by April Fire
“Well they aren’t going to get rid of her,” Sally insisted, “They want her.”
“They want me,” I protested, “They always want me. Everybody wants me. My name is on every billboard in town.”
“That’ll change quickly if you don’t change your attitude mister!” Sally hissed, “I am coming to the end of my tether with you myself.”
“Come on, Sally.” I gave her my best puppy dog eyes, “You know you can’t stay mad at me.”
I pouted at her and fluttered my eyelashes in the hopes that she might find me as amusing as she did when she was in a less disastrous mood, yet it didn’t seem to have quite the affect I’d hoped it would.
“Sort yourself out,” she ordered, “Or I’ll be forced to do something that you’ll regret.”
“Isn’t the saying, don’t make me do something I’ll regret?” I scowled at her.
“Don’t test my patience anymore.” She glared at me and I knew instantly that she was one hundred percent serious. “Fred has been having second thoughts about casting you since the first day on set and I am struggling to keep him from firing you. You better learn to work with this woman or you’re going to be out on your ass.”
Sally turned and stormed from the trailer, leaving me more than a little shaken. She had never spoken to me like that, and then just left like that. I’d seen her angry at me before, but I’d never thought she was close to firing me. That shook me more than I would ever admit.
The sound of my phone ringing in the pocket of my jacket draped over the back of the sofa made me almost jump out of my skin. For a moment, I thought of ignoring it. Then I realized that it might in fact be a welcome distraction and I reached around to pull the device from the garment.
When I saw the name flashing on the screen I knew I had been right. She would certainly be a welcome distraction.
“Marie! So good to hear from you,” I answered with my cheeriest, charming voice.
“Dean! Why didn’t you call me back?” I was so used to hearing those words from women that I just couldn’t help but smile. Bagged another one, I thought as I lifted my hand to my face and stroked the stubble I found there.
“I’m sorry, doll face,” I apologized, “I’ve been meaning to call you for days but I’ve been so busy with this new movie and everything and my co-star’s been absolute hell to work with.”
“Oh you poor dear.” There it was. The ease with which I slipped her from angry to sympathetic was comical, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Well I was feeling peckish,” I mused as I rubbed my chin, already knowing what was coming.
“Maybe we could go out to dinner tonight?”
“I’d much rather skip dinner and go straight to dessert,” I replied devilishly as I bit my lip and thought of how, not three days earlier, I’d had her against the dressing table in my trailer. She’d been more than happy to oblige my fantasy of fucking in the workplace. Of course she had no idea I’d done that with about a hundred women before her.
“Don’t you want to go out for sushi first?”
God. I couldn’t think of anything worse than idle chitchat over cold fish rolls, especially with a woman as dull as her.
“I’m really tired, Marie. I just want to relax, to be honest,” I told her with a mild edge to my tone.
“Oh, well perhaps I could come over there and help you to relax then?” she suggested. Oh how I loved being able to work women into submission with a few simple words. It was just so damn easy.
“I suppose you could, but I’m not sure how much fun I’ll be,” I shrugged, really getting myself into the role of tired, stressed Dean who needed somebody to come and look after him, “I might need you to take care of me, I suppose.”
“I can do that,” Marie promised me, “I’ll be right over.”
Just like that, I bagged myself the supermodel of the century. I ended the call and sat with a smug smile on my face knowing that she would be rushing around like a headless chicken getting ready for me.
God, how they made it so easy.
***
Chapter Three
Julia
I had never been more humiliated in my life. I could feel the angry tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I knew that if I didn’t get off set soon I would burst into weeping sobs in front of the whole cast and crew. They were still crowding around me, looking more than a little shocked at our argument. Sure I’d heard that actors sometimes had mild disagreements on set but I’d never heard of something this bad. I’d never imagined that somebody could act in such a way in front of a whole crowd of people and make me feel as though I was six inches tall.
Sure I’d been bullied in school for having red hair and yes, I’d been shoved more than once by a girl who was just that bit prettier than me, but I had never been embarrassed in front of fully grown adults before, at least not for something I hadn’t even done.
“Come on, sweetheart,” I felt Babs wrap her arms around me and she began to lead me back towards my trailer, “Let’s get you out of here.”
I was more than a little appreciative of my agent. She always knew what to do, what to say. She knew me well enough to know that when I got angry I got more than just a little upset. She knew that if I didn’t get out of everyone’s sight soon I would probably fall into a full-on panic attack that would scare the living daylights out of just about everyone in the room.
The minute we reached my trailer, Babs took me into her arms and stroked the back of my head gently, as a mother would her child, “There, there, sweetie,” she cooed gently as I felt the tears begin to stream down my face.
“Why was he so mean?” I sobbed, “What did I ever do to deserve that?”
“He’s a man, sweetie,” Babs told me gently, as though simply being a man gave him the right to treat me the way that he had, “All men are idiots sometimes.”
“Was it me?” I asked as I pulled my face away from her so that I could look her in the eye and gauge whether she was telling me the truth or not, “Did I really do something wrong?”
