wherever you stray, I follow
“So that’s all you do now?” Josie asks. “Workouts and meal prep?”
Her phone is propped up against the fruit bowl on her kitchen island. She is sitting on one of her barstools twisting from left to right, while pushing some of her homemade pasta around with a fork.
Hope is taking up most of Josie’s screen and has set up her phone in similar fashion. The only difference is that the movie actress is actively cooking and rummaging through her kitchen, while Josie has already started eating.
Hope smiles at her phone while chopping some veggies. She looks comfortable and at ease. She’s wearing a gray v neck and faded blue jeans, her hair is up in a messy bun which completes her casual look.
Josie notes that it’s the first time she’s seeing Hope in jeans outside of movies or instagram posts. She decides that she has to see her wearing jeans more often.
“Yes, pretty much.” Hope answers Josie’s previous question and catches the actress’ wandering mind a little off guard.
Josie shifts in her seat and shoves pasta into her mouth to hide the blush her little daydreaming had undoubtedly caused.
Hope suddenly points her huge knife at the phone camera. “But it sounds easier than it actually is!”
Josie chuckles and swallows hard. Something about Hope looking all laid-back and chill, but threatening her with a knife seems oddly appealing to her.
Get a grip.
Josie shakes her head. Her mind is all over the place today.
“I’m not saying it sounds simple, I think it’s admirable that you can put yourself through all of that.” Josie plays with her pasta again. “Is it at least fun?”
Hope contemplates for a second. Her knife is now resting on the cutting board in front of her. When she answers her voice has taken on a thoughtful tone.
“I find it quite enjoyable. That being said, I’m also used to it by now. I did the first tribrid tales when I was 19 and just never stopped with exercising and dieting.”
Josie pretends that that’s brand new information (it’s not like she already knows everything there is to know about Hope’s workout routine from a youtube video).
She comes to a realization when she mentally goes through said video.
“I think it seems rather uneventful and boring. You do the same stuff every day and spend all of your time working towards this movie, is it really worth it?”
Hope picks her knife back up and keeps working on her meal.
“It does get repetitive sometimes, but it’s not like I have anything better to do.”
Hope chops her vegetables like she hadn’t just said the most depressing thing Josie had ever heard.
Josie doesn’t have any immediate projects set in her schedule, but she decides that it’s time to come up with a personal one. It’s all about Hope and making sure her friend has new things she can do instead of throwing herself into movie preparations.
°°°°°°°
“So what do you guys even talk about?” Lizzie flips through the current vogue issue, seemingly looking for a specific article or page.
Josie refreshes her inbox and hopes for a new email to show up. Her screen stays the same and she lets her phone plop down next to her on the couch. Being an actress between gigs is really boring.
“Nothing much really.” She’s being vague, because her conversations with Hope feel oddly personal and private to her.
Lizzie lowers the tabloid so that she can shoot her sister an annoyed look. Under her intense gaze Josie crumbles a little and feels herself blush.
“We talk about work, our hobbies, music…” A faint smile works its way onto her face as she remembers their intimate music related conversation. “Just your average small talk.”
Lizzie scoffs and gets more comfortable on the couch. She places her feet in Josie’s lap, effectively trapping her and forcing the conversation to continue.
“Oh come on, Josette .” Lizzie draws out her full name. “Give me something, please.”
Josie tries to come up with an excuse or diversion, but ends up dry.
She almost feels obligated to tell her sister about her crush, it’s what twins usually do. The giddy feeling and butterflies she gets when talking about Hope are taking up permanent residence inside of her and if she keeps all of their conversations to herself she’ll eventually burst.
So she decides to spill some details.
“She told me things about her childhood and family, just some basics.”
Hope’s family structure and history is far from basic, but Lizzie doesn’t have to know that. At least not yet.
Lizzie seems pleasantly surprised and grins with satisfaction written all over her face. She’s obviously very proud of herself for getting Josie to open up.
“So, what skeletons does she have in her closet?”
“None that I know of.”
“Oh come on, Josie. There must be something interesting.”
Josie frowns and tries to think of something that will shut her sister up. At the same time something that she’d been asking herself comes up and won’t leave the forefront of her mind until she speaks it out loud.
