“Yep. I’ll show you him tonight or tomorrow. He sits on my nightstand, just like yours.”
I wanted him to know that I noticed the placement of it and that it was within his reach. If he hadn’t been holding this or needing it, it would have been on his shelf somewhere.
“I’ll be right back. I need to grab some things out of the bathroom,” he said and left the room.
I picked up his t-shirts from the heap and folded them while I focused on a dry erase board with a calendar and a morning routine list. His list made me laugh and shake my head.
Drink water.
Poop.
Make myself presentable.
Each evening it looked like Chase had something abbreviated as S.F. on the calendar. While I wondered what that was, I noticed each Saturday he had something for modeling. He seemed to like it from what Hollis had said. I spotted some black and white photos pinned to the strip of cork board that was at the bottom of the dry erase board.
“Okay, I’m just about ready,” Chase said when he walked back in the room with some things from the bathroom.
“Hey, are these from one of your photo shoots?” I pointed to the black and white pictures.
“Yeah, you like?”
“I do. You’re a natural,” I said. I looked at him when he didn't say anything. I couldn’t read his face, though. He quickly smiled and walked to me and pointed at the picture where he was biting on the neckline of a dark t-shirt. In the picture, his eyes looked off to the side. There was a spark in his eyes, though.
“I’m checking out this girl on one of the other sets. I was supposed to be looking upward as if annoyed by a teacher. But this cute girl walked on set.”
“Ahh, I see.” I nodded and smiled. “It’s a great picture.”
“Thanks. It’s my favorite.”
I went back to the bed where his duffle bag was and put his shirts in the bag.
“Do you get proofs or pictures of your shoots?”
“Sometimes. I like to have them because I can study my face. I like to be able to reflect on my work and see what I can do to make it better.” His response was very mature. But it reminded me of Hollis.
“You remind me of your brother. He likes to reflect too.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded.
“He does. After each fight and press conferences, he likes to sit in the arena, and he’ll replay the match.”
“Really?”
“Mhmm. You should ask him about it.”
On our drive to our high-rise, we talked about our plans for the weekend and what movies we’d watch. Maybe this would be a weekend that helped Chase turn things around. It was late when we got home, and Hollis wanted to go to bed so he could get up and work out before Chase woke up in the morning. I walked ahead of them and carried Chase’s bag to the guest room.
“Tell him what you do after each fight in the arena,” I prompted Hollis. I thought that might get the conversation started so Chase could see they were really quite a bit alike.
“After each fight I sit in the arena, and I focus on the cage. I replay the fight and mentally go through the motions. I look for the parts that stick out as being good moves and moves that could have been better.”
“So, you just see it inside your head? You’re not actually watching a replay?” Chase asked.
“It’s all in my head. I use it as a way to measure my performance. And I do it while I’m right there while it’s fresh in my head. I also reflect on the fight alone. I don’t want any other outside influences, at least, not at that moment. The next day is when I get the input from my coaches.”
“I’m kind of doing the same thing with modeling,” Chase said as he dove onto the bed.
