Hibiscus Films

All it took was for Felipe to flash the reporter a thousand-kilowatt smile and she jumped right into discussing his work. The interview only lasted a few more minutes but Felipe made a mental note to call a cab to drive him home, as his eyes were already glazing over.

"I really appreciate the time, Mr. Amos," the reporter finally said, standing up. Felipe shook her hand at arm's length, hoping she would get the hint he wasn't interested. Watch, this'll start another round of gay rumours, he thought. Then, she reached into her purse and all but pressed her body against his, save for the space required to hold up her business card.

"Call me, maybe?" she told him, her voice lowering.

Felipe stared at her and blinked as he was transported back to another time and place when another beautiful woman had spoken the same words to him. Somehow, that first time still stood as the best offer he'd ever gotten. And had never followed up on.

He simply took the card, then took a huge step back.

"Thanks for making it out today," he said cordially. Although this could have been done on the phone, but whatevs. Maybe whoever from Chelsea's camp that had spread those anti-social rumours had a point. He pretended not to notice his interviewer's face fall as she left, then nudged his trailer door shut and made a beeline for his cigarette pack.

Exhaling in contentment just moments later on the couch, Felipe enjoyed the precious few moments of silence he'd get all day. Then he carefully set his cigarette down and retrieved his wallet, gingerly fishing out the faded sticky note he'd been given 12 years ago.

Juno

(647) 555-0947

Seriously, dude, you won't regret a gym membership :)

Felipe smiled wistfully to himself, thinking how ironic it was that that career advice was directly responsible for where he was today. In the days after he met Juno, he'd been saving money to make first and last month's rent on an apartment. Instead, he decided joining a gym was a more pressing need.

Soon, he began to work out for hours instead of just popping in to bathe, and his more toned body didn't go unnoticed on a few sets where he worked as an extra. It also didn't go unnoticed in the precious few auditions he got, one of which was a speaking role, which led to bigger speaking roles, which enabled him to quit that god-awful fast-food job once and for all.

Eighteen months later came the audition and subsequent starring role for Boxcar, which raked in $100 million in revenue on a paltry $7.5 million budget. As an indie film, it wasn't expected to even register at the box office, let alone rule the summer that year and catapult Felipe into stardom.

His agent later told him he'd been chosen despite being an unknown because while he read for the role as well as any other actor, production wouldn't have to wait months for him to bulk up.

She was responsible for all of this, Felipe thought, recalling how Juno's hair whipped in the wind as they walked through the downtown core on the day they'd met. But this probably isn't even her number anymore. He slipped the post-it back in his wallet and put out his cigarette, rising to his feet. Another few days of shooting and he'd be on a flight back home to Toronto.

***********

Juno

"Hey Lucy, last time I checked, Carter Amos isn't the name of a book. I only do book reviews. What gives?" Juno Delfina asked her editor as she strode into her downtown Toronto office. Lucy Oyekan sighed loudly, knowing from the moment she'd e-mailed Juno her latest assignment that this conversation was inevitable.

"Look, Juno, I'll be straight and to the point with you," she began.

"You could have done that in the e-mail," Juno smirked.

"I'm a hopeless optimist," Lucy replied. "The readership for GTA Life is getting older and older, and it's harder for us to stay relevant when we're a fortnightly magazine. We're struggling to compete with those free commuter dailies."

"Luce, are we in trouble?" Juno asked.

"Not yet, but it's my job to make sure we don't get in trouble. Part of that is anticipating when the hottest action star to ever come out of Canada will be back in town and premiering a new film here."

"Okay, but why am I assigned..." Juno looked at her printout. "Holy crap, a 4000-word feature?! I'm only saying it this way because we've been friends for so long, but Luce, who the fuck will want to read 4000 words on Carter Amos??"

Lucy simply typed his name into a search engine and turned her monitor toward Juno. On the screen was a large, black-and-white photo of the star wearing no shirt and a pair of unzipped blue jeans that were a centimeter away from falling off his hips. Juno pursed her lips as she observed every muscled cut on his bare upper half.

"Okay, I see your point," she conceded. "But there's nothing more to this guy than being jacked and making blow-'em-up flicks."