“I wouldn’t say it’s interesting, it’s actually really sad.”
Lizzie raises her eyebrows, she’s clearly intrigued.
“I read years ago that Hope’s parents died in an accident and that she doesn’t talk about them or the accident a lot.” Josie feels almost guilty for saying this kind of stuff without Hope’s presence or permission.
“But she actually told me a lot about them the other day.” Josie says. “That’s weird, isn’t it?”
Lizzie smiles softly to herself and takes her feet out of Josie’s lap as if she’s allowing her to leave now that she shared some things.
“Did you tell her about our childhood?” Lizzie asks.
“No.” Josie says firmly.
Lizzie seems thrown off guard by that.
“Why not?”
“She shared so much and she was being so vulnerable towards me, it didn’t feel right to unload the dumpster fire that we call our childhood on her.”
°°°°°°°
“Actually, it’s not as much fun as the last two movies.” Hope seems deep in thought. “I don’t know. I guess it’s because this time we know that it’s our last time working together.”
Josie can barely focus on what her friend is saying, because Hope is currently talking to her through facetime and her abs are on display.
She’s finishing up her workout with some foam rolling on her porch and because they live in LA Hope’s obviously only wearing leggings and a sports bra. Josie tries not to let her eyes linger, but fails every ten seconds. Her heart rate is spiking and heat travels up from her neck to her face, leaving her all flustered and reddened.
“Did you know that they haven’t even finished casting yet?”
Josie is once again trying to pay attention.
“They’re still holding auditions for this one role and it’s so tiring. I constantly get called in for chemistry reads and screen tests, but nothing has been decided yet.”
Josie scoffs at that. For a movie as big as Hope’s that surely sounds chaotic.
“Sounds exhausting. Is that normal for such a big movie?” Josie asks.
“Not really. We have a new casting director for this one and he sucks.”
“Is it an important role?”
Hope is done and sets her foam roller aside, giving Josie her undivided attention. Even through the screen Hope’s gaze is intense and piercing into Josie. She feels incredibly self conscious.
“Actually.” Hope says with new enthusiasm. “I think you would be a great fit.”
Josie freezes and stares at her screen.
“I’m not joking! We’re looking for an actress around my age with dark hair and a tremendous amount of talent.” Hope reaches for a towel and wipes the glistening sweat off of her forehead and shoulders. “We’re looking for you.”
Josie can’t possibly get any redder than she already is. She’s at a loss of words and perplexedly blinks at Hope .
“I can make a quick phone call and they’ll send you everything you need.” Hope offers.
Josie is mentally short circuiting, but she has enough sense left in her to intertwine here.
“Woah, hold up.” Josie scrambles her thoughts together. “You’re saying that I might have a shot at getting a role in tribrid tales ?”
“Yes.”
Josie takes a few seconds to think about it. She’s currently unemployed. Her season of ring of life is done (finally) and they’ve been renewed for another season already which means she’ll be working on the show again in 6 months. It leaves enough time for another project.
It seems surreal to even discuss the possibility of acting in the movie franchise she’s been obsessing over for years.
“Okay, so this seems too good to be true, honestly.” Josie starts. “I mean, it’s worth a shot, right?”
Hope perks up and grabs her phone excitedly.
“That would be so much fun!” She runs around on her porch like a three year old. “I would love to work with you! I’m still mad that they didn’t give us that other movie!”
Josie briefly thinks about the moment she found out neither of them had gotten the part they’d auditioned for together. She’d been very disappointed.
“If I really want to do this, I want to do it right. Fair and square. I don’t want to take advantage of our friendship like that. It wouldn’t be fair for you or others auditioning.”
“I had a feeling you would say that.”
Hope stops running, but doesn’t look very discouraged, it almost seems like she’s proud of Josie for standing her ground like that.
°°°°°°°
Josie’s phone starts ringing unexpectedly when she’s about to hop in her shower. The loud melody startles her in her undressed state and when she processes what it’s for she immediately panics and almost slips on the tiled bathroom floor.
She scrambles to her vanity and picks up her phone with shaking hands. A security firm’s logo is lighting up her screen and without hesitation Josie accepts the call.