“No, sweetie, you were absolutely brilliant. You did absolutely nothing wrong. From what I saw, it was him. He was shaking like a leaf the entire time you were up there,” Babs explained to me and her words comforted me only a little. I couldn’t understand why a seasoned star like Dean would be shaking. He couldn’t be nervous. He had been working in television and film since he was a child.
I’d grown up watching him on screen, dreaming that one day I could be just like him. I’d almost died on the spot when Babs had told me that I would be working with him. Now I couldn’t understand why I’d ever thought that way about him. He was an awful human being.
“Don’t you worry about anything,” Babs told me, “I’m going to get all of this straightened out. By first thing tomorrow I’ll get him here to apologize to you, even if I have to grab him by the ear and drag him in here myself.”
“I don’t need him to do that,” I protested. I shook my head quickly. I couldn’t imagine anything more embarrassing than having to stand in front of him and watch the agonizing apology that Babs would force out of him. I had seen her do it before. Babs had a way of making people do things they really didn’t want to do. My audition for this very role had been taken under very similar circumstances.
“That boy needs to be put in his place,” Babs insisted, “You’re getting an apology from him one way or the other.”
“I really don’t need one,” I shook my head again. Dean clearly already thought very little of me. I didn’t need that bar to slip any lower, especially if I was going to continue to work with him. There was no way I was going to give up that easily. I wasn’t going to let anybody scare me away from this, not even Dean fricking Hollywood.
“Would you mind leaving me alone for a while?” I asked Babs, “I’d like to give my dad a call.”
“Sure, sweetie,” Babs leaned forward and pressed her lips to my forehead. Ever since Babs had taken me on three years ago s
he had been like a mother to me, replacing the one that had walked out on me and my father a few years before that.
Although I was twenty-three years old now, I still needed my dad whenever I was feeling low, and Babs knew that as well as I did.
“You take all the time you need,” she told me as she gave me a quick hug and turned to leave. She paused at the bottom of the steps and looked back at me, “We’ll get all of this straightened out. Don’t you worry.”
I believed her. Babs was good at her job. She always had been and she had never let me down. What I was worried about was whether I was going to let myself down.
With that thought still swimming in my head, I grabbed my phone from where I’d left it on my bed and dialed my father’s number. Pressing the phone to my ear I closed my eyes and prayed that this wouldn’t be one of those times when my father had forgotten to put his phone on loud. I really needed to hear his voice right now.
“Hey Buttercup,” his voice lightened my mood instantly. I couldn’t help but smile at the nickname he’d called me since I was a child, back when I was in love with the grumpy green Powerpuff girl, “How is Hollywood life treating you?”
“Awful dad, it’s just awful,” I sighed deeply and began to retell the whole thing. He listened intently to what I was saying, never uttering a word though I could hear him breathing and that was enough to calm me as I retold the whole embarrassing story.
“Sounds to me like you need to give that boy a piece of your mind,” he announced when I had finished, “Put him in his place, and don’t let him get you down. You’re too strong and too beautiful to let a man get you down.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. My dad was my feminist knight in shiny pink armor - always there, ready to come charging to my rescue. Perhaps that was because I was an only child, or maybe it’s because he remembered how my mother used to be before she left us. I wasn’t sure, but I was definitely glad for it.
“I won’t let him get me down, daddy,” I told him, as I felt the phone begin to buzz against my ear, “Look, dad, I have to go. I’m getting another call.”
“Sure, honey, you know I’m here whenever you need me,” when he said those words there was a sadness to his tone and I knew that he missed me. I missed him too.
“I know daddy, I love you,” I pursed my lips and kissed him through the phone.
“I love you too Buttercup,” my dad replied before he kissed me back and I felt the familiar warmth in my stomach when I heard my childhood nickname.
“Bye dad,” I smiled into the phone before I ended the call and turned my attention to the second call that was coming in.
When I saw my best friend’s name flashing on the screen I quickly answered and pressed the phone to my ear again, “Hey Carlieeeee.” I squealed.
“Hey girl! What the hell’s been going on down there?” Carlie asked and my heart sank instantly.
“What do you mean?” I asked, although something told me I already knew exactly what she was talking about. Somehow she’d heard what had happened on set. She always seemed to be the first to get the gossip.
“I’m sending you a link!” she told me and my heart sank even further. Whatever it was, if it was already on-line then news was traveling fast. I crossed my fingers, closed my eyes, and sent a silent prayer to the stars that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.
“Let me put you on speaker,” I said before pulling up the link she’d sent me. My heart jumped into my throat and I groaned deeply as I saw the headline of the article: New Star and Old Pro Clash.
“Oh great,” I rolled my eyes, though I knew that Carlie couldn’t see my face, “This is just what I need! Fred is going to have a heart attack with this kind of press.”
“I think they need to tighten security in that place,” Carlie sighed. She was right. It wasn’t the first time that news on set had been leaked into the public. As I scrolled down the article my stomach began to churn further. There were even pictures. This story wasn’t simply one that had been leaked to the press by one of the set team. This was a real reporter with a camera who’d managed to get past set security.