"You need to read fewer books and turn on the TV, sweetie," Lucy said. "He's single-handedly supporting impoverished people downtown and in all the Toronto suburbs with that farm of his in Pickering. You'll find out when you write this up." Juno sighed.

"Well, I'm sure half the female staff here would love to see dreamboy up close," she argued. "Why am I on this?"

"Because he's famously strong-willed with the press, and you're the only one irreverent enough to butt heads with him," Lucy answered. "I mean, he's not rude; he's just smart and he knows how to steer an interview--not to mention how to shut down journalists if he wants to."

"So I'm stuck with this because of my balls?"

"Yes," Lucy smiled, as she reclined back in her desk chair. "Brass ones. Call his publicist to set up a phone interview first. Make him talk as long as you possibly can because it might be the only quotes you'll have to work with. He's intensely private and he's not going to invite you to his farm, that's for damn sure."

Juno whiled away the entire day rewriting and touching up other pieces, knowing full well she was procrastinating on her latest assignment. She briefly considered checking her personal e-mail to see whether any publishers had replied to her manuscript submissions but she didn't want to depress herself any further.

It was already a craptacular day when I walked in, and it's gonna be another craptacular week of pretending I'm interested in Carter count-my-abs Amos.

All she'd wanted to do when she was in school for creative writing was become a novelist. Or a short story writer. Or anything short of a reviewer for other people's novels and short stories, which was a type of purgatory only she and a bunch of career bridesmaids were confined to. This was not where she thought she'd be at 32.

But approaching publishers with her work was another level of fresh hell, because that was like asking 1000 people out on a date and having every one of them turn you down. After getting divorced two years ago, Juno felt like she'd already had more than her share of disappointments, both personally and professionally.

At about 4 p.m. when she'd run out of every other conceivable task she could work on, she picked up the printout from that morning, knowing Lucy was trusting her with a major assignment.

I am not into this, but I can't fuck it up and have the magazine floundering in a couple of months. She shot off an e-mail to Carter Amos's publicist. The next morning, the first thing in her inbox was a reply with a callback date and time, when Carter, himself, would pick up the phone.

Eight in the evening?? Juno almost cursed at her computer screen. Who the hell schedules an interview for 8 p.m.? Screw it, I'm going home early.

***********

Felipe/Carter

The sun was beginning to set, and Felipe put his nose in the air as he strolled amongst the long rows of crops with his farm manager, Jakub Szymanski. Jakub was now 24 but Felipe had found him as a teenager on the streets of downtown Toronto, having escaped his home after his 40-something stepmom came onto him. It hadn't been the first time either.

An established actor by then, Felipe let Jakub stay in his trailer on a movie set on the sly, just until he had enough money saved to rent a place. Felipe had already been thinking of starting a public service farm at the time. When Jakub expressed to him during one of the afternoons they hung out that he wanted to get a science degree in agriculture, Felipe told him to apply and not worry about tuition fees.

"There's nothing like that early September smell, huh?" Jakub smiled at him. "Everything's fresh and ripe and just about ready to be picked."

"It smells like life," Felipe smiled back.

"Oh, speaking of life, Tameka said she'd have mine if I forgot to pass this message on to you," Jakub dug in his pocket for the piece of paper he'd taken notes on earlier that day.

"Ugh, I just got back from LA and she's still on my back all the way here?"

"If she wasn't on your back, none of this would exist," Jakub gestured toward the expansive fields. "This is going to be thousands of peoples' dinners for at least a month. I don't care if she says jump, man. You ask her how high." Felipe laughed and peered at the note in the dusky light.

"Okay," he told Jakub, "I'm heading back to the house. I have a phone interview with a magazine in about 10 minutes."

One of the perks to having 100 acres was plopping his home right in the middle of it, where paparazzi couldn't shoot him even with the longest-range lens. Nico had plenty of space to run around and Felipe could spot visitors coming from yonks away.

On his way to the house, he passed the wide red blooms of the hibiscus patch--the first thing he'd planted upon acquiring the land eight years ago. It reminded him of Juno every time he walked by it.

You've been carrying that sticky around for 12 years, jackass, he swore at himself while stepping onto his front porch. Talk about procrastination. At this rate, wherever she is, she'll have to call yo--

Felipe's phone vibrated in his pocket and he fished it out. Then he nearly dropped it when he saw the caller ID.

