Strangers When We Meet

The lobby at the Hilton hotel was busy. It was the summer and a lot of people apparently were vacationing in Phoenix. I walked towards the elevators, and got a few stares from the staff. I didn't really look like I belonged here, with my ripped jean shorts, combat boots, and Misfits tee. I pressed the button and waited. Several times on the way here I wanted to turn back around and go home. I felt nervous and scared. I wasn't sure how this was going to go.

I watched the numbers counting down. Floor ten, floor nine, floor eight.

My heart hammered faster in my chest.

Floor four, floor three, floor two.

My mouth went dry. What room did he say? My mind wasn't thinking straight.

The elevator doors clanged open, but my feet wouldn't move. People brushed past me and I finally got my feet to move... but they headed in the other direction. I was nearly out of the lobby when I heard, “Hey, little Katie.”

I stopped. I did not turn around, but I stopped. In my peripheral I saw the stocky build of Shannon Leto. “Hi.” I said softly, awkwardly, turning to face him. I hadn't known he was here, too.

He smiled. He had on dark shades, a plain white t-shirt and dark jeans. He had his phone in his hand, and quickly put it in his pocket when he realized I had eyed it.

“Leaving?”

“I was.”

“Weren't you supposed to be meeting Jared?”

Of course he would know that. They were not only brothers, they were best friends. Jared would have told him everything.

“Something like that. Did you just call him?”

“Paranoid, much?”

“Ha.” He had come closer as we spoke to one another. He took off his shades, his hazel eyes bright. “So, he's up in his room?”

He nodded. “You know he's just as scared as you are. Just don't tell him I said that.”

“I think this isn't a good idea.”

“Nonsense. You two just need to talk.”

He stood directly in front of me. I couldn't speak. I just looked at him for a minute. His stubble was a little thick, he must be growing his beard out again. I noticed how handsome he was... Then shook my head. I couldn't think of him as handsome. He was my... uncle.

Shannon Leto was my uncle now.

Oh god, this was a lot to process.

Shannon frowned, shook his own head and said, “The face you just made.” he chuckled.

“Yeah? What about it?” I said, crossing my arms.

“Nothing. Come on.”

He walked towards the elevators. I had the feeling that if I didn't follow him he would follow me until

I had no choice but to talk to his brother. With a huff I joined him and soon we were in the elevator, heading up to the eight floor.

“How do you feel about all this?” I asked him once the couple who had been riding up with us exited and the doors closed.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because we're sort of family now. What did he say to you?”

“You can ask him yourself.”

“You didn't answer me. How do you feel about this, Shannon?”

When he wouldn't reply, I stopped the elevator. We came to a halt. I put my back to the buttons panel and faced him, arms folded.

“I've got all day.” I really didn't, but it seemed like the thing to say. “You wanted me to come up here, just answer my question. It isn't hard.”

He scowled at me. “Fine. When I found out I wasn't surprised. In a way I knew.”

“How?”

“When we met you. I saw a bit of Jared in you. I just sort of knew.”

“And you said nothing.”

“Why would I? I didn't know you didn't know your dad. And would you have believed me anyway?”

No, I wouldn't have. I'm still not sure if this is all true. A part of me doesn't want it to be.

“And you told Jared this?”

“No. The next day when we were talking about it he said the same thing. You have his eyes.”

“No I don't.” I said, a bit too hard.

I started the elevator up again and didn't look at Shannon. The doors opened and he left out first, leading the way. We got to the door and my heart was beating so fast I was surprised that Shannon couldn't hear it. He knocked lightly on he door. No answer.

“Come on, baby brother. Let us in.”

We could hear Jared moving towards the door. He opened it up. “Hello.” He said to me.

I waved to him, I couldn't speak.

We went inside. The brothers followed me. Jared put a gentle hand on my shoulder to guide me to the living area. I shrugged him off and walked a little away from him. I didn't look at him.

“Nice room.” I muttered, for lack of anything better to say.

I picked a grape out of the fruit bowl on a table and popped it in my mouth. There was some chocolates on another table. I wanted to got over and get a piece but thought better of it. Shannon and Jared both watched me as I walked around the room, stopping by the doors that led out to the balcony. I opened them and went out. The pool was below, filled with people. The air was still stuffy and humid and I immediately went back inside before I broke out in a sweat.

I shut the door. Shannon was gone. I could hear the door closing. I was alone with Jared Leto.

“Where's Shannon gone?”

“He'll be back. He though we should have some alone time. To talk. Please sit. Are you hungry? I could order some room service.”

“No, I'm fine.” I assured him.

