, I'm sorry I didn't make it to the last one, I really didn't mean to miss it...I got...caught up."
"Yeah, I'm sure you did, no doubt with one of your lady companions," Tove said sarcastically.
Hayden only smiled and leaned back in his chair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her Life
"Steph, can you hold that end straight?" Cara asked from her place on the ladder where she was trying to hang a picture.
The two girls were working on decorating their apartment.
They had just moved to Los Angeles two weeks ago, but the planning and preparation for the move had been ongoing for months.
The two girls had been roommates throughout four years of college in Virginia and had made a vow to move to L.A. together after graduation.
Stephanie's dream was to be an actress and Cara had gone to school for PR and publicity.
Stephanie had already been hard at work pursuing agencies to represent her and Cara even had a job lined up.
Cara knew that she couldn't just walk right into publicity- she'd have to work her way up the career ladder. She had wanted to start out with a production company, that would be the best way to get her foot in the door.
She'd sent her resume to nearly every independent film production company before she had moved and had gotten several interviews lined up.
She had just accepted an office production assistant position with a smaller firm called Forest Park Pictures.
"I've never heard of that company," Stephanie had said upon hearing the news at first.
"It's only been established within the past few years," Cara had replied.
Cara knew she had better brush up on her research of the company before she began work on Monday - it was never impressive to be completely ignorant about the company you worked for, especially in this industry where there were a million people waiting to take your place at any given moment.
"So, is Forest Park a Weinstein company?" Stephanie asked, rushing over to help with the picture hanging.
"I'm not really sure. I don't think so," Cara said. "I don't really know anything about it. I only met the girl I would be assisting in the office."
Stephanie nodded. "Hopefully she won't be like Miranda Priestly or anything," Stephanie joked about the diva in "The Devil Wears Prada."
"Yeah, let's hope not. I'm not sure if I can handle that type of stress," Cara laughed. "It seemed like a pretty relaxed atmosphere when I was there."
"Well, maybe we'll get to know some of your co-workers tonight!"
Cara nodded in reply. She had been pleasantly surprised to receive an invitation to the Forest Park party that evening at Skybar in the Mondrian considering she hadn't even begun work. Steph was right, it would be a great way to network and possibly learn a bit more about the company she was going to be working for come Monday morning.
"Maybe there will be some hotties too!" Steph joked.
Cara laughed. Steph was clearly on the prowl. To say the least, Cara hadn't been on the prowl so much lately. She'd just gotten out of a long-term relationship which resulted in a painful breakup. She wasn't sure she was ready to jump back in to the dating scene.
Steph rolled her eyes back at Cara, "...ya know, I'm not saying you have to marry some guy...just loosen up and have a little fun for once."
Cara nodded, maybe it was time to move on from the past and just have fun. She had moved cross-country and was free. At that moment, she became bound and determined to celebrate her newfound freedom.