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The Rich and The Famous Ch. 01

By: SexyX



1.

Sabrina Meadows looked at her naked reflection in the mirror, analysing it critically. She was already forty-something (a fact that she kept under close wraps), but she didn't look a day over thirty, and she knew it. Of course it took a hell of a lot of work to keep up her figure- hell not everyone aged as well as Jane Fonda- a dietician and cook, a personal trainer, microdermabrasion, botox, restalyn injections, a lift here, a tuck there, (not so much that she'd look like Melanie Griffith mind you!) and a good stylist for when she was invited to red carpet events. Although the invites had been coming in dribs and drabs lately and she knew soon they'd dry up all together if she didn't have a hit movie soon, or at least a good supporting actress role in a hit movie. The problem with that was that she hadn't been offered anything like that in a good two years. Sabrina found it annoying that the general public could probably name a good dozen leading men over forty but it was not the case with women. Hollywood use by dates were a double standard and therefore roles for women over forty were hotly contested. The movie business was most certainly a dog-eat-dog world. But it was all Sabrina knew. She had no other skills, no qualifications, nothing to fall back on if she couldn't find work soon. Of course she had her mansion in the Hollywood Hills with a million dollar view but giving it up would be a last resort. She'd rather starve than have to move down out of the hills and rent a place.

"Come on Sab, stop cheering yourself up!" She said out loud with a wry grin at her reflection. She ran a hand over her breasts which were still firm and high, down her flat stomach and stopping at her pubic bone. It was probably almost time for another Brazillian. 

She went into her walk in wardrobe and surveyed the clothes for something to wear to her lunchtime meeting with Alex Hammond, one of Hollywood's top directors. His PA had set the meeting up and she'd been tight lipped about what he wanted with her. Sabrina hadn't heard any news of him having a movie in the pipeline-- and if he had been working on a movie she would have heard, everyone would have heard. That was the way the movie business grapevine worked. She pulled a low cut, red, satin dress off a hanger and held it against herself as she looked in the mirror she'd had installed in her wardrobe. No, too sexy for lunch, it was more of a nightime outfit. She tossed it aside (the maid she had come in every morning would look after it- although if the current monetary situation was not addressed soon she might have to cut down drastically on the maid's hours) and then picked out a ocean blue sweater dress but decided that was too casual for meeting with someone of Alex Hammond's calibre. She briefly debated a black, pinstripped suit which would have been perfect if they weren't having lunch in the latest L.A "it restuarant", "The Park." Anyone who was anyone had flocked to the restaurant which described its food as Indian and Italian fusion-- whatever on earth that meant. It was not like she'd be eating much anyway. Eating a lot in public was a big no-no for her, and a cardinal sin for actresses and wannabee actresses. They could probably take away an actresses "SAG" card for that. Finally Sabrina settled for an elegant black dress (every woman worth her salt had a LBD didn't they?) and red strappy sandals with a bit of a heel. 

She put the dress on and then attacked her shiny bright red hair with a hairbrush before artfully arranging it so some strands rested on her chest and drew attention to her decollatage. She put on some cream foundation, set it with powder, added two coats of volumising mascara, red lipstick ala Gwen Stefani but toned down a bit and finally dabbed some gloss in the middle of her lips. Back at the peak of her career Sabrina had been a Maybelline spokeswoman, appearing in their magazine ads, on billboards and a television comercial and she'd been given a load of free products. And ever since then she recieved boxes of products frequently. 

Back in her bedroom she picked up her purse and keys and left to meet Alex.

*****

"Sabrina! You look younger every time I see you." Alex said, standing up to greet her and Sabrina laughed, flattered.

Walking in to the restaurant she'd been the object of a few admiring looks and she'd held her head up proudly as she sashayed across the room. She heard someone whisper to their companion "Look, isn't that Sabrina Meadows?" and was glad to know that even if she'd been out of the spotlight for awhile people still remembered who she was. 

The restaurant was filled with the power brokers of the town-- top agents, directors, a couple of actresses and actors and studio bosses. Occasionally she stopped to greet a familiar face, doing the patented "L.A hello": "George, loved your latest movie!" "Julia you don't look as though you gave birth last month-- what's your secret?" "Brad-- nice to see you." "Kate we must do lunch, give me a call."

"You're not doing so bad yourself Alex. Married life must be suiting you." Sabrina replied, taking a seat. She felt a pang of something go through her and wondered what it was-- lonliness? Jealousy? Longing? Perhaps a combination of the three. She'd been married twice and neither relationship had worked out. The first was as a naive, wide eyed girl who moved from Texas to L.A with the intention of becoming-- surprise, surprise-- a star. Cut off from a family who didn't understand, or respect even, her ambition, finding becoming a big star a lot harder than she thought it would be and only managing, despite her talent, to get paid extras positions, she clung to the first person she met with all the intensity of a drowning person holding on to a lifesaver. They got married just on six months after Sabrina first arrived in town in a registry office. He was also an actor with visions of making it big. Unfortunately he also had a serious drug problem which prevented him from getting much work which meant Sabrina was supporting the two of them. As her career began to take off she realised he could only hold her back and she left him. There was also the fact that she was pretty sure she'd never loved him. 

The second Mr. Sabrina Meadows had been when she was twenty eight and, at least she believed, more grown up and not so innocent. He was not an actor as Sabrina had made the decision that having a relationship with anyone in the business was not prudent. He was a commercial lawyer who was pretty pleased with himself for having scored a famous movie star for a wife. Unfortunately once they were back from their honeymoon his libido dissapeared and he couldn't get it up. So after a few years of being married in name only and she left him. Since then she'd had relationships yes but nothing serious or long term. She presented herself as being happily single and most of the time she was but sometimes she felt a yearning for companionship and true love. 

Alex smiled and took a sip of his wine. "To tell you the truth I have trouble keeping up." He confided. "She's a bit younger than me you know."

"I don't believe that for one second Alex." Sabrina said and she blushed as his eyes met hers. She had dated Alex a long time ago but they'd both worked out that they were better as friends than lovers. 

Alex let her off the hook by looking away and signalling the waiter and they both ordered (although Sabrina only order a chicken caeser salad), before Alex poured some wine into Sabrina's glass. "You have to drink with me. A man shouldn't drink alone."

"Well I don't want to dissapoint you." Sabrina answered as she took a sip of the chablais. 

They sat in silence for a moment before Sabrina could wait no longer. She knew she was meant to play it cool, wait for Alex to bring it up, but she needed the exposure one of Alex Hammond's movies would bring and the timing couldn't have been any better. Since she'd gotten the phone call about the lunch she'd felt a hell of a lot better knowing that her monetary problems would be behind her and of course a leading role-- a supporting role too-- would no doubt lead to further offers. "So Alex-- what is this amazing idea of yours? A blockbuster I'm sure with your reputation." Sabrina asked.

Alex hesitated and was about to answer her when the waiter brought over a garlic bread. "It's on the house Sir." He said.

Alex waited for the waiter to leave before giving Sabrina a shrug. "You know you've gone down in the world when you only get a free bread." He said breaking off a piece and offering the plate to her.

"Sorry, too many carbs." Sabrina said quickly. Bread was her one weakness when it came to carbs-- foccacia's, herb bread, dinner rolls...She made sure that bread was never in her house so she was never tempted to eat it.

Alex finished his chunk of bread before speaking. "So my idea is actually a series- Don't say anything yet, hear me out." He held up a hand. "It's based on the lives of a rich, famous family in New York. It's kind of a Jackie Collinsesque, Bold and the Beautiful cross. The cast is mostly made up of unknowns-- there's even a young woman I saw at the supermarket believe it or not, who entertained no thoughts of ever being an actress but is really good and has this down-to-earth beauty and shyness that will make men want to hold and protect her and women want to be befriend her. There's also a young man whose been in a few movies but hasn't had big parts who has those classic good looks that will have women, young and old, going. But the cast is lacking something Sabrina and I think that something is you!"

Sabrina fiddled with her napkin. "Alex you know my policy. I don't do television." She said slowly. It was a decision she'd made when she was still at the top, when she'd honestly believed that she'd never have a need to do television. "Plus television is a huge committment-- assuming it gets picked up of course."

"It will." Alex said confidently. But he could be confident considering he was up there with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. "We need you Sabrina. You'll be the star, the owner of the company, the young woman's mother-- don't look at me like that, she's only a teenager still and looks younger than she is even. You'll be the center of the cast, the show will revolve around YOU Sabrina. We'll pay you well too."

"I know but will you at least look at my script?" Alex pressed. Seeing that his lunch companion was wavering he added the final nail. "For an old friend?"

Sabrina had to smile. "Your tugging at my heartstrings Alex." She said. "Can I have some time to look over the script and think about it?"

Their meals arrived then and Alex eyed his medium-rare steak with relish. "You can have as long as you need Sab-- provided you don't take more than a week because if you say no I'm going to have to go searching for another lead before we go into pre-production."

"Deal." Sabrina said. Ordinarily she would have said no straight away, stuck to her no television policy, but when you hadn't worked for awhile you couldn't afford to be choosy. And of course the concept of being the star of a Alex Hammond show was appealing.

Alex reached down and unclasped his briefcase. He took the script out and handed it across the table to Sabrina. "Your going to love it."

Sabrina glanced down at the title page: "THE RICH AND THE FAMOUS."

"Your salad looks...appetising." Alex said as he cut into his tender steak. 

"Bullshit." Sabrina said with a small smile curving her lips upwards.

Alex laughed loudly. "I'm glad to see you haven't changed Sab." He told her.

Sabrina titled her head and smiled. She always enjoyed compliments. All women did, especially actresses who were used to adoring fans, agents and directors, telling them how fabulous they were.

*****

Later that afternoon Sabrina changed into a pink bikini-- realising that she really was overdue for that Brazillian-- and went outside to sit by the pool. Through her sunglasses she watched the gardener pottering around and wondered how come "Desperate Housewives" had a hot gardener but it didn't happen so much in the real world. She opened the script and ended up reading it from beginning to end in that one sitting. She could actually see herself in the lead role, the star. So she opened her cell phone and called Alex with the news-- she would be his star... 

The Rich and The Famous Ch. 02



2.

Once Sabrina Meadows decided to take the lead role things moved quickly; Alex handpicked the best makeup artists, the best wardrobe stylists, the best cameramen, the best editors, the best everything. He firmly believed that the cast he'd assembled were all perfect for their roles. And the addition of Sabrina would guarantee a large audience. All the pieces of the jigsaw were laid out in front of him and he just had to make sure they fit together perfectly. Strangely he didn't feel any pressure but perhaps on the first day of filming he would tear his hair out, run screaming and drooling around the set, yelling at everyone for imaginary slights or nuances in their performance or job... But he doubted it. One thing he'd always been famed for was that he was easy to work for. 

