Behind the Scenes (Starting/Accepting Characters)

Macee Raymond

"Macee, get ahold of yourself." Rosaline walked in the door to me still flooding with happy tears. I sniffled, and then whiped the last of a few tears from my eyes.

"Do you have the contract?" I asked. She pulled a large stack of papers out of her red tote, and put it on the table. I sat down, but she pushed the stack to the end of the table.

"No, no, no. Not yet sweetie." She stood me up, and pulled me into a big hug. "I'm so proud of you." In a way, Rosaline was like a mother to me. She gave me a good dose of reality when I needed it, but was always there to support me. Excpet when she was in agent-mode. Then she was all buisness.

Like now. "And, by the way, I am going to try to get in contact with the other lead actors' managers and see if we can have you guys all meet up at Club Louna tonight before any of the offically buisness starts. Just so your all on good terms. Bad publicity would kill you right now. Also, flip to page ten of the contract."

I flipped open the large book, and began to skim it. this page went into every little detial about the kinds of excessive money I would-

"Holy shit! Seventeen million?" I tried to do the math in my head, but couldn't work it out. Rosaline saw my struggle, and aided me.

"Thirty-three grand a week." She smiled, and I knew there was more coming. A few more tears leaked down my cheek. "And with that money a certain actress I know is getting a new house. Actually, she already has a new house. Surprise!" She grinned ear to ear.

"Are you serious?" This was too much for one day. But, sure enough, after loading my few things into a small moving truck and driving a little ways around town, I was standing in front of my new house.

"Actually, because of legal issues, it's still technically your parents, because your not old enough to buy a house yet. But, it's pretty much yours. They bought it for you, you know. You'll just pay it back to them after the first few checks roll through. And, of course, they give you an extra hundred thousand at the beginning as a sort of 'starting payment'-"

Her words all blurred together as I walked around my new house. It was all perfect. A shimmer of hope that my parents maybe didn't forget about me. The guys from the moving company circled around me, bringing things in and setting the few boxes down around the rooms. They were already filled with modern, sleek furniture and a few of those large portraits of me I didn't like.

I was too happy at the moment to really care about that, or anything.


Also, her new house:

Spoiler

OOC: Oh RoryLegend...I am absolutely in love with Karen Gillan.

Thurber

I sat in the café, absentmindedly browsing the CWCki on my phone. It rang. It was Micky, my agent.

"Brosehp! Good news! Remember that movie with the guy making the girl do the stuff and she shoots herself at the end instead of her siblings or whatever?"

"Yeah?"

"You got the part of, uh..."

I heard the shuffling of some papers.

"Kennis. The baddy's underling. That's you. Dark and mysterious. Oooh!"

I chuckled.

"Aight. When am I flying out to LA?"

More paper shuffling. I loved Micky like a brother, but he was a terrible organizer.

"Uh...lemme see. Oh. Tomorrow, actually.'

Hell's bells.

"Dammit, Micky."

"Sorry, I know it's short notice, but you can just take a couple suits and buy a few more in LA, okay?"

"Okay..."

I dropped a fifty on the table and left. I hailed a cab. The cabbie knew me.

"Thurber Washington? I loved you in Leading Ladies...that was the best crossdressing I've ever seen!"

Thanks, fan's input means the world to me, I won't forget you, Rajeet, blah blah blah. Here's an autograph.

"Oh, thank you so much! Are you this nice to all your fans?"

Of course, I wouldn't exist without them, they're why I'm famous, I perform for them, blah blah blah.

"Well, here's your stop, Mr. Washington."

Oh no, call me Thurber, I insist, yadda yadda yadda."

"Oh no, I couldn't. This one's on the house, by the way."

No, I'm just like anyone else, I'll pay. Blegh. I got outta the cab and headed up to my apartment and put my two favorite suits into my suit bag. I needed to look fresh for the ladies in the film, after all. I sighed and flopped back onto my bed.

Compared to acting on stage in front of an audience and only getting one shot at getting the lines right, this was gonna be an absolute cakewalk.

*Loller65...is that the chick in the picture?? Haha I just kinda found it.

Ginger James-

Walking down Sunset Boulevard arm in arm with Roman paparazzi started to swarm. It was nothing new. I kept my shades down and he tugged me down a side ally. We ducked in to a quaint book and coffee shop unnoticed, "I love this place," he whispered, "do you want a coffee?"

