Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2007 05:42:37 +0000 From: Chris Salter Subject: Re: How I Met Jake: Chapter 3 Disclaimer: I am by no means affialiated with Jake Gyllenhaal, nor do I wish to imply the sexual orientation or the private life of Jake. This work is fiction and is not to be taken seriously. This applies with perpetuity throughout the universe. If you are under the legal age, or it is illegal to view a text involving sexual attraction of two males, then please leave and do not read any further. Chapter Three: The sun beamed brightly into Chris' bedroom window early that morning. As Chris had fallen asleep earlier than he had intended, he hadn't closed the blinds. However, due to his exhaustion, the sunlight alone wasn't enough to get him out of bed. It wasn't until around 9 when Chris was forced out of bed by the phone ringing in the kitchen. He quickly stumbled his way out of the bedroom, knocking the box of photographs onto the ground and reaching it just in time. "Hello?" "Ding Dong, Avon Calling...." Came a familiar voice from the other end of the phone line. Chris smirked as he realized who it was, "Hey Sarah, what's up?" "Oh not much, I'm stuck at work today, so I thought I would give you a call to see how you are. I spoke to Danny last night when he was there." "I'm fine, I think...I mean, I don't know....I didn't get home till about 11..." Chris replied as he made his way back into the bedroom to pick up the photos before Fergus got to them. "Are you from Syria?!" Sarah gasped on the other end. "Oh were you at that store on Rodeo?" "Yeah, I was there for a bit, then I had to bring a witness back to the lab for processing." Chris quickly picked up the photos and placed them neatly in the box, then closed the lid and put it back on the chest at the end of the bed. "After that I gave the guy a ride back to his car." "You're not flirting with murder witnesses again are you?" Sarah joked. Chris laughed, "Nah it's not like that. The guy was actually Jake Gyllenhaal. We got to talking on the drive back to the lab, and his car wasn't too far from here, so I offered to give him a ride back." "Gyllenhaal....as in the actor?" "Yep, that's the one." Chris replied, subconsciously grinning at the notion. "What did Danny have to say? I feel kind of bad for not returning his calls last night." "Oh he wondered where you were, I didn't know so I guessed you were at work still. Then he told me he would call you sometime today on your mobile.....What's Jake like?! Is he up himself?" "Actually no, he's actually really friendly. In fact, he asked me if I was doing anything today. So I kind of asked if he wanted to hang out down at Santa Monica." Chris replied, looking over at his bedside clock. It read 9:15AM. Sarah was silent for a minute before softly speaking down the phone, "Like...a date?" "Nah! I don't think so, I think he just wanted to hang out. I'm pretty sure he's straight. He was talking about his ex Kirsten when I was talking about Danny." Chris sat down on the bed before continuing, "Well, I think that's all he wanted. He strikes me as a genuinely friendly guy, that's all." "Oh okay then." Sarah replied, "I'd better get going, there's a meeting in 10 minutes...I HATE WORKING ON SUNDAYS!" Chris let out a deep laugh and scoffed about his week off before saying his goodbyes to Sarah. He stood up once again and headed back into the kitchen to replace the handset. After stumbling towards the kettle, he quietly filled it with water to make some herbal tea. He then filled Fergus' food bowl before returning once again to the now boiled kettle. As he finished pouring the water into a cup, he heard the familiar ringtone of "Let's Get Happy" by Lou emanating from the lounge area. Chris quickly moved over to the area and picked up his cell, he looked at the screen and noticed the caller ID listed the call as 'unknown number'. Ordinarily Chris would not answer his phone when there was an unlisted number, but as he was expecting a call from Jake, he decided to make an exception. "Hello?" A soft mans voice came from the other end, "Oh hey, Is this Chris?" "Yes, this is Chris, who is this?" "Hey Chris, it's Jake, we met last night. I wanted to see if you were still up for hanging out today?" Chris smiled, he already had an idea that it was Jake, but he wanted to be sure. "Hey Jake, Yeah, I can hang out today if you wanted. I was going to go down to the park at Santa Monica in about an hour or so, did you want to meet met there?" Almost without pause, Jake enthusiastically replied, "That sounds great. Where did you want to meet?" Chris thought for a moment to figure out where the best place would be to meet. "Sounds clich‚, but how about we bump into each other at the entrance to the pier." "Fantastic! I will give you a call when I get there okay?" Jake gleamed over the phone line. "Sounds good to me, I will see you in an hour!" Chris replied almost as enthusiastically. "See you then!" Jake said as he ended the phone call. Chris pressed End on his cell and dropped it back onto the coffee table. He then made his way back into the bedroom, picked up the box of photographs and headed into the wardrobe. After placing the box on one of the higher shelves he then took the initiative to find something to wear. He finally decided on a pair of Dark Blue Lucky Jeans, a plain black T-shirt and a pair of white shoes. It was probably too hot to wear a black shirt