Remember me
*Willa*
"Willa! Willa, dammit, where are you hiding, woman?" I can hear my producer Angela's voice ringing through the halls of the studio, reaching me in my small office.
A few seconds later, her head, with its carrot-colored curls, pokes in through my door, and I send her a smile. "Not hiding, my dear. I am right here in my office. What is it?"
She walks in and quickly closes the door behind her, looking very secretive. "Oh, I have got some very big news. You are so going to piss your pants."
"I would rather not," I say, looking at her a bit confused. Not many things would send Angela into a frenzy like this, and it definitely takes something special to have her all flustered on top. "Come on then, tell me."
"You know how we talked about trying to get a big name for the season finale, right? Well, I got you not just one, but two top names willing to do this," she says, looking like she almost can't contain it. "Real A-listers."
Oh, by the way, I am the host of a popular kids' show on national television. I get to have fun all day, and sometimes we have minor celebrities come on to help me out with the show and do interviews. A bit like Sesame Street but without the puppets.
I look at her, starting to get curious. "It sounds interesting, and you look very excited, so better tell me who is coming before you explode or something."
"Joel Jacobs and Levi Thomsen, they have both agreed to do the show. Can you believe it? It’s such a scoop." She looks like she is about to clap her hands. "We have never had anyone that big."
"Ohh," I say... one of those names making my mind whirl back almost 15 years. Back to when I was an innocent 17-year-old girl, and a young man crept into my bed for one very hot night, taking away that innocence forever.
I don't know for how long I have been sitting here, lost in my own thoughts, but suddenly Angela clears her throat quite loudly. "Earth to Willa! Where the hell did you just go?"
"Back in time... way back in time," I tell her with a sly smile, wondering if Levi will recognize me or even remember me. I surely have never forgotten him. Well, it would be kinda hard to... everything considered.
But I am sure it will be kinda fun seeing Levi again. I mean, of course, I know what he looks like and such, it’s kind of hard not to know with him being super famous and all that. But seeing him face to face will be a whole different thing. I just have to keep my little secret... well, secret.
"Thank you, Angela, that is really cool. I can definitely work out something cool around those two," I say with a smile, ideas already running through my head.
I just have to look at this professionally and not personally. For my show, it is a real scoop.
*Levi*
"Hi Joel, good to see you again," I say, walking into the small conference room at the TV station. We are here to start filming the kids' show today.
I mostly said yes because I thought it would be great working with Joel again. But also, because it sounded kind of fun, I like to do different things. Having some downtime between big demanding blockbusters, doing something just for the fun of it seemed like a good choice.
Joel sends me a huge smile as I close the door. "Well, good morning there, Levi. So, are you ready for a couple of days of being exceedingly silly and childish?"
"Ain't I always? By the way, do you know anything at all about this show?" I look at him. Admittedly, I have never watched it, but Joel has a kid, so he might have.
He sits down in one of the other chairs. "Well, Christopher is a little young to be watching this kind of show. He wouldn’t really get the sketches yet, but I have watched a couple of episodes with him. Don't tell Sophie I said this, but the hostess is kind of hot."
I chuckle, of course, I would never tell Sophie, mostly because I know she has absolutely nothing to fear from him; everyone can see how in love Joel is with his wife.
"So, as I have never seen the show, I actually haven't got a clue what we are doing. What type of show is it?" I say, leaning back in my chair. "Besides being a kids' show, dads like to watch."
Joel folds his hands in his lap. "Well, it's kind of a two-part program. First, it's kind of a sketch show, with the hostess playing the show's main character, Wild Willa, and then secondly, it's kind of an interview/studio part, but you know, for kids... with guests sometimes or talk about news and things, but as I said on a level for kids."
"Willa? That is an unusual name... I actually once knew a girl named Willa," I say, thinking back to a weekend home from school many years ago and a girl I have never quite forgotten. A girl that slipped away from me way too fast, unfortunately.
Joel is leaning forward in his seat, looking curiously at me. "And when you say you knew her... then we are talking in the biblical sense, right?"
"Oh, very much so. She had just turned 17..." I say, thinking back. "Oh, stop looking at me like that, Joel, for God's sake. I was 21 when it happened; it wasn’t recently. She was the daughter of my mom's old school friend and stayed with my family because her mother was sick. I was home for a weekend and ended up spending the night in her bed." I smile at the memory.
Joel is literally on the edge of his seat now, looking at me intently. "What happened then? Was it just that one night?"
"Well, I went back to Harvard, and a few days later her mother died, and she went back home. So sadly, I never saw her again. I actually would have liked to. I kind of really liked her; she was something special." I bite my lip thoughtfully.
Joel is looking through the big window into the hallway. "Hey, your Willa wouldn’t happen to be around 5'5, with a perky ass and nice boobs? Dark auburn curls, blue eyes, and a bit of freckles on her nose?"
"Well, actually yes, or she was. I have no idea what she looks like today," I say, once again smiling at the memory. "How do you know?"
Joel chuckles, and a mischievous grin spreads on his face. "Taking everything you just said into consideration, I think you'll know in about five seconds."
"What?" I look at him, then I hear the door open, and I turn my face towards the sound, seeing Willa, my Willa walking through the door, looking almost exactly like she did 15 years ago.