I nodded and he rounded the bookshelf to the coffee stand. I absentmindedly glanced over the shelves, we were in the religion section-I scoffed at the irony. Nothing peaked my interest so I stood, waiting for my coffee to return when a head poked around the corner with a head of tousled black curls and heartwarming brown eyes, "can I help you find something?" he asked. I shook my head, "Okay well let me know if-hey," here it was, the gushing fan, "you look familiar, did I meet you at Jippo's last week?"

"Really? Jippo's? You don't recognize me? I'm Ginger James..." the words tumbled out of my mouth. Usually I kept my cool with fans but was he being serious?

"That's a lovely name. So it wasn't Jippo's? I'm Darren," he said, then rubbed his chin with his finger, "Hm, must be the red hair, I met a girl with red hair there last week," he smiled, "you're prettier though."

I rolled my eyes, "well it wasn't me."

"Sorry for the mistake," he said. He smiled and rolled a cart of books towards the next isle. A few moments later he came back holding a thing, rectangular case-a movie case, "I knew I recognized you," he said, holding it up next to me. I glanced sideways at the movie cover, it was for Heart of Gold, my most recent movie, "Ginger James sounded pretty familiar too." My name was one of the smaller ones at the bottom and the picture of me was small, dwarfed by the image of Kate Winslet. That reminded me I needed to call her back.

"Have you seen it?" I asked.

He shook his head, "I don't own a television," he said, "is it any good."

"It won an Oscar," I said, proudly.

"That's one of those little, golden guys right?" he scratched his head and handed me the case. I nodded. Roman came around the corner carrying two coffees and balancing a cell phone between his ear and shoulder.

"Yeah, she's right here," he said then mouthed "it's your mom" to me. I took the phone and Darren waved a good bye to me, I smiled at him.

I pressed the phone to my ear, "hello?" I wondered why she didn't just call my phone. Although she probably wanted to talk to Roman, she adored him. She was always gushing to her country club friends about him.

"Ginny, darling, it's your mother. Roman's just told us you got the part! That's wonderful. Look, daddy and I can't come to see you for a few weeks because we're still in France-"

I cut her off, "when did you go to France?"

"Oh darling, weeks ago! Daddy's been working on a new development. The condo's are lovely, I simply can't wait for you to see them! Oh he's here now," she pulled the phone away from her ear, muffling her voice, but I could hear he talking to my father, filling him in on the news. Realizing I was still holding the dvd I opened the case and a white slip of paper fell out. I set the case on a shelf and picked up the paper. The name "Darren" was scribbled across it along with a phone number. I smiled to myself, tucking it into my pocket.

"Hey Gin," my dad said, "great news sweetie. I'm so proud. Say, is Roman there?" I rolled my eyes and shoved the phone back at Roman. He handed me my coffee before I slipped on my sunglasses and stepped out into the alley. Roman wasn't far behind, sliding the iPhone into his jacket pocket.

"Ready to go?" he asked. I nodded checking to see that the paparazzi were gone. With the coast clear we headed back to the sidewalk. The car was waiting and Roman held the door for me. Inside my driver, Carson, asked where we wanted to go. Roman said home which meant my house.

Ginger's House:

Jaspar

It was my agent on the phone. I could tell by the way it continued to ring insistently even ten minutes after my failing to pick it up. I let out a sigh and snatched it from the table, putting it to my ear.

"Jake, old buddy! I thought you'd never pick up, listen-"

"Jaspar." I cut in. Everyone else got it but my agent seemed to think we were friends and he seemed to think that gave him the right to use a name that I didn't even let my parents call me anymore.

"Whatever. Listen, you're gonna be so pshyched! Do you remember the film-" Agents. They thought that because you were a star it did bad things to your memory and you forgot about anything and everything. How did he think I remembered my lines if I couldn't even remember an audition I went to a couple of months back.

"Oh yes, I remember, wasn't it called Mindless or something?" I drawled, knowing perfectly well that it was.

"Well you got the part," my agent said, sounding much less excited this time and rather sulky.

"Wonderful! Tell me what I got to know." This was the part of the conversation I didn't mind. Danny was almost normal when we talked about the logistics and he'd soon filled my head with meetings, shooting days and the fact that a nice fat script would soon be arriving at my door. Good.

"Oh and one more thing," Danny said. "I don't know if you'll be interested, but an agent of someone else in the cast wants to set a little play date up for you at Club Louna. I'll just go ahead and tell them you're too busy huh?"