When Alex answered his cell phone one morning, only a week and a bit out from the first day of filming, he was asked by a journalist why he'd moved from a career directing blockbuster films into the less prestigious medium of a television serialised show he, after demanding to know how the woman got his cell number, gave her the usual line about television no longer being a step down from the silver screen. (Which, as far as he was concerned was true thanks to a few pioneering shows.) He then told her that directing a movie was a challenge but directing a television show would be more of a challenge; making sure that each week he produced 45 minutes of high quality programming that would rate through the roof. If you made a movie that was a flop it would perhaps go straight to video or it would be prematurely removed from cinemas everywhere but there would be nowhere to hide in the world of television; that is if the show didn't do well it would be axed and everyone would know he'd failed. One thing Alex hated, in himself and in others, was failure. 

In reality the truth was a little more complicated. Marc Cherry had created "Desperate Housewives", J.J. Abrams had created "Lost" and Shonda Rimes had created "Grey's Anatomy", all of which were phenomanal hits across the country and internationally and Alex wanted a piece of that pie. It wasn't necessarily an ego thing but he did believe he could do it better than they could. After all he was Alex Hammond-- director of blockbuster movies that made hundreds of million dollars at the box office, winner of almost every award a director could win from Oscars to BAFTA's to MTV awards and Nickleodian Kids Choice. 

*****

D-Day.

Lori Carmichael had almost made it; she was almost out the front door of her small West Hollywood apartment, when he called from the bedroom: "Lori- are you goin' out?"

Lori paused, her fingers almost closing around the doorknob on the front door, as she fought a quick internal battle over whether to pretend she hadn't heard him or not. Considering the fact that it was a couple of paces across the room that the landlord ambitiously described as the "lounge room come dining room" to the hallway which led to the bedroom and bathroom she knew even her boyfriend, his brain usually muddled by illegal substances (and some legal) wouldn't buy that. Her hand fell back to her side. How ironic it was, she thought, that the one time she really wanted to be able to sneak out of the place without having to acknowledge him was also the one time he was conscious during the day!

He appeared in the doorway. "Babe? You goin' somewhere?"

Lori's hand instinctively tightened around her handbag; she had just enough money to get to the studio and back again and she knew that for Carl to be awake, and up, at this early hour of the morning meant one of two things-- that he'd either only just returned home before her alarm went off and was still enjoying the drug high and unable to sleep yet or he was having withdrawals from whatever shit he'd put in his system the night before and needed more. When Lori and Carl had first met, four years ago, he'd been a nice looking man. He was tall and on the thin side of athletic, with thick black hair, piercing blue eyes and a skin tanned by spending more time out of doors than in. Now however it was hard to believe he was still the same person. His previously athletic frame was now thin (some might say scrawny), the muscles he had before having disappeared completely, his skin was pallid due no doubt to lack of exposure to sunlight, his eyes were usually tinged with red if not completely bloodshot, and his body twitched almost constantly. He looked a lot older than his twenty-three years and Lori supposed this premature aging was due to the copious amounts of alcohol and drugs he ingested. 

"I've got to go to work." Lori told him. It wasn't really a lie, she told herself, because she was going to work, just not at the diner where Carl assumed she was going to be working. The moment she got offered the part on Alex Hammond's new television show she quit the diner, only too glad to be shot of the terrible working conditions, low pay and men who constantly thought her being their waitress gave them license to grab her and make lewd remarks. She still couldn't really believe all that had happened in the past three weeks: Alex Hammond had spotted her in a supermarket. She hadn't recognized him at first and had thought he was just another old man (well she was still in her teens) trying the patented "I'm an agent/director/producer and I'm going to make you a top model/actress/singer" route. When she'd realized it wasn't a joke nor a come on she'd panicked. She hadn't ever acted, was quite possibly one of the only young women in this city who didn't want to be famous and she told him as much. He'd given her his card anyway and asked her to come and read for a part. She hadn't been intending to go, had no plans to go whatsoever, but somehow she found herself at the appointed place at the appointed time and Alex had loved her read-through. The only thing that had been bothering her since the good news was that she longed to have someone to tell, someone who'd be excited and proud, who'd celebrate with her. It was times like this that Lori really missed her mom. Both her parents had been killed in a car accident when she was fourteen and with no relatives to speak of Lori had been left, somewhat, to fend for herself. Her foster mother didn't care where Lori went or what she did so long as she kept receiving the checks.

"Can you pick me up a little somethin' on the way home?" Carl asked.

"I don't have any money..." Lori hesitated. She hated that Carl had turned her into a drug courier. 

"Never mind. Rat owes me. Are you sure you can't come back to bed?" Carl gave her what he thought was a sexy look but what really turned Lori's stomach. If the lease for this apartment wasn't in both names she would have left him by now. Because it was however she had to stick it out for another few months, knowing too well that if she did leave she'd never see any of the furniture which she'd bought nor get the bond back which, shockingly, she'd also paid. If she was asked about whether she loved Carl or not she'd say not but if the person really pressed things then she might admit there was some kind of feeling there but it was the old Carl she loved, she was in love more with a memory than an actual person.

"Positive." Lori replied quickly.

"K. What day is it?" Carl questioned.

Lori wasn't even surprised anymore, nothing Carl did could illicit any kind of disbelief from her. "Monday." She told him.

"Ah. So the Monday morning mass should be startin' soon then hey?" 

The Monday morning mass (or MMM) was what Lori had christened the weekly event. The walls in the apartment were incredibly thin and it just so happened that the bedroom of their apartment backed on to the bedroom of the next apartment along, meaning both couples could hear exactly what was going on next door. Carl found it a bit of a turn on but Lori was just embarrassed by the idea someone could hear her and Carl having sex-- although it was not a regular occurrence anymore- and that she and Carl could hear someone else having sex. 

"I guess it will be. But I've got to run." Lori said, glancing at her wristwatch. 

Carl shrugged, indifferent. "That's fine; I'll just have to have myself some MMM masturbation." 

Lori managed to end the conversation, kiss her boyfriend goodbye and hurry off for her first day on set. She liked the way that sounded and repeated it out loud as she went down the front steps of their apartment building: "On set."

*****

"It so is him." Someone hissed in a whisper that carried further than intended.

"So ask him." Another whisper.

"No way. You ask him." This reply was not so much a whisper.

Brock smiled to himself as he waited for his skim mocha with whipped cream (and yes, he knew that the cream did kind of cancel out the skim part of the beverage but he loved it too much) in line at Starbucks. Even while placing the order Brock had thought about the probable thousand calories he was about to consume and did feel at least, oh about a second's worth of guilt, hence the skim part of the equation. A little while back he'd had a dietician look at his weekly diet as part of his contract with a long running daytime soap and she'd told him that not eating breakfast was probably his biggest mistake- something about it screwing up his metabolism. When asked he admitted that while he'd list "running" as a hobby in interviews with entertainment journalists it had been a good six months since he'd actually done it. The dietician had suggested he consider exercising every day, complete with a very pointed look at his stomach. After the dietician had left Brock had raced to the nearest mirror to look at his profile: did he look a bit flabby? Did he have a bit of a beer gut? And were his abs no longer washboard? The result of the whole thing was that he'd kitted out a room in his home to be his own personal gym and for about a month had been on a major health kick before falling back into old habits and working out for about half an hour a week instead of half an hour a day. He didn't think he looked chunky. No he wasn't toned and muscley but didn't women like "real men" he asked the producers when they called him in for a "friendly chat". Of course every actor on the show knew that when the producers wanted to "shoot the breeze" with you it meant trouble, usually of the kind that could land them in the unemployment line. They told him that they didn't have anywhere for his character to go, that they'd exhausted all storylines, that they were sorry but the integrity of the show was more important than anything, that they were all, including themselves, expendable. And then they thanked him for the work he'd put in over the past three years. He didn't even get a frigging farewell card!

There was a tap on his shoulder and Brock turned to see two girls, around sixteen, looking at him intently. 

"Excuse me, but are you Brock Myers? From Days of Our Lives?" The first whisperer- who had obviously lost the argument- asked.

Brock favoured her with the smile he gave all his fans- big, white, and teethy. "Yes, yes I am... but can you keep a secret?" He lowered his voice to sound dramatic.

"Excuse me sir! Your coffee." The barista interrupted and Brock leant forward to get his coffee and took that first, desperate, sip before addressing his fans. He didn't want to be late for filming, it wouldn't make a good first impression, but at the same time he just wasn't the same without his morning coffee. His partner knew not to ask him hard questions, or hit him with big news, before he had consumed at least five hundred calories worth of top-notch espresso coffee and while he had already had a coffee at home it had been hurried and therefore didn't count all that much. He'd had a sleepless night after a fight with his partner (which coffee wouldn't have affected in any way) and after drifting off to sleep finally about four o'clock he slept through his alarm and wouldn't have been up at all if he hadn't heard the maid coming in. So he'd stopped at the first Starbucks he'd driven past on route from his Brentwood home to the studio where the television show was being filmed. 

"Yes." The first whisperer assured him, exchanging an excited grin with her friend. 

"My character is written out of Days. But luckily I'm working on a new show now. With Alex Hammond directing. It's called The Rich and The Famous so I expect you two to look out for it okay?" Brock told them. That was the secret to dealing with fans- give them something that would make them feel like they were special, like you thought they were more important than any of your other fans. That and the big smile. Back when he'd made his first movie where he was actually mentioned in the credits Brock had been sure that was only the beginning and that he was going to be up there with the Tom's- Hank and Cruise for those not in 'the biz'- but, unfortunately, things didn't quite go to plan. It wasn't that he wasn't talented, he was repeatedly told, it was just that there were so many more men around his age who already had garnered big followings. One old director had told him he was born in the wrong time- had he been born ten years before he really was he'd be bigger than Ben Hur now. Brock collected a napkin in case he spilt his coffee.

"Shut up! Who else is in the new show?" The second whisperer asked, her voice unnaturally high as teenage girls voices can be when they're excited. 

"Well there's me," Brock flashed the smile again "and the majority of the cast are made up of unknowns. If it worked for Joss Weadon then it can certainly work for Alex Hammond." Look at where Sarah Michelle Gellar was now. And there was also Allyson Hannigan. David Borenaz....

"Josh Wheaton?" The first whisperer looked confused.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" Brock explained. Or were these girls too young to have caught the Buffy phenomenon. Well whatever the case he didn't have the time to explain it. He gave them a scrawled autograph resplendent on a Starbucks napkin, accepted the well wishes of his two young fans and the curious looks of quite a few more people in the store, and hurried back out to his beloved Porsche. 

