The Way We Were

"You were on Eclipse!? Guys, I can't believe it, I'm like the biggest Twilight fan and I didn't even recognize him!" I laughed as Jack and I walked up to the reserved table in the restaurant.

"And you know what else he's on?" Jimmy grinned. "Boardwalk Empire."

I turned to Jack and playfully pushed him, "No way! You are?"

Jack started laughing, "Yes I am. I play Richard Harrow. But please, you're making me blush."

"Awe, Jack you do not realize how much I love Richard Harrow. Every time I watch Boardwalk Empire I cry ,and you wanna know why? Because of you. You are amazing!" I grinned, sitting down.

Jack sat next to me, resting his arm behind me on top of the booth's seat.

"Well you're acting makes me wanna cry too, you're an incredible actress." He smiled.

"Oh please, I've only been in a few films." I rolled my eyes, laughing.

"Including a Marilyn Monroe film, where you play Miss Monroe." Guy smiled, he sat across from me.

"You wanna know something funny? When I first got the role, I was trying my best to imitate her voice. So I spent all of my time watching her movies, and documentaries on her. And I was in my old apartment here in New York, and I thought, 'I should test out this out.' So at like, 8:30 in the morning I go downstairs and I'm waiting for the mailman to come. I'm in my robe, smoking a cigarette at eight in the morning, and I'm leaning against the door frame waiting for him. And when he comes he's greeted by this crazy, half-baked Marilyn Monroe wannabe, and he didn't know what to do. The whole time he thought I was coming on to him! And after that I had a new mailman. I must have scared him off!" I laughed, the others at the table joined me.

"So you probably didn't need much makeup and anything like that for the movie did you? I mean, you already look like her." Guy asked.

"Awe, thank you. I wore make up a few times, other scenes required a bare face. But it was mostly achieved through hair and clothing." I smiled. "And eventually I learned to talk like her without sounding like a junkie."

"So have you been working on your Edie Sedgwick accent?" George asked.

"Oh! Yes I have, I called my fiancé earlier and scared him. He thought some crazed woman got a hold of his number." I laughed, looking down at the menu.

"Wait, you're engaged?" Jack looked at me. I looked up at him and smiled, showing him my ring, "Well yes darling, I simply forgot to wear my ring this morning-"

"Can we hear the accent?" Mena asked. I bit my lip and smiled. I sighed and agreed to do it.

"Waiter, I think we're ready for some drinks now!" I smiled, talking like Edie, as I waved the waiter over. When he came, I began ordering, "I'll have a grey goose martini, but no olives. I hate olives. And make it dirty, darling. Thank you."

The table went up in excitement as they heard my impression of Edie.

"Audrey, that is amazing! You got it kid, you sound just like her!" George clapped.

I just smiled and continued looking at the menu. The others began ordering their drinks, but Jack quietly cleared his throat and turned to face me. "You're engaged? I had no idea."

"I am. Does that shock you?" I lightly smiled.

"Well, no, but I...you're living alone and I just assumed you were single." He whispered.

"I live alone because our home is in Tennessee. He's on tour right now, he's in a band." I smiled, lightly touching his hand.

"Congratulations then." He smiled. I just smiled.

"So, are we set for filming for next week?" George asked the table. We all agreed.

"Hey, and how 'bout to celebrate, you all come to the grand opening of my new club? It's close by here too." I smiled, looking around.

"You have a club?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah I do! It's called The Prohibition, my brother and I bought the old Studio 54 and created our own little place. You know, Andy Warhol along with many other stars, frequented the club." I grinned, "It's settled. I'm putting each of you on the guest list."

"That's really generous Audrey, thank you." George smiled.

"Well I want to be close with my co-stars and crew mates." I smiled, playfully elbowing Jack.

"And you know what, after dinner we should all go back to my place. I have yet to entertain anyone, it'll give you all a chance to see my new place." I smiled, looking at everyone.

"Well let's order dinner first, shall we?" Guy laughed.



After a long and entertaining dinner at Sardi's, we decided to bring the entertainment back to my place. Everyone came over except for George, who said he needed his "beauty rest". But here we all were, in the living room sitting on the large sectional couches of mine.

