How I Hopefully Met Your Father
Whenever Carrie Fisher would tell the story of how she met Bruce O'Brian, she would always come up with the same reasoning for why she was in the library. She was checking out some books to study for school. It was a partial truth as the books she did check out were for her subjects, but the true reason was far more troubling.
Her mother's marriage with her stepfather had been on a long and gradual downfall over the course of 1972. From what she had overheard in eavesdrops, well less snooping and more being the unfortunate victim of her bedroom having thin walls during shouting matches, her stepfather Henry Karl was in a downward spiral of gambling debts and terrible investments in a increasingly terrible market. It never got violent and fortunately neither took their frustrations out on Carrie or her brother, but home was increasingly becoming a tense and chilly atmosphere that just kept suffocating her. With her friend Joan not being the best comfort for this sort of angst and her father caring more about her half-siblings than her, Carrie sought refuge in one of her favorite places, the library. As someone affectionately titled the family bookworm, books had always been a wondrous escape for Carrie where she could just let her imagination soar and didn't have to deal with the troubles of life. Whether it was reading a textbook or Lord of the Rings, putting her nose in a book put the young teen well at ease.
As a regular of the public library, Carrie was well versed with the type of people who came as often as she did. Nerds, the elderly, parents and children, the odd bibliophile or two. What she never thought she'd see when she was browsing the history stacks was a sexy hunk ripped straight from an Army recruitment poster!
He easily towered over her by about a foot and had gorgeous wavy black hair and beautiful blue eyes that coupled well with a chiseled face and excellent tan. The most recognizable features about him were just how incredibly built he was, with wearing just a simple t-shirt and shorts his muscles bulged at all the right proportions with great build and obvious strength. It wasn't too much of meaty like those ugly body builders, but just at the right proportions to show his physique and athleticism while still having a very handsome and distinguished look. It was like an Olympian and super model fused into the perfect specimen.
He looked so dreamy that Carrie could have even sworn that she saw someone like him in one of her mom's Gucci magazines.
Carrie had seen an attractive guy or two at the library at the past, but never before had she seen someone with the body of Captain America. She could not for the life of her pin him from high school, so either he went to a different school, was visiting LA, or was even a Vietnam vet that rotated back home, because if he wasn't her age then he was definitely army material.
As a teenage girl who was well experienced with raging hormones for the past couple of years, all thoughts of school work had ceased with the handsome stranger the only thing on her mind. After picking some books from the Classical section, he moved to a nearby table and sat down to read, allowing Carrie to get into position and get a better look from afar. After half a minute, she came to her senses and realized how silly she was being, staring at some guy like a hunk of meat, she was no better than the football team watching cheer practice!
Understanding that she wasn't being polite, Carrie wanted to go forward and strike a conversation, but any and all ideas resulted in cringy messes or her mind was shooting complete blanks. While Carrie could handle herself socially, she was proficient at carrying conversations, not starting them, especially with a guy most seniors at her school would kill over.
Thus, locked in her inner thoughts and turmoil, Carrie on the outside did nothing but give the hunk funny looks and stares, and despite her best attempts at stealth, she was no ninja and her person of interest easily took notice.
He looked Carrie, staring directly at her eyes, causing her to freeze and gawk with a awkward smile. "Hi?" He said in a kindly tone. Being caught in the crime of staring made Carrie feel like she was going through one of the most humiliating moments in her life, but there were two strong points. First, he spoke with a soft tone and didn't seem offended or lusting back, just politely curious. Second, his voice was light enough that it confirmed he was roughly around her age and not some guy in his 20's.
Carrie was quiet for a moment before she waved. "Hi." It was a timid wave, one that she was not really expecting, doing out of instinct, the result of years of training by one of the best actresses in Hollywood. "What are you reading?" She asked.
Realizing it was now or never, Carrie ripped off the band-aid and decided to just shoot her shot, using her mother's techniques to keep her nerves at bay. From here on either she got something good from this conversation, or it'd end in an abrupt disaster and she'd quickly check out and go home in minor embarrassment from meeting a handsome stranger she probably wouldn't see again.
"Classical stuff, Aurelius." He replied. "I always wondered just how much that things could be different if people took some of that stuff to heart." His subject made Carrie perk up as while Marcus Aurelius was one of the greatest Roman Emperors, he was virtually unknown to the public who could only think of Julius and Augustus when it came to Rome. So it at least told her he was somewhat educated and inerested in history, someone like her...