He tried to tell himself that at least he was still being recognized quite a bit out on the streets or in the mall (or Starbucks)- even if he was being noticed by schoolgirls, bored housewives or elderly women who had plenty of time to watch daytime television. After his first credited role in a movie Brock had accepted a few further roles, each a little larger than the one before, until Brock was classed as a supporting actor in a major hit movie. That was the pinnacle of his career. Brock bought his house, bought his car, and thought he was going places. A couple more supporting roles followed before Brock told his agent he would only accept lead roles and he sat back waiting for the offers to roll in. They didn't. Roll in that is. They didn't even trickle in. After a year then Brock said he'd take supporting roles if his character was the second lead role. Nothing. Suddenly it was as though Tinseltown had forgotten Brock even existed. It was around this time that he was told he should have been born earlier which was not exactly helpful. Brock had been beginning to get desperate when he was offered a role in a B-grade, or perhaps C-grade movie with a horrible script, cheesy overacting and cheap special effects. He took it of course but he'd left it off his resume ever since. Then his agent suggested he read for a role in a daytime soap. Brock had mixed feelings: on the one hand he thought that taking this job might mean he'd be typecast and get no offers on movie roles, on the other he wasn't exactly inundated with offers and this would mean being paid a steady, regular income. So he took it. And he actually found he really enjoyed the scripts, the cast and the crew. Then he got fired. Luckily his agent had, without mentioning it to Brock, sent a compilation tape of Brock's work to a number of Hollywood directors- both movie and television- and the rest, as they say, is history. 

As he drove along he wondered whether he could trademark his smile- the one for the fans. After all hadn't America Fererra of "Ugly Betty" fame just insured her smile?



The Rich and The Famous Ch. 03



3.

Sabrina didn't know how long she had been sitting and staring at her as yet unmade up face in the mirror of her dressing room; it could have been five minutes, it could have been fifteen. Having her own dressing room and makeup artist slash stylist was a definite plus because she was sure that if she was sitting in the communal dressing room staring at her reflection the assumption would overwhelmingly be that she just liked to look at herself in mirrors. And, for the record, she did and she wasn't particularly ashamed of that fact. But this wasn't a vanity issue; it was more to do with nerves. And that was something she was ashamed of: how many movies had she been in? Far too many to be getting last minute nerves that was for damn sure. She knew that there were some actors and actresses, highly successful ones at that, who were always nervous at the beginning of a new project. She didn't want to be name dropping but just the other day she'd been talking to a good friend of hers who was, despite being in her fifties, still a big Hollywood name and who confessed that she still had attacks of the jitters. Sabrina hadn't been so sure though when she'd told her that being nervous about something elicited a better performance: complacency, she argued, built over comfortable performances that were nowhere near as good as they could have been had the performer been a little more humble.

Sabrina laughed to herself. Humble was one word she certainly wouldn't put in the same sentence as Sabrina Meadows. Still she didn't see anything wrong with that- in her opinion all the great performers needed to have a certain amount of confidence to even do what they did, to put their performances out there for the audience to criticize or admire. Even if that medium was on the television screen rather than the cinema screen. Baby steps, Alex had joked to her just the other day when she'd made another disparaging remark about something related to the whole project.

"You should count yourself lucky Alex is even willing to take your shit and still give you a job!" She told her mirror image. Then she stuck her tongue out at her reflection- what was with all the talking to herself lately?

There was a knock on her door. "Come in." Sabrina said, assuming that the make up girl had simply gotten sick of waiting to be summoned. She'd briefly been introduced to the girl charged with making her gorgeous every day, along with other key members of the crew, but she didn't remember her name. All she could remember was that the girl was a striking soul with mocha colored skin and thick black hair. 

"Sab, how are you going in here?" Alex asked, shutting the door behind him. 

In the mirror Sabrina watched as he perched on the edge of a table and looked at her. His expression was a mixture of amusement and pity- two things that didn't normally go together. 

A little annoyed she swung around to face him. There were a few things that really bothered her and one of them was pity. "If someone had ever told me I'd be nervous about filming a little television show I would have had them committed." 

He grinned wryly. "If someone had of told me that you'd even agree to be in my 'little television show' I would have had them committed." He said.

Sabrina smiled, feeling the tension leave her body. "Touche." She said.

"So the rest of the cast are here and being made up as we speak. I was hoping I could introduce you to them quickly." Alex suggested.

Sabrina frowned a little. Thinking about that reminded her of an article in one of the papers the other day concerning Alex's latest pet project. It claimed that it remained to be seen whether Alex could cross the genres and create a television show that would rival the great shows of the past as well as some of the current favourites. But the writer did say that they'd hang their hat on Alex being able to do it over many of the other blockbuster directors. It had then gone on to mention that with two real exceptions the cast was made up of nobodies, which, was Alex's specialty- he'd launched the careers of some of the biggest names in the movie world as well as other actors and actresses who'd had steady work since being in a Hammond production. But, and this is what had really annoyed Sabrina, she'd only merited one line (if you could even call it that): 'Headlining The Rich and The Famous are former queen of the screen Sabrina Meadows and Brock Myers, the former of whom has not worked much recently and the latter who has worked only in daytime soaps in the past few years.'

She realized Alex was still talking and quickly tuned back in "...an ideal world you would all have met each other awhile before we went into production and got to know one another but we both know this isn't an ideal world."

"In an ideal world I wouldn't have to have lived on water and vegetables for the past week..." Sabrina said.

Alex raised an eyebrow.

"I'm playing a mother on this show Alex and, no matter how you might try to sugar coat it, that means I'm going to be a fair bit older than some of the other cast members and I don't want to look more like a grandmother than a mother." Sabrina explained.

Alex laughed. "Your kidding aren't you? Sab you don't look like a grandmother, you barely look like a mother. I've actually asked for makeup to make you look a little bit older."

Sabrina was horrified. "Don't you dare Alex Hammond! I've been craving real food for a week and I'll be damned if I'm going to suffer starvation only to be made to look older." She reached for a hair tie and put her hair up into a quick bun so that the makeup could be properly applied. "So give me the goss on the rest of the cast."

"Actually I've added another character into the script at the last minute. I thought you needed a foil."

"I do?" Sabrina asked dubiously, thinking that Alex better not have added another main character, someone to rival her for the starring role, or she wouldn't be in the show- regardless of contracts she'd signed.

"She'll be your sister but she won't be coming in for a few weeks. Are you ready to go and meet everyone?" Alex asked.

Sabrina hesitated. "But I'm not maid up yet."

"So?" Alex looked confused.

"So I'll be at a disadvantage if everyone else- specifically the women- is already in full battle paint. Battle paint. That's what my mother used to call makeup. She wouldn't even go and get the mail without it you know? Drives the nurses in the nursing home insane..." Sabrina trailed off, feeling her face grow red. She'd forgotten all about her mum's "battle paint" until it had come back to her at that moment. But to tell Alex about it was completely unacceptable. She'd always employed a very strict no emotions, no personal information rule with the cast and crew of anything she was in.

"How is June? So you had to put her in a nursing home after all hey?" Alex asked, not realizing from the set of Sabrina's shoulders that she regretted mentioning her mother at all.

"She's well as can be I suppose." Sabrina said abruptly. When she and Alex had been together- a lifetime ago- her mother had been living in a wing of her house and she'd had a nurse come and check on her every day but other than that she had been living a relatively normal life. Sabrina had employed a woman to drive her to appointments, usually the doctors if truth be told, because she didn't have the time or the inclination to o it. She'd always felt she was doing her daughterly duty by letting her mother live in her home and having anything she needed at any time. It hadn't occurred to her until her mom went to live in the nursing home that what June really needed was companionship.

Alex got the hint, although a fleeting look of hurt crossed his face but it was gone before Sabrina could see it. "Right. Well get your makeup done first if you want. You know where to find me."

After Alex left Sabrina sat back down slowly. She'd always thought she and Alex had a great relationship, that they were able to stay friends after having dated, but sometimes she found his comments, or his judgments as it were, crossed the line. Not that she'd ever tell him this mind you.

*****

Lori felt on sensory overload; this morning she'd been introduced to so many people, been introduced to so many technical, and not so technical, terms that she as a novice actress hadn't heard before, plus she was so excited that she could hardly keep still. While this was her first morning on the set she'd done some research after getting the role. She'd gone down to her local video shop and asked for every movie they had that Alex Hammond had directed, only to be met with an incredulous look from the store girl. Upon ascertaining that Lori was serious, and that she didn't know what a huge director Alex was, she'd given her a crash course in one of the major players in movies. She'd also told Lori that rumour had it he was branching out into television and that she'd asked her agent to make enquiries. Lori didn't tell her about her new role- the girl wouldn't have believed her anyway for good reason. She'd then googled Alex on her laptop- a five year old machine that was incredibly slow but which she'd never been able to afford to upgrade- and it was then that she began to realize what a big deal this television show really was. Which, of course, only served to make her even more nervous. It was lucky that everyone on the set seemed so incredibly nice. 

"I believe we're to be married." A voice said in Lori's ear.

She jumped and whipped around. "Shit...oh sorry Paul, I was in my own little world."

"Is it nice?" Paul Winters asked.

"What?" Lori was confused. Was this some obscure showbiz or movie reference she didn't know? If there was one thing this morning had shown her it was just how much she didn't know. 

"Your own little world, is it nice?...Sorry, I was being...well I thought I was being cute but obviously I was being weird." Paul explained.

Lori smiled. "No you were being funny...I'm just kind of lost here." She told him, anxious for some reason that he would know she didn't think he was weird.

"You haven't been in anything before?" Paul queried.

"Not a thing. I didn't even go out for drama in high school. But then the schools I went to weren't big on extracurricular activities other than sports." Lori admitted. On her way to the studio she'd thought about not letting people know she was such a newcomer because she sensed there would be perhaps annoyance that she'd been given a part over other people or there would be a lot of interest in her performance because of her status. This idea had been scrapped not long into the tour Alex gave her. It would be all too obvious that she didn't know what she was doing soon enough so she figured it would be better to let people- at least her cast members- know the truth off the bat.

"Gosh you must be good." Paul said, looking at her in admiration. He'd only had a brief introduction when Alex had introduced the castmates- with exception of Sabrina and the new character- but he'd been attracted to her instantly. He wasn't sure how old she was, but there was something in her eyes which made him think she was in her early 20's and she had bright red hair, blue-green eyes, and pale, porcelain like skin. She was tall and slim and she seemed to be nice- from what little he could tell. It was hard to really concentrate on her when there were a few of them all talking together but he'd made a decision to get her alone as soon as he could to see whether his perception was real. Thus far it was. 

"Oh no, I don't know...I've never..." Lori shrugged. "I'm playing Sabrina Meadows' daughter. Have you met her?"

Paul laughed, a quick wry laugh. "No. I've never met her. I haven't been in anything that the great Sabrina would have been in."