“Josette Saltzman?” Her voice quivers and she realizes that she must sound like a 10 year old answering the phone for the first time.
“Hello, Miss Saltzman. We just got a security alert coming from the house, a team is en route as we speak. Is anyone at home right now?” A deep manly voice answers.
Josie’s eyes widen in panic. Her heartbeat picks up pace and threatens to jump out of her chest.
“I don’t know. My mom lives alone.” Josie goes over to the shower and turns the water off. “Is everything okay? Should I be worried?”
Josie is now standing in the middle of her bathroom, unsure of how to proceed.
“We tried the landline and your mother’s cell, but she didn’t pick up either.”
Her chest is suddenly super tight and it’s hard to breathe. She barely holds in some panicked gasps and stumbles into her bedroom towards a pile of discarded clothes.
“Miss Saltzman, I think you shouldn’t be too worried, the gate logged a car leaving about an hour ago. I’m assuming your mom is out shopping and didn’t hear her cell. “
Josie takes a deep breath and calms down a little bit, but her anxiety still lingers deep within her chest.
“It looks like the alarm was set off from somewhere outside of the house. The cameras and motion sensors haven’t picked up any movement, so I’m guessing it’s either a false alarm or a cat messing with the cords.”
Josie sets her phone on the bed and starts pulling on her clothes frantically.
“The team will check it out and we’ll give you a call once we’ve assessed the situation.”
“Is it okay if I head over there, too? I just want to make sure everything is okay.” Josie is now fully dressed and on her way to the front door.
“Of course, but wait for our firm to clear the property before entering, okay?”
“Got it, thanks.”
She ends the call and immediately dials her mother’s number. Of course she knows it by heart and doesn’t even have to check in her contacts.
It goes straight to voicemail and Josie leaves a distraught message begging for any sign that Caroline is okay.
She takes a final look around her apartment when she catches her reflection in the mirror. She looks like a crazy person. Her hair is tangled and messy, the clothes she put on are the same ones she slept in, baggy sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt and her face is as pale as the white wall.
Great.
She dials Lizzie’s number as effortlessly as her mom’s while trying to grab her car keys from the bowl they’re usually catching dust in, she freezes on the spot.
Lizzie is in a meeting with Emma and some potential business partners, negotiating a huge advertisement campaign. To be honest Josie had zoned out while Lizzie rambled about it for hours and she doesn’t really know anything about the deal. What she does know is that her sister won’t answer and that she has the car.
Fucking typical . The one time Josie actually needs her car and is willing to drive it, it’s chilling somewhere in downtown LA.
The doorknob in hand Josie immediately thinks about her best friend, but Stefanie is on set all day and because she loves her jeep so much she drives herself instead of taking advantage of the chauffeur her production offers.
She mentally goes through the rest of her friend group and their driving skills.
MG is in the studio producing his first album, just yesterday he’d excitedly announced that he’s about to finish the title track. She doesn’t want to disturb him and his creative process.
Alyssa is in Vancouver shooting for her show, Kaleb is touring Europe and Wade doesn’t have a license.
Her mind is racing, trying to figure out who would be able to drive her around town at 10 am on a workday. Her hands are raking through her hair making it even messier than it already is.
She’s about to settle for an uber when a thought sneaks up on her. Before she can even think it through, her fingers glide over the phone screen and type in Hope’s number. Yes, she knows that one, too.
It rings a few times before Hope answers with labored breathing and loud music blasting in her vicinity.
“Josie?” Hope sounds confused, but happy. “Hey, how ya goin', love?”
She’s speaking with a thick Australian accent and it throws Josie off completely. She’d just gotten used to hearing Hope’s beautiful British accent and now she’s hitting her with an Australian one. Josie needs a few seconds to remember why she’d even called.
Hope waits for her to answer and gets her breathing under control. Josie had probably caught her mid workout.
“Ehm...you’re probably busy, I don’t even know why I called.” Josie is definitely backtracking now, she really shouldn’t have called Hope of all people. “It’s just…”
Hope must sense that something is up, because she cuts Josie off.
“Are you alright?” Some rustling and shuffling comes from Hope’s phone and her music stops. “Josie?”
Hope’s voice is clearer now and it’s awfully quiet on her end, while she waits for Josie to elaborate.