"Club Louna? Nice place. Tell them I'll be there. What time is it at?"

"Oh yeah, real nice. You know, I thought you might-"

"Danny."

"I think she said nine or something. Look, let me check with her and I'll ring you back."

Jaques

Fernando's eyes searched over me, waiting for a response.

"I guess I have to take the part." I sighed after a minute, "I've been off-screen for far too long. Besides, I couldn't leave my lady audience parched of my talent. I'll use this as a warm up for whatever comes next." Fernando took in the information, and then stepped outside of my large Hollywood-style home to convey this to the director. A moment later, he was back in.

He sat down across from me, and again waited for me to speak. I rolled an apple around in my hands, thinking of what might lie in the "next".

"So, who is going to be fortunate enough to work with me in Mindless?"

Fernando glanced up from the sheet, "Do you want just the women or everyone?"

"Everyone, women first." I gave a slight chuckle.

He scanned down the list, and then turned to me, "Well, the lead actress is a certain Macee Raymond. I've heard of her, I just can't think of where. Regardless, this is her first film. This should be interesting. Playing Anna is....Ginger James. Oh, you know who she is. I think you have met before, actually."

"I recall she was extremely annoying and quite full of herself." I gave another chuckle.

"Hayley Heller is..... well, I don't think anyone has ever heard of her. Another actress with no history put in a big film. Our director is doing a little experimentation I see. Now, for the actors."

I sighed, "It doesn't matter. I'll find out soon enough."

"Sooner than you think, actually. Macee's agent is arranging a little get together at club Louna tonight. She said to be there at nine. It would look good if you went."

"Of course, Fernando. What time is it?" I glanced down at my watch to answer my own question. Six o'clock. "I'll be upstairs, have the limo ready at eight. I won't be late, Fernando."

"Of course not, Jaques."

Macee

Rosaline handed me a necklace, and then stepped back to look at me. She grinned, "Much better." I turned around to look at myself in my new three-way mirror, and habitually pulled the skirt on my dress a little lower. Rosaline came over and slapped my hand away, then re-ajusted it. "Your twenty-one with the body of a supermodel. Showing a little leg won't hurt you sweetie."

"I don't know." I looked again, and tried to do a little pose. I felt ridiculous. The three-inch heels brought me up to a height of 5'9'', something I wasn't used to being, and the neckline seemed to be dipping just a little too low along my chest.

"And you're sure I have to wear this?" I bit down on my bottom lip, and angled myself slightly one more time.

"I'm positive, darling. Now come on, thel imo is out front-"

"The what?"

She ignored my interjection, "-and we need to get you over to that club." A mere five minutes later we were cruising through the Hollywood streets, my CD playing in the limo speakers and Rosaline tapping away on her computer. She moved the microphone away from her mouth, and looked at me.

"You know, I've always loved this song I'm surprised it didn't hit the charts." She winked at me, and I leaned back to close my eyes.

The lights shine so bright
And it all just isn't right
When your wanting me
Oh can't you see?

I hummed along until we pulled up at the club and stepped out. Rosaline gave me a thumbs up, and I took my first steps into the club. I gave my name at the door, and was permitted inside, where I took a seat near the middle of the bar.

Now all there was to do was wait.

Macee's dress:

Spoiler

Ginger James-

I woke up later than usual, about 10, and showered. I took my time getting ready because, as far as I knew, I didn't have any plans today. After I dried my hair and applied my make up I wandered out in to the living room and plopped down on the couch. Roman was pacing in the kitchen, talking on the phone. He reached into his versace bag and pulled out my schedule, flipping to a page and scribbling something in.

"Okay, bye now," he said and ended the call, rubbing his forehead he walked out to me.

"Bad news Ginny," he said, "you just got a full schedule."

I groaned and dropped the television remote I had just picked up, "how is that even possible?" I stretched and let my breath out in a huff.

"Well, you've got lunch with James, he wants to talk about a project he's working on next year. Then that children's hospital called and said they had to push you up to today so you you've got to go get dressed while I call Marni," Marni was my PR representative. She was in charge of all of my appearances, outfits, fan events, charity commitments, movie premiers-basically anything that could have anything to do with me and the public eye. He ushered me off the couch and towards my room, following me in, "also, Macee's agent,"

"Who's Macee?" I interrupted, letting him guide me down the hall. I plopped down on my bed.