"Wow so you've been in things? Anything I'd know?" Lori asked interested.

Paul permitted himself a wry smile. "Unlikely. A few blink and you'd miss parts in major films. For instance did you see Titanic?"

"Of course." Lori felt a few pangs of pain- she'd seen the movie with her mother. She'd been too young to see it when it came out at the cinemas but it had been on television one night and they'd watched it. What made that memory painful however was the fact that it was only a few months before the car accident.

"In the scene where Rose and her mother were singing hyms with other well heeled people and Jack tried to get in to see her but wasn't allowed- I was standing just behind Kate Winslet."

"Wow." Lori was clearly in awe.

"It's not quite that impressing. There were a few other tiny parts in movies and then a couple of roles in B or no D-grade movies, the bottom of which was "Zombie Killers VI- Curse of the Demon of the Night.' Anyway then my agent started getting me roles in television programs, firstly one or two liners and then parts where I appeared in at least a couple of scenes. There was Law and Order, Sex and the city, Angel, CSI and Boston Legal. Then I, miraculously, got this job." Paul said. All actors could sprout a verbal resume of their work but the ones who actually got asked would usually just list a couple of million plus dollar box hits. Considering an actor had to start somewhere it was inevitable that there would be a few roles that he (or she) would rather forget. Paul's highlight was obviously Zombie Killers VI. Ironically his character had remained standing at the end of the movie, which had a insanely high body count as most crappy horror movies did, and they'd offered him the part in Zombie Killers VII. Surprisingly he'd managed to turn that offer down- against the advice of his agent who simply wanted him to be working so he'd be getting paid. 

"Still it is something. And you know your way around a set, you know what people's jobs are, what they're actually doing while their doing it...I'm just worried I'm going to make a fool of myself."

"You'll be fine." Paul reassured her.

"Thank you for your confidence." Lori said with a small smile.

"If you have any questions come and ask me, I'll be more than happy to help you. And as my wife we're going to be in a lot of scenes together." Paul offered.

"Thank you so much- oh....she's here." Lori breathed.

"Who?" Paul asked.

"Sabrina Meadows. I might not be an actress but I still know what a big star she is." Lori said, gazing at the woman with complete and utter adoration on her face as she came through the door into the dressing room with Alex by her side.

Paul, instead of looking at Sabrina, looked at Lori's face and thought shit, Sabrina is going to be able to walk all over her.

"And this is Brock Myers. Brock was-" Alex was saying as he made the introductions.

"Weren't you on Days of Our Lives?" Sabrina interrupted coolly.

"I was." Brock said looking pleased that the queen had actually known his name and what he was in.

"I can't stand daytime soaps. You could watch The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless and, yes, Days of our Lives once a month and easily know what was happening. Really they move so slowly they're practically going backwards." Sabrina said.

There was a silence in the room. 

"Luckily this show has better writers so it will meet with your approval." Alex said, a bit of a smile on his lips.

Sabrina looked at him and then she laughed too. "Was I being rude again? I'm sorry Mr. Myers; I didn't mean to impugn your work."

Brock was besotted, Lori was in awe, Paul was cautiously charmed and Sabrina lapped up their attention. After all, she thought to herself, she was the star of this show! 



The Rich and The Famous Ch. 04



4

Sabrina glided on to the set, warmed by the reactions of the other members of the cast. She prided herself on being someone who quickly got the measure of other people and she was pretty sure she'd got the measure of Brock, Paul and Lori. Firstly there was Brock who having hailed from daytime soapie world would, no doubt, overact in that patented style. She'd heard the rumours about Brock batting for the other team and while normally she knew that most rumours were closer to fact than fiction she had quickly picked up on the fact that Brock, despite fawning over her, wasn't interested in women. Luckily that didn't mean he didn't have the same male ego and if there was one thing Sabrina Meadows knew it was men- and how to handle them! Lori was green, obviously, but she still knew who was the queen of the show and had complimented Sabrina on everything from her hair and makeup to her outfit and figure. Sabrina had found that often women could turn against other women, especially beautiful women, and she didn't want Lori doing that so she'd made a point of complimenting her right back, even if she hadn't meant any of what she was saying. She'd be able to use Lori in the near future if she needed to. Lastly there was Paul who was surprisingly a different kettle of fish to Brock. Was it ironic that a heterosexual male wasn't as awed by a good looking woman as a homosexual male was? Sabrina had seen the indecision in Paul's eyes when she was talking to Lori and had decided upon a different course of action towards him; she had simply been friendly and polite, not over affectionate and paying false compliments that she had a feeling he'd see right through. By the time it was time for her to film her first scene Sabrina was pretty sure she had the two men and the woman firmly in the palm of her hand.

"Okay so, Sabrina this scene is with Paul who plays-" Alex began.

"Tom Palmer, my son, I know who he plays." Sabrina interrupted.

Paul made a noise in the back of his throat but when Sabrina whipped her head round to glare at him he looked back at her innocently. Maybe he was one of those men who were intimidated by beautiful women, Sabrina mused. 

Alex nodded. "Could you at least, just for the first day even, allow me the indulgence of pretending that, as the director of this thing, I know what I'm doing? And perhaps also you could let me have some kind of authority- even if we both know we're just pretending at me being in charge?" He asked. On someone else these words might have come out sounding rude but Alex seemed so mild mannered and friendly that nobody could think otherwise. At the same time it was obvious to everyone, except Sabrina, that he was putting her in her place.

Sabrina remained blissfully unaware. "Okay Alex, sorry, go on."

"Right. So the background between these two characters is an interesting one and though it won't come out for a little while they did in fact have a brief shall we say dalliance in the past before Thomas and Alison got together. Nancy has mixed feelings towards him; on one side she's annoyed that he chose her daughter over her and that accounts for the way she treats him, shooting down his ideas and trying to basically put a stop to him possibly wanting a powerful role in the Richards family and their companies and on the other side she's attracted to him and doesn't want him to know she's still carrying a bit of a torch for him." Alex explained.

"So when she's getting annoyed with him I could play her with more anger and heat in her than the situation really warrants?" Sabrina asked.

"Definitely." Alex was pleased to see that so far Sabrina had been on the set for a couple of hours and she hadn't yet made a crack about television being beneath her. Perhaps she was going to be okay after all?

"And what about Thomas's reaction? Obviously he gets annoyed back for the same reasons-"

"I don't think he would." Sabrina said, examining her fingernail polish. Did her index finger look a little messed up? That's what happened when you let idiot salon girls give you a mani-pedi whilst ranting about how their girlfriend was too busy hitting on their next door neighbor. They should leave their personal problems at the spa door and concentrate only on looking after their clients. Sabrina had paid for the top package and spent the entire day being massaged and pampered and she didn't think, for that price, it was unreasonable of her to expect the complete attention of each of the girls, or boys, she had looking after her.

Paul looked at her. "What are you talking about? Of course he would. He's had a brief relationship with the woman but now she's his mother. All the men I know would react similarly to their mothers in law!"

"It's just that men are for the most part oblivious to these sorts of things; like you said she's his mother now so he's reacting to her on that level not as someone he'd had a brief relationship with in the past. So I don't think he'd be as passionate about the argument as she would be because she's a woman, women remember these things for roughly about half a lifetime. Men don't." Sabrina explained.

Alex and Paul exchanged looks and Alex raised his eyebrow. "Counter point?"

"No I think she's probably right- although I want it stated for the record that I object to her sexual stereotype." Paul said and there were a few laughs. 

Lori was standing against the wall watching and she laughed too. God knew Carl did many things to continue the male stereotype. She met Paul's eyes but then quickly looked down at her feet, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. 'What the hell was that?' She thought. 

"She's magnificent isn't she?" Brock spoke behind her, his voice low.

"Sorry?" Lori asked.

"Sabrina, she's an amazing woman as well as an amazing actress." Brock said.

Lori smiled in response.

"My favourite woman second only to Barbara Streisand." Brock confided.

Sabrina had tuned out from the discussion between Alex and Paul about where Thomas was coming from. She hoped that shooting wasn't always going to be like this; the cast members spending more time questioning their characters feelings and the like than actually getting some of the filming done. Of course it was good that Paul wanted to know about his character but Sabrina couldn't help but feel that he should have done all that prior to today. That was what happened when working with newcomers. She turned her attention to Lori and Brock who were chatting animatedly over in the corner. Interesting. Hadn't Lori guessed that Brock was gay and that trying to come on to him was a big waste of time? Of course Lori was only young; she probably wasn't anywhere near as experienced with men as Sabrina was.

"Okay Sabrina, are you ready to get going?" Alex asked.

Sabrina couldn't resist. "I've been ready for the last five or ten minutes." She pointed out.

"Good then lets get this thing done." Alex said, clapping his hands together. 

Sabrina turned to Paul with a small smile. "So tell me Paul, just while Alex gets ready to go, are you married or in a relationship of any kind?" She asked curiously. Paul was certainly easy on the eye although Sabrina had no intention of having any kind of relationship with him or any other member of the cast or crew. 

"I'm single." Paul answered sharply.

Sabrina raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. She'd certainly struck a nerve there and instead of sating her interest Paul's response had only piqued it. She didn't have time to explore her feelings about this just yet as it was time to get into character and that meant Sabrina would devote all of herself to playing her character while the cameras were rolling. It was the way she'd always acted, completely immersing herself in the character, sometimes even after the camera stopped filming. She knew plenty of other big name actors and actresses who did the same thing.



*****



Lori, as Alison Palmer, walked into the library armed with manila folders. She seemed surprised to see Sabrina, in the role of Nancy Richards, sitting in a chair gazing off into the distance. 

"Mother. Fancy seeing you here." Lori dropped the folders on to the desk in front of Sabrina.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but I do still own this company don't I?"

"That's never seemed to make a difference in the past." Lori dropped into a seat next to Sabrina. "What's going on?"

"Why does something have to be going on? Why can't I just be here to see my daughter?" Sabrina demanded, indignant.

"You...ah...I'm sorry. I can't remember what comes next." Lori said biting her lip in embarrassment. This was the third time she'd forgotten her lines and needed to be coached- and it was only the first day of filming. She felt, rather than saw, Sabrina's impatience and disapproval.

"It's okay Lori. Actually it's getting kind of late. Maybe we can call it a day?" Alex suggested, getting up from his seat. 

Sabrina unfolded her long, lean body. "And hopefully tomorrow we could actually get through a few scenes..." She said loudly before she headed for her dressing room. It surprised her that Alex, normally a shrewd operator at all times, hadn't actually taken into account that he was dealing by and large with amateurs and, as such, it might take a lot longer to get through filming. She heard their director assuring Lori that she'd been doing fine and with the kind of time frame they'd had it wasn't uncommon for any of them to forget their lines and she rolled her eyes- she hadn't forgotten any of her lines and was it unreasonable to expect that her castmates do the same?

