Day 15: 26,002 Words

 

As I said in the group chat, I didn't do much today because I went on such a tear yesterday. It was nice to not write so much! Just after this passage, Fernando tells Abigail that he's heading back to Liverpool for preseason training. I like the idea of doing the same thing to Theo (but not Liverpool preseason training). 

The last days of shooting season one had something of a party atmosphere. They had been renewed for season two, and were feeling celebratory about the triumphant return to Capeside that they had engineered. The younger stars had become incredibly famous, and James van der Beek’s career was truly at an all time high. The season was to end with a major cliffhanger: Jenny and her lifelong friend Mawson had shared a kiss, and Dawson’s life appeared to be in danger after an accident involving a corkscrew, toe nail clippers, and a bottle of firm hold hair gel. There was probably a potential teen pregnancy cliffhanger in there, although Abigail wasn’t totally sure since she didn’t write the episode. 

On the last day of shooting, the production hosted a party at a trendy bar in downtown Toronto. Everyone was there—the writers, the actors, the producers. Even James van der Beek was in attendance, although he couldn’t stay for long. Abigail thought that she heard him say something about “candy asses,” but she wasn’t sure. 

It was, unfortunately, also the last week of shooting for Space Jam: Futbolista. Abigail and Fernando had wanted to spend a lot of time together after their first date night, but it had been challenging because Space Jam: Futbolista shot at all hours of the day. When they weren’t shooting, the film’s stars were mostly exhausted and trying to get some sleep. Whenever Fernando was free, Abigail was busy in the writers’ room. When she was available, he was filming some kind of stunt scene where an opponent was to collapse and have their heart re-inflated by Marvin the Martian, the referee. It was confusing. 

...

 

When she walked into the party with  Fernando, she felt as if everyone was staring. In reality, they probably were. People working on Dawson’s Creek: Legacy were a tight-knit group. Everyone knew everyone’s name. They knew it was Abigail, one of the writers who always found a way to incorporate feminist storylines. A pretty woman who wore a lot of dark clothes and was partial to winged eyeliner. The writer who was clearly James van der Beek’s favourite. And she was with him. Fernando Torres. Some people knew who he was, and they were telling the other people who just thought he was a spectacularly handsome plus one that he wasn’t just spectacularly handsome. He was Liverpool’s Number Nine. 

Abigail felt incredibly awkward with all of the attention. She didn’t ever want to be a WAG, an acronym for wives and girlfriends that is common in England. She didn’t want to walk into a room and have everyone talking about her. She had just noticed a man at work, and he had noticed her back. Because of the nature of her work, that man just happened to be a global football superstar. A global football superstar who was spectacularly handsome. 

To say that she wasn’t sure why he was attracted to her would not tell the whole story. Abigail, while at times awkward and overly concerned with the opinions of others, had a very healthy self-conception. Her parents had always told her and her sister that they were smart, kind, and beautiful. Even in a world that wanted to make them feel the opposite, they had fought to feel that they were worthy of love and respect. Of course, she couldn’t help but wonder (not in Carrie Bradshaw fashion) how it was that she had managed to stand out to such a degree that he wanted to see her and get to know her after she caught his eye on his quick walk between the studio to his trailer. She really didn’t know how she had made such an impression on him. She thought that she was cool, but not that cool.

But, after the first night when they went out together, she knew that they had a connection. She knew it deep down, at her heart’s centre. They could talk like they had known each other for years. Maybe on paper they didn’t have all that much in common. But their personalities went together incredibly well. They shared many of the same values: love for family; a commitment to working hard at the things that they are passionate about; kindness. 

“Do you think I can meet James van der Beek?” Fernando said sheepishly, as they saw him across the bar holding a drink and looking depressed. 

“Of course you can. Let’s go over now,” Abigail said, grabbing his hand and walking towards her favourite co-worker. 

Nothing had ever felt more right: holding his hand in hers, walking towards James van der Beek.

“Oh, hi, Is—” James said, stopping himself from calling Abigail by her sister’s name. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with your sister.”

“I hope it’s going well,” Abigail said, knowing from what her sister had told her that it wasn’t.

“I think it’s like cleaning a really messy room. It has to get worse before it gets better.”

“I’m glad you’re making things messier with a purpose!” Abigail hoped her words would be comforting.

“I’m so grateful to your sister for all of her help. And her boyfriend, Theo.”

Abigail was shaken by those words. Boyfriend? Theo? How could her sister have a boyfriend and not tell her? 

She didn’t let her face slip. She didn’t want to give away that she was surprised to hear that her sister had a boyfriend, and that is name was Theo. Abigail didn’t want to seem like the worst sister of all time. 

“I’m glad that she’s been helpful. I’m not surprised!” Admittedly that was true; Abigail wasn’t surprised that her sister had been helpful. She was just surprised that this Theo that she had met in passing was a part of the picture. 

Noticing Fernando’s vague discomfort, and remembering why she had come over in the first place, Abigail gestured towards the handsome man on her arm.

“This is Fernando Torres. Fernando, this is James van der Beek,” Abigail said. She smiled at him, thinking how much she liked introducing him. “Have you seen Fernando hanging around the studios, filming Space Jam: Futbolista?”

“I’m excited to meet you,” Fernando said as he shook his hand. “I’m such a big fan of Dawson’s Creek. And Dawson’s Creek: Legacy. Thank you for bringing Dawson Leery to life!”

Since meeting Fernando, Abigail had learned that he had scored goals in the final of both of the Euro Cup finals that Spain had won. When she had met him at her job interview, she obviously had felt nervous. But she is only Abigail Martin! She had no idea how for Fernando, meeting James van der Beek could possibly make him nervous. 

James smiled a genuine smile at Fernando.

“It’s an honour to step into Dawson Leery’s brown leather loafers. It was the first time, and it still is. Thank you for watching.”

Fernando grinned back.

...

Abigail thought it best to leave James to his stressed out thoughts. She nudged Fernando in the direction of the refreshments, so they could pretend to be really interested in the coffee bar. While there, Abigail noticed that nestled among the white mugs was a mug with ominous black all-caps lettering. It read: “Don’t ask who Alan is.” 

She wasn’t going to, but after reading the mug, she wanted to. The mug certainly brought about more questions than answers. Questions, such as who Alan is. And why the mug was there when all of the other mugs were plain and white. They shuffled off, both thinking that some things are best left behind.