"Macee, the main girl in Mindless. I did some research, she's got an album out but that's about it. Anyway her agent wants you all to meet at Club Louna tonight. It seems strange but oh well," he opened my closet and raked a hand through his hair, "I wish Marni were here..." he shuffled through some outfits before throwing his hands out to the side. I laughed and stood, pushing him aside.

"You know I am capable of picking out my own clothes," I said. I grabbed a pair of black dress pants and a nice, white blouse for the lunch. Jeans and the same blouse with a sweater would do for the Children's Hospital event, I was just reading them books. And I picked out a silky little black dress for the club.

Roman looked up from texting and motioned at his dress with the phone, "I like that."
...

After lunch with James we took the car to the hospital down town and Melinda met us outside in the back. She rushed up to me and looked at my outfit, "No," was all she said before handing me a lighter wash pair of jeans, light brown, no neckline shirt, and soft pink tweed jacket. I changed came back out only to be attacked by a girl with a hair brush and another with a make up bag. I shoo-ed them away and raised my eye brows at Roman and Marni as if to say 'let's go.'

The charity event went fine but by the end of it I was on edge.

"Do I really have to go to this dumb thing," I said as the limo pulled up instead of the car.

"Yes, you do," Marni said, "and Ginger, please just try to be nice." I rolled my eyes and slid in.

Roman followed, turning back to Marni, "I think we should start talking about body gaurds though," he said, "I don't like her going places with out protection." He pulled the door shut after exchanging good-byes and told the driver where to go. I slumped down in my seat, fiddling with the hem of the dress, "Do you want to know who else is in it?" he asked.

"No, I don't really care."

"Well I think the meeting with James today went well. This next one is supposed to be bigger than Avatar, and he's looking at you for the lead-so that's good." Roman turned to me.

"I don't even want to do this stupid movie anymore," I said.

"Well, as much as I don't want to work with Michael I think it's a little too late. You're already committed," he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, "besides, I know this is really about your parents," I tried to shake my head in protest but he wasn't buying it, "Ginny, they love you."

"No they love you Roman, my mother practically gushes about you 24/7, and for my father you're like the son he never had. They were so happy when I started acting, it was like free daycare, except I was making money. They just dropped me off and went on with their lives. They say all the things parents are supposed to say, but they're never here." I clenched my jaw, holding back tears. Roman put his arm around me and I put my head on his chest.

"You are amazing, and one day they are going to regret the time they wasted with out you. Besides, you've always got me."

"Oh THAT makes me feel better," I teased.

The limo pulled up and cameras flashed as we stepped out into the cool night air. Roman led me inside the club and shouted over the music, "I'll be at the bar if you need me. Be good!"

"I'm always good," I winked.

Roman:


And Ginger's dress:

Thurber Washington

I breezed through JFK and into LAX. The flight was short, thank goodness, and before I knew it, Micky was somehow already there, escorting me into a limo. We climbed in and he handed me a thin champagne flute.

"Congrats, pal...you're in the big leagues now. How does it feel?"

He struggled with the cork for a moment before successfully yanking it from the bottle, the loud POP echoing in my ears. Frothy champagne bubbled out of the bottle and onto the floor of the limo. Micky stared at the spot before dropping a napkin on it. He poured some champagne into my flute and we clinked glasses. I shotgunned the stuff. We sat in silence for a moment before I poured myself another.

"So. I got your schedule. Tonight the cast is meeting at some place called Club Louna."

I sipped more slowly at this glass of champagne, savoring its effervescence.

"Hand me my suitcase."

Micky complied. I pulled out one of those vacuum flat bags that had my favorite suit in it. I began to undress. Micky laughed.

"Our first day and you're already determined to stir up controversy."

"You aren't my type."

After a few minutes, I had changed. Micky groaned.

"Not the morning suit..."

"I love the morning suit. Shut up."

The limo slowed to a halt and I stepped out into the camera bulbs. The paparazzi looked at me and started taking pictures of a really hot ginger and er agent. Micky emerged from the cavernous limo and patted my back.

"Gotta love the anonymity of being a New York stage actor in LA. Oh, and that ginger up there? The one whose ass you can't take your eyes off of? She's in the movie too. Actually named Ginger, ironic, right? Follow her to find the rest of the cast."

"No problem."

We started to drift apart when I called back to him.

"Hey, Micky, grab me a...eh. Just a scotch on the rocks. Ask if they have whiskey stones in lieu of ice."

