Picture this (Open)

[Sophia June Brennan]

DATE Friday, March 16th, 2012.
TIME 5:05 pm
WEATHER Chilly and a little windy, but the sun is shining.

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It was early spring, a Friday in March and Bren had entered the Celtic exhibition on the museum in Echo Park. Her dad had called her every day the past week, to make sure she was going, so she could take notes to him and tell him about the exhibition. As Bren made her way to the first showcase, her phone rang. She didn’t even look at the display, because she knew who it was; “Hey dad… No… Yes I’m at the first showcase… umm… a sword of some kind and a helmet. Are you sure? Yes dad, I know that the Celts are… Dad, I have to go… no, phones are not allowed… Bye to you too” Bren mumbled and felt bad about lying to her dad about the phone. It was not fair of her to lie, but she couldn’t guide him through the entire exhibition over the phone.

Bren walked slowly and looked at the different things; a brooch in some kind of bronze or cobber and some bracelets, a helmet and a sword, an ornamented bowl and a lot of other stuff. It wasn’t because she wasn’t interested in all of this stuff, but Bren somehow wanted to get out of here as quick as possible. She didn’t know why, but she let her feet lead her through the exhibition, down a hallway and found herself in front of a sigh saying ‘The Viking era; from merchant to warrior’. Bren swallowed something and took a deep breath; ever since her dad had told her about her real mother, Bren had felt some kind of longing to learn everything she could about the goddess. With slow steps, she walked in and started to look around in the showcases and at the stones on the wall. There were runes engraved and though she knew what sound they made, as her father had taught her, the language was far from understandable to her and she decided to read the sign beside it. She felt a little stupid as the sigh reviled to be a translation of the text on the stone. “Of course… I should have known” Bren mumbled and stroked a lock of her hair behind her ear while reading.

Thanks to her dad, and all the knowledge he had provided her over the years, the exhibition couldn’t provide her any new information. Bren sighed and was about to head in the direction of the little museum café, when she finally found what she was looking for… A little statue in clay caught her attention. It was probably the ugliest statue in the world, and Bren had to narrow her eyes and tilt her head to the side, to see that it resembled a woman. “Funny… I thought Freya was beautiful” Bren mumbled thoughtfully to herself and studied the little statue.

[Erik Jones]

Erik walked through the doors of the museum. He had been really excited when he learned that they had an exhibition on Vikings. This was a topic that had always interested him ever since his was a kid were his mother had told him all the stories she knew. But somehow it had never seemed enough; it was almost like there was something she deliberately wasn’t telling him. To start with Erik steered directly for the part of the museum dedicated for Viking culture. But as he passed some of the other items on display he stopped to look at them also. He stopped for a couple of minutes to look at a helmet and a sword. But in the end that wasn’t what he was there to look at, and in the end he found himself at the entrance to the part of the museum he had wanted to see all along. This wasn’t as crowded as the other part had been, so here he felt more at ease taking his time to look at the different displays.

Many of the displays were quite interesting, and Erik actually managed to stay concentrated on them, and not just wonder of all the time. After several display cases he found what he was looking for. It was a small carving showing some god, most likely Thor bashing the skulls of what appeared to be giants in with his hammer. Erik didn’t know why, but he had always felt as if the giants were displayed weary poorly. When he was a kid, his mother had shown him a series of comic books about Norse mythology, and in those the giants were all stupid looking, and not very clever either. Erik continued to look at display cases until he saw a picture of a reconstructed Viking ship. It was properly the best looking ship he had ever seen, even compared to some of the modern ships.

Suddenly Erik heard somebody talking next to him, thought he couldn’t really hear what they were saying. He turned around to see brown haired woman looking at a clay statue. He was a bit unsure of whether or not the she had been talking to him, but since she was standing alone it was either that or she had been talking to herself. “Excuse me did you say something” Erik said in a careful manner still not sure if she had actually been talking to him. It was very possible that she had just been talking to herself and that she would prefer to be left alone. ‘But then again’ he thought to himself ‘you will never get to know more people if you aren’t willing to take a chance’ after all, if she didn’t want to talk to him, she could just not, and he wouldn’t have lost anything for it.

[Sophia June Brennan]

Bren was occupied with her own thoughts and didn’t notice that someone entered the exhibition. She kept her eyes on the statue, trying hard to figure out why the archaeologists thought that this piece of clay could be the goddess of beauty. She kept reading the sign over and over again, shifting her glance from the statue to the sign. It was impossible for her to see how this could be Freya. She glanced up and noticed that it was only her and some man in the exhibition. Bren noticed how he moved around and tried not to smile, as it seemed like the man was actually interested in this boring exhibition. She closed her eyes and breathed lightly, she had really hoped to be alone. Well one person couldn't be so bad, even when that one person was a man. Bren decided to try not to attract too much attention but of course she couldn't keep her mouth shut as she thought to herself about the statue.

