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| . . . A story by Charlotte |
| Sunday, February the 15th 1987 �Damn!� Reese almost jumped on her sofa when she saw what time it was; already 11.30pm� Steve had said he would come and get her at 7.30 tomorrow morning, so she had to go to bed as soon as possible. Once again she had spent a lot longer than she thought on her work. She had brought some back home and was quietly doing some translation with some music. She had even had dinner in front of the TV, stopping once in a while to watch it. She put all her work aside, turned the TV off and went to bed as quickly as she could. What time would she have to wake up tomorrow? She sighed and set up the alarm clock for 6am. She knew in advance it wouldn�t be enough sleep and she silently scorned herself for not being careful enough. She�d need a while to look good tomorrow, that would be for sure; she couldn�t allow herself to look messy and sleepy; it just wasn�t possible. She let out a painful moan when the music started again, about six hours later. She definitely hadn�t had enough sleep and she didn�t want to get out of bed� But as the minutes went on, she started focusing on the day and what might happen in a few hours. That helped her and she got out of bed at once, not paying attention to the fact that she was suddenly freezing cold. She ran in the bathroom and grabbed her dressing gown, for once not stopping in front of the huge poster behind the door. She got to the kitchen and turned the music on after opening the blinds. Music was the best way to help her waking up and she couldn�t stand silence when she was on her own, so she always had music on. It could come from the small hi-fi in the kitchen, the one in her bedroom, the TV� She needed it! But she was too nervous to eat anything, so after playing with her cereal for about five minutes, she finally decided to throw it all away and went in the bathroom. She could always have a cup of tea before leaving; maybe a piece of toast too. After about forty minutes spent locked in the bathroom, she got out and went in her bedroom. She got dressed � all in black; a top quite tight for that time and flared trousers that she loved � put her make-up on and stared at her reflection in the big mirror that stood in a corner of her room. Reese Conelly was a quite tall and slender pretty 23-year old woman. Her eyes were green and her long hair between light brown and ginger � the color being completely natural as she always pointed it out! She was often dressed in dark colors that struck against her fair skin covered with freckles. Yes she was of Irish origins � most of her family was still in Ireland � and she was proud of it! She took great care of her fair skin and long hair. Even if she did wear make-up, she liked being rather natural� She was staring at herself and was pretty satisfied with the way she looked that morning, even if she hadn�t slept enough. There are days when you find yourself looking very good, and others when you think that everything is wrong. Well, fortunately, it was a good day for Reese. She wondered for a while what she could do with her hair but finally decided to let it down, and she was happy to see that the natural waves in it looked perfect too. It surely was going to be a great day. After checking that everything was alright a hundredth time, she even had time to get a nice cup of tea and a little something more to eat. At 7.32 � a bit late as she noticed it � someone knocked on her door. �You�re late Stevie�� she said, trying to look serious, but finally gave him a big smile. �Forgive me princess, there was a little traffic jam; otherwise I would have knocked at 7.30 precisely!� Steve always liked being on time, he couldn�t stand being late when someone was waiting for him. But he and Reese had known each other for years now, and he finally understood that she didn�t mind him being two minutes late. �Alright; you got every� Wow!� �What?� she asked as she turned back to him, worried. �You look great today Reese� You look even better than great!� �C�mon, stop that; I look dreadful. I had about six hours of sleep, which for me isn�t enough�� �Think whatever you want; you do look great!� he insisted. �Be careful, people might think that you want to set him on fire�� �Yeah right� Oh shut up and let�s go, I can�t wait!!!� �Can I get a piece of toast? I didn�t have enough to eat.� �Whatever you want, but let�s go!� she said, grabbing the bread and her bag too, and pushing him towards the door. They went into his car � where the first thing she did, even before putting her seat belt, was to turn the music on � and they left her street. Steve couldn�t help looking at her and smiling. �What?!� she finally asked. �Nothing� I just think you�re very cute. You should see yourself. I bet you would be jumping all the time if you didn�t force yourself to behave!� �Stop making fun of me! You don�t seem to realize what it represents for me�� �I do! Why do you think I tried so hard to get you there??? It wasn�t that easy you know�� �I�m sure, and I�ll never be able to thank you enough if you can do what you promised me�� she said as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. His smile grew wider. �Well, I wouldn�t have said it if it wasn�t for sure� You�re gonna do it baby!