“No, I’m okay, it’s not about me.” She takes a deep breath and fumbles with the doorknob again. “It’s just my mom isn’t answering her phone, but there has been a security alert at the house and I’m worried about her.”
Josie doesn’t even have the chance to ask for Hope’s help, because, of course, Hope immediately reads her thoughts.
“Do you want to go and check on her?” There is some noise surrounding Hope and muffled voices travel through the phone to Josie. “I can pick you up in … 15 minutes.”
Josie feels like a weight has been lifted off her chest. Her lungs are finally able to expand to their fullest capacity and her anxiety eases the grip it has on her.
“I would really appreciate that, thanks Hope.”
She wants to add something like only if it doesn't inconvenience you or are you sure you have time for all that? but Hope ends the call with a quick “see you in 15” and Josie is left standing in her apartment’s doorway.
A sudden realization hits her. She has 15 minutes to make herself presentable. 15 minutes.
It still baffles Josie that A-list actress Hope Mikaelson drives a beat up honda civic. What amazes her even more is seeing Hope at ease and totally comfortable sitting in her driver’s seat looking like she just left a vogue cover shoot.
Hope pulls up and ditches the sunglasses she’d been wearing to greet Josie.
“Did you call for an uber, love?”
Josie smiles for the first time since getting the call from the security firm. She can’t come up with a good comeback, so she just rolls her eyes and gets in the car.
Hope smiles brightly at her and hands her the aux cord as soon as Josie is all set and buckled.
Josie accepts it wordlessly and plays her comfort playlist. She really wants to blast some jazz music for Hope, but right now she needs to calm down a little and only her comfort tunes have that kind of effect on her. Her comfort playlist is just Taylor Swift’s entire discography.
Josie enters her mom’s address in the car’s built in navigation system and they’re on their way. Hope leaves her alone for the first couple of minutes and even turns up the volume to fifteen .
Josie calls Lizzie to leave her a voice message and tries her mom’s cell phone multiple times.
“Thank you.” She finally says to Hope.
Hope remains unbothered in her seat and softly drums her fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the music playing.
“No worries.” She turns to wink at Josie before focusing on traffic again. “I should be the one thanking you. You haven’t complained about the nasty smell so far.”
That’s when Josie really looks at Hope for the first time that day. Her hair is up in a bun and she’s wearing a tanktop and athletic shorts. Josie’s gaze lingers on broad exposed shoulders for a second, but she manages to tear her eyes away before Hope can notice.
“I didn’t notice a bad smell.” Josie says softly without looking in Hope’s direction. “But to be fair, even if you smelled bad, which you clearly do not, it can’t be worse than me. I didn’t shower today and all this stress isn’t doing me a favor.”
She waves around her hands to emphasize. At least she’d had enough time to tame her hair a little. She’d been too on edge to change clothes or put on makeup.
Hope grins at her and offers her fist for a fist bump.
“We’re in it together then.” Hope smiles contentedly. “So tell me what happened.”
Josie keeps the explanation short and simple, Hope listens intently and keeps her eyes on the road.
“I’m sorry for interrupting your workout.” Josie mumbles.
“I’m glad you did!” Hope smiles softly. “And today is your lucky day. I was actually working out with my trainer and his studio isn’t that far from your place.”
“Well, lucky me then.” Josie grins.
Hope smiles brighter and meets Josie’s gaze again. Josie is pretty sure Hope has mastered the art of engaging in conversation while still paying attention to traffic. Overall Hope seems way more comfortable in her driver’s seat than anywhere else. She carefully catalogues this observation into the section of her brain that’s constantly occupied with thinking about Hope. So her entire brain basically.
The last conversation they’d had in this car comes back to mind and Josie can’t help but feel like it’s her turn to share. She can see the curious glances Hope keeps sending her way.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m so on edge.” Josie says softly.
Hope reacts immediately and turns the music down significantly. She hums as if she’s trying to decide what to say next.
“Not really. I get why you’re on edge. Somebody might have accessed your mom’s property and you can’t reach her. I would be nervous, too.” Hope takes a turn and merges onto the freeway. “But I feel like there’s more to it.”
Josie takes in a deep breath. It really is her turn to share.