to the beachside, but he didn't mind. When finished deciding what to wear Chris then picked up a pair of socks and boxers and made his way into the bathroom to quickly shower. About 15 minutes later Chris was finished with his personal hygiene, he decided to go with an unshaven look for the third day in a row. Following this he quickly put some product in his hair to prevent it from turning into 'floppy Hugh Grant hair' in the ocean breeze. He then finished dressing himself before making his way out to the main room to pick up his keys, wallet and iPod. Once collected he made his way down to the parking area and jumped into his car and set off towards the coast. A short time later Chris had parked his car in the parking lot, headed up towards the main entrance of the pier and stopped to lean against one of the supporting poles for the sign. He looked around to see if could recognize anyone around him, but alas he couldn't. He noticed a pair group of Japanese tourists taking photos of each other with the Santa Monica Pier sign, some 'dysfunctional teenagers' milling around at the side of the pier various other couples walking about on the boardwalk. Chris then looked at his watch, it was getting close to 11am. Was he going to show up? Chris thought to himself. After Jake had finished his phone call to Chris, he finished prepping himself to meet Chris at the beach. After going through half of his wardrobe trying to find something to wear, he finally decided on slightly baggy jeans, an olive green T-shirt and a pair of black shoes. As he was heading out the door, he made a note to pick up his sunglasses, so as to try and remain somewhat inconspicuous. However, Jake knew this was a pretty futile maneuver as most celebrities follow the same trend. Jake then bounced down the driveway of his house to his black Range Rover Sport, once inside he looked at the clock noticed it was 10:45. He would be pushing it to get to the beach on time. Once outside the gates he accelerated down the road winding around the twisting corners until he reached the base of the hills. From there he pulled onto one of the main streets heading towards the coast. By the time he reached the parking lot for the pier it was just after 11. Jake then spent another 5 minutes going around in circles trying to find a parking spot, eventually finding one some distance from the pier. "Shit, I'm late.." Jake muttered to himself as he locked the SUV and briskly walked towards the meeting spot. He made his way up a series of stairs until he was at the level of the main entrance. At the top of the stairs he looked around, no one seemed to recognize him, so he made his way closer to the sign. From there he could spot a group of Japanese tourists, various couples and a group of teenagers who looked as if the whole world was a burden to them. He also spotted a lone male in a black T-shirt and jeans leaning against one of the poles. The person was about 6'1 and had short brown hair. It looked like Chris, but he thought he had better make sure it was. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the number. He pressed connect and waited for the phone to start ringing. Jake slowly walked closer to the man, as he could hear a strange sounding ring tone emanating from the individuals phone. "Hello, Chris speaking?" Jake smiled as he realized the man he was staring at was Chris. "Hey, it's Jake." Chris shifted in his position against the pole. "Hey, where are you?" "Turn around." Jake replied before ending the call suddenly. Chris was surprised to hear the phone call end suddenly, but decided to comply with the instructions Jake gave him. He put his phone in his pocket and turned around slowly to see the same 6-foot tall specimen of man with stunning blue eyes that he had assisted the night before. "Hey.." Chris said while waving innocently. "Hey, sorry I'm late. I couldn't find a parking spot." Jake apologized, hands in his pockets. Chris smirked before replying, "What, even celebrities have parking issues?" Jake laughed openly, "Yeah, I suppose they do... So what do you usually do down here? Go on the rides like a giddy teenager?" "Nah, only when I'm trying to piss people off." Chris laughed, "I usually get something to eat and then I walk along the footpath. Not for any particular reason, I just like to people watch." "Sounds good, what way do you want to go?" Jake asked while pointing in different directions. Chris, being the typical smart-arse he is spun in a circle, pointed to the north, and then purposefully began to walk south. "This way seems good." Jake quickly followed him. The duo made their way down the stairs and onto the main footpath heading south from pier. Luckily for Jake most people were more focused with their workouts, tanning or avoiding the direct sunlight, thus rendering him inconspicuous. Not that he would have noticed, as he was too busy chatting with Chris to notice. "So yeah, my night was pretty boring. I came home, ordered some dinner, went to bed and found a box of photographs of me and Danny." Chris continued with his answer to Jake's query as he motioned for Jake to sit down at the bench they were approaching. "I suppose Hollywood standards my night would be absolutely boring, with all the clubs and parties and restaurants." Jake sat down next to Chris, but made sure not to sit too close, "Some nights are like that, lately I've been pretty much a hermit, last night in particular. As