"Okay, okay, I think I've got everything," said Ginger Stevens as she dug through her oversized purse. Her bright red hair fell into her face, covering her vibrant violet eyes, which were narrowed in frustration in her search. She looked around and found three plane tickets on the counter. She picked them up and put them in her purse. "Honey, do you have everything?"
"Have you seen my keys?" called a distance voice from another room.
"They're probably on the desk!"
"No, they're not." The voice came closer as it spoke and soon Zachary Hanson, Ginger's husband of nearly seven years, appeared in the doorway to the kitchen where Ginger had been. "They're not there."
"Don't worry, I have keys. You don't need them." Her violet eyes were calm and it put him at ease. He smiled.
"Thank you, baby," he said. "I don't know what I'd do without you." She smiled as he kissed her, her hand ruffling through his short brown hair. Back in the day, when they'd first met, it had been blonde, but with age and haircuts it'd turned into the basic brown it was today. He was just a kid then, bright eyed and inexperienced, and they'd married very young because of Jenny. "Oh my God, who's got Jenny?" Zac suddenly asked.
"Don't worry, Kris and Taylor said they'd pick her up from school and meet us at the airport," Ginger explained. "I've got her suitcase; she's all set." Zac nodded. "I think that's everything. We are ready to take on the world once again. Take the suitcases."
"Yes ma'am."
"No teasing," Ginger warned. Zac smiled and gave her a brief kiss before he picked up their suitcases and followed his wife with diligence out the door of their New York City apartment. She paused at the elevator. "Do you think we'll have to do press before the show tonight?"
"No, it's not scheduled," Zac explained. "People are still excited about your birthday, though, so there might be press there to ask the same questions. 'How do you feel being twenty-five now?' "
"I know," Ginger said. The elevator doors opened and the two of them stepped inside. "I'm glad Jenny is coming with us this time, though. I didn't like having to leave her here with a nanny last time."
"Well she had school last time," Zac explained.
"I want to pull her out of school," Ginger said.
"What? She's seven!"
"No, no, not completely," Ginger said, laughing at the shocked expression on her darling husband's face. "It's too hard for me to have her in school when we go away because we're away so much. We never get to see her and she's our own daughter. I want to get her a private tutor for next year that can travel with us. It's not like we can't afford it."
"I don't know," Zac said. "That's a big decision. She has friends at school."
"She'll still see them!"
"We'll talk about it, okay?" he asked. Ginger made a face but turned to the now opening elevator doors.
"Okay."
The two of them walked quickly out of the apartment building and to the awaiting car. Although they tried to keep a low profile, there were still many tenants in the building that knew two very famous celebrities lived together in the penthouse. It wasn't that they didn't like their neighbors--the few they knew were quite nice--but it was dangerous to be so public.
In the car Ginger took her cell phone out of her purse and immediately dialed her best friend and soon-to-be sister-in-law Kristina. "Hey sweetie," Ginger said into the phone. "Where you at?"
"Taylor and I are just heading to the airport now. We've got Jenny with us. Um�it happened again today." Ginger sighed and put her hand against her forehead.
"Oh my God, not again," Ginger whispered more to herself than into the phone for Kristina to hear. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine. She's got a scrape on her arm from when she hit the pavement but all in all she's okay. You know her, she's tough but she won't talk about it. One of her teachers was waiting outside with her and told me about it," Kristina explained. Ginger shook her head.
"Okay. Well today was the last day of school so we don't have to worry about that anymore," Ginger said. "But you're on the way to the airport right now?"
"Yeah."
"So are we. I'll see you there."
"All right." Ginger hung up the phone and turned to her husband, who looked concerned and had every reason to be. Ginger threw her phone back into her massive purse.
"It happened again today, Zac," she explained. "It's the fifth time since Christmas. I really, really think that we should pull her out of public school. The kids find out who she is and they keep beating her up! I don't want to happen to her anymore. It's too damaging." Zac sighed.
"We'll talk about it later," he said. "Is she okay?"
"It was just an arm scrape, but I'm sure she's definitely not okay. I'll deal with it." Zac nodded. "It's really got to be hard for her; she never gets to see us, the kids at school are jealous and she doesn't know why, and she has to travel all the time."
"She's fine, Ging," Zac explained. "Don't worry about her. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." Ginger agreed.
Ginger parted from her husband when they arrived at the airport and met with Kristina and Zac's brother Taylor, who had Jenny with them. Jenny, upon seeing her mother, immediately ran into her arms. Ginger hugged her daughter a bit longer than usual. "Hey sweetie," Ginger said, looking at the seven-year-old version of herself. Upon Jenny's birth there was some light-hearted controversy on whether or not Zac actually took place in her creation because she looked like a clone of her mother. Ginger insisted that she could see certain features of Zac in Jenny, but nobody else really could. "How was your day?"
"Fine�" Jenny said. Ginger sighed.