“Buckle up, it’s a long story.” She says.
Hope teasingly lifts her eyebrow and motions to the seat belt securing her in her seat.
“I’m already buckled, Jo.” She chuckles and quickly meets Josie’s eyes with hers. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The amount of reassurance Hope gives her with this one statement makes Josie go all weak and mushy. The nickname Hope chose makes her heart flutter. She’s definitely blushing a little and a comfortable warmth spreads in her stomach.
It’s a stark contrast to the knot that usually forms when she talks about this topic. She sighs and decides to get into it head on.
“So it all started way back. Lizzie and I grew up in a small town in Virginia called Mystic Falls. We were 13 when Disney Channel had this nationwide casting for twins our age. Lizzie had always been into drama and acting, I just rolled with it. So naturally we auditioned and we really thought nothing was going to happen, but fast forward a few months and we were all set to move to LA.”
Hope bops her head as if she’s heard this story or a version of it before. She might have lived it herself.
“So Lizzie and I moved here with our mom. My dad was against it. He didn’t want to leave Mystic Falls and almost ruined the whole thing.” She rolls her eyes just thinking about the mess that had been their entire moving process.
Josie realizes that she has to dig way deeper for Hope to understand the situation. She’d left out some important facts.
“Well actually, my family is a little complicated, just like yours.”
Hope raises her eyebrow in a challenging matter, as if she doesn’t believe that. Josie smiles, because Hope doesn’t know what’s coming her way.
“Okay so my dad and his wife, my biological mother, couldn’t go through with a pregnancy, because she had a terminal illness. They asked Caroline, my mom, to be the surrogate.”
Hope’s eyebrows are now both raised incredibly high, almost disappearing in her hairline.
“My biological mother had an unexpected seizure that ended her life way earlier than the doctor’s had accounted for.”
Hope’s face falls and she mumbles a soft “sorry.”
“At the time Caroline was still pregnant and then gave birth to my sister and me.” Josie smiles fondly as she pictures the face of her beautiful mother. “She’s been there for us ever since then. She raised us and takes care of us still. I don’t care about not being-blood related to her. She’s our mom.”
Josie looks over at Hope and sees her smiling as well. She might be thinking about her own mother right now.
“I think I can relate to that.” Hope says. “I miss my mom, but my aunts have always been there for me and growing up with all of them often made me feel like I had multiple moms. They essentially raised me too and I’m glad that I still have them.”
Their eyes meet again and Josie feels like she might drown in the rich blue of Hope’s orbs. They’re so intensely blue with emotion, it feels like she can look right into Hope’s soul.
That’s a first. It almost seems like Hope is looking at her in a different way and allows it.
“Anyways.” Josie tries to pull herself out of her trance. “Mom was all for the whole acting gig and supported us. We spent the first months living in a hotel paid for by the production. It was pretty cool.”
Hope chuckles and guides them through the midmorning traffic.
“This is where it gets messy.” Josie admits and dread has her stomach in knots. “You’ve probably read about it, because it’s pretty much the first thing that comes up when you google me.”
In the driver’s seat Hope shakes her head, a confused expression on her face.
“To be fair, I did google you, but only to see what stuff you’ve been working on. I just wanted to see what your filmography looks like.” She says and shrugs it off.
Josie looks at her, her mouth hanging open a little. She turns to Hope and sighs dramatically, a mock-offended expression on her face.
“So you basically were just checking to see how legit I was?”
“Maybe.” Hope grins.
Josie laughs and the knots in her stomach are slowly untwisting. Even if Hope can’t see it herself, she’s a good friend and has this habit of easing Josie’s nerves.
“So my dad isn’t really in the picture anymore.” Josie takes a deep breath. “He eventually joined us here in LA and took over our finances and careers. We were pretty busy, having a contract with Disney is like signing away your soul. Dad made us agree to everything Disney was throwing our way. It’s because we made a ton of money and he liked it.”
“So we were constantly on the road, acting or doing promotional work. It was exhausting and really isolating. Mom couldn’t really interfere, because she wasn’t our legal guardian.” Josie starts fiddling around with her hands. “She made sure we were getting proper education and homeschooled us. When we were 17 it reached a breaking point. We just couldn’t do it anymore. We were basically burned out.”