He gestured for me to take a seat on the sofa. I did. I felt so awkward.

“Alright. Let's get this over with.” I said with more attitude than was necessary.

Jared sat down in a sofa across from me, he was trying not to look nervous, but I knew he was. “Want anything to drink?”

I shook my head. “How long did you stay after I left?” I asked.

“A while. Kate was shaken up. I didn't want to leave her alone. Not while she was like that.”

I scoffed. “You should have. It would be no less than she deserved.”

He narrowed his eyes. “She's your mother. No matter what's happened, she's still your mother.”

“You didn't seem to pleased with her when I left.”

“I was angry, I'll admit. We have a history, Kate and I, and it's been a long time. I lashed out at her. I shouldn't have. I apologized to her for it.”

“But what you said was right.”

“Even so. Is she okay now?”

“Dunno. I haven't seen her today.”

He frowned. “You told me you went home last night.”

“I did. And left before she woke up this morning.” It was true. I had got up extra early, I couldn't sleep well anyway, and hoped to avoid an awkward conversation with her. “I went to work. And now I'm here.”

“Where do you work?” he asked, almost as desperate as me for a subject change.

“An animal shelter.”

His eyes brightened. “You're an animal lover.”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”

“I know.”

The smile left his eyes. “That's right. You know a lot about me already. You have an unfair advantage. Will you tell me some more about yourself?”

“Maybe. But you've got some explaining to do. Like how you wound up at my house yesterday. You said mom and you hadn't spoken in years.”

“We hadn't” He pause, looking vulnerable for a minute, like a boy. Jared didn't look his age, and there was a boyish charm about him at times. I could see how my mom had fallen for him. “A few weeks after the show I got in touch.”

I nodded. “And how did that happen?”

“You had told me you lived in Phoenix. I started there. I had someone find her for me. She was less than pleased to hear from me. But she said she had expected it.”

His eyes bore into mine. Did my eyes really look like his? I knew my eyes. They were not his.

“So what convinced you I was yours?”

“Your mom told me everything.”

“And you believe her?”

“You don't?”

I shrugged.

“We did a DNA test.”

“Oh.”

He nodded. “I had to be sure.”

“Right. When?”

“About a three weeks ago.”

I only nodded. He had known I was his three weeks ago. “And you guys waited to tell me.”

“I wanted to tell, especially once your mom informed me she hadn't told you about me at all. I wanted to. But she's your mother after all. She was refusing, that's why I came. I had to see you. She had been keeping secrets for too long.” Too true. “I really hadn't wanted it to happen like that. She had been planning on telling you that night, and then if you want to, we could meet.”

“She wouldn't have told me.”

“I told her if she didn't I would take her to court and demand visitation rights.”

That was a shock. “You wouldn't have really?” He didn't answer. My eyes widened. “You wouldn't have? Right Jared?”

He shook his head slightly, then hand a hand through his brown hair. “I don't know what I would have done to be honest, Brie. I'm just getting used to the idea of being a father.” He smiled at me.

“Well, I'm just getting used to the idea of having a father, so we're on even ground I suppose.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

After a an awkward pause I said, “Shannon said that after you saw me that night you thought I might be yours. Why?”

“Well, your eyes for one. And when your told me your age, I did the math, it seemed about right. When we left town it was two years before I saw your mother again. She told me she had had a baby, that the you were just turning one.” he held up a finger. “One. Not nearly two. So I thought there was no way you were mine.”

“Why do you think she did that?”

He shrugged. “Can't be sure. She only said that it was for everyone's good.”

I snorted out a laugh. “Yeah. Whatever that means.”

“I figured she met someone in college. She told me she was happy. But I had told her I was happy first. That California was being good to me. Shannon and I were both working. My mom was about to move out there too. Life was good. Then I asked her about herself. She told me about college. She said that she was still with the man who was supposed to be your father. I had no reason to not to believe her. I knew something was off, but things had changed. We had both grew up a bit in the time. And she was going to go off and do amazing things.”

“So were you.” It was starting to make sense.

“We, Shannon and I, had been begging her to come out to Cali with us, but we knew she wouldn't leave the south. At least not at that time. Then we drifted apart. I would write her, call her, asking about you, see how she was doing, and she would respond less and less.”

“It was eating away at her.” Oh, it was making a hell of a lot of sense. “She was in love with you, wasn't she?”

He gave me a faint smile. “Maybe for a time. But I think she might have regretted us being together. I was more in love with her than she was ever with me.”

“You still love her.”

“In a way. I don't think you can ever stop loving someone. And we were friends first.”

