Fame and Fortune

"Speaking of eating, you look very fit. What are you doing in a..."

Jenna lowered her voice since her daughter worked there and said, "A dive like this?"

"Ha! I could ask you the same thing," he told her, thinking he'd zinged her back.

"My daughter works here. What's your excuse?" Jenna said with a friendly smile.

"Sometimes, especially after a really tough workout, I treat myself to something awful. Well, awful for my body but heavenly to my taste buds."

He smiled at her then said in his best professional-sounding voice, "Did you know fat and salt are the two most important food groups?"

Jenna couldn't help but laugh and did so openly.

"Not sugar?" she asked very seriously a moment later.

"No. Definitely not."

His coffee came and he said, "But caffeine? That's a 'yes'. Coffee is the nectar of the gods."

He raised his cup to her then said, "Cheers!" before taking a sip.

"That's terrible!" he said making a face.

While Jenna laughed again, Tyler said, "And that's just the way I like it!"

"So you have a sense of humor," Jenna noted.

"You sound surprised."

"Maybe. You just seemed so serious during your presentation or lecture or whatever word you prefer."

Tyler stopped smiling then said, "It's mostly for show."

"Are you saying you don't believe in your own advice?" she asked in a polite way.

"No. I think my ideas are sound. But truth be told, pretty much everything I ever learned worth knowing or sharing came from my grandfather."

Before Jenna could ask another question, the young server came back with his extra-greasy, extra-rare burger and fries. She set it down in front of him then said, "If I can get you anything else—anything at all—just let me know, okay?"

Tyler smiled and nodded as she slid the check toward him. Her number was not-so-inconspicuously written on it as she smiled at him again before walking away.

"Aren't you eating?" he asked as he got ready to take a bite.

"I thought I was, but then some famous, self-help guy walked in and ordered something which obviously took priority over my lowly club sandwich."

She wasn't at all offended, but made it sound like she was.

"Hold on," he said as he chewed.

Tyler pulled out his phone and called the number on the check. When she answered he told her who it was and both he and Jenna heard a loud squeal. When he asked her to bring his friend her order it got very quiet. But a few seconds later, Jenna got her club sandwich and her check minus the phone number.

"Thank you," she told Tyler as the girl never so much as looked at her.

"My pleasure."

"So tell me about your grandfather. If it's not too personal," Jenna said as she took a small bite.

"Well, first of all, I should tell you my parents died when I was five. I barely remember them, but I do have a few pleasant memories."

"I'm so sorry. That had to be dreadful."

"I was too young to really understand. I remember feeling sad for a while, but my grandparents stepped in and took care of me from that day on. They never once complained or made me feel like I was a burden or that I'd ruined their retirement or something, and I'm eternally grateful to them both."

He smiled but Jenna could tell there was a lot of hurt buried somewhere deep inside.

"Anyway, he and my grandmother were married for 52 years before she passed away. That's about the same time I was really getting burned out taking to people suffering from depression and other similar issues all day, every day. I think losing her made me realize how short life is, and I had these ideas bubbling up inside of me I wanted to start working on. So I began asking around about how to get a book published. I found someone who knew the answer, and here I am sitting down having lunch with you."

He made a show of whispering then added, "In this dive."

He omitted the salacious details about that encounter and only smiled at her. This time his smile was deeper and more genuine.

Jenna thanked him for sharing then asked, "I'm also sorry to hear about your grandmother who was essentially your mother."

"She really was. I often referred to her as my mom, and she never corrected me."

Jenna hurt for him even though she could tell he was doing quite well. Or at least he certainly appeared to be. And yet she knew appearances could be deceiving, so she withheld judgment.

Now at least somewhat interested she asked him, "So what was the best advice he ever gave you? Your grandfather, that is."

Tyler sat there for a moment. He was thinking and sifting through years of 'golden nuggets'.

"Gosh, there were so many it's hard to pick one. I'd say the best one may be the line I always use about life being duty. I always say 'love' during one of my talks, but the way he taught it to me was that 'life is duty'. Anyway, we dream it's all sunshine and lollipops, but life—and love—are work. Hard work. Our lives have to be constantly managed or things have a way of getting out of hand."