Sabrina grabbed a wipe and began taking off her thick makeup. It had been, over all, a good day of filming and most scenes had been finished without too much of a problem. 

There was a cough at Sabrina's open door. "What do you want Alex? If you're here to lecture me save it please. It's not like there were a lot of lines to learn." Sabrina didn't look around or in the mirror.

"Mrs. Meadows-"

Sabrina turned around. It was a man whose face she vaguely recalled being introduced to that morning but what he was doing here she didn't know. "I'm not married."

"Sorry, Ms. Meadows." The man said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "I just wanted to let you know, up front, that while Mr. Hammond may tolerate attitude from you I won't be tolerating it. You better change your personality if you want to remain on the show."

Sabrina didn't pause in taking her makeup off. "And you are what a cameraman? I don't think you should be starting a war with-"

"My name's Jonathon Linton. I'm the exec for the television station." The man said.

"Oh I'm sorry...was I meant to care about that?" Sabrina asked. She threw the wipe towards her bin and it sailed well short, dropping to the floor.

"Care or not care, it's your choice. I'm just giving you a friendly warning Ms. Meadows." The man said. He started to walk out the room.

"Wait!" Sabrina called. "Alex Hammond created, wrote and is directing this show and he wants me as the star. He's the one who would be able to fire people not some executive."

Jonathon Linton didn't turn around. "If that's what you want to believe..."

Sabrina watched him go with narrowed eyes. The man didn't look any more than his early twenties and she wasn't even worried about him- if it came down to it she had more power in her little finger than he did in his entire body.



*****

Lori took her time in walking in to the dressing room; she was sure that everyone knew about her forgetting her lines in her very first scene and she was incredibly embarrassed. She hadn't offered any excuses to Alex but yes in part she had forgotten her lines but also she'd been overawed by the fact that she was acting with Sabrina Meadows. Assuming Brock and Paul would be gone by the time she got to the dressing room she was surprised to see that Paul was sitting, in his own clothes, alone.

Paul had intended to leave as soon as the days filming was over but instead he'd stuck around to speak to his younger cast member. He didn't want Lori to think that it was a huge deal to forget lines. Everyone did it from time to time. Even Sabrina. And as soon as he saw her downcast face he knew he'd made the right decision in waiting. He was, however, unprepared for the feeling that overcame him; a mixture between feeling protective of Lori and also a jolt at how attracted to Lori he was after only one day working together. Nobody could possibly deny that Sabrina was physically good looking but Lori was more than that, she was beautiful.

Lori jumped when she saw Paul.

"Sorry," Paul said hastily, "that's the second time today I've startled you."

"I thought everyone would be gone." Lori explained to him.

"I was waiting for you actually. I just wanted to let you know that it was no big deal out there, you forgetting your lines. I've seen actors with much more experience than you forget what they were meant to be saying. God knows I've done it on plenty of occasions too." Paul told her.

Lori sat down to remove her makeup. "Thanks for telling me that, it means a lot."

The dressing room was silent for a few minutes as Lori worked on cleaning her face and Paul tried to pretend he wasn't watching her. 

"What do you say to going and grabbing a burger or a beer or both?" Paul asked. He was trying for a casual tone but he didn't know if it quite came off.

"Oh I'm sorry Paul but I can't. I've got to get home." Lori said. Inwardly she was thinking how she'd love to have gone and grabbed a meal with Paul; he was incredibly nice and friendly and he was definitely good looking. It was a shame that she still had Carl hanging around like a bad smell. She knew it was precisely 63 days until the lease on the apartment was up and she could finally get rid of him. 

"Right, that's okay...I just thought that since I have to eat and...um...you have to eat we could have eaten together. No big deal." Paul said, deliberately not meeting her eyes.

"It's not that I don't want- it's just I've got to get home." Lori said. She wanted his eyes to meet hers so he would see the sincerity in her expression. She didn't want him to think that she didn't want to go and have dinner with him. 

"I guess you have commitments, it's no big deal." Paul repeated.

"Commitments." Lori said sadly. All of a sudden she felt like crying: it had been a long time since a good looking man had wanted to spend time with her, just for the pleasure of her company not for a sexual reason. Even Carl only wanted her for two things, sex and drugs. The fact that she felt like crying, like showing her emotion to someone she'd known less than a day and the fact that she had to say no to Paul because of Carl made her angry.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Paul got up from his chair looking concerned.

Lori angrily wiped her eyes with two fingers. "I'm fine. Great even." She snapped.

Paul looked taken aback; it was almost as if he actually reeled backwards a bit. He felt like an idiot as he quickly said goodbye and left the room. Had he actually just asked his co-worker out on a date? What on earth had possessed him? And what had made him think she'd even want to see him outside of work? She probably thought he was far too old for her at thirty-six. She probably thought he was a complete idiot. Obviously, by the way she'd said commitments, Lori was in a relationship and she'd just go home to her boyfriend and they'd snuggle up on the couch and laugh about how she'd been asked out by him.

*****

Carl was asleep when Lori slipped into the bed. It wasn't that late, probably not later than nine thirty, but she'd been wiped out when she got home. After Paul left, almost at a run in his effort to avoid her, she'd felt heavy with exhaustion from the days excitement as well as feeling worried that she'd upset Paul. She lay on her back staring up at the cracked ceiling with the big watermark almost smack in the middle. She felt like screaming, just swearing at the top of her lungs. Carl rolled over and Lori held her breath hoping he wouldn't wake up. He let out a loud snore but remained fast asleep or perhaps more accurately, unconscious. On a couple of occasions Lori had worried about what would happen to Carl in the future, when she was gone. She knew it wasn't her responsibility to look after him, especially with the problems he had, but she couldn't help but feel guilty. Now, however, her thoughts were not with Carl at all: she was thinking about the thrill of her first day on a television set. She wanted so desperately to be able to talk to someone about it. 

In the apartment next door there was a loud, very loud to be heard so clearly, giggle. Lori groaned softly. Were they at it again after their MMM session this morning? With a melancholy sigh Lori remembered when she and Carl had been like that, barely able to keep their hands off one another, back when she'd been in love with him and full of girlish dreams that she could achieve what very few women ever had- change their men.

"Oh Mikey! You bought me handcuffs and a whip!" The woman, who Lori vaguely recalled introducing herself as Jean when she and Carl had first moved into the place, was clearly in raptures at her partner's gifts. Lori thought she'd prefer flowers and chocolates...although perhaps with a partner you really loved handcuffs and a whip could be interesting. Carl let out another loud snore and Lori gritted her teeth and then hopped nimbly out of bed and padded to the kitchen to make herself a drink of hot cocoa in the effort of helping her relax and get to sleep. 

Back in the bedroom the sounds from next door were continuing, although now they were muffled as they usually were and, for the first time in quite awhile, Lori felt herself being aroused. For a few seconds she fought the urge, feeling embarrassed about the idea of using the sounds of her neighbour's passion for her own gratification but it was too late for her to change her mind, her vagina was aching with need. Fighting the compulsion to hurry, to appease her desire, Lori put her hands up her pajama top and slowly began to stroke her breasts. Long, languid circles progressively getting smaller until she was circling her erect nipples with her index finger, before she pinched the nipples between fingers and tweaked them. An involuntary moan escaped her lips. Her right hand glided down her flat stomach, her skin hot to the touch as her desire heated up her body and rippled through her, before her hand slipped inside the waistband of her three quarter length pajama bottoms. She ran the tip of a finger along the edge of her slit, which was beginning to feel moist and lubricated. 

Caught up in the moment Lori closed her eyes, no longer concerned that her boyfriend sleeping next to her would wake, and surrendered herself to the craving. In her mind she saw a montage of Paul smiling at her, talking to her, looking at her. The main event had clearly started in the bedroom next door, the bed was banging rhythmically against the wall and Lori could delay no longer: she slipped her index finger inside her vagina and felt, rather than heard, the squelching noise of her juices surrounding her finger, swallowing it. Her finger quickly found her pulsating clit and she began to rub it back and forth gently, rocking her hips slowly against her hand. It was almost agonizing, the slow, gentle pressure of her finger inside her. Her imagination had left real images of Paul behind- instead she was seated on top of one of the dressing room tables and he was fucking her- and her breath began to quicken, her heart speeding up. Lori slipped another two fingers inside her dripping vagina and began to stroke herself in hard, small circles, the fight to take it as slow as humanely possible lost, as her fantasy and the noises of her neighbours begin to reach a simultaneous crescendo. Her whole body began to tremble and she couldn't bite her lip to stop her soft moans escaping any longer. Her imaginationary Paul came with a long, loud, almost tribal, grunt as her vagina contracted and seized as she orgasmed, her hips rising involuntarily. Waves of pleasure radiated through her body and she stayed as she was for a few minutes, enjoying the release her masturbation had brought her before she turned, a little guiltily, on to her side and went to sleep.



The Rich and The Famous Ch. 05



Sabrina sighed and glanced at her watch pointedly. Again. "Alex are we going to have to just change the shooting schedule today?" She called in the direction of the director who was talking with the crew.

"I'm sure Lori will be here soon Sabrina." Alex assured her, his tone polite but impersonal, not like the way he normally spoke to the woman he'd once slept with and with whom he retained a good friendship.

Sabrina's smile remained fixed in place but inwardly she was seething- what on earth was Alex thinking speaking to the woman who was the damn star of his stupid little show like she was nothing? Didn't he know that without her, without a big name like Sabrina Meadows, viewers would just classify his show as trying to cash in on the chick flick/lit/show phenomenon and not even bother watching it? She'd left a copy of the newspaper article on his desk yesterday so she was sure he'd read it by now.

"She might have a point Alex." The assistant director, or assistant producer or assistant something anyway, said.

Alex didn't reply but he did glance towards where Sabrina was (im)patiently lounging on a love seat in the set of the Richards mansion's lounge room. 

"Maybe your right...I've got the timing all worked out and I don't really want to change things around too much...plus next week I was thinking we could shoot a whole bunch of the outside shots..." Alex hedged. 

Sabrina sighed to herself. One thing she didn't remember Alex Hammond as being was indecisive. She remembered one particular evening in the bathroom of what was back then the latest celebrity's favourite restaurant:

Alex was enjoying his chicken stuffed with mushrooms, bacon, anchovies and cheese on a bed of potatoes of some kind and Sabrina was eating her prawn caeser salad. It was the height of their 7 month affair and because directors wined and dined actresses all the time it was all right for them to be seen in public occasionally- as long as there were no PDA's. It just so happened though that Sabrina had only returned that very day from a few weeks in Europe to promote her latest movie and they'd met at the restaurant without having had the time to 'catch up' with one another. Under the table Sabrina ran her bare foot up Alex's leg and gave him a mischievous smile. 