Her fiddling hands are suddenly stopped by Hope’s hand reaching in there and intertwining her right one with Josie’s left. Hope doesn’t do anything more, letting Josie play with her hand. Josie traces Hope’s knuckles with her thumb and let’s Hope’s warmth transfer onto her own skin.
“Dad wouldn’t let us take a break and we got into a huge fight in the production office. Somebody recorded it and leaked it to the media. It spread and we were in the middle of this huge discussion about teen actors having too much pressure and work hours. All this negative attention on dad was exactly what mom needed to finally file for custody. The process to resolve the whole situation was thankfully sped up, because of the big media spotlight on it. A day before we turned 18 mom became our legal guardian and we kicked dad out of the house.”
Josie looks over at Hope and picks up on how tense her friend looks. This story seems to be affecting Hope more than Josie thought it would. An awkward silence spreads as begin again starts playing.
Hope breaks the silence a few seconds into the song.
“Is that why you’re worried about your mom?” Hope speeds up slightly, almost too little for Josie to notice, but she does. “Has he shown up at your house before?”
“He has apologized and we’ve accepted his apology, but we don’t really want anything to do with him. He’s an alcoholic and lives back in Mystic Falls.” Josie explains. “But he shows up randomly, trying to mend things.”
Josie swallows thickly before adding on.
“He has a tendency to get a little carried away.”
“Has he ever been violent?” Hope’s eyes are wide in alarm.
“Like I said, he’s an alcoholic…” Josie trails off, she doesn’t want to say it.
“Jo. Has he ever done something?”
Hope’s voice is cold and authoritative. She’s demanding an answer and Josie knows that she can’t avoid giving one. Even the fact that Hope uses a nickname again doesn’t soften her stern voice.
“He hasn’t hurt anybody, but he has destroyed car windows and once broke the doorknob off.”
Josie avoids looking over to the driver’s seat. She can feel Hope’s eyes on her and goes silent. The hand she’s still holding twitches slightly and for a second she thinks Hope might let go and put both of her hands on the steering wheel again. It’s the opposite really. Hope strokes Josie’s hand carefully, it feels like an apology, like she wants to make up for her serious mood.
Hope opens her mouth, ready to say something, but Josie’s phone cuts them off. She flinches in her seat and almost drops her phone before she manages to answer.
“Hello?” She says tensley, but Hope squeezes her hand and it soothes her a little.
“Hi, Miss Saltzman, our team searched the property and the house. There are no signs of forced entry or unusual occurrences. Your mom isn’t at the house, but we pulled the surveillance footage and it looks like she left on her own way before the alert. “
Josie lets out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Her entire demeanor changes and she can finally let loose a little. Hope notices and starts to excitedly squeeze Josie’s hand to the beat of the music.
“We’re evaluating this as a false alarm and we’re sorry for the inconvenience.”
Josie ends the call after a quick thank you and fills Hope in immediately. She’s pretty unsure of how to proceed. She still really wants to see her mom with her own eyes and give her a big hug, but it seems a little over the top now.
“That’s good to hear.” Hope says as she takes the freeway exit. “We’re still going, though.”
Josie is once again surprised by how well Hope can read her. She squeezes her hand to say thanks and turns up Taylor Swift.
They reach the house as the security team is leaving. They exchange a few words with them and then enter the house.
Josie feels all kinds of emotions as they enter. The house has been cleared by the firm, but an uneasy sensation settles over her and brings her nerves from earlier back.
They stand in the entryway and have a good view of the entire ground floor. The open floor plan allows them to see pretty much every corner and nook. It looks like it always does. Her mom keeps everything neat and organized at all times.
Hope shuts the door behind them and squeezes Josie’s shoulder delicately.
It helps Josie to calm down a little and embrace her role as the host. She leads Hope to the kitchen area.
“Do you want to drink something?” She asks.
Hope denies her offer and looks around interestedly. She seems to be taking in all the details of the house and is letting her eyes roam freely.
“Did you live here or did your mom buy this after you’d started living on your own?”
“Well this house actually belongs to Lizzie and me.” Josie opens the fridge in order to find some juice. “We were 15 and had a decent amount of money saved, so dad figured we should invest in something permanent. It’s probably the only good thing he ever did for us.”