"Will do."

Micky headed to the bar and I followed the ginger named Ginger from a distance so as not to seem too creepy.

Micky


The morning suit

Ginger James

Feeling a pair of eyes on my bared back I turned to see a dark haired man following a ways behind me. When he noticed me he made eye contact and walked towards me. I didn't recognize him but I knew they were only letting VIPs in tonight. Of course there were different levels of VIP and he didn't exactly look like he was on my level. As he approached I kept my posture aggressive and my tone saucy because if it wasn't Roman it was somebody I couldn't trust. A category, I was recently learning, my parents also fell in to.

"I'm Thurber," he said, "Thurber Washington." When I didn't show a sign of recognition he continued, "I just got in from New York. I'm mostly on Broadway."

"Oh," I rolled my eyes, "that makes sence. Judging from the way you're dressed you don't have a PR manager. Here's a little advice from someone who's made it to someone who probably won't-get one. A good one." I turned on my heels and headed in to the crowd to find a table.

My phone started buzzing in my clutch and I popped it open to see Roman's dazzling smile looking up at me. I sighed and answered, "What?"

"That was Thurber Washington-"

"We've met."

"I thought I told you to be nice. See I remember you being there," he sighed, "he's a bit of an ass but that should give you someone to mess around with. Now turn to your left," I glanced, "that's Macee, the lead. Be extra, extra nice. She's brand new, still in her packaging."

"Thanks Roman," I said before ending the call. I tapped my toe a few times then pulled out one of the tall, black stools at the table, gracefully sliding into my seat.

"Hi!" the girl gushed, fidgeting with her dress. I offered a half grin in response, "I'm Macee."

"I know."

"Oh really?" she flushed.

"Don't flatter yourself honey. I only know because it's my agents job to know and to tell me. I'll probably forget your name before the next time we meet, which hopefully won't be until we start filming." She shrank back in to her seat and kept quiet until the man, Thurber, joined us as well.

I sat examining my nails, waiting for the others to show. I gave them 15 minutes before I was out of there.

Jaspar

Most suits are uncomfortable and restrictive which isn't me at all so I always choose mine based, not on the look, but the feel. And when you find a suit that feels right, the look just seems to come with it, or it does as long as you're shopping in the right place. I picked one out from my summer collection, a grey trouser and jacket set, and paired it with a black shirt.

I used to have one of those people who does this stuff for you. Buys your clothes, plans your outfits and dresses you on a daily basis. I didn't put up with that for long. I mean once you've made it, as long as you don't break every dress code out there, it doesn't really matter what you wear. You're the trend setter then and anyone who doesn't like it is jealous.

Which makes Danny jealous. He doesn't like the suits I wear. Something about them being too casual. What he dislikes even more than my suits though, is my car. I've always been a car man, I guess it runs in the family, though I'm less interested in fixing them, like my dad. Driving them is more my thing. This baby's pretty new. She's a sweet speed cruiser, reaches almost two hundred MPH. And she's beautiful.

Danny knows better than to suggest hiring a limo these days but even so, he was disapproving when I picked him up. Danny's a small sort of guy, brown hair, pale skin and big, friendly brown eyes that look just like a puppy dog's. They suit him. And so do suits. Maybe that's why he complains about mine so much.

Anyway, the drive over was nothing of consequence and I walked in to the flash of cameras and the squeel of girls. I gave them one of my smiles and I swear a few were so love-struck they forgot to take the photo. That's how good I am. So in we strolled and it wasn't hard to pick the table out. The girls were well dressed and the red head was creating such an air of dismissive superiority around her that I had to bite back laughter. Was that my leading woman? Oh baby. Ginger James. I knew her, of course, she'd been in the business back when I was still slicking my hair back with the oil from car engines. Danny hadn't told me she was part of the cast though.

As we approached, Danny quickly whispered in my ear. "The blonde, smiley one is Macee Raymond. She's the lead. Fresh blood. The red head there is of course Ginger James and the man is Thurber Washington. Broadway." I nodded and went to the guy first since he was closer and more reliable. With girls you never knew if they'd want to shake your hand, kiss your cheek or stay sitting where they were, looking pretty. Ginger of course was the looking pretty type but the other one? Well you never know how fresh blood's going to react. Danny had slipped away to find the other agents and pick a little information from their brains.