"I'm just going to the bathroom. If I'm not back in a minute you better come looking for me." She said.

Alex looked like he wanted to protest; it was too risky, but the stirring in his pants made him agree. His eyes followed her as she walked across the room and he mentally congratulated himself for being able to sleep with such a gorgeous woman. Sabrina deliberately did the supermodel walk across the room, knowing his eyes would be firmly glued to her ass. 

He kept eating, slowly, and had to stop himself from looking at his watch every 30 seconds. Finally 5 minutes had passed and he decided it was safe to go looking for her without alerting the suspicions of anyone. Plus the fact that he had the beginnings of a serious erection meant he was less cautious and just plain anxious to get inside Sabrina again.

The moment Alex opened the door of the private woman's toilet (reserved only for the A-list who were separated from the not so worthy by a wall and the kitchen) Sabrina pounced on him, her tongue seeking his and her legs wrapping around his waist. Alex locked the door- still able to think about the secrecy of their coupling despite his desire for Sabrina. They kissed lustfully for a couple of minutes before Alex carried Sabrina across the room (which was bigger than most public restrooms combined) to the toilet and then put her down on the toilet.

Sabrina's fingers quickly unbuckled Alex's belt and unbuttoned his slacks so that they slid down over his legs and rested at his ankles. His cock was pressing hard against his underwear and Sabrina stroked the material covered erection before his underwear followed his slacks and his cock sprang free, bouncing in the still air. Sabrina studied the swollen, purple head and enlarged balls with the hunger of a lioness who is intent on catching a gazelle to feed her beloved cubs. Alex loved the way her eyes lit up with excitement and electricity whenever they were fucking, screwing, having sex or making love. 

Sabrina reached out and one hand cupped Alex's balls, gently squeezing them while the other hand took his cock by the base and slowly moved it around before positioning it so that her lips meet the tip. Alex made a low, deep, guttural sound as Sabrina caressed him with the tip of her tongue, feeling himself begin to ache with the familiar swelling. Slowly, so very slowly, Sabrina slid the head into her mouth and began to suck, her tongue swirling around the head and her teeth lightly grazing the tip. 

"Good God I've missed you Sabrina." Alex moaned in a barely audible croak. 

Sabrina smiled- despite having a mouthful- before she moved forward and slid a bit further until the head of Alex's cock pressed against the back of her throat. 

"Miz Meadows? Hello, Sabrina?!" 

Sabrina jumped in shock, jolted prematurely back to reality from her memory. Realizing just what she'd been thinking about she felt her stomach churn with embarrassment. Almost against her will, like there was a force controlling her, Sabrina's eyes were drawn across the room to where Alex was standing talking with one of the assistant writers. Perhaps feeling Sabrina's gaze he looked up and when his eyes met hers he smiled. She quickly looked away, feeling the heat in her face creep down to her neck.

"Hell-ooo? Earth to Miz Meadows!" A hand was waved in front of Sabrina's face. 

Annoyed Sabrina pushed the hand away from her face. "Don't wave your hand in my face like I'm an animal." She snapped.

"I've just gotta' fix ya makeup a bit." The girl who belonged to the hand explained. She wasn't Sabrina's personal makeup artist and Sabrina couldn't help but eye her warily. She was in her early twenties and wearing threadbare jeans with frayed cuffs hanging over her boots and a hot pink t-shirt was covered by a beige corduroy jacket resplendent with a darker brown faux fur collar at the top. Her hair was blonde with pink sections, more than streaks, and a wad of chewing gum was in her mouth. Sabrina thought the clothes looked like they'd probably come from Goodwill or some other charity and she wouldn't even use them to clean the floors in her home- if she cleaned floors that is. Looking at her Sabrina wondered how on earth anyone would ever hire her to do makeup, entrust her with making the stars of their show look good, when she couldn't even dress herself decently?

"Ya looked like ya were a million miles away Sabrina." The makeup girl commented as she dusted a light translucent powder down the bridge of Sabrina's nose, on her forehead and her chin. A minute later she stood back to admire her handiwork with the satisfaction of an artist having created their magnum opus. "What lipstick do ya use?"

"Um...today it was a Max Factor Lipfinity one...but don't ask me what colour." Sabrina responded. 

"Ya know ya feel really warm Miz Meadows...ya gotta' be careful not to sweat too much or your foundation will just slide off ya face like a mudslide down a hill." The makeup girl offered.

"I'll try to keep that in mind." Sabrina said sarcastically. She was still feeling incredibly flustered and out of sorts due to her erotic daydream. Over the years since their secret dalliance Sabrina had thought of Alex fondly and remembered their time together with affection. She'd kept up with the news of his successes and projects but the only gossip she'd heard had been from the mouths of friends and colleagues as she didn't think there were any creatures she could hate more than those of gossip writers and paparazzi so she kept away from the gossip magazines like they her own personal kryptonite. The only time she read anything was when it was about herself and she was alerted to it by someone. However not once had she dreamed, or daydreamed as the case may be, of a specific sexual incident, let alone so vividly, like today.

Lori, who had obviously arrived while Sabrina was in the midst of her erotic memory, gave her co-star an apologetic grin. "My boyfriend was in one of his talkative moods and it took me forever to escape him and get out of the apartment." She explained. What she left unsaid was that Carl's talkative mood was due to drugs and that he wanted to talk and philosophize. 

Around one or two o'clock in the morning Carl had woken up and then woken her up by turning the lights on so he could get dressed. When he saw her peering at him sleepily he looked a little guilty. "I know you hate this babe and I hate it too but I just have to score some crack now. I'm feeling all restless and sweaty from withdrawals." Lori had shaken her head slowly, not believing he was feeling guilty about needing the drug but rather because he'd been caught going out for a fix in the middle of the night. "To be having withdrawals you need to actually stop having the drugs for more than half a day." She'd snapped cuttingly before rolling over and tightly closing her eyes. She felt him stop by her side of the bed and rub her back briefly before leaving the apartment. Feeling more comfortable alone in the bed she'd drifted off back to sleep almost straight away. Then in the morning when she'd gotten up, had her shower and a bowl of cereal with a herbal tee for breakfast- feeling a bit bad about actually eating after seeing the amazing body on Sabrina and even on the extras in the show too- Carl had returned, full of beams and annoyed that his girlfriend was going off to work.

"Interesting excuse. And when you forget your lines today will you be telling me that the dog ate your script?" Sabrina asked snippily. Shaking her head slightly she walked over to the table where an urn full of boiling water, bowls of tea, coffee and sugar, a carton of cream, a plate of pastries and croissants, a fruit platter and a couple of pitchers of ice-cold water were sitting. The food from the bakery looked incredibly tempting but Sabrina had made a promise to herself that while she was filming she would stick to her very strict diet and so she poured herself a glass of water and sipped slowly from it. 

"What is her problem?" The makeup artist demanded of Lori, glaring at Sabrina's back. "Mebbe she's going through menopause...she'd be about the right age I reckon."

"Oh she's all right." Lori defended the older woman, somewhat to her own surprise, despite the fact that she prided herself on loyalty being one of her best traits. Perhaps it was that sense of loyalty that had kept her in a relationship that was long past its use-by-date. She sat down in a seat next to the table where the makeup artist had set down her tools of the trade, with there not being enough time for Lori to go back in to the dressing room to get her makeup done in there. Luckily Alex hadn't been too upset or angry at Lori being tardy. 

"So ya sure are a lucky gal working with two hunks like Paul and Brock. I just get to do their makeup but ya get to know them better I'm sure." The makeup artist said as she deftly applied primer to Lori's blank face before she could add foundation. She snatched a quick bite of the apple Danish she had on a paper plate on the table before selecting Maybelline's Dream Matte Mouse which would go on quickly and she wouldn't have to wait for it to dry before adding the rest of Lori's makeup. 

Lori couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable considering the fact that the night before she'd had a masturbation fantasy about Paul. "They do both seem very nice." She agreed.

"And cute!" The girl added with a laugh as she deftly added MAC eye shadow in 'Stars 'N Rockets' to Lori's eyelids. 

"That too." Lori said. "I'm sorry this is going to sound incredibly rude but I can't remember your name?"

"It's Kimmi." The makeup artist said and then she lowered her voice. "It's just a pity that Brock bats for the other team."

"Are you serious?" Lori asked in shock.

"The rumour has been doing the rounds of Hollywood for years. It's never been confirmed of course and he's very discreet about his sexual preference- so much so that nobody has ever seen anything to authenticate it." Kimmi said as she swiped Diorshow Black Out mascara on Lori's lashes. 

"But...but he's been married to Caitlyn Manners for about eight years and I can't imagine he'd want to look anywhere else being married to such a stunning woman who was the face of so many products. In the era of the supermodel she was up there with other big names like Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington- I think Christy was even in the bridal party. She was a supermodel in the days where supermodels weren't spending all their time snorting up drugs like Kate Moss-"

"But look at what the drugs scandal and the subsequent rehabilitation stay did for her career. She's earning more post drugs scandal than she was before that." Kimmi said with a sardonic grin. "Anyway I'm not denying that Caitlyn is a gorgeous woman but most people are pretty sure that their marriage is a sham, just a front to stop the gay rumours."

Lori wrinkled her nose. "But if that was the case why would Caitlyn go along with that? A woman like her could easily have any man she wanted."

Kimmi selected a glossy lip stain and with a lip brush applied it to Lori's lips. "That is the big question...although there are many different theories...okay, you're done. I'm sure Mr. Hammond is ready to get on with shooting for the day."



The Rich and The Famous Ch. 06



By just after seven o'clock the day's shooting schedule had been finished to the satisfaction of Alex and there was a mass exodus from the set although Alex, ever the perfectionist, went through the script for the following day as well as the weekly schedule. Every time he sat down in a chair with "DIRECTOR" on the back he couldn't suppress a thrill running through his body, delight that he was where he wanted to be, doing the sort of thing he'd dreamt of for so long. His parents hadn't been much supportive of Alex's ambition but he knew it was born more of a fear that he wouldn't be able to make a living in the dog-eat-dog world of Hollywood than anything else and they'd urged him, as a senior in high school contemplating his future, to have something to fall back on. So he'd applied, halfheartedly, to a couple of colleges as well as to film school and he'd spent the time waiting for acceptance walking around like there was a price on his head: he didn't want to be anything other than a director! So whenever he sat down in a canvas director's chair it reminded him of the fact that his dream had come true, that he'd really and truly made it. In this industry it was only the very best who made it. 

"Alex." A man flopped down in the seat next to the director, a thick folder under his arm and a nearly empty Styrofoam coffee cup in the other.