Hope whistles with an impressed look on her face.
“It’s a very nice house, I like it.”
Josie has to agree on that. She likes this house, too. It’s not located in the Hollywood Hills, but relatively close. The neighborhood is basically home to lots of B-list actors and upper class families who can’t afford to live all the way in the hills. It’s quiet and everyone minds their own business.
The house is a modern two story building with a flat roof that also serves as a roof terrace. The entire ground floor is just one big room except for a small bathroom near the front door. The walls are lined by huge windows, bathing the entire space in natural sunlight from all sides. The marble kitchen countertops remind Josie of the ones in her own apartment. Towards the back of the big room is a floating staircase leading to the bedrooms and roof. Also located in the back are the sliding doors that open up the house to the decent-sized backyard.
Josie’s eyes glance at the pool and fire pit for a second, wondering how often her mom even uses both things.
It’s been a while since she’d last been here. She’d mostly met with her mom over lunch or dinner at her place or somewhere else. They’re yet to have an official welcome back dinner or a little celebration for Lizzie.
Hope is still mesmerized by the house and keeps staring at all the photographs that are displayed throughout the room.
“You’re so cute!”
Hope says as she picks up a framed photo of Josie from her first day of school. Josie notices that Hope uses present tense. Does she think Josie’s still cute?
Josie blushes as she takes the frame from Hope and carelessly places it on the countertop facing downwards. What she doesn’t realize is that she uses too much force and seconds later she hears the glass cracking.
“Shit.” She mutters as she inspects the damage.
Pieces of the glass are still intact, being held in the frame by dumb luck, while others are splintered and covering the countertop in sparkling shards.
“Are you alright?” Hope asks and is immediately by Josie’s side.
“Yes, it’s just the frame.” Josie starts collecting the bigger fragments as Hope reaches to help. “My mom’s not going to be happy about that one.”
They work in silence, their shoulders brush occasionally and Josie finds it very hard to concentrate with Hope being so close. Now she does smell what Hope referred to as her bad gym smell earlier. It doesn’t gross her out though, it pretty much has the opposite effect and Josie catches herself inhaling deeply. That’s weird. I’m being a creep.
“Ouch.” Josie feels a sharp pain shoot up the palm of her right hand.
Blood rushes out of the cut and drips on the counter. She’d cut herself in the skin right in between her index finger and thumb. She subconsciously shakes her hand a little.
She drops the glass pieces from her other hand so that she can use it to apply pressure and stop the bleeding instead. Next to her Hope stares at the cut for a long second before turning away. Josie is about to ask for some assistance when Hope delicately places a napkin over Josie’s clasped hands.
“Here.” She says as she softly presses down.
She keeps her eyes off the wound and stares straight at the refrigerator instead. She seems very uncomfortable and that’s even more obvious when Josie sees her throat bop with a harsh gulp.
The fact that they’re basically holding hands right now is all Josie can focus on. Hope’s hands are always warm.
“Does your mom have a first aid kit somewhere?”
Josie points at the bathroom and Hope takes it as her chance to let go of Josie’s hands. With a couple of big steps she disappears.
Josie is finally able to think clearer again, now that she’s out of Hope’s close proximity. She carefully inspects her cut and relief washes over her as she realizes that it’s just a lot of blood for a tiny cut.
She won’t have to go to an ER. Hope reemerges with the supplies they need. A comfortable silence settles over them as they get to work. Since they’re both not medical professionals, they use a band-aid and hope for the best.
Hope then gets rid of the glass while Josie wipes the blood away with her left hand. A few minutes pass until they collapse on the couch and remain silent, Josie sighing as she takes a seat.
She can’t help but get some weird vibes from Hope. This whole situation had completely thrown the other woman out of her usual mood.
“Hey, what was that about?” Josie asks.
Hope raises a questioning eyebrow, but Josie sees her carefully crafted fassade crumble a little, because she needs to clear her throat before managing to say one single word.
“What?”
“Well...you seemed a little…” Josie tries to find the right word to describe Hope’s obvious discomfort.