"Hello, Thurber Washington I'm told, good to meet you!" He was still standing so he can't have been there long and we shook hands vigorously before taking seats. "Ladies." I added with a smile.

Jake's suit:


Here is Jake's car: http://www.topgear.com/uk/ferrari/f430/ ... =3#tab-box

Macee

I watched as Ginger James began to walk towards me. Ginger James, in the same room as me. I pulled on the edges of my dress and looked up as she sat down. "Hi! I'm Macee."

"I know." She knew my name!

"Oh really?" I felt myself going red.

"Don't flatter yourself honey. I only know because it's my agents job to know and to tell me. I'll probably forget your name before the next time we meet, which hopefully won't be until we start filming." Ouch. That one was going to leave a mark. I ignored the comment, and we both awkwardly stared around the room. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

And then another man I vaugely recognized walked over to join our group. Something told me he had done some work on broadway- Thurber Washington! He had been Mr. Roberts idol. How could I forget? Thurber just gave me a nod and quickly introduced himself, and I did the same. It seemed silly, seen as we both knew each other's names. But curtosey called for it.

Then another man walked in. I didn't recognize him, but I didn't have to know him to know he was one of the most attractive men I had even seen. He spoke, "Hello, Thurber Washington I'm told, good to meet you! Ladies." He smiled, and I felt my face go a little more red.

"I'm Macee." I blurted out quickly. He gave a small chuckle, and shook my out-streched hand.

Spoiler

Roasline is the woman with the brown hair.

Jaques

I had always favored white suits. So, pulling up in a long strech limo in my favorite white suit felt almost like second nature. Fernando spent the whole ride obnoxiously talking loudly into his headset, setting up apointment after apointment for me.

I saw the flashing lights before I even stepped out of the car. A crowd screaming girls waiting for me swarmed around the car. Thankfully, my bodyguards pushed them back for me. Bodyguards weren't a recent investment for me. After my secondh it film, I knew I needed a little protection.

I granted the group of screaming girls and wink and one was lucky enough to get an autograph from me. After a breif wave, I walked into the club and over to where I recognized a certain red head.

I gave her my signiture smile, "Giner James, how lovely to see you again." She didn't deserve that smile.

"Likewise." She barely surpressed a glare.

"And," I turned to the lovely young girl beside me, "would this be the beautiful Miss Macee I have heard so much about?" I lifted her hand from off her lap and kissed it. She didn't verbally respond, but she nodded, her pretty eyes wide.

I turned to see the gentlemen around me. I recognized Jaspar, but neither of the other two gentlemen. "Well, of course you know I'm Jaques Monarez, but who on this earth are the two or you?"

Suit:

Spoiler

Fernando:

Spoiler

Thurber Washington

Ouch. The ginger named Ginger disrespected my morning suit. Morning suits were the epitome of elegance and refined taste! I headed over to give her a piece of my mind (and maybe something else if she wanted, hehe) when Micky showed up, a sweating glass of scotch in one hand and his prefeered drink, a gin and tonic, in the other.

"Here."

He held it out to me. Absentmindedly, I took it.

"Something the matter, bud?"

I stared at the Ginger, imagining I was blowing up her head with my mind.

"No. Nothing at all."

I started to head over to finish what she'd started, but I felt Micky's hand on my shoulder.

"Behave yourself. This is the first day. No need to go making enemies in the film world just yet."

I grumbled that I understood and headed off to the table. A little blond girl introduced herself before some blonde dude came up and distracted her. Then yet another blonde guy showed up.

"Well, of course you know I'm Jaques Monarez, but who on this earth are the two of you?"

I turned to face him, took a long sip of scotch, and addressed the fellow.

"My name is Thurber Washington, one of the poor, small, insignificant people who could never compare to you in any way, shape, or form. Oh, I'm also one of the poor bastards who bought your record. That was the most painful thing I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing, good sir."

I grinned slyly and took another sip of scotch.

Ginger James.

Jaques Monarez. I shuddered at the sight of him. Ew.

Let me put it to you this way. Roman is to Michael as Ginger James is to Jaques Monarez. Roman was next to me within seconds, setting a drink in front of me. The fruity concoction was no where near strong enough for this situation, "I didn't know," he said into my ear, "Michael never mentioned him."

"Because he knew I would turn down the role," I snapped back in a low tone. God. Michael was going to be getting a piece of my mind. I threw back the drink and handed the empty glass back to Roman.