"The principle of entropy," Jenna said.

Tyler smiled then said, "I was sure you were a well-educated woman, so that doesn't surprise me to hear you say that. But it's still nice to talk to someone who understands. Yes, life and marriage, along with everything else, are ruled by entropy. Unless we put energy into something it decays. Whether it's washing our hair which gets greasy or maintaining a vehicle or cleaning the house, those things only get worse unless we take proactive measures to prevent it."

Jenna tilted her head slightly, smiled again, then said, "You're quite the interesting young man, Tyler. I can see why my daughter and so many other women have these huge crushes on you."

"They only see the part of me I want them to see," he said in a more-subdued tone.

"Isn't that true with everyone?" Jenna asked before taking another small bite.

"Again, I'm impressed. Yes, that's almost always the case. No one starts out a conversation by listing their failures and negative attributes. We wear social masks and hide our flaws until we're comfortable telling someone about them. Even then, we're usually very careful to paint them in the least damaging light we can."

Jenna took a small sip of water then said, "Successful people, or at least this is my impression. If I'm wrong on your case please forgive me."

Tyler just waited for her to continue so she did.

"Those who seem to have everything, in your case, good looks, money, fame, and youth."

She smiled when she emphasized 'youth' then finished her point.

"Are often very lonely. My best guess is that's because it's hard to know whom to trust. Who likes you for you and who likes you for what they think you are or your money or popularity, or what you can do for them, and so on."

"Wow. Three for three," he replied. "It was obvious to me you were a very attractive woman from the first time I saw you. But clearly, you're as wise as you are beautiful."

Jenna did the head-tilt thing again then said, "Well, that's very kind of you to say, but I'm at a point in my life where I know my limitations. Perhaps it might be fair to say I'm not unattractive—for someone my age—but we both know I'm not beautiful or anything close to it in the way the women you must regularly date are beautiful."

She paused then added, "And young."

Tyler laughed then said, "I suppose I've had my fair share of meaningless...encounters...with some very attractive women, but I'd trade all of them to find just one special woman whom, as you said, I could trust and who'd love me for who I am. I won't argue with that, but I will argue with you about yourself. You are without doubt one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. And when we factor in your intelligence, you're also one of the most desirable women I've ever met."

Jenna went to speak, but Tyler quickly added, "And by 'desirable' I meant that in the most polite and flattering sense of the word."

Jenna couldn't help but laugh. It was a small laugh, but she couldn't help it.

"I knew you didn't mean it in any kind of salacious way. As I said, I'm very aware of my limitations with age being a very big one."

"You don't give yourself nearly enough credit, Jenna. I find you charming."

He paused then said, "To the point of being irresistible."

Jenna laughed again only slightly louder.

"Okay, now you're just being ridiculous," she told him. "It's flattering, for sure, but still ridiculous."

"Why? Why is that ridiculous? I'm being completely honest with you here, Jenna. Flattery was the last thing on my mind."

She smiled politely then said, "Okay. If you say so," as she took another tiny bite.

She chewed in silence then took another bite thinking that was the end of the conversation when Tyler said, "I'd like to go out with you sometime."

Jenna nearly spewed her food then nearly choked on it as she covered her mouth as she reached for some water.

"You what?" she said after clearing the food.

"No. I'm serious. I'd very much like to go out with you sometime. Soon."

She sat there in stunned disbelief unable to speak and unsure what to say even if she could.

"I meet so many women all the time now. And it's all so...shallow and superficial. But you're neither of those things. I have to tell you I can't remember the last time I've felt like this about anyone."

She still hadn't said a word and Tyler kept on plowing ahead.

"You mentioned or implied the phoniness of my world and you were spot on. I do have my faults and my insecurities, and I rarely meet anyone I feel comfortable admitting that to. But you're so...different and...amazing."

He smiled again then added, "And...beautiful."

Not sure what to think let alone say, Jenna finally spoke.

"I've really enjoyed talking with you, Tyler. And if by 'going out' you mean getting together and continuing our discussion, I think that would be very enjoyable. But if you mean going out as in...going out...I don't see that happening."

