In LA Zac found himself once again groaning at the sight of work. Doing the Tonight show with Jay Leno was hardly work at all, but to Zac, it was just another performance he was sure nobody was going to appreciate but the handful of fans he and his brothers had left. Zac was still happy with his fans and enjoyed every moment of performing, but lately all the excitement was gone. Lately it had just been work and nothing else.
It wasn't always like that, though. He didn't always feel so reluctant to work. The last time he actually remembered being happy about work was when he had Gwendolyn, his previous girlfriend. Maybe that was just it. Maybe he needed a girlfriend. "Ginger will do," he muttered to himself, a small smile hinting at his lips.
"Did you say something, Zac?" Taylor asked from across the room. Zac looked up.
"Oh, no," he said. "I'm going for a walk."
They were waiting backstage for the show to begin. This was one of the few times that Zac didn't attend rehearsal (he'd been late, again, because he was having a lengthy discussion with an executive at Columbia Records) and he didn't know who else was scheduled to be on the show. Taylor and Isaac knew and all he had to do was ask, but it was too much of an effort and by the time he thought of it he was already out the door and roaming the backstage area.
He was getting tired. Yes, they'd just had a break and were at home for a little while, but a short break like that didn't do anything for him. He needed time to adjust to being home before he could relax, and he needed time to see his friends again. The entire time he was at home he was sleeping so much the idea of seeing his friends didn't even cross his mind until he was gone. He snorted; some friend he was.
He was just walking back to the room when a person came running down the hall, nearly knocking into him, and opened the door. She went inside and Zac huffed. "How rude, she didn't even apologize," he muttered to himself. Reaching for the doorknob, she suddenly appeared again, leaning out into the hallway, one hand on the doorframe to keep her from falling over.
"Are you Zac Hanson?" she asked. He turned to her and froze immediately. He was trapped immediately; standing right in front of him was Ginger Stevens, the girl he had been in love with since the first day he saw her the trailer for her movie in the theatre months and months ago. He didn't even feel himself nodding, but he must have because she smiled. It was one of those killer smiles that only a girl can give to nail somebody's feet to the ground and want to topple over and die. If it could even be possible, she was more beautiful in person than she was on television.
"Yes," he heard his distant voice say. He saw more of her perfectly white, movie star teeth as her smile grew even wider than before and his heart started to beat wildly in his chest. His hands were in tight fists because he knew if he unclenched them he'd be shaking so hard she'd wonder if he was having a heart attack.
"All right," she said, her smile staying as she nodded a bit. She turned to go back inside but he took a step forward and spoke.
"Um, wait, you're Ginger Stevens, aren't you?"
"That's what they call me," she said. "You've heard of me, then?"
"Of course I have," he said. "I've seen your movie a million times." She lit up immediately, her violet eyes widening in surprise and her smile growing to preposterous lengths.
"You have?" she asked. She sounded as surprised as she looked. Zac nodded.
"I'm�I'm a big fan."
"So am I."
So it was true. Unofficial Internet biographies were right. She was a fan. And Jessica didn't believe him�
"Do you want to come inside and talk?" she suddenly asked. His eyes swelled in surprise. This couldn't be happening. He nodded and followed her inside the room. It was just like his and he expected that. They sat down on the provided couch and when she finally realized how unabashedly he was staring at her, a soft blush rose in her cheeks. "What?"
"Nothing, nothing," he said, immediately sitting up straight and backing slightly away from her. "I just didn't think you could get any more beautiful." Her blush immediately darkened and she looked away.
"Zac�" was all she said.
"I'm serious."
"I know, that's why I'm blushing," she said, violet eyes boring into him, slightly hidden through red hair. "Um�so you're performing tonight?" She was obviously changing the subject and he was suddenly glad for it. He was embarrassed at how forward he was being.
"Yeah, my brothers and I are doing a song and I'm guessing an interview. I wasn't here for rehearsal."
"Me neither," she admitted. "That's why I was so surprised to see you. I didn't even know you were on tonight." He nodded. It was the same for him.
"Yeah�I was talking to this guy at Columbia Records. I met him at a caf� and we got into this long discussion and he offered me a job as a producer." Ginger gasped.
"You're not going to take it, are you?"
"Of course not! Going into producing would mean I'd have to quit my band. I love this band too much. I wouldn't trade anything for it."