“So you weren't together, together. You just slept together.” He made a face. “What. You did. I'm proof of that. A one night stand. A mistake.”

“It was more complicated than that. And don't say it was a mistake. You've not a mistake.”

“Mm-hmm.” I said. For some reason hearing that made me angry.

We paused, both looking away from one another. “You sure you don't want anything?” he asked, standing up. “Some soda, or something?”

“A Coke if you've got it.”

He nodded and went over to the mini fridge. He pulled out a bottled water and a can of coke. He handed the can to me and I popped it open. I grabbed a coaster and sat it down. He smiled and did the same with his water.

“Did mom tell you I was a twin?”

His eyes snapped up to mine. He leaned a little forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “No, she did not.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Don't look so alarmed. He died. We were born premature. His lungs hadn't developed as much as mine. He only lived two days.” I took a sip of my Coke, ignoring the look on his face. Maybe I shouldn't have told him that. “She named him Joesph. One of my middle names is Shannon... It makes sense now.”

I took in a deep breath to steady myself. It shouldn't hurt this much. Should it?

Jared leaned back against the pillows, brushing his hair back. “Jesus. Your mother.” He cover his eyes with his hands for a minute. God. Please don't tell me I had made this man cry. I felt like crap now.

“Sorry.” he said, more composed. “Anything else I need to know?”

“What, do you want a play by play of my life? Dude, we'd never leave this room.”

He laughed a little at that. “Have you got any siblings?”

“Not unless you've got anymore illegitimate children around.” I meant it as a joke, and I was glad he didn't get upset. “No. Uh. I suppose step siblings count, but I refuse to claim them.”

“So it's really just been you and her all these years.”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“No other men.” he looked as if he wished he hadn't asked, but I answered.

“Not really. She was usually too absorbed in her work or me. Most men want to be the center of a woman's universe.”

He arched and eyebrow at me. “Is that so?” he smirked. “How would you know anything about that?”

“I'm a smart girl.”

He paused for a moment. “Does Kate know you're here?”

“No.”

“Are you going to tell her?”

“Maybe if she asks.”

“Does your step-dad know about me?”

I shrugged. “Probably.”

He thought for a moment. “Is he a good man?”

“Yeah.” he nodded. “If things were different. If my mom had come to California with... do you think you would have stayed together?”

He thought about it before answering. “Probably not. She wouldn't have been happy there. She had to make her own way. And she didn't want to be my wife or anything. She just wanted to be my friend. But you changed things. Even if I hadn't know it fully then. Children tend to change people. Your mother's a good woman, despite everything.”

“You seem so calm about it all.” I chuckled.

“Am I?”

“Yes. And you shouldn't be. You should be running for the hills. You're a daddy now. Doesn't that scare you?”

“Shitless. Yes.” I snorted. “Oh, right I'm a dad now. I shouldn't be saying things like that. I'm being a bad influence.”

“Too late for that. It's a big part of my vocabulary already. Plus you're a few years too late.” I stopped laughing. “So what now, Leto?”

“The balls in your court. Would you like me to be in your life?”

I had spent half the night thinking about the pros and cons of a life with a father like Jared Leto. How would we even forge a relationship when he was so busy? Everything would be so... public.

“I want to be in your life, if you'll have me.” He said, “I've spent the past few months thinking about what I would do if it turned out that you were mine. And for the last three weeks I have known, and it has been the scariest time of my life. I was racked with guilt for not being in your life. Anger at your mother, anger at myself. Fear of what I was facing. But you're the most important thing. I promised myself that I would try to be the best father I could be. I can't make up for all the years I wasn't there. But I can try to be here now.”

I could work with that. If he could try, so could I. “I'm not going to call you dad, or anything. That would be weird.” I paused. “What about your public image? Are you going to tell people? Can I tell anyone?”

“Whom were you planning on telling?”

“My best friends. They've been on this journey with me. Trying to help me find my father. It would be nice to tell them I know who he is.”

“OK. I've told Shannon. I plan on telling some others in my family. My mother. She knew your family. I'd like you to meet her. She's always wanted a grandchild.”

“Oh, no, You're not going to me parade around.”

“Brie. I told her I had some big news. I would like you to be there when I tell her.”

“She doesn't know me. What if she resents me or something?”

“She won't.” he seemed so sure of it that I thought arguing would do me no good. “She'll love you.” he hesitated before asking, “Would you mind if I go back to your house with you? I would like to talk to your mother again. And Shannon wants to see Kate again.”

“I guess so. You didn't answer my question. What if this all comes out? What then?”

“One day at a time. Let's see how today goes. We'll worry about tomorrow when it comes.”