"What about you?" He then asked, catching Carrie like a deer in headlights as she couldn't stand still and concentrate underneath the pressure of his smouldering gaze.
"Just schoolwork." Carrie replied, sighing, desperately kicking herself internally to come up with some sort of response instead of dawdling around like an idiot. "Are you a solider?" She asked, wanting to facepalm herself nanoseconds after for how weird and out of nowhere the question was.
Fortunately he seemed to take it in stride, if anything being honored. "What makes you think that?" He said.
"You're tall." Carried replied with a small whimper. Deciding to do her best to just perform as painless a crash landing as possible and gently end things before she made a fool of herself further. "And look really strong."
"Thanks. But I'm not a soldier, but I have played one before." He said. At the mention of Carrie's one true passion and love, acting, all of her previous anxiety and nerves melted away rapidly.
Her eyes widened, "Wait really, you're an actor!?" She said. While it would be amusing to any onlookers that Carrie would be starstruck considering her parents, Carrie never really had any opportunities to connect with any child stars. Instead of hanging out with the Brady Bunch, she was either left at home or pushed to the side by papparazzi and other stars to get to her mother, just a wallflower prop in the Debbie Reynolds show. As such, to interact with someone roughly her age who did get some acting experience in Hollywood was a exciting experience, especially with Carrie so close to venturing out on her own.
"Trying to be at least, hard to get a good gig in this town with all the incompetent people that run it." He snarked, most likely having been through a hellish production recently. "Sorry."
"Who did you work for?" She asked.
"CBS."
At the mention of the now most infamous television studio in the world, everything sort of clicked together for her, causing Carrie to realize he must have worked on that show from hell that was M.A.S.H but she never paid enough attention to the news to realize in that moment he was one of the show's stars.
Her eyes widened. "Wow… Really got screwed over there didn't you." she replied without a hint of irony. Once again she wanted to curl up into a ball and roll away at how insensitive she was being, but fortunately her statement didn't cause any trauma relapses or looks of offense, merely a hearty laugh and shake of the head.
"My name is Carrie!" She said, approaching and offering her hand as she held her books under her arm. "Carrie Fisher."
Well this was it, moment of truth. Either she got recognized and bombarded with endless questions of her mom and dad along with requests for autographs and favors, or perhaps-
"Bruce." He replied as he took Carrie's hand and shook it firmly. At the sensation of contact, Carrie felt a course of electricity run through her body. It wasn't anything bed, but the most exciting mood that she's ever been in, something that made injesting marijuana seem like eating tofu in comparison. Had her legs not moved on their own and thankfully placed her in a chair across from Bruce, she could have melted on the spot from such a strong grip.
But what was most important was he didn't freak out or go gaga over her last name, he just politely introduced himself back, like how normal people talk when they meet, or at least, that's how Carrie thinks it is.
Confident that for now at least she wouldn't be harassed for her name, Carrie settled down and her usual cheery personality shined forward.
For the next couple of hours, they engaged in conversation over their shared love of movies and books, focusing on the classics and some of this year's films for the former along with history textbooks and fantasy and science fictions novels for the latter. For a good couple of years, Carrie had been afraid to reveal her bibliophile side in public for fear of being labelled a nerd or know-it-all, but with Bruce she could finally let go and release all her interests and discoveries without fear of being judged, especially since Bruce was far nerdier than she could ever be.
The two seemed to be lost in their own world, only interrupted by the occasional hush from a librarian when they laughed or talked too loud, something Carrie thought she'd never experienced. Bruce just had such a fascinating way with words and was a gripping and charismatic speaker, not to mention very hilarious even though he was rather humble and claimed that his jokes were rather okay at best, something Carrie found impossible to believe.
When conversation started to veer towards their personal lives, Carrie kept things heavily vague and kept on pushing towards Bruce to talk about himself, not wanting to ruin things with the two elephants of her life that caused social connections to flounder in first meetings. Even if she didn't have stars for parents, she would have heavily preferred for Bruce to carry the conversation. He had such a fascinating life both as an up and coming actor and his dual heritages growing up in Ireland and New York. Even having a childhood surrounded by Hollywood elite, her life seemed absolutely boring in comparison.
But while she was busy worrying about the revelation of her family, she most likely didn't need to worry considering the hot shots that Bruce himself kept company with.