soon as I got home I went straight to bed. I just wanted the day to be over..." Chris nodded in agreement, "Are you okay with what happened?" Jake pulled a cigarette and lighter out of his pocket, after lightning up he finally spoke up, "I guess, yeah, it could have been a lot worse, I didn't actually see the body, so that might be it." He then looked over to Chris who was waving the smoke away from his face, "Sorry, I should have asked." "Oh its okay I guess, the smoke just gives me a headache sometimes." Jake then promptly took the cigarette and extinguished it on the ground, "I know, it's a filthy habit, I've been meaning to quit. Usually catches me when I'm stressed." "I can understand." Chris replied, still pretending to wave the smoke away. The duo then sat silently for a few moments before Jake finally broke the ice again, "So this ex of yours sounds like he was a good guy, what's he like?" Chris thought for a moment, he had remembered to remove the images from his phone, but he still had a photo of the couple in his wallet. He then quickly reached into his pocket and pulled his wallet out. After fishing through it for a few moments, he found a photograph of Danny and himself together in Marienplatz, Munich taken several months earlier. He then handed the image over to Jake who looked at the photo for a few moments. "He looks like a kind man." Jake said sincerely. "He is, but yeah, it's all over now. That's all that really matters." Jake smiled and handed the photograph back to Chris, "It will take some time, but everything will work out in the end." Chris scoffed and replied sarcastically, "Thank-you Mystic Meg." He decided it was time to be nosy about Jakes life, instead of Jake being the sole interviewer. "So, did you always want to act?" "Well, I always had a place in my heart for it. I went off to college for a couple of years, but in the end I came back to acting, it's a lot of fun, even the stardom sometimes..." Jake then thought he would see what movies of his Chris had actually seen. "I know this may sound shallow, but apart from Brokeback, have you seen any of my movies?" Chris smiled, "Well to be honest I've only seen a few movies, Brokeback that Danny made me watch, and kept me weeping for a few hours afterwards. I've seen October Sky, which was a great movie. Day After Tomorrow was quite good and then the other one I saw was Donnie Darko, but I didn't realize that was actually you until a few years later." Chris then continued, "I kept planning to see Zodiac as the story intrigued me, but work got in the way and by the time I had free time it was out of the cinema." Jake shrugged, "Yeah, work can get annoying sometimes. That's a pretty impressive list though.." "Yeah I suppose, I'm not trying to suck up here, but you are a good actor, I not usually one for movies, but yeah...when I do..." Chris laughed heartedly at his complete suck- hole sounding comments, "Oh, I forgot to mention Jarhead too! But I've only seen that once." "That was a great movie to make, only thing I missed was my hair" Jake replied as he gently touched his hair. Chris admired Jakes hair before commenting, "Well it looks like it grew back alright." Jake smiled and was about to respond when the familiar tone of "Let's Get Happy" began emanating from Chris' pocket. Chris pulled his phone out and apologized, "Sorry, I should have put it on silent. I'll just be a few minutes." As he stood up and stepped away from the bench. "Sure," Jake replied as he watched Chris walk away from the bench. Jake began to look around to see if anyone was watching him, however only a few people recognized him and smiled at him. He then stared down at his shoes and tapped his right foot on the ground slowly to an imaginary beat in his head. All the while occasionally glancing over to see Chris' 6'1 frame wandering back and forth along a small crack in the pavement. He noticed Chris' shoulders were beginning to lower slightly; obviously, Chris was getting pretty upset with whoever was on the other end of the call. Jake was about to get up and walk over to him, when Chris suddenly placed the phone back in his pocket and walked back to Jake. Chris quickly sat down next to Jake and finally spoke up, "Did you want to get out of here?" Jake thought for a moment, obviously something had upset Chris, but he didn't know him well enough to ask just yet. "Uh yeah....sure. Where do you want to go?" Jake asked, looking over at Chris. Chris looked at his watch, it was nearly 2:30. "Um, well, did you want to see a movie, or grab something to eat?" "We could do both I suppose. Did you want to go somewhere else or find somewhere around here?" Jake asked as began to stand up. Chris slowly rose to his feet, "I dunno, maybe see the movie here and if you wanted to maybe go back to near my place. There's a decent pizza place at the end of my street." "Sounds like a plan," Jake replied as the duo head towards the pier and the closest cinema complex they could find. Well, I hope y'all enjoyed the third installment. It's up a little earlier than originally thought. Turned out I didn't have a lab today. Anyway, as usual, if you want to comment or have a chat with me I can be contacted on chezmoi_ou_cheztoi@msn.com but please put the story title in the subject so I know where you are from! Abuse, namecalling, pointing-and-laughing however will not be welcome. Thanks for reading guys, I love hearing feedback from you all! Chris