� He accelerated as she let out a little moan of joy. ****** She had never ever been to movie studios in Hollywood, even if she had now lived for a few years in Los Angeles! She had never had the opportunity to and thought she never would. Those things only happen to the others� And this time, she would not be on a tourist tour; it would be for real, people would be working there� She grew more and more impatient as Steve went through the streets, getting closer at any corner. She was so excited that she didn�t feel sleepy at all anymore. She was trying to figure out how long it would take before they arrived, but the more she looked, the more streets there were; it seemed never-ending� She finally sat back in her seat and tried to stop being so anxious. Thank God� Steve sighed, I thought I�d end up asking her to get out of the car� But he knew he couldn�t blame her. He bet that the day he had called her to announce her that he would be allowed to get her on the set, she had spent a long time jumping in every room of her apartment. She was like that; a real child sometimes� That�s what he loved so much with her; she could be very serious � about her work for instance � and also joke about everything with him. There was a silence in the car and then she finally asked. �Are we getting nearer�?� �Yes we are!� he replied with a big smile. �Give me a few more minutes before you blow up baby.� She sighed and concentrated on the landscape again. The streets turned into fields, and she knew they were definitely getting closer. And then she saw the big gates with the �Culver Studios� sigh on top� So that was where he was, where Steve had managed to get her. He was the son of a very rich family � lucky him � but he liked doing little jobs and seemed pretty good at everything � something that had always fascinated her� Presently he was working for movie studios, something to do with the cameras, or whatever it was. She didn�t really understand it all and thought she�d better not ask him to explain in details because she�d get even more confused� Her heart beating increased even more when Steve drove down the alley � after showing his card and the special permission he had for her. ** Oh my God, I just can�t believe I�m actually inside the �Culver Studios� as they�re called� It doesn�t really look amazing or unusual from here, but I bet it will soon be different. Oh please, I hope this permission is a real one and that I�ll be able to go on the set as a guest, as he told me� Not that I don�t trust him of course, but it seems so impossible! I�m so excited again; I can�t control it� I feel my heart beating going so fast that I�m actually worried my heart will explode soon. I must relax; I really have to! They�ll make me leave if I can�t control myself� Reese, you must control yourself and breathe slowly, alright? You don�t wanna spoil it all because you suddenly get crazy and hysterical, do you? No way� Everything seems to be fine for the moment, and it must go on this way. Oops! I wasn�t really expecting that sharp turn; seems like Steve doesn�t really know his way around here� He�s smiling at me. I know he can read in me like in an open book. I can�t believe he got a job here, and I can�t believe that he got me a permission. He�s great; I love this guy! Oh, is that where we stop? Apparently yes. He�s nodding at me in a there-you-are-princess way, so I guess that�s it. ** They got out of the car and Steve�s smile was bigger than ever. Reese suddenly felt her stomach shrinking at the thought that she was very close to realizing a dream that millions people had� Yet it wasn�t a very pleasant feeling at that moment. Her legs felt weak and she leaned against the car. �Hey Reese, you feeling alright?� �Yeah, I�m alright� I guess all the stress is finally coming out� Oh my God I feel so nervous and weak. I should have eaten more this morning�� she sighed. �I really hope I don�t faint�� �Don�t worry. And anyway, they surely have things to drink and eat there. I�ll get you something if you need it. Now let�s go!� he said, pulling her softly. �They told me that they�d start shooting around 8.30am. We might have time to see him, if I can find Tony first�� �Who�s Tony?� she asked. �The bodyguard I was told to see for your permission. They really are checking everything you know�� �I�m sure they don�t let just anyone approach him like this� I might even be searched, who knows?� �Don�t worry about that, you don�t look like a terrorist�� he said with a smile. �But that�s exactly the problem with those guys,� she said as she did her best to try and follow him, �You never expect them to be terrorists!� All of a sudden, remembering who she was about to meet, the word �terrorist� scared her and she decided to stop talking before one of the security guard had her thrown out of the place� She ran a bit to be by his side. �Do I look alright?� she asked, feeling more and more nervous. �Reese, didn�t I tell you when I saw you that you looked great?!� �But, you might just have said that out of politeness� I never know with you�� �Shut up, you look fantastic Reese, alright? Now relax, otherwise you�ll scare him away!� �Scare who away?� asked a big voice behind them. They both turned around, and whereas a smile appeared on Steve�s face, Reese was confused. They were facing a big tall black man who was wearing a �Security� armband. He sort of scared her at first, because it seemed he had come out of nowhere and overheard their discussion. But as Steve started talking to him and even showed him the permission, she slowly understood that he might be the Tony he was talking about earlier on. She relaxed when she looked at the sort of card he wore around his neck, which clearly said �Tony�. After checking that everything was in order, he nicely asked them to follow him. �Michael is waiting for you�� Those words suddenly froze Reese. So she indeed was going to meet him; that was for sure. He knew she was coming, and he was even apparently waiting� Why couldn�t they run so that he wouldn�t have to wait for much longer??? Anyway, after thinking straight for a second she realized that anyway she wouldn�t have been able to run. It took them a few minutes, but to Reese it seemed an eternity. Finally they arrived in front of a huge trailer, like those you only see on movie sets! �Wait for me here,� Tony said quite firmly. She wouldn�t have disagreed with him anyway. What again seemed like an eternity � but was only a few seconds � went on before he came out again, but he wasn�t alone� |