"The actual fuck?" he said to himself in shock as JUNO flashed across his screen. Then he remembered it was only three rings until it went to voicemail and he scrambled to answer the call. "H-hello?"

"Hi, is this Carter Amos? My name's Juno Delfina calling from GTA Life. Did I catch you at a good time?"

"Uhhhh..." Felipe stammered, trying to find the sticky note in his wallet to see if the numbers matched. Delfina? he asked himself. Wasn't her last name Ngam? "Um, yes," he said aloud. It's fine."

"Great," Juno said. Felipe felt like he was suddenly reverting back to the apprehensive and guarded 23-year-old who ambled through town with her over a decade ago. He stumbled into his living room and plunked himself down in his recliner.

Every question he answered had him second-guessing what he said, sometimes awkwardly correcting himself and backtracking. Juno was nothing but gracious, however, telling him he could correct himself as much as he needed because she was recording their chat for accuracy.

"Um, can I ask you something now?" Felipe finally mustered the courage to speak his mind when it looked like Juno was ready to end the call. "Is this all you need? I mean, I was told it would be a feature article and we've only spoken for 10 minutes."

"Well..." he could hear Juno hesitating. "I was told you're a busy man and I shouldn't expect more than 10 minutes from you."

"I'm a lot less busy when I'm here than in LA," he said. "Why... why don't you visit the farm tomorrow to get a firsthand look at what we do?" Felipe had to know if this was the woman he was indebted to. He was pretty sure it was, judging from her first name and phone number alone, but he couldn't pass up the chance to see her again.

"Come to your farm?" Juno asked blankly. "Are you... are you inviting all the press to your property?"

"Nope. Just you. Bring a camera if you must, but you take the pictures. No photographer." There was silence at the other end of the line. "I like your magazine," he lied, having never heard of it before now, "and I like how you've conducted this interview. But if you're not interested in an exclusive..."

"Mr. Amos, please don't take this the wrong way," Juno said, "but my understanding is you eat reporters for breakfast." Felipe couldn't stop his guffaws from slipping out, even as Juno went on. "I can't imagine I impressed you that much in the last 10 minutes for you to give me an exclusive for no reason."

"Maybe I'm just happy to be home again for a while and I'm feeling generous. It's fine if you're not interested, though. I have a call with a writer from the Dispatch in another 10 minutes." Felipe clenched his jaw, hoping she wouldn't call his bluff as another silence ensued. Upon hearing her sigh, he relaxed and leaned back to reach for his cigarette pack.

"When do you open?"

Juno

Juno took down the details of how to get to his farm and was told a series of passwords she would have to repeat to the security team at the gate. Then she bade Carter Amos goodnight and immediately called her boss.

"Don't tell me you didn't call him, Juno," Lucy answered her phone.

"Uh, no, I called him and it went well," Juno replied, still perplexed at what had just happened. "But I'm not going to be in tomorrow. I'm, uh--he invited me to spend the day at his farm."

"What?? Juno, how in the hell did you pull that?"

"I didn't pull anything! He said he was feeling generous and then he said it would be an exclusive." Juno could practically hear Lucy salivating at the E word. "I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out what it is I did. Does he have a reputation for being a sleaze? Should I be on my toes?"

"Honey, I'd be on my back if Carter Amos even hinted at being interested in me," Lucy laughed. "He's known for being a perfect gentleman to the point that he has gay rumours swirling around him. Look, it doesn't matter why he invited you; grab it and run with it. This will be the biggest-selling issue we've ever put out."

"Yeah, putting out is kind of what I'm worried about here," Juno said flatly.

"There will be a bunch of us at the office demanding every detail the day after tomorrow, you got it?" Lucy added after a hearty laugh. "You'll be fine."

***********

Felipe/Carter

Felipe was awake at dawn although Juno wouldn't be showing up for another three hours. He used his anxiety to fuel his workout for most of that time, then chainsmoked on his porch swing until the security system alerted him to an unknown vehicle entering the premises.

He knew Juno would have to drive a minute or two before she reached the house, so he quickly stubbed out his smoke and waved his arms in the air.