"Your Uncle is Clint Eastwood?!" Carrie exclaimed in shocked. She cupped her mouth in shock and looked around, fearful that she exposed Bruce to the general public, though thankfully no one, not even one of the librarians was in her little corner and her statement didn't cause any walking inquiries. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, that's actually pretty tame compared to most of the reactions when I mention Clint. He's not my blood uncle, but he's a close friend of my Dad and when I was starting out, Clint gave me a couch to sleep on and gave me the tools to venture out on my own, helped get my first parts, taught me his stuff and pushed me in the right direction. He's one of the greatest people I've ever known. If I end up half the man that he is then I'd call that a success." Bruce said, voice laced with heavy admiration and respect.
"I think I remember my Mom talking about how Clint Eastwood was training some sort of apprentice to co-star with him in some films and sort of pass on the torch. Carrie said, wincing at how she accidentally talked about her mom, which would most likely push the conversation to who her mom was.
"Is that what people say?" Bruce asks in surprise and mild amusement. He shook his head in answering, "Nah, Clint is a real great help, but he never tried to push me to be his heir or anything like that and while I've thought about asking for a spot in his stuff, I don't want to be pushy or greedy after all he's done for me. If I co-star in a film then I want to do so on my own merits, not because I begged Bruce for billing." He said earnestly.
The statement caused Carrie to be completely taken aback. Bruce had access to one of THE greatest stars in Hollywood history. The man who along with John Wayne were the posterboys for the Western film. Even though Clint wasn't a dominant A-lister anymore, he was still someone spoken with respect and praise, and if Dirty Harry was any indication he still had plenty of strong years and movies left. Bruce easily could have used Clint as a stepping stone for making a grand debut in a decent blockbuster and use all the fame from there to climb higher. But instead, outside of a few gentle pushes here and there, he struck out on his own, not even relying on Clint to land a role from M.A.S.H.
If he was so humble as to not take advantage of having Clint Eastwood as a surrogate Uncle, maybe he didn't care for the favor of Debbie Reynolds or Ed Fisher?
"Besides, I've only got one person who can be considered my master and that honor belongs to the second greatest Bruce in the world, Bruce Lee." Bruce stated with complete casualty and nonchalance.
Carrie's jaw dropped at the once again casual admission of relation to another Hollywood A-Lister as Bruce regaled her with the tales of how he met and studied under Bruce Lee and managed to land a spot as a goon in a Hong Kong Kung-Fu movie. From there it was more stories about his time on M.A.S.H and his short stint as a Producer on some science fiction film with Francis Ford Coppola, the man who made the Godfather!
Best of all was that in these stories Bruce never used them as opportunities to flex his stardom or brag about rubbing shoulders with Hollywood elite to Carrie. Instead he was entirely focused on the human element, of all the good and bad of acting, the personalities and many interesting quirks and flaws of his co-stars and mentors, and just share his story of living in Hollywood with all the good, the bad, and the ugly. But most importantly, were his many hopes and dreams of not only acting in great stories and works of art, but making his own.
Convinced by now that Bruce was either the most sincere person in this crapsack of a city, and that if he wasn't he was the best actor she'd ever met who deserved an annual Oscar for his performance right now, Carrie decided to just go ahead and rip the final band-aid, the ultimate test if Bruce was a decent person she was having a good time with or another Hollywood phonie.
"My parents are Debbie Reynolds and Ed Fisher." Carrie trepidly said in a meek whisper, praying desperately that everything wouldn't come crashing down right now.
"Really?" Bruce asked in mild curiosity. Carrie hesitantly nodded. "Huh, that's cool. Never really got a chance to see your Dad's work, Irish families only get local TV and the BBC, plus Hanna-Barbara was always my preference growing up. Your Mom's a pretty good actress, Singing in the Rain is one of my sister's favorites but the only other film I saw with her was 'How the West was Won". Never really been a fan of musicals, my stuff was always Westerns, Noir and Historicals. Oh uh, no offense or anything." Bruce said with the most casual of tones, interested but not heavily excited or invested in comparison to her talking about her favorite books or the few adventures with her brother she spoke of.
IT WAS AMAZING.
"Not at all." Carrie responded with the widest of smiles that showed her pearly whites in full glory.
"So you grew up in LA all your life right?" Carrie nodded. "I hope you don't mind if I ask what your favorite restaraunts, hang-outs and interesting places are. I've been here for two years and it's still feel like I stepped off the plane at LAX. Although, one thing that really puts down the city aside from the trashy TV people is the terrible heat! Not being snowed in January and February is nice, but it's just awful trying to go for a run in the summer and then I come back as sweaty as a roasted pig." Bruce complained, eliciting a laugh from Carrie.