I put on a Glenn Miller Orchestra record and dimmed the lighting from the chandelier. "Welcome to my humble abode."

"Audrey, this place is insane!" Guy grinned, looking around. "It's so, you!"

"Insane?" I laughed. "So, we all have many choices of what we'd like to drink. I have wines, and champagnes, vodka, tequila, and the scotch, whiskey, and gin are in their decanters by the table. Those of you wanting something stronger can go serve yourselves, does anyone want any wine, champagne or anything?"

The ladies agreed to white wine, so I excused myself to the kitchen to pour the glasses. After I prepared each glass, I went out and served the ladies.

"So Audrey, I've been meaning to ask you. What kind of acting do you do?" Guy asked.

"I'd like to think of myself as a method actor. Within recent years it's been dying out, so not a lot of actors use it. But I'd prefer it over any other. It's sort of a love-hate relationship for me." I chuckled, sitting down.

"That is a rather rare form of acting. And isn't it dangerous too?" He asked.

"Yeah, I really have to watch myself and make sure I don't get too involved. For some of the films I've done, it's definitely made me delve into some dark places in my life in order to "become" that character. Recently it's been in the Marilyn film." I replied, looking down. "I really connected with her." I looked up and noticed them watching me, so I started laughing.

"Wow, that's really interesting." Guy nodded.

"What was the first film you've ever done?" Jimmy asked.

I just finished taking a drink. "It was I'm Not There. It's a Bob Dylan biopic."

"And you played a man right? Bob Dylan." Mena asked.

"Yes." I laughed, "It was so fun! I had spent the entire time as a guy, even when they'd yell cut, I would remain in character. I even stuffed a sock down my pants to learn to walk like a guy." I laughed. "But talking like one was the best. Especially when they let me do my own vocals. I blew them away with my Bob Dylan impersonation."

"I wish I had the guts to something like that." Mena laughed.

"It was great." I smiled.

"And you did Blue Valentine which was amazing!" Jimmy laughed.

"And you got to date Ryan Gosling." Mena elbowed me.

"Yes I did, but that's all in the past now." I chuckled. "You're all making this about me! Why don't we talk about someone or something else?"

"Because you fascinate us, that's why." Mena smiled.

I bit my lip and looked around the room, "I guess I tend to do that a lot...fascinate people." I looked up at my framed pictures from Vogue. I noticed Jack watching me with a soft smile.

"So when are you going to cut your hair for the film?" She asked.

"Soon I guess. Although parting is such sweet sorrow." I giggled. "I just hope it doesn't interfere with Victoria's Secret. The show is on November 9th."

"You know what? Jack here has dated a few Victoria's Secret models." Guy laughed, wrapping his arm around Jack.

"Oh really? Would I happen to know them?" I smirked.

"Maybe. Um, I had dated Helena Christensen, and recently Shannan Click." He cleared his throat.

"Helena? Ooh, cougar alert." I laughed. "I think I met Shannan once. I don't know all the models, I'm mostly associated with the Angels."

"What does recently mean?" Mena asked.

"Um...well, we're sort of dating." He chuckled

I smiled and changed the subject, talking about the film.

The evening went really well, we all drank and laughed and really got to know each other, but as it was getting late, or should I say early, my guests were excusing themselves for the night and left. As I walked Guy and Jimmy to the door, I wished them a safe trio back home and a goodnight. I closed the door after them and walked back into the living room where it was now only Jack and myself. I smiled as I walked down the few steps and took a seat next to Jack. I turned around to change the record and chose to play The Righteous Brothers.

"So Jack, how are you?" I smiled, resting my arm on the back of the sofa.

He laughed after pulling off his scotch, he smiled at me. "I'm great, how are you?"

"I'm pretty good." I grinned. We smiled at each other and nodded, letting the awkward silence sink in. I cleared my throat, "So-, what do you want to talk about?"

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders, looking around the room. "How long have you been engaged?"

I started laughing, "Wow, this engaged thing is really getting your goat."

He just smiled softly.

Cradling the glass of wine in my hands, I looked down for a moment and then looked up at him. "His name is Caleb. He's in the band Kings of Leon, and we got engaged on my birthday this year, July 4th. Two weeks after we started dating."