Bren made a little jump as the stranger talked to her. She considered whether or not she should answer him. She was not an impolite brat and knew that her manners demanded that she answered the stranger. She managed to put on a polite smile and peeked at the man from the corner of her eye. “No… I was just thinking a little loud to myself. Sorry…” she said and smiled apologetic. He seemed familiar to her, though she had no idea where she had seen him before. Bren kept peeking from the corner of her eye on the stranger, not really interested in him seeing her face. She had bad experiences with men staring at her because of that stupid aura, and she hated all of the superficial compliments she got. She couldn’t see his face, only some locks of blonde hair, his jaw and some wide shoulders. Judging by his voice, the man was young and he was probably not older than thirty. It felt like she had heard the voice before...

Bren finally decided to look at the stranger, as his pose, the way his hair fell down and his voice somehow bothered her… she knew it from somewhere. She turned slowly to look at him, hoping that he wouldn't stare too much. “I’m kind of… trapped in my own little world when I’m in here” Bren explained and looked at the guy. Why did it seem to her like the guy fitted in among the items on the exhibition? Like she could imagine him being some heroic Viking on a ship… It bothered her and she finally pulled herself together to ask the question that had burned in her mind. “Are you in the Drama club on LA University? I’m sure I have seen you someplace before in some kind of costume, but I can’t remember where” Bren said and studied his face. She had a feeling that she should know who he was, but she couldn't remember.

[Erik Jones]

Judging by the small jump that his comment had caused, it seemed clear to Erik that she had in fact been talking to herself rather than him. Not that he was really surprised, it was after all much more likely than talking to a complete stranger. When she apologized Erik found it a bit strange, “No worries” he answered with a smile. It was a bit strange that she would apologize for that it was after all him who had disturbed her, not the other way around. After that Erik decided to leave her alone, he was after all not a rude person, and though he liked talking to new people, Erik also respected people’s privacy if they wished it. His gaze was instead tuned to the small statue that the brunette was observing. At first he couldn’t see what it was supposed to resemble. After having looked at it for a time, he noticed a sign that told him it was a statue of Freya. This made him frown a bit as he couldn’t make it fit with the picture of Freya he had in his mind after the stories he had been told. But then again, he remembered at one point in school trying to make something out of clay, and it had not been so easy, so perhaps it was the best the maker of the statue could do. And if Freya was real then he thought it unlikely that anyone would be able to make an actual representation of her, in which case this clay one could be as good an attempt as any.


He had been standing deep in thought, when the brunette began talking to him. Actually he had been so deep in thought that he had almost forgotten about her standing beside him. When she started talking Erik tuned to face her again. He noticed that she was quite good looking, but he couldn’t really put his finger on what it was. Despite thinking this, he kept himself from openly staring at her. Since he got used to being around journalists all the time, he had gotten used to be more careful about how he was perceived, well he tried to at least. Besides that he didn’t want to be impolite. Still he got a smile on his face at her comment, as it was very much how he felt himself. “I know what you mean, all this” he looked around at all the items on display “well it makes me think… well I don’t really know” he got a distant look as he looked around. “Sorry about that, all these things just have a strange effect on me”.

Her next question almost made him laugh. It was a funny how people seemed to almost recognize him everywhere he went. But it was even funnier to hear how they rationalized recognizing his face “No I am afraid I haven’t had the pleasure of that. My name is Erik Jones, I am an actor. You might have seen me in A Viking Saga, it was a series where I was one of the main characters called Karl.”

[Sophia June Brennan]

A little joyful chill went down Bren’s spine, when the man started to talk about the exhibition. His voice sounded like a mixture of something dreaming and passionate. Bren tried not to smile too brightly; even though the man hadn’t said much, she recognized what he described. She peeked up at him and couldn’t shake off a feeling of recognition. He had a strong jaw, some shade of ashy blonde hair, wide shoulders and blue eyes. He could have been a Viking, judging by the poor knowledge of Scandinavian genetics that Bren had. She had seen him some place before, she was sure of it.

