Jeremy Renner / Reader
- Hm.
You heard someone saying and turned to see who the source of that rather critical comment was. You saw a man standing next to you, staring at the painting in front of you with a puzzled look on his face. He was wearing a dark suit that had a kind of bluish metallic glow to it and overall he looked very stylish. What you could also see by glancing at him quickly was that he had big blue eyes and brown short hair. He looked somewhat familiar but from the side profile you were unable to recognize him.
- I wonder what this painting is trying to say… he added and turned his head slightly so he was able to see your face and reaction. You tilted your head a little and smiled curiously as you stared at the painting.
- Well… What do you think it is saying? you asked. Your tone was sincerely curious and you had to admit that you were longing to engage yourself into an intellectual conversation with this strangely familiar, very handsome man. The man chuckled a little and it was clear that he was not even trying to come up with an opinion. You decided to help the man by pointing out some key elements of the painting and therefore you said
- Look at the colors, the shades and shapes… how the light communicates with the darker elements-
- Nah, I have never understood this kind of modern… he answered and paused as he tried to come up with a proper word.
- Art? you asked.
- If you can call it that. the man chuckled. At this point it was clear that you were not going to have an intellectual conversation about art with that man.
- I see. you commented and pursed up your lips a little. You disliked his attitude and scolded yourself for even hoping to share a meaningful conversation with him.
Now the man turned to face you and you recognized him. It was your favorite actor, Jeremy Renner, of whom you had been secretly obsessing the past couple of years. You had seen him in various movies for example in the Avengers as Hawkeye and in the Bourne –movie as that agent… Whatever-his-name-was. Now he was standing next to you, debating about your favorite subject, art, with you and it was getting clear that you did not share the taste in paintings.
- Oh come on, are you seriously saying that the painter of this painting had a deeper message to share with the audience? Mr. Renner said and read the painters name half aloud from the small info-note that was next to the painting.
- Yes, yes I do-
- So you know the painter? he asked.
- In the matter of fact I do know the painter. you answered with a polite, yet formal tone.
- So tell me, is she easy to understand? he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. It annoyed you greatly and made you answer in a slightly more aggressive way than you had hoped to
- What do you mean exactly?
- Well… if her messages are as cryptic as her paintings… How the hell anyone can communicate with her! Mr. Renner said and laughed a little. You scoffed and rolled your eyes. If he thought that he was being funny, he was dead wrong.
- Very easily, if you must know. you answered and smiled defiantly. Mr. Renner scoffed and sipped some of the sparkling wine that was in his glass. You stared at him with evaluating look on your face and rolled your eyes.
- You seem to enjoy the refreshments though. you pointed out and pointed at his glass with a subtle gesture.
- Did you know that the artist herself selected that wine for tonight? you asked but your goal was to smart ass and make him feel awkward if that was even remotely possible.
- A little too sweet for my taste, but I guess it is okay. One would think that they had served real champagne but I guess the artist had a rather tight budget. Mr. Renner answered and took another sip. His glass was almost empty now.
- Hm, well, she has not sold any of her paintings yet so every sip that you drink, Mr. Renner, without even considering of buying one of these paintings, is kind of eating… I mean… drinking away her life savings. you stated and gave him a glare so it was not unclear in any way that you disapproved his attitude as well as behavior.
- Well good luck with that. Mr. Renner commented almost inaudible.
- With what? you asked with a sharp tone.
- Well, selling these paintings. he clarified.
- Have a lovely evening, Mr. Renner. you said and left him to stand alone.
You walked around the gallery and stopped to mingle with many people. You tried to ignore the fact that the short chat with your favorite actor had managed to spoil your mood almost completely. Fortunately only “almost”. Your mood was lifted back up when you engaged yourself into a lively conversation about the art style that the paintings represented with professional people that actually understood something about art.
After an hour you found yourself standing Mr. Renner again in front of yet another painting. This one was painted with bold colors and the overall feeling of the painting was slightly threatening, despite the abundance of bright colors. You bit your lip and pressed your nails that had been colored deep red for tonight against your palms so you were able to mask your irritation once more.
- Mr. Renner… you began.
- Please, Jeremy-
You smiled politely and in a very formal way and shifted your gaze at the floor as you gathered your nerves before starting again. You generally speaking did not like to be interrupted or corrected and now the blue-eyed man had done both. You raised your chin again and focused your attention to him and said
- Mr. Renner, enjoying yourself yet? you asked. You kept your tone formal and no, you were not going to call him with his first name.
- Not quite, I am trying to figure this painting out, but it is not speaking to me. he answered to you. You could hear it in his voice that he was only joking, or maybe even mocking the artist behind it.
- Not this one either? you asked and scoffed.
- No, none of them actually, and I highly recommend that the “artist” takes some lessons-
Mr. Renner said and air-quoted the word “artist” with his fingers to emphasize the fact that he did not really see anything too artistic about the paintings or the artist herself.