His jaw dropped and he looked at me as if I was insane. "Two weeks?"

I smiled and nodded, "We met last year at a music festival and at the time he was dating someone else, he was actually engaged to her. But we became friends and started hanging out, but after the festival, I left with my new boyfriend to London to do a movie, and he went back to Tennessee. So we lost touch for a while, and it just kind of happened by chance that we met again in December. He broke it off with his girlfriend, I bought a new place and was looking for a roommate, so he stepped up and moved in. And we lived together platonically for a while as I continued dating Hollywood playboys and then I went on a little holiday with him to meet his family. And it was there that we kinda fell in love. So getting engaged wasn't that crazy after all, since we had known each other for a year already."

"That sounds really nice." He smiled.

"It is. I mean, I've had nothing but bad luck when it comes to relationships, and he has been there for me through it all. He's been an amazing boyfriend along with being one of my best friends." It sent butterflies in my stomach talking about Caleb.

"What about your home life? I mean, I've heard a lot about you, but I want to hear it in your own words. Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school? What was your childhood like?" He asked.

"My childhood." I sighed, "It was interesting. I was born July 4th, 1985 in Hollywood, California. It was during a Motley Crue concert and the heavy bass and everything sent my mom into labor, and there was always paramedics at my stepdad's concerts. So my mom ended up having me behind the stage." I laughed.

"And my dad, who was only 18 at the time was ecstatic. And afraid. He took me back to his small and decrepit apartment in Olympia and raised me part time along with my mom. For the first four years of my life I was always back and forth from New York to Washington. In 1989, when Nirvana was beginning to get noticed, the money started coming in. So we weren't living off of food stamps and soup kitchens as much.

And then two years later, with the success of Nevermind, my dad bought a mansion in Seattle. When I look at it today, it's pretty small. But it was like palace for us. And almost every two weeks my mother would send me a package of new clothes because she was embarrassed that I wore clothing from thrift stores.

But you know, up until his death in '94, I lived a really humble life. I didn't care about clothes or fashion or fame because I was a kid who enjoyed being a kid. But that kind of all quickly disappeared when my mother brought me back to live with them in New York.
They lived in the Hamptons on Long Island. That's where they still live, it's where the Versace Manor is. But anyway, right away I was enrolled in "the best private school on the East End", The Ross School. It was sort of the Versace way, each of us were sent there, except for Rosalie, she chose to go to Le Rosey in Switzerland.
But, at the Ross school they called themselves a community of like-minded individuals. Uniforms, elite classes with elite students. The only thing that interested me was the art classes and the theatre. I excelled in both.

But we were always kept out of the spotlight, almost sheltered in a way. We went to prestigious private schools, had a chauffeur drive us to and fro, had maids and servants in our home. And Rosalie and Daniel led the way for attending Ivy League universities. I didn't realize that that wasn't normal until I went to public school for the first time. My brother Daniel and I were dropped off in the Rolls Royce by our driver, and everyone was looking at us as if we were aliens. I suppose we were in a way.

But all of that sheltering changed once I made my way into the spotlight. It was actually when Vogue did that piece on me. And everyone wanted me once they found out who I was. I inherited traits from both parents. I was one part rockstar one part fashion mogul, destined for fame. But there you go, my childhood and teen years in a nutshell." I laughed, drinking the last of the wine in my glass.

"Wow, we have a lot in common." He smiled, resting his head in his hand as he watched me carefully.

"It's nice to be able to talk to someone about stuff like this without fearing judgement." I softly smiled, leaning to the side to put my glass down on the coffee table.

He set down his glass on the table too, "Well like I said, we have a lot in common. And what I think is, having a famous name, I mean sometimes I feel like the pressure on me is higher. The bar is set higher. You know? It's like we've got a lot to live up to and people expect us to act and talk in certain ways."

"And dating! Does that bother you too? Like when people think that since we're famous we should be dating someone of the same social rank or something?" I clapped my hands, sitting up straight.

"Yes! I know, I hate it!" He laughed.

"Everyone gave me a hard time when it came to Caleb. His family is very humble and comes from a humble background. And some members are like, legit hillbillies. I mean, he's from the South and I'm from the Upper East, and people practically condemned me for getting engaged let alone dating him." I chuckled, running my fingers through my hair.