He smiled at her then said, "Hey, I'll take whatever I can get. If that means 'talking shop', I'll do that all day long in the hopes that you might actually let me take you on an actual date sometime."

Jenna sat there, again stunned into silence. She watched his face and saw no hint of insincerity, and that puzzled her even more. He couldn't be much older than her daughter, so there had to something else going on. There had to be some other angle she was missing.

After several seconds of silence she asked, "Are you even as old as my daughter?"

"I don't know. I guess that depends on how old she is," he said very pleasantly.

"Kami is 32."

"Well, then I'm definitely older than your daughter," he said very matter of factly.

"So you're what? Thirty-three? Thirty-four?"

"No. I'm...thirty-five," Tyler said in the same tone of voice.

He could see she wasn't angry or offended so he tried turning the tables and asked her a question.

"Do you just not enjoy my company? I ask because I don't understand this...fixation...on age. I don't care what yours is and if we enjoy one another's company, why do you care about mine?"

"Unreal," Jenna said with a slight shake of the head.

"Why?" Tyler asked. "Why is age more important than things like shared values? Why would how old someone is matter more than having a nice time over dinner and pleasant conversation?"

Jenna shook her head in a way that showed surprise before she blurted out, "Because!"

Tyler waited, smiled again, then said, "Dare I say 'because...why'?"

Now flustered, Jenna tried to defend her viewpoint by saying the first thing that came to her mind.

"What could we possibly have in common, Tyler? What would we even talk about?"

"Anything but how old we are?" he asked playfully.

Jenna made an 'Ughhh!' sound, but Tyler kept going.

"We seem to have done pretty well talking here today until age reared its ugly head. Why can't we just keep talking about things that interest us and forget about this one little sticking point?"

"Little? You think that many years is...little?" she said hoping to score a point.

Very quietly Tyler said, "I do."

"Well...well I don't, Tyler. It's...huge," Jenna said defensively.

"Tell you what. If you can give me one other reason for not going out with me, I'll stop asking."

He waited then asked, "Can you?"

"Well, sure," she said. "Of course I can."

"Okay. Go ahead. I'm listening," Tyler said. He put his hands together and looked at her as he waited.

"Well, okay. First of all, we...we wouldn't have anything in common. Our life experiences would be too different."

Feeling she'd finally gotten her point across, she was even more befuddled after he answered.

"First of all, that's age-related, but I'll pretend it's not."

He smiled that amazing smile of his, which really irked her, then finished his reply.

"But until you actually spend some time with me, how can you possibly know what I do or don't know? What if I like the same music or movies or books as you? What would you say then?"

"Well...that...that seems very unlikely," she replied knowing he had another valid point.

"Aren't you um...judging a book by its cover?"

"No," she replied immediately and defensively.

Tyler tilted his head and gave her that 'you can't be serious' look.

"Okay. Maybe. But...you're not a book."

He smiled yet again and said, "I think you just nailed it. I'm not a book."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"I'm not a book, Jenna. I'm a person. A human being. Just like you."

He saw her start to reply so he said, "Please don't say I'm not just like you because of my age, okay?"

Her thunder stolen, she just there and listened.

"One date. If you find out you don't care for me because of who I am, then that's fine. But you really don't know anything about me yet. And while I don't know very much about you, either, I know I want to find out more."

"I...I still don't understand," she said knowing she had nothing more to say.

"Jenna, I'm not comfortable talking about myself, so I'm only going to say I think you might find me to be someone you'd enjoy spending time with. If you say 'no', that's your prerogative, but please don't shut me out until you have a valid reason. And again, I don't think age alone is one of them."

"But...why me? Why me, Tyler?" she asked on the verge of giving up and agreeing, but not without one more try to fend him off.

"Why not you?" he countered. "I already explained why I'm attracted to you, right? The physical part is obvious. You're beautiful. But having talked with you, I find you not only interesting, but someone who seems to 'get it' when it comes to many of the things I believe about life and love. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so."

He paused then said, "If we don't at least try we'll never know."

Jenna shook her head then said, "This is crazy, Tyler."

"I don't think so," he said quietly.

"One date?" she said as much a statement as a question.

