White Space Season 1

embarrassed.
    “I’m sorry,” the man said.
    “It’s okay,” Jon said. “And yeah, it’s me.”
    “Oh my God! I told you, Dad,” the girl said. “I’m such a fan! I love all your movies. Even the ones the critics shit all over.”
    The man shook his head, “Amber!”
    “Sorry, Dad,” she said to her father. “Can I get a picture?”
    Jon tried not to let his annoyance show. He hadn’t done a movie in four years, but that only seemed to intensify fan reactions when he ran into them in public. He was especially popular with young girls, and even their moms, for his portrayal of the moody vampire in the ‘Darkness Everlasting’ series, the flicks which launched him from critical darling to box-office juggernaut, even though he found the two sequels creatively bankrupt.
    “Sure,” he said, posing with the girl as her dad fumbled with her iPhone to snap a pic.
    He put his arm around her, resting it on her shoulder, and she melted into a series of giggles which belied her “I don’t give a fuck” look of disaffected teen.
    After her dad snapped a couple of pics, the girl reached up and hugged Jon, as he awkwardly exchanged glances with the girl’s dad. Jon imagined the dad was thinking one of two things: talentless douchebag , or get your hands off my daughter, you pervert. Probably both, and particularly the latter, given Jon’s reputation as someone who slept with half of Hollywood’s A-List.
    After the girl thanked Jon and headed back to her seat, her dad surprised him.
    “Can I get a picture, too?”
    Jon was caught off guard, enough to accidentally laugh.
    “I loved your work in ‘This Ends Now,’” the man said.
    ‘This Ends Now’ was an indie movie Jon wrote, directed, and starred in; a scathing satire of the consumerism culture. While some critics loved it, others dismissed it as another pampered star, from a billionaire family no less, whining and biting the hand that feeds him. The movie also tanked at the box office, causing some to wonder if Jon’s days as an A-Lister were over. Jon was so disgusted by the bullshit following the movie that he’d turned down every script he’d gotten since.
    “I loved that movie, too,” the girl said as she took their photo. And then after a long pause, she added, “Are you going to do another ‘Darkness Everlasting?’ ”
    The author of the series had originally planned the series as a trilogy. But apparently, she’d been unable to turn down a huge advance to bring the characters back for another book. Jon hadn’t read the fourth book, but had heard it was little more than a blatant money grab and he had no interest in making another shit film.
    “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe with the right script and director. You never know.”
    A bell dinged and one of the flight attendants made the announcement asking everyone to take their seats, and return their trays and seats to their upright positions.
    “Thank you,” the girl’s dad said, reaching out to shake Jon’s hand.
    The girl thanked him as well.
    “You’re welcome,” Jon said as he shook the man’s hand and then returned to his seat, “Take care.”
    Jon strapped in, and tried to avoid looking back over in their direction, and getting trapped in a conversation, or worse, having a conversation extend beyond the airplane. He’d have to pretend he got a call or something to break away, and hope he didn’t look like a giant prick. Even after all these years, meeting fans still made him apprehensive, so he tried to avoid it whenever possible.
    As the plane landed, Jon thought again about his family, and felt that old familiar dread creeping through him.
    Jon had returned to Hamilton Island as few times as possible in the decade since he left the island for good at 21 – the year he was finally certain he wanted little to do with his father, Blake Conway, and nothing to do with Conway Industries, the biotech company that had nudged their bloodline into the top one percent, and built Hamilton Island into one of Puget Sound’s most ideal getaways and homes. Conway Industries not only had their headquarters and several research laboratories on the island, but they also owned and operated a small hospital which employed many, and contributed reduced or free health care to the service industry workers who lived in the subsidized housing.
    On Hamilton Island, the Conways were revered by residents and politicians alike for their generosity. In reality, however, the Conway