"Hmm?" Alex didn't look up and scribbled a note in the margin as well as a reminder to check with the people in props. He knew that sometimes people- such as those in props- got their backs up and felt like he was criticizing him, telling them how to do their job. The last thing Alex ever wanted to do was get anyone offside but at the end of the day it was his name that was put to the final product and he didn't ever want to claim responsibility for something he was not proud of. In turn he hoped that the same respect would be afforded to him. Making him perhaps even more of a perfectionist than usual, if that was possible, was the fact that this television show was a huge deal: he wanted to make a hit show in a competitive market and he also knew that the network were banking on it being a big success and making millions off it, a belief which was only bolstered by the presence of the man sitting beside him. 

"I hear next week you're planning on shooting in Malibu." Jonathon Linton said. 

"You heard right." Alex responded, still not looking up. Next week they were due to shoot in Malibu for a wedding sequence with a twist. 

"Have you enlisted the help of local law enforcement officials?" Jonathon threw the empty beverage in the general direction of a bin as Alex finally looked up. It missed by a long way.

"Yes." Alex said sharply. He wasn't adverse to criticism- especially constructive criticism- but something about Jonathon and all he stood for rubbed him up the wrong way. He sometimes wished he'd put up more of a fight when he was told by one of the senior men at the network that he'd be having someone to act as a liaison between the production team and the network itself. Although it wouldn't have made any difference. 

"Is it really necessary to shoot it on a beach? Couldn't it be done on the set- special effects are marvelous these days-"

"You don't say, thank you so much for enlightening me. And yes, I am sure it needs to be shot where I am shooting it." Alex said coldly. 

Jonathon popped a stick of chewing gum in his mouth. "Nicotine gum- I'm trying to give up smoking."

"I've heard it kills." Alex muttered.

"You know we're trying to keep this show as much under wraps as we can until the last possible moment and I'm wondering whether it is too smart to take all our stars out on the beach in front of everyone to film a scene." Jonathon said, locking his hands behind his neck and leaning back slightly.

"Our stars?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Since I've been assigned to oversee this show I think our is accurate. If you insist on going out to Malibu to do this thing-"

"I do." Alex looked back down at his script and notes.

"Then make sure there is good security, keep all cameras as far back as possible, use umbrellas to cover stars at every moment they're not filming, pull out all stops." Jonathon ordered.

Alex bit back a sharp reply- how he wished he could tell this man to mind his own business and leave the business of directing to someone who knew what he was actually doing, but for the moment at least, that would only make things worse and Jonathon was a necessary evil. As much as Alex didn't like butting in and pointing out things he considered did not fit his vision he also didn't like for people who weren't filmmakers to try and tell him what he should, or shouldn't, do. 

"Good man, I knew we could see eye to eye and work together on this." Jonathon said, a trace of the English public schoolboy in his voice. He stood up and for a moment it seemed like he was almost going to clap Alex on the back but his hand hovered in the air for a few seconds before he put it firmly back in his trouser pocket. 

Alex continued going through his script.

Jonathon started to walk across the floor but then he hesitated. "One last thing Alex, just so you know, there are some at the network who are worried that you won't be able to do television, let alone serialized television, as well as you could do movies. Add in the fact that we've missed out on some damn good shows like "Lost" and "House" and we really, really need this to be a success."

"And you think I don't want that?" Alex was astounded: were these execs even human?

Jonathon Linton didn't respond, he continued walking and a moment later Alex heard a door somewhere shut with a bang. He put the script aside, not unviolently, and swore. His concentration had been ruined by his very brief conversation. 

*****

When Alex pulled into his driveway a little while later he was still feeling annoyed. Who did Jonathon think he was to even suggest that he had some kind of important role to play in the television production? It burned him up. He parked his BMW Roadster- the car his wife persisted in calling his mid life crisis car- and felt the vibrations from way too loud music run through him. His stepchildren persisted in listening to what Alex only saw as rubbishy noise, whatever had happened to true rock geniuses like the Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd? It was lucky that in this neighbourhood people weren't living on top of one another or else he'd have complaint after complaint made about the loud 'music', the rowdy teenagers, the underage drinking and god only knew what else the apples of his wife's eye got up to? 

He slowly got out of the car. Once going home from a stressful day had been a good thing; he'd feel the tension leave his shoulders and neck and his body begin to relax almost the moment he walked through the front door. Then he'd get changed into more comfortable clothes, pop a beer and sprawl out on the couch with the sports channels on constant rotation. Now he didn't get that some sense of unwinding when he got home, even if it was to an empty and strangely quiet home. Contrary to what he'd let Sabrina think at their lunch meeting not too long ago his home life wasn't exactly deliriously happy. He'd always loved the world of acting but he didn't think he'd ever had a time when he didn't want to leave the set for his home. Until the last few years that was. 

He'd made it almost as far as the lounge room when his wife rushed him, throwing herself bodily into him and hugging him so tightly he could barely breathe. "Alex, I've had the best news ever!"

Alex untangled her arms from around his neck. "Your children have decided to move to England to live with their father." 

Julia pouted. Someone must have told her at one time that her pout was endearing and that acting like a spoilt brat would make men give her whatever she wanted because now it was a frequent expression. Alex was always tempted to remind her of the mom's story about her face possibly getting stuck if the wind changed. "Not funny Alex, those kids adore you." Alex didn't bother to correct her and she didn't seem to notice as she continued on. "No, Donatella Versace wants to dress me personally!"

"For what?" Alex asked. Julia had followed him into the kitchen and he flipped through the mail while he waited. 

"The awards season. I just know your show is going to be a big hit and since I'm Mrs. Alex Hammond I'll be in the limelight as much as you will." Julia said excitedly.

"Isn't it a bit early to be thinking about that?" Alex said as he opened a credit card bill. He didn't bother reading the item descriptions and prices individually and just skipped to the end of the bill where the total was listed. He had to blink and check the number twice to be sure he hadn't read it wrong. "Damn it Julia what have you been buying?"

"Nothing major, just clothes and stuff for the kids...but don't change the subject Alex. I'll have to fly to meet Donatella in Europe in the next few weeks and I thought, while I'm so close to France it would be nice to perhaps spend a few days relaxing on the Cote d' Azur. I'll make a booking at the Hotel du Cap. I could do with a break." Julia told him.

Alex was incredulous. "A break from doing what exactly? Shopping? Well my wallet would thank you for that Julia but," he waved the credit card bill around "I'd be paying for your hard earned vacation at one of the most expensive areas possible!"

Another patented Julia pout. "Darling don't be like that."

"Julia you can't just keep shopping like this. I'm not made of money." Alex told her.

Julia snorted. "Right. Your dead broke." She mocked.

Alex didn't actually know how much he was worth or how much he had in the bank or even where all his money was even kept. He had no problem with spending money on luxurious items, after all what was the point of being tight-fisted with money and just letting the dollars mount up until you died and someone else inherited your estate, but he thought Julia went to extremes with his money. In the time he'd known her he didn't even remember her ever saying "Honey how about I get this one?" or even "Do you want me to help pay for that?" What annoyed him the most, however, was the liberal way in which she handed out money to her two children, his stepchildren. They only had to hold out a hand and she'd be filling it with cash. Both had their own gold credit cards, the bills for which came straight to Alex. 

"I'm off to play tennis at Greta's place but just so you know Hannah's school fees are due this week." Julia told him, the fact that he'd just gotten annoyed at the extent of her spending going over her head. It was another one of her supposedly endearing qualities that she was very happy to sit back and let her man spoil her rotten. 

Alex nodded although he did think he'd only just paid the same fees a few weeks ago. No doubt that contribution was one of their many "voluntary" fees. And she was meant to be going to Europe over the summer with her school but Alex didn't even want to guess at how much that would cost him. Funny that the children's real dad paid through the nose in alimony but Alex had no idea where that went other than being pretty certain it wasn't to Hannah or Jaime. 

Julia held her face out for a kiss and Alex aimed a kiss at her cheek but she turned her head so that it landed on the corner of her mouth instead. "I'll be home before you go to sleep." She said. Her meaning was clear: she didn't want him falling asleep and ducking out on his marital duties. 

"Okay." Alex said. 

After his wife left for her tennis game where more martinis or cosmopolitan's would be drunk than tennis balls hit, Alex headed for his bedroom to have a long hot shower before doing some more work on the script. He still wasn't completely happy with the interaction between mother and daughter in tomorrow's script. He was almost in his room when the loud music was abruptly turned off and he sent a thank you heavenward but one noise was simply swapped for another.

"I'm telling Mom about you Hannah. God she's going to be so disgusted to know her daughter is such a slut." Jaime was yelling.

"You're such a tattletale! And I'm so not a slut." Hannah argued.

"You so are." Jaime mocked his sister's tone. "Man you make Paris Hilton look like a fucking nun."

"At least I'm not the one who might be held back next year. Does Mom even know that you're failing so badly they had to invent a whole new range of grades- the Z grade for total retards?" Hannah questioned.

"She knows already loser." Jaime said and Alex could imagine him rolling his eyes as he did for pretty much every sentence uttered by his sister, mother and stepfather. 

"If you tell Mom I'm going to tell her about you being suspended last week. And maybe she'd like to know about you shooting up in the lounge room the other day." Hannah suggested.

"Whatever. Like she doesn't know." Jaime told her.

"As if she'd know, if she did she'd totally kick your ass." Hannah disagreed.

Alex shut the bedroom door and leant against it, then stripped off his clothes and headed for the bathroom. He couldn't help but notice that the two teenagers hadn't suggested telling him instead of just their mom, probably because they knew how much they could get away with when it came to Julia and that he'd not be so lenient. Alex had always wanted to have children of his own and he truly believed he would be a good father but, not long into their marriage, Julia had changed her mind about having any more children and booked herself in for a hysterectomy, refusing to even talk about the decision with her new husband. Alex had realized then that Julia had never had any intention of having more children and he was bitterly disappointed. So he had determined to be a good stepfather to Hannah and Jaime; he knew many children would resent a stepparent trying to replace a real parent so he'd attempted to be a mixture of a friend, a role model and, to an extent, a father so that both children would be happy and well adjusted. It had been a completely useless endeavor. If Alex tried to put his foot down and make house rules- such as there would be no underage alcohol drinking in his house or that if either of the kids wanted to have more than a few guests over at the one time they'd obtain permission- he was simply wasting his breath and the teenagers did what they wanted. When Alex wanted to make important decisions- such as if they were failing school they wouldn't be given money to go out until their grades improved- it had made no difference as their mother had funded them. After a few occasions when Julia had overruled him, often in front of her children, he'd decided not to bother- they were her children so she could deal with them. 