And there it was! Carrie dropped the bombshell of her blood, and while Bruce showed some mild interest, he didn't press her further or demand for some sort of favor or gift, just taking it in and passing on to the next subject. It was like a dream come true!
From there the rest of their time spent at the library was spent talking about their hopes for the near-future, with Bruce's struggles in getting into professional boxing along with hopes of getting back into film after M.A.S.H gets released and Carrie sharing her own secret desire of wanting to break out as an actor through her own skills outside of her mom's shadow, something Bruce seemed to be heavily supportive of, which produced the most rosy of blushes in return. Carrie also felt confident enough to start sharing more of her personal life and story. While her parents were occasionally brought up, they were mercifully never the sole focus and whether through insight on Bruce's part or simply good luck, he never seemed to care or be distracted much, just solely focusing on her. A definite first outside of Joan and Todd.
Eventually, all good things had to end and right as they were in the middle of discussing the Olympics, the two got interrupted by the kindly touch of one of the resident libraries, Mrs. Smith. "Carrie dear, I hate to be a bother, but could you and your date please continue your discussion in another establishment, the library is going to be closing in five minutes."
Carrie looked at the time and was indeed shocked that it was 7:55 P.M along with her noticing for the first time that the daylight had died down through the windows and now the sky was settling for a purplish tint. It was a shocking sight as she had arrived at the library around 1 and just intended to stay for an hour at most, but now she spent seven hours with Bruce. Then she registered what the librarian had said and plopped her head down on the table with her cheeks flushed bright red in embarrassment as her hanging out with Bruce became implied as a date. They were just two teenagers hanging out and having a nice time in the library, that was a perfectly normal thing to do with people you just met.
Although...if he saw it as a date that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, and as first dates went, which this most certainly wasn't! But if it was a first date, it would be a pretty great start all things considered.
Carrie lifted her head, and fortunately Bruce didn't seem too bothered, but he hadn't dismissed it outright either, just apologizing if they were too loud or a bother and receiving a reminder to check out any books now if he didn't.
"Hey Carrie, you going to check out anything?" Bruce asked kindly.
"Yeah sure, just give me a second." Carrie looked at her pile and realized that she only had a fraction of what she originally intended to check out, but shook off any academic concerns. She could easily come back Monday and talking with Bruce more than made up for the lack in books, though she deeply hoped this wouldn't be the last.
The two then checked out there books together, Bruce first and then patiently waiting for Carrie to finish, thankfully at a small distance to where he didn't overhear Mrs. Smith compliment that he was "A Keeper" for Carrie. She assumed that would be the end as she would have to use the payphone to contact her cheauffer and he would probably leave, though after she explained he had offered to keep her company until she was on her way home, simply stating that his father didn't raise him to leave pretty girls to go home on their own, a complimentary statement that had her stomach break out into a swarm of butterflies and gave her enough energy to do somersaults and cartwheels.
The two made some further small talk and then things settled into a bit of a akward silence as they both knew there time was coming to an end. Carrie was shouting at herself mentally to make the first move and keep some form of contact so that this wonderful day wouldn't be the last time she met Bruce O'Brian, but thankfully it seems that he reciprocated the sentiment with his next words.
"Listen Carrie, I had a REALLY GREAT time with you today. You're one of the most amazing and interesting people I've met in the past two years and I heavily enjoyed every minute we spent talking together." Bruce started, keeping Carrie's focus intensely. "You're really smart, incredibly hilarious, and just...wonderful!" Bruce said bashfully, losing his normal cool for the first time tonight and looking just as awkward and goofy as she'd been feeling for the past several hours.
"Go on." Carrie lightly teased.
"I would, but I'd probably need a half hour." Bruce said in a way that seemed both jokingly, but also incredibly sincere. "I guess what I'm trying to get at, is that I would very much like if we did this again. Or maybe go to the park, see a movie, get some-"
"I'd love to!" Carrie shouted out, too excited to let him finish, though from the subtext she'd have to be a moron to not understand what his intentions were.
"Great, so it's a date!" Bruce confirmed, her silent and energetic nod confirming as agreement.
Carrie then scrambled to get a piece of paper from her backpack, "Here's my phone number, though I gotta warn you though my little brother's a bit of a snoop so if he answers just say you're asking for homework or something."
"Mind if I ask for a pen? I'll give you mine as well. My sister and her family also share the landline so-" Bruce began but then broke off with an air of sadness. Carrie was confused but then remembered in one of his few vents that his sister and her family thanks to being blacklisted were heading to Ireland. "Well you might be able to meet her before she goes. I think she'd like you."