"Do you want some ice cream?" Ginger asked her daughter. "Because I really could go for some." Jenny smiled and nodded; she was never able to turn down a chance for ice cream. "Come with me, we'll go get you some ice cream." Ginger stood up and took Jenny's hand. They walked off to find some ice cream, parting from the other three people who mentioned they'd be in the waiting area.
"Mommy, look," Jenny said, and held out her free arm for Ginger to see. The scrape was much more than Ginger thought it would be; it'd obviously been treated at school but was too large to bandage and took up about half of Jenny's inner right arm.
"Oh my God, Jenny, what happened?" Ginger asked, knowing full well how it happened.
"Becky Nelson pushed me," Jenny said, carefully putting her arm back by her side.
"Why?"
"I don't know�" Ginger sighed. "She called me something and I don't know what it means, but I think it's bad, and then she pushed me."
"Do you remember what she called you?" Jenny thought about it, then looked up at her mother.
"A little rich bitch." Ginger took in a sharp breath and had to look away to hide her emotions. "What does that mean?"
"It's not nice," Ginger explained and left it at that. "Here we go, ice cream." Ginger ordered an ice cream cone for her and her daughter then sat down at a table to eat it. "Jenny, do you like school?" Jenny shook her head and didn't respond as she took another lick from her green mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. "Why not?"
"The kids are mean," Jenny said. "And it's boring. And it's the reason I can't see you and Daddy all the time." Ginger put on a grim smile.
"Would you like it if we got you a teacher so you can travel around with me and Daddy all the time?" Ginger asked. "And if he's too boring I can get a new, more exciting one." Jenny nodded fervently.
"Yup."
"Cool. For next year we'll do that."
After ice cream Ginger led her daughter back to the waiting area. They had a private room until boarding because of Zac and Ginger's situation, Zac being a part of one of the most recognizable bands in America at that time, Ginger being an Academy Award winning screenwriter who had a tendency to take the lead role in most of her movies.
They were among the most powerful and famous couples in the industry. At the beginning of their public relationship Zac was riding on Ginger's coattails as she wrote hit movie after hit movie while his band was in a sort of recession until a little after their marriage. Suddenly the band's album released a hit and went straight to number one and refused to let go. Since then the both of them have been in the spotlight as the "happiest couple in Hollywood."
In the waiting area Jenny sat in her father's lap and whizzed through a magazine. She loved reading and read chapter books intended for children much older than her. She had her father's smarts and musical talent with her mother's writing ability and beauty, and looked to have the most promising future of any other child her age.
"What'd you bring to do on the plane, darlin?" Zac asked his daughter, looking over her as she circled all the differences between two seemingly identical pictures. Jenny looked up at her father.
"Uh�I got some music and some books," she said with a smile before she turned back to her magazine. "Mommy said I have plenty."
"I'm sure you do. You're always prepared," Zac said. "Unlike me. I didn't bring anything to do."
"You can listen to my music," Jenny suggested. Zac smiled.
"What'd you bring?" Jenny leaned over, picked up her backpack, and set it on the chair next to them for Zac to look through. He peered through it and found mostly crap that seven-year-olds liked to listen to these days, but was surprised to find two of his CDs in there. He smiled.
"This is pretty good," he said, pulling out of one of his CDs. Jenny looked over.
"Oh, Mommy put that in there. I don't like it." Zac made a face and put it back in the backpack. Jenny looked over at her mother and gave her a sneaky smile. Ginger smiled back but shook her head.
"Jenny, that's not very nice," Ginger said.
"What?" Zac asked.
"She was kidding with you!" Ginger said. Jenny put a thumbnail in her mouth, holding back her laughter but smiling uncontrollably. Zac looked at her.
"Ugh, how dare you! You are so terrible!" Zac shook her a bit playfully and Jenny giggled. He kissed the top of her head before they settled back into waiting. Ginger looked over at Kris and Taylor, sitting adjacent to the three of them, watching intently. Although they'd been engaged for two years, they hadn't even discussed the wedding yet. It was obvious Kris wanted a baby. Ginger leaned over.
"Don't worry, you'll get your turn," Ginger whispered. Kris smiled.
"She's just so cute," Kris said. "I want to take her home sometimes." Jenny sneezed and showed her gross hand to her father, who laughed and took a tissue from her backpack to wipe it off. Kris's left nostril elevated in disgust. "Only sometimes." Ginger smiled.
"Kris, where are you?" Ginger yelled at the hotel in Los Angeles. They'd gotten the penthouse suite so the five of them could stay in the same place for the next three days they'd be spending in town. Kris appeared in the living room from the balcony.
"I'm right here," Kris sad. "Geez, Taylor and I were just taking in the view. You should really see it, it's amazing this time of day."
"I can see it tomorrow when I'm not so busy," Ginger said, waving her hand. "Zac and I were going to the park for a little bit before we have to leave for the show tonight. Jenny's asleep already, so if you and Taylor could just�"
"Don't worry, we'll be here," Kris said. "How long are you going to be gone?"
"A half hour, maybe an hour if it's really pretty out," Ginger said. Kris nodded and turned to leave, but paused. "What?"