Alex got into the shower in the master bedroom's bathroom, and when the hot water hit his shoulders and back he felt himself, finally, begin to relax. The conversation from his stepchildren was no longer audible and he sighed heavily. Various teachers, headmasters, school counselors, sporting coaches, Girl Guide leaders and the like had told Julia about her kids being nothing like the little angels she imagined them to be. She chose to stick her head in the sand and believe her darling Hannah and handsome Jaime wouldn't ever do anything so shocking. Alex, on the other hand, had no such delusions: the children were spoilt rotten and smoked, drank, took drugs, stole and slept around to their heart's content. It was kind of ironic that they lived the stereotypical rock and roll lifestyle of their father. Jaime and Hannah had spent the first twelve and ten years respectively living in London with their mother and father, where they'd been spoilt rotten and for five or six years had been on the road touring with their father, Bevan, who was the lead singer of a very popular band. Julia had only been seventeen when she first met Bevan and fell in love with him and when she fell pregnant at twenty he'd proposed. A couple of months after the birth of their son Jaime they'd had a hugely lavish wedding. Her parents had been horrified about their baby girl taking up with Bevan who didn't have the best reputation but Julia was stubborn and she liked the idea of being the partner of a rock star. Prior to meeting Julia Bevan rivaled Gene Simmons from "Kiss" for shagging as many girls as humanely possible but after a couple of years of marriage- and a second child to join the first- Bevan went back to his old habits. Julia had put up with it for awhile before deciding enough was enough and taking her two kids back to her homeland of America where, two and a half years later, she and Alex had married. It was just unfortunate that, at least according to Alex, they hadn't lived happily ever after. In fact he had an appointment the next week with his lawyer to talk about his options for divorcing Julia. 

Alex lathered his hair with shampoo and waited a minute or so before rinsing it off and then rubbing a hand over his face. Through his closed eyes he saw Julia's furious face when he got around to telling her that he wanted out of the relationship. Then Julia's suntanned face with hazel eyes and masses of blonde hair surrounding her face like a halo morphed into a different face, one with a peaches and cream complexion, bright green eyes and long silky straight brunette hair and a dazzling smile. Her name was Amanda and while she wasn't the first girl he'd fallen in love with she was the first he'd had sex with but unfortunately it was only a one night stand; despite Alex professing his undying love for her at the time she had been kind but firm in explaining that things would go no further and that they had to keep a professional working relationship between the two of them. Even now, nearly thirty years later, he felt himself harden in the shower as he remembered that one magical night:

Alex, as the assistant to the director, had been working very hard. It was true that all the crew worked hard but not many were subject to the late night phone calls for crazy requests or just to bounce ideas or observations off that Alex was. If it hadn't of been such an amazing opportunity Alex would have been tempted to tell the man where to shove it but as it was he knew that scoring such a job in his first summer holidays of film school was incredibly lucky. Amanda was one of the three lead women, all of whom were playing sixteen year old girls despite being in their early twenties. It was the kind of slasher flick where the women wore as little as possible so Amanda spent much of her time in bikinis or short shorts and tight tank tops and Alex, like almost all men around the place, couldn't help but notice her. He never dreamt that she'd notice him back though. 

"...and tell that stupid bitch that I asked for a blonde last time and I got a damn red head. And no fake blonde's either okay? All I have to do is look down at their pussies to see what their natural colour is." Matt, the director, was telling Alex on the Friday night three weeks into the film shoot. 

"Yes Matt." Alex parroted. He, like any other member of the crew, knew the best approach was to agree with Matt and humour him at all costs!

"Right...well what are you still doing here?" Matt demanded about a minute later, looking, for all intents and purposes, as though he didn't even know who Alex was.

"Um..." Alex mumbled.

"Well go on, get outta' here. The weekend is upon us." Matt said as he walked off.

Alex started to walk away but he was intercepted by Amanda who asked him whether he wanted to come over for a drink later that night. Before he could say that he would love to she added that she was missing New York and she was sure he was missing Texas too and he'd be doing her a favour keeping her company on a Friday night where back home she would have been hitting the hottest club with her friends. Of course Alex said yes!




The Rich and The Famous Ch. 06



Once home Alex had showered and dressed in jeans and a shirt, aiming for casual clothes that wouldn't let her think he counted the night as a date rather than just two out-of-towner's keeping one another company. It was a warm night and the moment he left the air conditioned motel room he was staying in his shirt was stuck to his skin again. He drove to her beachside house, looking out of place in his battered old jeep, and when she'd answered the door he'd been momentarily taken aback at seeing her in more clothes than he'd done over the past three weeks. He'd taken a moment to appreciate the irony of this fact since she was wearing a sundress with brightly coloured flowers splashed about on it before she was inviting him in. 

"This is a nice place." Alex said, glancing around.

Amanda shrugged. "I guess its okay for a rented place... but you'd think they'd pay me enough to get something a bit more luxurious." She complained.

Alex laughed. "You haven't seen the motel where I'm staying have you? Believe me if you did you'd appreciate this place a lot more."

Amanda smiled. She had a dazzling smile; anyone who came into contact with it was rarely able to resist giving her whatever she wanted. "Is that an invitation?" She teased.

It was about then that Alex had fallen in love with her. Before that he'd admired her and thought she was a stunning woman but hadn't dreamt that developing feelings for her would be anything other than a waste of time. 

"I did think about flying back to the east coast for the weekend but I decided not to..." Amanda said as she led him out to the deck overlooking the beach. 

For an hour or maybe more- Alex had lost track of the time- they talked, talking about anything and everything and getting on like they'd known each other forever. Then Amanda shook her head, "God I'm such a bad host. You look like your roasting out here!"

"No, no I'm fine. I'm from Texas remember? We know all about heat there. And with the sun down it's not so bad..." Alex hastened to re-assure her. 

"Okay, I should have said that I'm too hot out here." Amanda responded. 

When they went inside and he felt the cool breeze of the air conditioning he realized that it probably was too warm outside. They'd had a couple of alcoholic drinks but he wasn't drunk so why, in his many fantasies later, he couldn't remember how they got from the lounge room to the bedroom, from talking to ripping each other's clothes off. 

Amanda took the lead which was good because Alex wasn't exactly sure what he should be doing, and he was worried about doing the wrong thing and having her laugh at him- although she was much too nice a woman to do something like that. 

"Do you trust me?" Amanda purred softly as she licked from his earlobe slowly along his jaw to his lips. 

Alex closed his eyes and breathed in sharply. "Yes!"

Amanda smiled seductively at him and began walking backwards toward her four-poster bed. He followed willingly.

"Lie down like a good boy," She prompted him, standing to the side as he climbed onto the bed and did her bidding. 

"Aren't you joining me?" he pouted, confused, as she walked to the dresser near the foot of the bed. But he stayed where he was bid, lying on his back.

"Soon, darling, soon. You must be patient," Amanda answered as she reached into the dresser drawer, and pulled out four silk ties and turned back to the bed. 

Alex's gaze darted to the material in her hands and then back to her eyes.

"You said you trust me. Shhhh." She slowly approached. As she reached his left hand, she took it gently in her own and stretched it up over his head. He only resisted for a second, perhaps only an instinctual reaction. He then gave himself over, allowing Amanda to place his arm in an outstretched position and bound his wrist, not too tightly, to prevent his hand from slipping through anytime soon. She then attached the tie to the corner post at a comfortable angle, again securing it soundly. 

Amanda placed her lips against his upturned wrist and began trailing kisses across his arm, lightly licking, suckling, and nipping my way past his elbow, up his biceps, across his shoulder, teasing his clavicle. 

Alex felt himself moan deeply, almost a growl reverberating in his throat. 

She worked her way across to his right side, repeating her path but in reverse, teeth nipping at his clavicle and his shoulder, tongue running along his biceps and elbow, lips suckling at his wrist and palm. The procedure was repeated with the second silk tie, but Alex didn't hesitate even slightly this time, and his breathing was ragged and rapid as he struggled to remain passive and act cool despite his heightened desire. 

Amanda laughed softly and turned her attention to his face. "I see you are liking my plan so far," She whispered to him as she lowered my head to his chest. 

"Oh, Christ," he gasped as her teeth bit at his right nipple, her tongue swirling around it. With slow, teasing motions, she moved her mouth down his side, skimming his ribs, nibbling his hipbone, licking his outer thigh, kissing his calf. As she removed the third tie from my neck and wrapped it around his ankle, she suckled each toe gently into my mouth, one by one, before tying his leg to the corner post at the foot of the bed and attached the binding to it and then repeating the process with the other leg. 

Amanda kissed his chest, slowly working her way down towards his navel where she dipped her tongue into his belly button. She looked up at him and what she saw must have pleased her as she continued working her way down his body. When she drew close to his groin she flicked her tongue out, caressing his balls lightly, and Alex felt his body spasm in response. 

She reached her hand out to his rigid staff, stroking it softly with her fingertips, tickling at his taut skin. She placed soft feathery kisses on his shaft, first on one side, then the tip, then the other side, at varying angles, always with the lightest breath of a touch. 

As he thrust his pelvis up to encourage more contact, he twisted and squirmed against his bindings. Amanda knew she was driving him crazy and she smiled at him devilishly as she licked my tongue up the length of his cock, lingering at the tip with a sensual swirling motion.

"Amanda, please," he whispered, drawing her gaze to his face. "I don't know how much more I can take..."

Whether it was his plea or whether she just didn't want him to come before the main event she couldn't deny either of them any further. She took his engorged cock into her mouth, hearing him cry out as she did. She swirled her tongue up and down his cock, occasionally biting him gently, making him cry out even louder before she couldn't take it any longer and took him out of her mouth. 

She lowered her vagina down onto it. They cried out in unison as, with a strong upward thrust, he filled her completely. She ground down against him, taking that entire magnificent shaft into her. 

Amanda closed her eyes and began to ride him, raising and lowering herself in an exquisite rhythm that thrilled the two of them. 

She lowered her hands and grasped her breasts, caressing, squeezing. 

Alex felt heat running through him, his entire body drenched in sweat, as the gorgeous actress rode him, and all of a sudden his body bucked and he could contain himself no longer; he came with an almost primeval cry. On top of him Amanda wasn't far behind- her orgasm exploded as she clenched at his cock buried deep within her and she voiced her pleasure as loudly as he had done. 

She collapsed against his chest, her hair spilling across him, and they lay there together as their breathing gradually eased and returned to a more normal pattern. Alex had looked down at the beautiful woman lying there beside him and wondered how he'd gotten so lucky. He raised his head from the bed to close the distance between them and kissed her gently. In his mind Alex was envisaging a future with Amanda, despite the fact that they lived so far apart, so he had been distraught to find that she wasn't having the same fantasies.

In the shower Alex moaned out loud. It was astonishing that, given the amount of women he'd dated and slept with, that that night still remained the most amazing sex he'd ever had!