"Well at least you're standing up for yourself. That's the most important thing." He quietly spoke, dropping his head to the side looking at me.

"I-" Before I could say anything, the downstairs buzzer for my apartment went off. I furrowed my brow and checked the time. "It's like, 2:30 in the morning. I wonder who that is." I got up and walked to the door. I pressed the button and said "hello."

"Audrey darling my sweet ol' baby sis! It's me, your devastatingly handsome brother!" It was Daniel, and he was practically yelling into the speaker. I looked out the window and saw him outside on top of the stoop, swaying back and forth.

"Daniel, what are you doing here? It's two in the morning." I asked, a little worried.

"Sweetheart, I thought I'd come say hi. Hi." He laughed.

"You're coming upstairs." I sighed, pressing the button to let him in. I walked back to the living room. "That was my brother. I have a feeling he's drunk."

"And maybe this is my cue to leave. It's late anyway." Jack stood up and walked up to me.

"I'm sorry, he's never like this. But I just can't leave him out in the street." I sighed, walking him to the door that I opened for him.

"I understand, it's fine. We'll see each other soon anyway. But goodnight." He leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"Goodnight." I half-smiled, watching him go downstairs. I held the door open to wait for Daniel, and I definitely heard him coming up the stairs.

"Whoa! Sorry man, I didn't see you there! Next time when you hear me come up the stairs, just call out and let me know okay? Or, or when you're going down the stairs. Or, I'll do it if you want. Okay?" It was definitely Daniel, and I'm pretty sure he was talking to Jack.

I started laughing as finally he turned the corner and was at my stairs. "Hey Dan."

"Hi! I miss you so much. Did you know that Johnny Depp lives here too? I just met him in the stairwell!" He slurred.

"You're drunk." I smirked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"As a fox!" He grinned, walking past me into my apartment.

"Well what are you doing here?" I asked, shutting the door and then proceeding to follow him.

"I didn't want to go home because Chanel is driving me crazy, and either way she'd kick me out of the house 'cause I'm drunk." He sighed, laying down on the couch.

"Why is she driving you crazy?" I laughed.

"Because she's on my case about having kids, and she's telling me that now is the time, and now really isn't the time you know? I mean, I'm in the prime of my life. These are my golden years-"

"That's only when you're old and retired." I chuckled, sitting down on the coffee table.

"I don't care! I mean, I love kids, but now is too soon. I'm only 27. I need time to think about it." He replied, rubbing his face.

"Well, just tell her then. I talked to Caleb and he understood."

"Hey! You know who I met up with today? Mr. Ryan Gosling. You know, at the fake wedding you guys set up, he was telling me that he still loves you. And he wants to be the one to marry you. And today, he asked about you. But he's still with Eva though, and he was telling me that they're not seeing eye to eye on certain big things."

"Like what?" I casually asked.

"Marriage. She hates the idea of it. The same goes for kids. She doesn't want any. And she loves the spotlight! As you can see." He laughed, "Ryan is low-key. He loves love, he loves kids. He loves you-"

"And I think you should go to sleep now. And what's up anyway? I thought you slowed down on drinking." I sighed, taking him by his hands and pulling him up to his feet.

"I did. But I fell off the wagon for the night." He slurred. I put his arm around my shoulders and led him to my room. Underneath the loft of my bedroom I had a hide-a-bed, so I unfolded it and made him a bed.

"You know who you should marry?" He grinned, bumping his head into mine.

"If you say Ryan, I'm kicking you out and calling Chanel." I glared at him, pushing him down onto the bed.

"No. I was gonna say the night. You're the most creative and fun and amazing at night. I guess that's why you bought the club." He smiled, pulling a blanket over himself.

"Goodnight Daniel." I chuckled, turning out the light and walking back to the living room. As I began blowing out the candles I thought about what he said. "Marry the night." And then it hit me. I dropped everything and ran up to library where my "office" was and grabbed my typewriter. I brought it downstairs and sat on the couch and began typing.



I smiled and began laughing, I held my hands and was grinning. "I've got it back."