"That's good�" she began to say when the door opened and a girl the polar opposite of Ginger walked in. She looked to be the same age as Ginger, but for some reason she seemed much older. She had tanned skin, brown hair, hazel eyes and was dressed in jeans and a shirt that supported what Zac figured was the high school she went to.
"Oh, hey Kris," Ginger said. Kris looked at Zac and spoke to Ginger.
"Hi Ginger," she said. "Who is this?"
"This is Zac."
"Hi Zac," Kris said, giving a small wave. Zac noticed for the first time that Kris was holding a blue cell phone in her hand. "Um, Ginger, your mother just called. She wanted to wish you a happy birthday."
"My birthday was weeks ago," Ginger said. Zac knew it. It was a long time beforehand�months even. He'd sent Ginger a birthday card via her fan club and had a feeling she didn't get it. He would have had more luck sending it through his manager to hers, but his manager refused to do such a "meaningless task" and made Zac find other ways of sending it.
"I know," Kris said. "She says she hasn't been able to get a hold of you since your birthday." Ginger shook her head and turned to Zac.
"Excuse me one moment," she said to him. Her and Kris went to the other side of the room and began to whisper hurriedly in a different language. Zac tried not to listen, but he still overheard most of the conversation, recognizing the language as French. He'd been to France enough times to know the swear words, and heard quite of few of them out of Ginger's mouth. The conversation went on a few minutes, Kris obviously trying to calm Ginger down as she grew more and more angry, her voice rising until Ginger was almost shouting in French at Kris and finally said, in English, "I fucking hate that bitch!"
"I know, I know," Kris said. "Calm down." Ginger sighed and Kris gave her a nice smile. "I have work to do, I'll see you in a bit." Kris gave Ginger a kiss on the cheek and left, waving at Zac before she left. Zac looked over at Ginger.
"I'm sorry," she said. She walked over and sat down next to Zac. "My mother, well she's not exactly the best mother a girl could have, especially not in this situation. She doesn't approve at all of my career and she'll do whatever she can to make me aware of that."
"I understand," Zac said.
"I hope I didn't just ruin your image of me there," Ginger said, gesturing to the corner where she and Kris had been standing during their conversation.
"No," Zac said, smiling. "No, you didn't." She smiled.
"So�how long are you in town for?" she asked.
"A few weeks," Zac told her. "We're recording."
"Really?" she asked, her smile growing again like it did earlier. He loved it. "Are you going to be, like, super busy?"
"Well, during the day, yes," he said. "At night we're pretty much free. Why? How long are you in town?"
"Just two more days," she said. "When I was here before I wasn't able to sight-see and I had a couple of days off, so me and Kris decided to do it this time around."
"Who is Kris?" Zac asked.
"Oh," Ginger said, sitting up straight and blushing slightly. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce you to her. She's my editor. She always has been, ever since we were twelve and I was writing one-paged stories about nothing. She's also my best friend but I call her my editor so she can go places with me."
"Oh," Zac said. "Well that's nice to have a friend along with you." Ginger nodded. "So, do you want me to show you around tomorrow night? I'm free after six."
"I'd like that," Ginger said, grinning. "I really would."
"All right, I'll definitely do it."
"Oh, here, let me give you my number," she said, looking around for something to write on. She grabbed a napkin from the table and a pen from her purse and wrote down a ten-digit number. "This is my cell phone. If I don't have it on me, Kris does, and she's so sociable she'll talk to anyone, so you don't have to worry about talking to her. I should have it on me tomorrow, though, because I'm not doing anything."
"Great," he said, taking the napkin from her. "I'm looking forward to it." She smiled and the door opened. The both of them looked over at a stagehand with a headset. He glanced at Zac a moment before looking at Ginger.
"Ginger, they're ready for you."
"Oh!" Ginger said, getting up. "All right! I'll see you after the show, Zac." She gave Zac a smile and left the room with the stagehand. Zac let out a breath he'd been holding since he first saw Ginger and a large smile came over his face. He got up, put the napkin carefully in his pocket, and left the room. Ginger was already gone and he went back to his room, where his two brothers were waiting for him.
"Where have you been?" Taylor asked. "The show already started! We're going to be called in less than fifteen minutes!" Zac sat down, not even hearing Taylor's screams of frustration aimed at his little brother on cloud nine. "Zac!" Zac looked at his brother. "Yes, Taylor?" Zac asked, a smile on his face.
"Where the hell have you been?" Zac's smile grew.
"In heaven."