"Let's go," he said, "you've made your appearance. Besides, Marni wants to meet at your place, she's got something...I don't know, she wouldn't shut up on the phone and I could barely hear her."

Roman said my good-byes to the others as I slipped off my stool. We walked through the club, Roman resting his hand on the small of my back, until we reached the bar where he had left his jacket. I leaned against the bar as he talked with a few of the other agents when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning I saw a bartender with a head of curly black hair and bright blue eyes, "Darren," I said, surprised I'd remembered his name, "how many jobs do you have?"

"You never called," he replied, smiling. I had forgotten about his number, shoved in the pocket of my jeans that were on my bathroom floor, "that your boyfriend?" he glanced over at Roman.

I shook my head, "no, my agent."

"Have you ever used a cell phone before? It's pretty easy, I'll show you," he reached out for my phone and I handed it to him, he dialed and hit send then handed it back, "you just talk in to that part there," he reached into his pocket pulling out his phone, "just a second, someone's calling." He answered, "hello?"

"Hello," I said, "this is Ginger, from the bookstore."

"Oh, the red head I DIDN'T meet at Jippo's!" He winked at me.

"The one and only."

"Well Ginger, I'm glad you called, I've been wanting to ask you out. See, I can't stop thinking about you." He smiled and I felt my heart flutter. I was waiting for the red flag to shoot up, for my defenses to kick in-but it never happened.

"Why don't you have your people call my people and we'll see if we can schedule something," I said.

"Okay, bye Ginger James."

"Bye." we hung up and he looked like he was about to say something when Roman turned and whisked me away out of the club.

"Who was that guy?" he asked.

"Darren, he asked me out," I replied.

"Oh."

"I think I'll go," I said, glancing down at my phone.

"You can't be serious. At least let me do a background check first."
...
At home I found Marni standing in my living room with two tall, buff men in suits and sunglasses.

"Ginger! There you are," she shuffled towards me, "I'm so glad you are finally letting me hire body gaurds. I've been saying you need them for years-it's really only logical. And it won't mess with your image at all, people understand that you need protection, so don't worry about that..." she rambled on for a few minutes. The truth was I didn't want body gaurds, they were just more people I couldn't trust. Finally she introduced them, "This is Flash," she pointed to the slightly shorter one, "and this is Epic." I nodded to both of them and then complained about being tired. Roman took the hint and ushered Marni, Flash, and Epic out of the door.

I fell on my bed, still in my dress and heels. I felt a hand touch my foot and the shoes slide off. A t-shirt and shorts hit my face and I stood up, "unzip me," I said, and Roman obliged. I let the silky dress fall to the ground and slipped into the pajamas. When I turned Roman was staring at his feet.

He looked up, "good night," he said, reaching for his jacket and keys.

"Good night Roman."

Body Gaurds:

Macee

"My name is Thurber Washington, one of the poor, small, insignificant people who could never compare to you in any way, shape, or form. Oh, I'm also one of the poor bastards who bought your record. That was the most painful thing I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing, good sir." I heard Thurber speak to Jaques. I barley stifled a laugh.

I cleared my throat, and the two of them looked at me, "I know this sounds kid-ish, but maybe you two should try to be nicer to each other. We haven't even started filiming and there's already so much tension. Why does everyone hate each other?"

I saw Jaques smile, and Thurber walked over to me, "Welcome to Hollywood."

"Too bad my ticket was one way," I mumbled. I should have been grateful. Really. I was getting just about every girls dream. Not to mention the countless nights me and my friends had squealed in our teenage days over blown up posters of the very man standing before me. Jaques Monarez turned out to be not-so-nice in person.

Then again he had kissed my hand. Maybe he was just a flatterer. But he had known my name. And he didn't kiss Ginger's hand. Then again, I sensed tension between them. Maybe they had met before.

I needed something to drink. I wanted a beer. This was too much in one night. I leaned over the counter of the bar and waved the bar tender over.

"What can I do for you beautiful?" He smiled at me.

"Do you have Anchor Porter?" He seemed surprised at the question, but came back a moment later with a tall glass. I handed him the money, and took a sip. It slipped easily down my throat, and I took another big sip.

"Stressed?" Thurber asked.

"You have no idea." I noticed Jaques had wandered off a bit. "Just a lot at once. But it's everything I ever wanted, I guess." I bit down on my bottom lip, afraid to say anything more, afraid to sound ungrateful.