Back at the Davis-Kazinski residence...
With all of the dishes cleaned up and put away, and nothing else for her to do for the rest of the day, at least until Josie got home and the family could gorge on birthday cake and Chinese food (A *very* rare exception to the strict diet Eve tried to keep everyone on), Eve strolled casually through her family's opulent home.
In the small part of her mind that was still Eugene, Eugene had never quite gotten used to the practically perfect, feline like grace of Eve's body, the alluring ballet dance that occured every time she walked around. It felt like he was taking a ride inside a luxury sports car, one with an extra wide trunk and a pair of hood ornaments to die for, but Eugene's submerged personality, which occasionally popped up for air like a whale taking a breath, was quickly pushed back by Eve's more strong willed personality.
My fault. You should never argue with a fiery redhead, you'll always lose he thought. He'd chuckle if he had a mouth.
Eugene sometimes had trouble knowing where he ended and Eve began, but Eve had no problem answering that question. She was just Eve, period end of statement. She had been Eugene once upon a time, but that time had long since passed, and nobody remembered him anymore, so why bother asking about it?
She had decided to lay on a beach chair in the family backyard, right next to their enormous pool, her feet curled up underneath her, her smart phone in her hand.
Her daughters were going to be out of the house for most of the day, Lily saying that she was going out with her friends, and the birthday girl Josie undoubtedly taking her new car out for a test drive around town. Roland had said that he had a second surprise for Josie that he hadn't told either of them about, which made Eve raise an eyebrow, but Roland smiled his perfect teeth at her that had once helped Eve fall in love with him.
So she pretty much had the morning to herself, which felt like a rarity nowadays.
She checked her emails.
Sigh.
Her talent agent was still pressuring her to come out to Los Angeles to speak with Disney within the next two weeks. That was the window. Marvel Studios was apparently really keen on reeling her in for one of their future projects.
Which one? Nobody knew. All Eve knew was that they wanted her talent and star power for something.
Eve's agent was upset that she didn't immediately jump on board the biggest cash cow in recent memory, but what Dave didn't seem to understand was that once you reach a certain strata of wealth, once you're no longer worried about being hungry, one usually becomes more deliberate about their life choices.
Eve liked acting. It was fun. Making pretend for a living was fun. Being famous and having everyone flock around you and treat you like you're royalty was also a lot of fun. In some ways, it felt a lot like she was back in high school.
That was the double edged sword. Hollywood was too much like high school for Eve, and she had long since grown beyond wanting to be popular just for the sake of it.
She'd rather spend a quiet night at home, curled up around Roland, spending time with the kids and her parents as they played a board game together versus attending some lavish party with a bunch of phonies.
The last few projects that she had been in were things she had wanted to do, most of them independent movies that would never make a lot of money or had gone straight to streaming. One had been a low(ish) budgeted action thriller that was kind of bad, but she had agreed to do because she got to spend a month on vacation in Mexico. Another had been a drama where she played a drug addicted and alcoholic mother whose children had been taken from her by CPS. She had done that one as a favor to the director, who was a really nice and talented guy, and despite barely even trying she had gotten a Golden Globe nomination from it. Another had been a horror comedy where she played a an evil witch. That one had gotten terrible reviews from critics(Although Eve's performance specifically was praised), but Eve honestly really liked it and thought that it would eventually find its audience. Last year, she had been in a really good action movie with Charlize Theron. Eve had even gotten to do most of her own stunts due to her gymnastics background on that one. Her favorite role though was she had made a cameo six months ago as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, at Lily's insistence(It was one of Lily's favorite shows) that she had had a blast doing.
But nothing huge. No Marvel or DC or Star Wars or any kind of franchise series that would tie her down for years on end and prevent her from doing (In her opinion) more interesting projects.
Her last major studio film had been five years ago, an adaptation of a Broadway musical where she had gotten to show off her spectacular singing voice. She had really liked doing that one, but having to stand around for hours in a really uncomfortable and cumbersome dress at awards shows, next to smiling people that she knew were secretly huge pieces of shit had depressed her so much that she had made a vow: "Never again".
Her husband felt the same way about his NFL buddies and colleagues. The couple had lifetime passes to all of the sports games and events they ever wanted to attend, and they had gone to more than a few, including a few Super Bowls. It felt amazing to be a part of something so huge, especially something that her husband was passionate about, but Roland had made it clear to everyone that while he still had one foot in the football door and was still one of the boys, his ideal life for now was to settle down and be a family man.
It made Roland something of an anomaly. Footballers were notorious ladies men and party animals, and Roland had been no exception before meeting Eve, but love had changed him.
He ignored all the jokes from jackasses about Eve having pussywhipped him into submission, or that she held his balls in a mason jar.
Not to mention the (Sadly, more than) occasional remark from racists about him dating and marrying a white woman.
The only thing that he had gotten visibly pissed about was a guy who had called into a sports radio show he was on once and said that he had disgusting half breed kids. Roland had wanted to strangle that guy.
Then again...
Eve realized that sooner rather than later, she and Roland would be empty nesters. Russell was already out of the house, Lily was on her way to college in the fall, and Josie was graduating from high school this month.
A lone tear fell down from Eve's glittering, emerald like eye, realizing that days like today, where the house felt so empty, would soon become common.
Maybe she should reconsider Disney's offer.
She could ask Jocelyn, who inexplicably (To Eve) was an enormous geek, having grown up watching the MCU and owning a huge comic book collection and memorabilia, for advice on how to prepare to be a Marvel superheroine(Or supervillainess, or whatever the case may be). Eve could see it right now, Jocelyn would flip out.
It could be one last mother/daughter bonding activity before Jocelyn was officially an adult.
It had made zero difference to Eve that once upon a time, they hadn't been mother and daughter at all, that they had been a lonely old man and a high school boy named Bill who were entirely unrelated. Like Eugene, that was buried in the past.
Her new memories in this wonderful new reality had told her that Jocelyn was her little girl that she had spent ten hours in labor with, with Roland by her side.
No less real than Eugene's memories of having grown up in the sixties and seventies with his own parents.
She should probably go for a swim and think it over.
Eve tossed her phone on top of a outdoor couch next to the kitchen entrance. Like everything Eve did, it had landed perfectly on one of the cushions. She then undressed and hopped in the pool, enjoying the slight chill on her skin.
One advantage of being alone for the morning was skinny dipping.