She felt an urge to slap herself as the man looked at her and told her who he was. She felt how her cheeks got hot and she knew she was blushing heavily. Her palms started to feel a little sweaty and she looked at his face, this time not hiding her bright smile. She had been a fool; of course this guy was some movie star, why hadn’t she seen that right away? Member of the L.A. university Drama club? What kind of stupid question had that been? Bren felt more than stupid as she looked at the man; “Of course… how could I fail to see that right away?” Bren said as a rhetorical question for herself. “My dad has the entire first season on DVD” she continued while keeping up her bright smile and friendly body language. Bren felt like a fool and she regret that she rarely saw television, as she probably sounded like some retarded teenage girl. “I’ve only seen the first couple of episode and I didn’t give it too much attention” she said and sounded a little apologetic. She inhaled softly and bit her bottom lip. Erik Jones was nothing but a human… a rich and successful human, but still just a human. Bren was nervous that he would think she was yet another crazy fan and let her smile fade a little; she knew he was an ordinary human, but her behavior made the situation so awkward. “My name is Sophia… I auditioned on the first season, but I didn’t get a part” she said and turned towards the Freya statue again. “I can’t see how this can be the goddess of beauty and love… I mean, it looks like a little fat lady” she said, trying to lead the conversation to a less awkward topic. She gently placed her hand on the glass and looked from the statue to her own reflection. Bren hadn’t thought the act through and only afterwards, she realized that there weren’t an alarm on the glass. She removed her hand carefully and looked up at Erik. “Sometime it feels like… I belong here… but that is of course because of my dad. He has told me so many stories about the Vikings and their gods…” she smiled slightly and looked down. “Sorry, I’m babbling” she mumbled softly.

Bren was more than happy that the awkward conversation was interrupted by another person entering the exhibit. She heard the steps of what must be a woman and she turned her attention towards the newcomer.

[Penelope Hernandéz]

Penelope walked through the big entrance of the museum, wearing a big smile on her lips and greeted people as she passed by them, even if she didn’t know them, as it was always good to give people a little acknowledge and a pretty smile – you never know whose day you might safe, after all.
She was there at the museum to look at a few exhibits for her to analyze for her next big university assignment, something preferably Celtic and ancient, as she was after all a mythology student. Passing through the exhibits, Penelope wrinkled her nose unhappily at what she saw – nothing really caught her eyes like she’d like them to. She heard how her high heels clacked gracefully against the marble floor, as there weren’t really that many people and none that really made a noise and she sighed, flipping her long black hair over her bare shoulder.

Penelope had chosen a strapless red top, a black short skirt and a pair of black heels to go with, as today’s wardrobe as it was hot outside and it always seemed to be that much hotter inside of the museum. She walked through the halls and shook her head unsatisfied, nope, none of those exhibits would do. She walked through a door and into another exhibition – one about the Scandinavian Vikings. Maybe she would find something of interest in here. She walked through and looked at everything, when something did catch her eyes, or rather someone. A bright smile appeared on her lips and she took a few self-secure steps towards the young Caucasian man that stood there. “Excuse me?” She said and waited for him to turn towards her “Hi, I’m Penelope Hernandéz and you must be Erik Jones, right? My father invests in your show. Carlos Hernandéz?” She introduced herself and reached her hand out towards him, in a friendly greeting.

[Erik Jones]

Erik noticed that she began to blush as soon as he told her who he was. It wasn’t an unusual reaction, but it still made him feel a bit strange. On one side of things it felt good, that people knew him or liked him. But on the other hand, sometimes people had a reaction like that just because he was famous, not because they actually liked his work. As he watched her, Erik saw that she looked really cute when she blushed, especially along with the smile she also gave him.

He smiled as she told that her farther had the entire first season, it always made him happy when someone enjoyed his work. Though it surprised him a little, though he didn’t know how old her farther was, he was pretty sure he wasn’t in the age that most of the fans came from. Not that he minded, it only meant that his work was good when it appealed beyond the targeted age, besides he had plenty of teenage girl fans. “Well you will have to say thanks to him, it is always nice to hear about a fan.” Even though he would have liked if she also liked the show, then again, he could expect everyone he meet to like his work, and it wasn’t like she had said that she disliked it. He also noticed that she seemed a little apologetic as she told him that she hadn’t paid attention to the show. It was a bit funny when people felt that they had to apologize to him if they didn’t watch his show. “Don’t worry about it” he paused and smiled “to tell you the truth, I don’t watch it myself” he said with a grin. It was kind of true, he often didn’t watch it when it aired on television, but mostly because he always knew what was going to happen, and that he always got the episodes beforehand.

Erik smiled as she told her name “hey Sophia, nice to meet you. So you auditioned for the show as well, too bad you didn’t get a part.” Erik thought for a moment, trying to remember the faces he had seen when he auditioned, but it was too far back, and there had been too many faces. “you know, if you are still interested, I think they are looking for people for some smaller parts in the new season, you could try again if you wanted.” Erik didn’t know why he had told her that, not that it was any secret, though it hadn’t been officially announced yet. As Sophia spoke about the statue, Erik tuned his gaze back on it. It was true that it wasn’t the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, but. “Well perhaps you are right, but then again, Freya being the goddess of beauty, perhaps it is impossible to accurately portray her, since no depiction will ever come close. Perhaps it is more important as a symbol then an actual depiction.” He paused for a moment then said with a grin “sorry that sounded a bit weird”

Erik understood perfectly what she said when she talked about belonging, though when he looked around and saw small statues and carvings representing the gods, he still felt like something was missing, that this was almost right but not quit.