"You could just try not smoking, you know," Jakub said as he pushed a wheelbarrow past the yard. "Flap any harder and you'll take off." At Felipe's glare, he grinned. "Tell me after all these years you at least know you're not going to get the smell off your clothes or hair by doing that."

Felipe ran into the house to change clothes, cursing to himself as he saw Juno's light blue compact sedan making its way down the dirt path. He came out again to see a woman with her back turned to the house, wearing a red plaid shirt, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. Her full hips curved in a way he hadn't noticed beneath her flowy sundress all those years ago.

Her straight, black hair fell to the middle of her back, and she slowly turned as she surveyed the expanse of land glowing around her in the morning sun. Then her eyes fell on Felipe, who was frozen to the porch as he took in her beauty. He'd fantasized about this moment for years but he still wasn't prepared for it.

My god, she hasn't aged a day, he thought.

"Hi Mr. Amos," she said, approaching the wooden front steps and holding out her right hand. "I'm Juno Delfina. We spoke on the phone?" Felipe snapped back to earth and reached out to grasp her hand in both of his.

"Hi," he said, looking into Juno's almond-shaped eyes. "It's Carter. Call me Carter." She doesn't recognize me, he realised, wondering why he automatically defaulted to telling her his stage name instead of saying "Remember me--Felipe?" like he'd always planned on doing when he envisioned this moment about ten thousand times.

Of course she doesn't recognize you, pendejo, he chastised himself. She met you once and she wasn't obsessed with you for 12 years like you were with her. Then he caught sight of Juno's bejeweled left hand resting on the camera hanging around her neck, and his heart sank. For sure a woman like her would be married. Lucky bastard.

"I think my first question is why anyone would need this much land," Juno winked. "How big is this place anyway? And do you use all of it?"

"Well, I'm hoping you'd also ask the Mall of America why it needs all that space as well, because it's the same 100 acres," Felipe smiled, brushing aside his disappointment and slipping back into the character of Carter Amos. "It's about 75 football fields or 800 NBA-regulation basketball courts. It's a little smaller than Disney World's Magic Kingdom."

"Thank you," Juno nodded. "I'm one of the not-too-bright ones who needs those visuals." Felipe laughed, remembering how witty and bold she was. He was just grateful to enjoy her company.

"As for your second question, we don't use all of it right now. We use a lot of it for farming and some for parking for those who are living out of their cars. But as you said, it's a lot of space. The long-term plan is to build 50,000 units of private, affordable housing." Juno was gazing out into the cornfield but her head snapped back toward Felipe upon hearing that.

"Feel like a walk?" he said. "We won't go the entire way of course, but as far as the path goes."

"Sure," Juno replied, taking out a pocket digital recorder.

They strolled back behind the house as Felipe explained the zoning laws and red tape he was working through to get the housing project running. Then Juno asked him about his upcoming films. They found themselves at the end of the dirt path at about the same time they found themselves at the end of Juno's questions.

"Tell me about yourself," Felipe said after a silence in which all they heard was the wind rustling through the thicket of oak trees nearby. "Do you have a family?" He knew every word of her answer would cut him but he couldn't stop his morbid curiosity.

"Uhh, that's not usually how this works," Juno said, a bit warily. She turned to him in the middle of the grassy path, feeling like they were the only people around for kilometres. "But since you brought up family, how often do you see your son when you're here in Canada?" Now Felipe was on the back foot.

"He's actually coming up next week," he responded. "His mother will be travelling for a few months to promote her new book, so we agreed to have him enroll in senior kindergarten here."

"How do you curb your smoking habit when he's with you?" Juno asked. "Are you concerned about whether he might pick it up when he's older?" Perhaps boldness has its drawbacks, Felipe considered as he felt himself recoil.

"Ah, I'm trying to cut down on my smoking," he said, "but I make sure he's at a friend's house or with one of my staff, or asleep before I light up. I'm hoping to quit before he gets old enough to notice. I picked up smoking from a co-star early in my career, and it was always one thing his mother didn't like about me."

"Can't blame her," Juno nodded. "What happened between you two, anyway? Apparently, you were the perfect Hollywood couple at one point." Felipe bristled and shoved his hands in his pockets. Then he turned his body back toward the way they came, as if he were about to head toward the house.