"Yes. One date. For now, anyway," he said smiling happily. "So...was that a 'yes'?"

Jenna exhaled loudly then said, "Okay. Yes. But just one...time. We have dinner. We talk. We go home. Alone. Agreed?"

His smile told her he was amused by something and now she was exasperated.

"What? Why are you smiling like that?"

He wasn't about to mention how 'we go home' sounded to him. Not in some rude, crass way, but just the thought of going home with a woman like her sounded very nice.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about how happy I am you said 'yes'."

"You understand this is a one-time thing, right?" she asked again hoping to drive the point home.

"I do," he said in that quiet voice again.

Neither of them had eaten much and now there was an uncomfortable silence at the table, just as their server walked up and asked, "Can I get you anything else?"

Tyler heard voices and turned around to look. Evidently, she'd called several friends who'd called friends, and there were well over a dozen girls her age standing there smiling and pointing at him.

"Sorry. I couldn't help it. I had to let my best friend know you were here," the girl said.

"Looks like she has a few other friends, too," Tyler said as he looked over his shoulder.

"Can we?" one of the girls called out.

"Hold on, okay?" the server asked.

She looked at Tyler then asked, "Would it be okay to get a pic with you and my friends?"

Now Jenna was smiling as Tyler was the one being put on the spot.

"Sure. Of course," he said.

She waved and all of them scurried over to the table. One pic turned into one or two for each of the girls followed by a few requests for autographs which he handled very graciously taking the time to make each girl feel special.

When the last one left, Jenna said, "That was very nice of you. I'm guessing that happens a lot?"

"Kind of," he said modestly.

The truth was it never used to happen, but since being on Dr. Phil, TMZ did a spot on him without his permission, and from then on his face had been all over Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook.

"I like that you were so kind to them. You know they have crushes on you, just like my daughter and all those other women, right?"

Jenna was smiling now and feeling less...what? Foolish? Silly? Whatever it was, she was less apprehensive about 'going out' with this much-younger man. And besides, it really was just one...date...or maybe even not a date. And yes, she was willing to admit he was interesting to talk to, so maybe it wouldn't be all that bad.

"It's not in me to be rude to people. I'm not a pushover, but I can't be mean. I didn't ask for all this attention, although I assumed it would come if my mug ever got on TV. I just didn't think it would be like this. Don't get me wrong, it's not like the paparazzi follow me around the way they do the Kardashians or anything."

"I can see you're not rude, Tyler. If you were I'd have walked away before this."

"So back to where we were before we were interrupted...I believe you agreed to go out with me."

Jenna sighed then said, "I believe I agreed to a one-time get together."

"Ah, yes. Now I remember," he told her. "All right. I accept your terms."

"Considering how you have no choice, that's very noble of you," she said trying not to smile.

"You're tough," he said with a smile.

"Hey, I'm no pushover," she said using his word.

"Touché!" he said with a loud laugh.

They talked for another fifteen minutes or so as they ate, and Jenna was fascinated by the way he ate. Or rather, what he was eating.

"I don't know how you can do that to yourself," she finally said as grease dripped from the burger every time he picked it up.

"It's my cheat day," he told her.

"Cheat day?"

"Yes. I work out and watch my diet, and from what you said, pretty much to the same extent you do, but once a month I allow myself to eat anything I want. I was craving a slider so..."

"Slider?" Jenna asked interrupting him yet again.

"Sorry. That's what my grandpa calls a hamburger. All the grease lets it 'slide on down'," he explained.

"I can't remember the last time I had a burger," she confessed.

"And it shows," he said in a way that told her he was flirting again. And yet she also knew he was being honest.

"Your skin is flawless, Jenna. It's just obvious you take really good care of yourself."

"That's important to me so I do try. But what's even more important is how good I feel when I finish a workout. Oh, and thank you for yet another compliment."

"It was heartfelt and you're welcome. Fitness is important to me, too. I don't think I could live with a woman who didn't like some form of exercise. It's such an integral part of my life," he told her.

"Then I guess perhaps we do have something in common," she said, her stance softening a little more.

Tyler held up what was left of his 'slider' and said, "Here's to fitness!"