The buzzing of a phone cuts her off. It’s hers. She sees Emma’s picture flash on the screen and tilts it so Hope can see.
“I have to take this.” She gets up and walks towards the staircase.
If she wants some privacy for her phone call she has to head to one of the bedrooms.
“Emma?”
“Hey, Josie, how are you?”
Josie takes two steps at once and reaches the safety of her old room.
“Pretty good. A little bored, because of the hiatus, but mostly good.”
Emma chuckles as she rummages through some papers on her end of the phone.
“I have good news and bad news.” Emma says. “Let’s start with the bad ones. So I heard back from the producer for that young adult coming of age film. Remember? The one you auditioned for with Hope.”
“I remember.” Josie says.
She also remembers not getting the part. She’d been disappointed. It seemed like a good opportunity to cross over into the movie genre and getting to work with Hope would be a dream.
“Well, because you were both not booked and you’re both my clients I did some digging and reached out to the producer for an explanation.” Emma says. “So apparently they didn’t like your on-screen chemistry. They said there was too much tension that they didn’t want in best friend characters.”
Josie is not so sure what that means, but a sinking feeling sets in. She had probably ruined it for the both of them and she’ll never get to act with Hope if she keeps up her nervous behavior around the A-lister.
“Oh.” is all Josie manages to answer.
“I’m sure it’s nothing. They’re just not ready to face the chain reaction that will be set off once you guys share a screen.”
Josie is even more confused now. What does that mean?
“Anyways.” Emma keeps talking and doesn’t give Josie a chance to intervene. “The good news, more like great news, is that Tribrid Tales seems to be prepared for the aforementioned consequences. The producers are blown away. They want a screen test.”
Josie blankly stares at her bed. She stands frozen in the middle of her room. Hope had encouraged her to audition just a few days ago and now she’s being called in for a screen test? That doesn’t feel right.
She starts pacing while Emma gives her all the details.Josie can only nod along and hum a few sounds whenever Emma gets especially quiet.
This doesn’t mean anything, it’s just a screen test. She doesn’t have the role and she’s panicking for no reason.
Acting with Hope. Why does it suddenly sound like something Josie would never want to do?
She’s clearly not thinking straight. Well. Yes. She never thinks straight, but that’s a common theme for her.
They end the call and Josie stops in her tracks.
It feels too easy. Maybe Hope had done something to get her audition reviewed quicker. Maybe Hope had gotten involved and used her position to Josie’s advantage.
Josie can already see the headlines
Josie Saltzman gets big role because of Hope Mikaelson.
Josie Saltzman uses Hope Mikaelson friendship to her advantage.
Josie Saltzman lands big role without having the talent for it.
She runs her hands through her already messy hair. She has to confront Hope. Now.
“Hope, do you have something to do with my audition being praised by your producers?” Josie asks as she descends the stairs.
“Good day to you too, Josette.”
Josie’s eyes meet her mother’s as Caroline leans on the kitchen island. In an instant all of her previous thoughts are replaced by the worries and concerns she’d felt for her mom earlier.
“Mom!” Josie shoots forward and pulls her mom in for a desperate hug. “I was so worried about you. I thought you’d gotten kidnapped or something worse!”
Caroline hugs her back and strokes her hair gently.
“I’m so sorry, I was at brunch and had my phone off.”
Josie doesn’t let go and melts into the embrace. Caroline keeps holding her and they enjoy a moment of peace and quiet.
“When did you get here?” Josie asks as she finally pulls away.
Caroline gives her a once over before placing a smooch on the top of Josie’s head.
“I got in a few minutes ago, your friend here brought me up to speed.”
That’s when Josie notices Hope and remembers her presence. Great. She’d just caused a melodramatic scene in front of Hope.
Hope makes awkward finger guns when she realizes all the attention is on her. Josie chuckles lightly, because maybe she’s not the only dork in this house right now.
She stares at Hope for a moment too long and promptly sees her mother look back and forth between them. She sighs. The last thing she needs right now is for her nosy mother to get involved.
Caroline grins excitedly and steps into the kitchen.
“Good thing you introduced yourself already, Hope, my daughter seems to lack in the good manners department.” Caroline meets Josie with a disappointed glare. “I’ll make us some tea and give her another chance.”