“What am I going to do?” I dropped the phone on the bed in front of me and placed my head in my hands. My temples were beginning to throb with the start of a stress headache.
“Well first, you’re going to take a long, deep breath and calm down. I can already hear the pain in your voice. I’m guessing you’ve got a headache coming on?” God how I hated how well Carlie knew me sometimes.
“Then what?” I asked as I breathed out the large breath she’d ordered me to take.
“Then, you’re going to go into your wardrobe, find your hottest, tightest dress and wiggle into it,” Carlie explained, “You need to de-stress and I’m going to help you do it. We’re going out.”
***
Chapter Four
Dean
“Well, you certainly know how to make a guy feel better,” I smirked down at the model who’d taken all of ten minutes to get over to my trailer. She already had the palm of her hand pressed firmly against my crotch, rubbing up and down until my manhood stood to attention.
“And you know how to make a woman feel good,” Marie replied and the breathlessness in her voice made my cock harden further. I wanted to take her breath away in another way. I wanted to bury myself deep inside her body and forget all my troubles. She laid, half-naked, on the fold-out couch that I insisted always be included in my trailer - a useful perk of being an A-lister.
I had just leaned down to press my lips to hers, signaling that I was ready for round one, when I heard a heavy fist banging on the door of my trailer.
“God damn it,” I snarled before I yelled louder, “Go the fuck away!”
Marie gasped and grabbed hold of the front of her blouse, as the door suddenly flung open. I leaned back and laughed, knowing exactly who’d opened the door. There was only one person who snapped a door open like that.
“Get off your whore and come out to play,” Eddie’s voice hit my ears just before he climbed up into the trailer. He was dressed to the tees, in an outfit that was more than fit for Hollywood and he looked ready to roll, “We’ve got a party to attend.”
“You certainly know how to interrupt a good time,” I rolled my eyes at him and straightened up, ready to head for the bathroom.
“What are best friends for?” Eddie shrugged.
“I thought best friends were supposed to get you laid, not cock block you?” I asked him.
“Are you leaving?” Marie asked from where she’d taken a step back, her voice filled with shock. She could clearly see from the way that I slipped into the bathroom that I was, in fact, leaving. I never let my friends down, not even for a woman.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Eddie told her as I clicked the door shut behind me, “He promised he’d come a couple days ago. Looks like he forgot.”
I could imagine Marie’s scowl and the way she crossed her arms over her chest with an unimpressed pout.
“Maybe I could come?” Marie suggested and I imagined the light bulb moment expression that would have crossed her face. I’d spent enough nights buried in her that I knew her expressions well and I couldn’t help smiling to myself, already knowing what Eddie was about to do.
“Sorry, sweetheart, lads only.” I knew he was shaking his head and giving her a charming look.“We can’t have the ladies cramping our style.” I knew he’d have gestured to his stylish outfit and the leather shoes he was wearing.
I looked in the mirror and fixed my hair, knowing that Eddie would handle whatever fallout Marie decided to give him. I didn’t need to deal with that crap. The second I’d clambered off the couch I’d realized just how bored of her I was. I could lose myself in her body, but the rest of her was simply annoying. She just didn’t do it for me anymore.
A few moments of silence later I heard the trailer door swing open and slam back closed. I was relieved when I popped my head back out to find that she was gone. Eddie was folding the
couch back up with his foot, holding a cigar in one hand and a beer in the other.
“She gone?” I asked as I glanced around the trailer. I already knew she would be. Eddie was good at what he did.
“Yeah,” he replied, “She practically threw herself at me though. You’ve got a live wire with that one. Should be careful.”
“Thanks for the warning but I think I’ve been around this bush plenty of times. I know what I’m doing.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Chapter Five
Julia
Watching Dean stroll into that bar was the second humiliating experience of my day. The buzzing hum of chatter that began to bubble the moment he arrived soon hit my ears. A burning heat flushed over my face. As they always did, everybody began to flock to Dean’s side, especially the women, who seemed to want to get what little piece of him they could.
I, on the other hand, held back with Carlie beside me, and watched how everyone else fawned over him. It made me sick. The worst part was that he seemed to love every second of it. Of course I couldn’t blame him for that, but did he have to be so god damned big-headed about it?
It wasn’t until he glanced in my direction and our eyes locked, that I really felt as though I wanted to run for the hills. His face dropped when he saw me, and his eyes darkened in a way that made me want to shrivel up and die.
“What’s wrong?” Carlie asked from where she’d been standing beside me, propped up on the bar talking to one of the men she’d been flirting with on and off all night. She’d clearly felt me stiffen up beside her.
“I need to use the bathroom,” I told her although I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Dean. She followed my gaze, as though she sensed the tension coming from all the way across the room. When the gasp escaped her lips, I turned and began to rush towards the rest room.
“Julia! Wait up!” Carlie called after me, but the last thing I was going to do was slow down. I’d almost made it to the restroom, lifting my hand to slam the door open when there he was right in front of me. He slipped between me and my escape with a cocksure fluidity. I could hear the hum of gossip amp up a little as he draw in close to me.