Erik was just about to answer Sophia, telling her that he felt much in the same way. But then he heard someone approaching. He tuned to see who was approaching them and saw another good looking girl (not the usual day at the museum). But this one looked familiar somehow, he felt that he had definitely seen her before. This was a bit frustrating as Erik was usually good with faces. And this one looked like someone he would have remembered. And of course as soon as she introduced herself he remembered. He had meet her at a party (not a fun one) they had made for the investors of the show. He took her hand and smiled “Yes hey, you are right I am Erik Jones. I remember you from that dull investor party”

[Sophia June Brennan]

”As I said, I don’t watch too much tv” Bren said as both she and Erik watched the Freya statue; she still felt bad that she hadn’t watched the show. It was like telling him she thought his work was boring. “The world could come to an end to an end, without me noticing a thing, because I don’t watch the news either. She said before turning back to the topic of their conversation. “I guess not… but then again, the Greeks made statues of Aphrodite” she mumbled while she listened to the familiar tapping of high heels against the stone floor. The third person, the female, was wearing a cute, expensive looking red top, from what Bren could see. She quickly introduced herself as being some rich girl, who apparently knew Erik because her dad had invested in the show. From her way of speaking, Bren guessed that she was used to get attention. The voice sounded familiar, but Bren had no idea where she had heard it before.

Most other girls disliked girls like Penelope (from Bren’s experience), but Bren had found them to be quiet useful to attract the attention. She didn’t mind it, as long as she didn’t need to be alone with a girl like Penelope. Bren smiled softly to herself, unsure if she should introduce herself. After all, Penelope had spoken to Erik and not Bren. Her glance moved on to some jewelry of some kind. A necklace made of silver with a chain; Bren finally decided to introduce herself. “Hey, I’m Bren…” she was about to continue with something like ‘The girl who spoke to Erik, before you intruded’. Bren felt lucky she stopped herself.

[Penelope Hernandéz]

Penelope chuckled lightly at his comment about the party being dull and shook her head “Oh Sweetheart, that party rocked compared to what we have in stored.” She said and smiled and before she could open her mouth and explain why she had come over to talk to the guy after having discovered who he was the woman next to him cut in and introduced herself and the black haired Latina turned around and looked at her, her facial expression showed how horrified she was “Oh Gods, I am so sorry! How horrible of me not to have introduced myself to you as well. I can’t believe how rude I am.” She said and reached her hand towards Bren with a smile, “It’s nice to meet you. Again.”

Phoebe looked at both of them and then smiled as she narrowed her eyes “Am I interrupting a date here?” She asked suddenly feeling awkward and weird, which was something she didn’t like and usually never allowed herself to feel – at least not when Toby wasn’t around and even then she hated it more than anything and was trying to figure out how to not feel that way when he was there. She turned seemingly unaffected towards Erik again

“Well, I have some studying to do, which is why I am here. I just saw you and thought it might be better to ask you face to face than through some faceless people that none of us really know.” She said and grabbed into her purse and fiddled around a bit “Here we go. My father is throwing a party for some rich people who are dying to invest their money in something and I love your show, so I have insisted on getting you invited so you may get more investors for your show.” She said and pulled an envelope up “I was going to send it today, but as I said, I think that it would be more appropriate to do it face to face now that we’re here.” She looked at Bren and smiled, “And there’s room to bring a plus one of course. It’s Friday April 20’th and there will be a lot of important people, I even got the Politician Drake to come and she’s bringing her son – he’s a great friend and he may be able to help you with that scene my dad told me about where the God of the ocean saves you from drowning with the help of a whale? Daren trains whales and such at the aquarium and I’m sure he’ll do it for far less than what your budget says you can do it for.”

She smiled at them and then turned back to Bren “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your date like this, but I couldn’t help but overhearing something about Valfreyja – the Norse goddess of love right? They have an exhibit about her that isn’t opened yet, but since I know the owner I’m sure he’d let me go see it and bring some people? I suspect it’s for school right? I’ve seen you in some of my classes and I’d love to help out now that I’ve been so rude and just paused your date like this.” She smiled a bit apologetic. There, she had done what she could to make up for the awkwardness she felt she had created, she had done her purpose and she had even done it within 7 minutes, which was probably a record for the young woman.