- Well, Mr. Renner, I do appreciate your advice although I find it rather… odd… that you consider yourself entitled to tell me to learn to paint, when I am not even assuming that I am professionally capable of telling you how to be and “actor”. you answered and air-quoted the word “actor”.
Mr. Renner looked at you and rolled his eyes. Of course not you were not entitled to judge his acting skills from a professional point of view but you were entitled to either go and see his movie or not, he thought, but he did not really understand what you point was, therefore he just moved forward and said
- I was thinking that I would steal you away from this boredom and take you out for a drink, what do you say?
- It is a funny thing… you began and chuckled a little bit with a sarcastic tone.
- What is? he asked curiously. He knew already that you were going to insult him, he was just curious to hear how you were going to do it this time.
- That we are standing in front of this painting that is called “Rejection and Disappointment”… you said and smiled at the man politely. He emptied his glass, looked around a bit with an awkward look on his face and then focused his attention to you again.
- You see, Mr. Renner… I cannot leave because I am needed here. you continued with a serious look on your face.
- Are you… working? he asked.
- Yes, kind of… I am the artist and instead of talking with you I should be selling my… paintings. you said and walked away. You put on your smile and walked gracefully in your high heels and deep red cocktail dress to a famous art critic who was currently admiring one of your paintings. Jeremy however stayed standing there by himself because he could not really believe how he had just screwed up; he had mocked your paintings as well as your party and called you, in a way, hard to understand. He cursed silently and got himself another glass of sparkling wine.
The evening continued and one by one your paintings got sold, not all of them but some at least. It was getting late and the people were leaving until you were left alone with the gallery owner who was very pleased with the event. You helped her to gather glasses and close the place because the gallery owner was one of your dearest friends. When you left the gallery, you got stopped by the man again. He had been waiting for the closing although the weather was rather bad. It had been a nice evening but then the clouds had appeared basically out from nowhere and it had started to rain.
- Hi (Y/N). Jeremy said and stepped in front of you behind the corner. He almost caused your heart to stop and if you had not recognized his voice, you would have probably smacked him with your purse. You did not like to walk alone in the downtown area during nights so you had trained your reflexes to defend yourself if needed. You knew that your tactics were most likely a little unorthodox but you rather smacked your attacker and asked questions later than got attacked and cried at the police station after.
- So… What are you-
- Waiting for you. he answered before you had even managed to finish your question. He had actually visited home and then returned to the gallery after because he had not wanted to end the evening with a bad note.
- Uh-uh. you commented. A silence followed because you were not interested on commenting any further.
- I owe you an apology. he said after a moment.
- You are entitled to have an opinion and I really do not care if your unsophisticated eye cannot understand-
- Art. Yes, I’m sorry. he said and stared at the pavement. He really did not dare to look you straight into eye. Not just yet at least.
You sighed and started to walk towards the metro station when you heard Jeremy shouting behind you
- I bought your painting!
You stopped and inhaled deeply in before you turned around and exhaled just as deeply.
- And I think you owe me to tell the story behind that painting. he added. You did not answer. It was raining now quite heavily and your makeup was getting all smudged up all over your face since you had not brought an umbrella with you.
- Owe you? you asked, or more like mocked him with that question.
- Yeah, or not quite “owe” but… I would like to salvage this situation. he answered.
- So you bought my painting? you asked as you walked back to him.
- Yes. he replied.
- Did you like it at least? you asked.
- It was… interesting. So, may I offer you a late night snack at my place? he asked sincerely.
- Now? you asked with a surprised tone. You had not seen that one coming, oh-no, not at all.
- Sure, I live nearby. Just a couple of blocks away. he said and pointed at the opposite direction.
- I-I don’t think so-
- Come on… You will catch cold if you’ll walk home in this weather-
- I am not going to walk, I’m taking the subw-
- Subway? At this time of night? No. I will drive you home tomorrow morning and make sure that you’ll get home safe. he said and smiled.
- You’re being ridiculous! you exclaimed. You were not a damsel in distress and you did not appreciate it at all if someone mistook you as one. However there was sincerity in his voice and that was something very charming. Maybe he really did want to save you from the rain and possible robbery.
- What can I say? I am a superhero! he stated and smiled. You started to laugh and decided to go with him.
You knew that he had a point though, it was not the smartest move to walk alone in the middle of the night especially when you had read that there had been an increasing amount of rapes and robberies in your neighborhood lately. You reasoned that people had seen you talking with Jeremy at the party and if you suddenly went missing, someone at the art gallery would surely point the cops into the right direction. Besides, the downtown area was infested with security cameras so indeed if you went missing all of a sudden, you would be rather easily found… unless you were dead at that time already, then the amount of cameras did not really help you after all.
You walked a couple of hundred meters forward with Jeremy and just as he had said, he lived very close to the art gallery. You stopped before entering the building, took a picture of it and Jeremy and sent a multimedia message to your friend saying that in case you did not send her a message with proof that you were indeed alive and unharmed by tomorrow noon, she would call the police. You told Jeremy that you had now secured your ass which made him laugh. His laughter made you laugh and you started to think how stupid your security-tactic sounded, especially considering that he had his reputation to protect… but then again… he would not be the first famous person who would commit a crime… think about Bill Cosby for example.