"Nothing�just a weird feeling," Kris said. "Have fun." Kris gave her best friend a kiss before going back out to the balcony. Ginger smiled and looked around for her husband. He appeared from Jenny's room and partially closed the door behind him, a blue baseball cap in his hands.
"She's gone," he said as he put the hat on his head. "Are you ready to go?"
"Let me just kiss Jenny goodnight," Ginger said, and went into Jenny's room. Jenny was asleep on the bed. Ginger leaned over and kissed her forehead. Jenny's eyes fluttered open. Ginger smiled. "Daddy and I are going to take a walk. Kris and Taylor will be here but we should be back when you wake up, okay, sweetie?"
"Okay."
"Go back to sleep. I love you." Jenny rolled over.
"Love you too," she muttered before she fell asleep again. Ginger smiled and left. Zac held out a hand for her to take before the two of them left the room with a quick shout of goodbye to Kris and Taylor on the balcony. Zac kissed Ginger's cheek as they stepped into the elevator. Ginger laughed.
"You're crazy."
"Crazy about you." He kissed her again. "I love you."
"I love you too, sweetie." The elevator opened a moment later and they stepped out and into the lobby. "Where are we going?"
"Just down the street to the park," he said, pointing in the general direction of the park. Ginger nodded and allowed him to lead her out of the hotel. It was hectic outside. Of course LA was so much more laid back than New York but the amount of traffic was still the same and there were quite a few people around. Ginger held onto Zac's hand tightly and looked around, hoping nobody would recognize them. Everybody looked to be too busy to bother.
The park was virtually deserted. Amongst the green grass and the bright trees, shadowed a bit by the setting sun, Zac and Ginger walked hand in hand down a sidewalk path. Walks were something the two of them took frequently. Although it was in public and they were usually stopped or photographed, it was nice to be outside in fresh air and forget about life for a while.
Ginger smiled. "It's so beautiful here," she said, looking around. "Can we buy a house out here?"
"We have a home in New York."
"Yeah but we're here just about as much as we're in New York. We should buy a house�maybe on the beach. Something Jenny would enjoy."
"You know if we buy a house out here Kris and Taylor will have to buy a house out here too," Zac said, looking at her. She shrugged. "I don't know. One of these days we'll get around to it. Things are so hectic right now. We've got the whole summer publicity and in July we go on tour�"
"And our anniversary."
"Yes, and our anniversary." He looked over at her. "In three days." She smiled.
"You're a good husband. In fact you may be the best husband in the history of the world. You remember anniversaries, birthdays�"
"That's because I hire people to remind me," he said. She nudged him, lightly laughing.
"That's not funny."
"But Kris does remind me, and the fact that you're a huge celebrity and the world celebrates these events do help. For weeks leading up to your birthday I had people asking me what I was planning to do, so it's not like I could forget."
"Oh, so if they weren't there you wouldn't remember at all, huh? What about when we're old and gray and don't have any of that anymore?" He shrugged.
"Maybe by then we'll be so old you won't be able to remember it's your birthday anyway," he said. "But I'll still remember. I'm better than I lead on. It's just because I love you so much and I KNOW what'll happen if I ever forget." She laughed; they both knew what would happen if he ever did forget.
"I talked to Jenny," Ginger said, looking down. "She seems fine with the private tutor."
"I didn't know we'd completely agreed on it."
"Well I thought I'd run it past her," Ginger said, looking back up at him. "I asked her how she likes school and she said the kids are mean and she doesn't like having to be in class when we're out of town. I think she'll be happy with a private tutor." Zac sighed and then nodded. "I mean you never went to a traditional school�"
"Yeah, and there are a lot of things I missed out on. I want Jenny to have as normal as a life as possible."
"So do I, honey, but when she's getting beat up at school because people know who her parents are isn't a good thing. She can be normal in other ways; I just don't like her being called a little rich bitch and getting pushed by other kids because they're jealous of her!"
"Okay, okay�we'll do the private tutor thing," Zac said, shaking his head. "I'm not sure I like it but I know I don't like her getting pushed around. I-"
"Did you hear something?" Ginger interrupted, distracted. Zac looked around. They were alone. The sun was sinking fast and it was getting dark.
"No," he said. She shrugged.
"Birds, I guess," she said, and turned back forward, holding Zac's hand tighter. He glanced down at their interlocked hands.
"Do you want to turn back?" he asked.
"Actually, yeah. I have a creepy feeling." Zac nodded.
"Okay. Let's go back. I'm getting hungry anyway." They turned around and began to head back. He could feel her shaking. "It's okay, sweetie."
"I know," she said, shaking her head. "Just a weird feeling." He looked ahead in time to hear a deafeningly loud crack. His head darted to the source of the sound but he couldn't see anything. It was getting dark fast and there seemed to be nobody around. A tug at his hand caused him to turn back to Ginger, who sunk out of his grip and onto the ground, red seeping into the color of her shirt, her eyes closed. He screamed.