The two then exchanged numbers, just in time for Carrie's ride to roll up. "Well that's my cue. Goodby Bruce, hope to see you too."
"Same here Carrie, thank you very much for giving great care and attention to your academics."
"And you as well for being a historian of ancient Rome." They both jokingly shared. The two then nearly hugged, but considering they had just known each other for less than a day and weren't clear on if this was a first date or just friendly meeting, both teens awkwardly went in and out of going for a hug, then deciding to end things with a simple, perhaps overenthusiastic handshake that they both shared a laugh over.
Carrie then entered her car and meekly waved at Bruce until he was but a distant speck in the California twilight, causing her to collapse in her seat in a bit of a slump, disappointed that they couldn't spend more time together, but she reminded herself that she had his number and he definitely wanted to see her again, so it wasn't the end. Thankfully, the drive home was silent, though catching the knowing smirk of her driver in the rearview mirror told Carrie that if she didn't tell her Mom soon then she'd probably find out on her own.
Twenty minutes later, Carrie entered her house giddy and gleeful with a pep in her step, having one of the best days that she had in a long time. She wanted to rush up to her room and privately release all the excitement and energy she had been building up, only for a cry of "Carrie Frances Fisher!" from the kitchen cause her to go and greet her mom.
Fortunately despite the use of the full name, it didn't seem that Debbie Reynolds was too angry, just overtly concerned. Her brother Todd was also MIA, most likely watching TV, which meant she could at least prevent him from learning about Bruce and creating a storm of teasing for now. "Hey Mom." She greeted.
"Carrie, where have you been?"
"It's not like it's after Midnight." She countered.
"Sure, but you promised that you'd come home at 3. I thought you were in your room by now until Daryl told me he was going to pick you up." Debbie asked in concern, causing Carrie to notice that she was completely unaware of her whereabouts and would still be if not for the call, not to mention the half full glass of wine on the counter.
"I was at the library like I said." Carrie protested.
"Is that what the kids call it these days? Hanging out at the library?" Debbie asked with a bit of snark.
"I was, honest! It's just that I met this guy and we started talking and-"Carrie said, and then stopped when her mother gave her a wide Cheshire grin.
"Well, well; I had a strong suspicion that one of these days you'd have a boy you took a liking to. Was gonna happen sooner or later with how beautiful my little princess was becoming."
"Mom!"
"What, you want stern disciplinarian instead of teasing romantic?" Debbie asked, causing Carrie to groan.
"Come on honey, I'm happy you found someone nice and interesting if you were willing to stay so long. Now start talking, I'm not letting you leave until you give me the full details."
"Well, his name's Bruce-" Carrie began, and despite all of her anxieties about sharing her little secret of Bruce O'Brian, Carrie would go on to have a 15-20 minute conversation about her time with Bruce, both growing into great detail and embellishing a little bit with her mom smiling and paying close attention. The only major interruption was Debbie asking in concern if he tried to use her to get a role after she shared that Bruce was an actor, but Carrie insisted that Bruce never asked for any kind of job opportunities from her and that if he didn't take advantage of Clint Eastwood then he wouldn't show up on their doorstep hounding for a role in Debbie's next movie, something Debbie approved.
"Well this Bruce fellow sounds like a nice young man and sweetheart. I'm really happy you found someone so swell on your own Carrie.
"So you're okay if I go out on a date with him?"
"Oh, so you two are planning dates already?" Debbie teased again, with Carrie nodding, her face already as red as a tomato. "Well it's fine with me. You're almost 16 and I had my fair share of dates and heartbreakers at your age. Just come back by 9 on weekdays and 10 on the weekends and tell me where you're gonna go every time you go out. Also if things start to get serious I'm going to meet this man one way or the other. You understand?"
"Yes."
"Alright, I've heard enough, you can head on up to your room now, just be sure to grab something to eat before you sleep."
"Yes Mom. Love you."
"Love you two." Both mother and daughter shared a brief hug, with Carrie more than happy that she could meet Bruce again on her own and deal with it without any interference, leaving only Todd to worry about.
Before Carrie went to her room, she paused in the hallway and turned back to her mom. "Hey Mom, you still have all the Gucci magazines from this year right, specifically the April catalog?" She asked with a minor hint of trepidation.
"Yes, they're still shuffled together in basket underneath the sink in my bathroom. Why, you see something you like?"
Carrie gave a goofy smile for an answer. "Yeah."