After an elevator ride to the penthouse floor you arrived to Jeremys’ front door. He let you in and you got rid of your soaked jacket as well as the shoes that were now killing your feet. Your dress was partially wet from the rain as well and without even asking, the owner of the apartment got you a towel so you were able to dry your hair a little. He also brought you a t-shirt and pants and showed you where the bathroom was. The mascara was burning your eyes and you were very happy that you had an opportunity to wash the makeup off.
You changed your clothes and put the dress to a hanger so it would dry before morning. When you got out from the bathroom, looking completely different than before, you saw your painting leaning to the wall, waiting to be hung. Jeremy had actually bought your favorite painting, the one that you had almost kept for yourself because the story behind it was quite personal. Jeremy walked to you and took the painting. He asked you to follow him into the living room where he had gathered some snacks for both of you to enjoy. You nodded in a rather shy manner and then followed him.
The living room was bigger than your entire apartment. It was modern and very stylish, it had a great view to the sea of city lights. You noticed immediately that he had plenty of art on his walls already and suddenly you felt bad for saying that he had an unsophisticated eye because clearly he did understand something about art. Well… he collected art anyway. Maybe it was an investment, you did not know and you could only guess.
Jeremy asked you if you approved the spot that he had picked for the painting. You nodded nervously and smiled a bit as he hung the painting on the wall. He asked you what it was about and you told the story behind it, although you left out the most personal details. It was strange because this time it felt like he was actually listening to what you were saying. He asked questions and followed you with a fascinated look on his face as you explained the meanings of different colors and shapes. Sometimes you were so focused on talking about your art that you were basically glowing… which made you blush immediately when you realized it yourself.
You sat down hoping that Jeremy did not hear the rumbling sounds that your stomach was making. You had ordered a large pizza for yourself to wait for your return because you had known that you would be starving by the time you reached home. Your plans however had changed all of a sudden and now you were not home… oh no, you were somewhere else entirely. Fortunately the host offered you a large plate that was filled with different kind of tapas-styled delicatessen and you were very relieved to see him having a similar plate for himself.
You ate, drank and shared a lively conversation about culture, movies and art until it was almost morning. The sky was getting less dark and the stars faded away one by one. After a while the city started to fill up with sounds of traffic as the morning workers started to commute. The rain had stopped and it was going to be a beautiful day. You checked out your dress and it was almost completely dry and as the clock got nearer to 8 AM you changed the clothes that you had borrowed back to your dress because you really felt that it was your time to go home.
- So, you’re leaving now? Jeremy asked. His voice sounded slightly disappointed but not too much. The truth was that he had enjoyed your company very much and kind of hoped to continue spending time with you a little bit longer.
- Yeah… I really need to get some sleep. you answered with a tired smile on your face.
- I have a bed… he said immediately.
- …in a guestroom, of course… With a lock on the door. he added because your smile had faded away and it was obvious that you did not appreciate that kind of suggestions… not that he had suggested anything, because he had not, but it had sounded like he had.
- I appreciate that but I have a meeting with some woman… an art journalist later today and I really need to get this sorted out before that. you answered and pointed at your face and hair with your hand. Jeremy chuckled a little and took his hands out from his pockets as he walked closer and leaned to the front door. It meant that you had to walk right past him if you wanted to get out from his apartment.
- Thank you… for a lovely night. you said. Jeremy smiled and added
- And saving you from the possible robbery-slash-murder-
- Yes, that too. A true superhero. you stated and smiled widely.
- Remember to send proof of your well-being to your friend before noon. he said and winked his eye at you, a charming devil. You started to laugh.
- True… I would not want to send the swat –team here without a reason. you added and continued laughing.
You stood right in front of him, waiting for him to open the door for you or maybe… kiss you, you were not sure. You stared into Jeremy’s eyes and waited for him to do something. The moment passed and nothing happened. You started to feel a bit awkward for even hoping for a kiss but… you could have sworn that there had been a couple of times when he had almost kissed you… or maybe you had misread the entire situation…
- Anyway… you said and turned away. Then suddenly you felt his hand on your jaw, guiding you gently to look at him and when you did, you saw Jeremy leaning closer and before you were able to even grasp and understand what was happening, his lips were on yours, softly kissing you. You felt how your brain that was suffering from severe sleep deprivation started to shut down and turn into a gray mush but fortunately you managed to kiss him back, eventually.
- Well… Jeremy said and brushed your cheek with his thumb as he drew back a little. The only thing that you managed to say was “wow” which you regretted immediately when your kissing partner started to laugh a little. “Yeah… wow indeed” he replied and kissed you once more. Then you really had to go, but before you did, you agreed to see him again after the interview because Jeremy really wanted to get to know the woman behind his new, favorite painting.