Private Dancer

Author's Note: This story is completely fictional and did not happen. All characters and names are fictional and were made up.

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Los Angeles, California

The sound of humming echoed through out the room, coming directly from the air conditioner unit in the window. Among the office was an empty desk filled with various paper work in front of a black leather chair that remained empty. Across the room, a man walked around patiently with his hands shoved into his pockets. Soon, the day would commence with a meeting that had been in place all week. Great anticipation had been built up for this moment. It all began with a phone call a few weeks ago with an offer to an actress who had been out of work for some time now. Someone who could be the candidate for an immediate career revival. The director in his office had all the confidence in the world for his grand plan.

Larry White was a hungry man in the show business, starving to make success out of his name. At forty-five years old, the man had a strong career that began in cinematography from his early twenties to his forties, spending two decades before he was prepared to take his seat among the director's chair. White was coming off a major hit of success after directing three episodes for a hit television crime drama series last year. The television show was a hit and a demand was created for the new director. With his name generating buzz within the industry, a network offered him a deal for his own television series as the main producer and director. Negotiations went on for an entire month as Larry fought for artistic control, making sure that everything in his contract guaranteed that he would have full control of his creation.

His style of directing was noted for a strong and provocative sense of sexual themes and gritty urban settings of Neo-Noir. Critics had began to compare Larry White's style to that of Abel Ferrara, noting a similar sense of sleazy themes. The fact was, Larry did indeed take an influence from Ferrara's film work. Before earning his name in directorial and production credits, Larry had worked in cinematography with independent film makers for several years. During the late 90's, he worked briefly with a few directors in the porn industry and indie film makers working on erotic thrillers. The relationship he had a few prominent names in porn had led to much early controversy as his career began to take off with television shows. None of that mattered now, as Larry had the backing of a major network that gave him complete artistic freedom and the high budget to back it up.

For the next few months, Larry spent his time writing a pilot episode for his new television series. The title had been named 'Private Dancer' and would be a sexually themed series revolving around the life of a stripper. Though Larry had never truly admitted how he came up with the idea, the truth was that he had written a star vehicle role. The original idea of Private Dancer came to him after sitting through a cancelled TV show from only a few years ago. Larry's idea was to take a previous show and with the backing of the television network, he could truly push the boundaries on what was untapped potential of a hit show. The show that inspired him was called 'The Client List', and the actress he had written his script around as a star vehicle was none other than Jennifer Love Hewitt herself.

The thirty eight year old actress had been out of work for the last two years. The Client List had been cancelled and after that, she briefly held a role on Criminal Minds. Most of the word among Hollywood was that Jennifer had taken time off to get married and have two kids. What often was left out, was the initial desire to return back to the small screen. Jennifer's agent had been busy this year, trying to find demand for the actress. Larry had reached out, not just to her agent but to Jennifer personally. He had mailed her a copy of the initial script for the pilot of his show, taking a huge risk by revealing much of the heavy information up front before meeting her face to face. It was part of his sale pitch, but he had confidence in her desire to return to acting. He made the offer of her initial salary for the pilot episode to be around five hundred grand. It was a large sum of the budget, but the man didn't care. Larry was willing to do anything to seal a deal with the actress for which his series was written around.

Stepping over the black carpet in his office, he returned to his desk. The light shined between the blinds covering the windows. Larry was a short man, always lacking in height when he stood next to most men in the business. His short hair had began to fade, showing flakes of grey to compliment the wrinkles over his clean face. A large black mustache had faded to grey below his nose. He had a bit of weight to his stomach but tried to keep it hidden by wearing dark shirts under his suit jackets. As he sat down in his chair, he looked back at the clock to see that it was almost 1 PM. The meeting was set and soon, he hoped to hear that the actress had arrived. Though he had not spoken directly to Jennifer herself, Larry was contacted and informed by her agent that she was 'thrilled' by his script. He could only hope it was true, as so much work had been put into this star vehicle, Larry was nervous that he could lose it. After sitting there for a few minutes, the buzzer on his desk beeped off. He pushed the button down with his index finger.

"Mr. White?"

A muffled female voice spoke through the intercom. It was Debby downstairs, the assistant who handled appointments and check ins. Larry leaned forward to talk back into the speaker.

"Yes, I'm here Debby."

"Miss. Hewitt has just arrived to see you, sir."

"Good, send her on up."

He moved his finger away from the button of the buzz box. Larry took a deep breath before smiling to himself. The wait was coming to an end. All this time, he would finally be meeting the actress face to face. As he sat there waiting at his desk, he looked down in front of himself to see the folder containing the script to Private Dancer. Within a few minutes, a knock was heard outside the door of his office. Larry knew that had to be her. He stood up and called out to her.

"Go ahead and come in, please!"

The door knob rattled before turning as the door opened. Clacking of heels were heard as they clicked up against the floor. Jennifer Love Hewitt entered the room, offering a smile to the director as he approached her. She stood tall in a pair of black high heel pumps. A one piece red dress revealing all her curves and quite the view of her signature cleavage. Jennifer's face was neatly made up with dark eyeliner, her long brunette hair parted down the middle. She was so beautiful, just as she was years ago on the set of The Client List. The dress was reminiscent of an outfit from that show. Larry gave her a smile as he extended his hand out to the actress.

"Hello, Miss. Hewitt. I'm glad you could make it, I'm Larry White."

She shook his hand, replying to him in her sultry southern accent.

"It's my pleasure to be here, Larry! I hope you don't mind me calling you that, please call me Jennifer."

Already, this meeting appeared to be off to a fine start. There was a subtle sense of friendliness in Jennifer's words. Larry moved back to take the leather chair behind his desk. He watched as she sat down across from him, carefully crossing her legs as she sat down. Larry took in a deep breath, smiling as he thought of what to say now.

"So, here we are. I've been looking forward to this day all week. As you can see, you've got me a bit nervous."

Jennifer laughed at his words.

"Why would you be nervous? I think I'm the one who should be worried, seeing as I've been out of work for two years now."

"Well, I think I can fix that Jennifer. This entire show is pretty much a star vehicle for you, that's if you want it."

Glancing back to his eyes, she nodded to him.

"Yes, I've read the script. I take it you were a fan of The Client List. Your ideas bring back a lot of memories for me."

Larry smirked and nodded.

"Oh yeah, I was a fan. But that show is pretty tame, if you know what I mean. My goal is to push some buttons and get into the untapped potential that was there. Forget the controversy over massage parlors, this is gonna be big. Everything already has been set for TV-MA ratings, so if anyone complains, it will just be the usual moaning and groaning that people do over sexy stuff."

She looked down at the desk while listening to his words. Right away, they had shifted the conversation to business. Jennifer had an idea of what he meant by 'untapped potential' as his choice of words. She had read over the script he mailed her, knowing all the details that her character practically was a prostitute with many scenes that relied on a strip club setting. Glancing back to him, Jennifer smiled as she replied.

"So, I take it you would like for me to reprise The Client List, but make it much more sleazier. Is that it?"

Larry chuckled at her reply. He shook his head before responding.

"Something like that. You're close, but not quite there. My show will revolve around a central character; you, playing as Lisa Johnson, who is 'Moaning Lisa' on stage. You are the Private Dancer. That is, if you believe you can still take on a role that puts your sexy looks up first as the main selling point."

Jennifer smirked to him.

"You don't think I still have the looks, do you? I am getting close to forty."

"That's a silly question! Look at yourself and how you came in here today, you're still drop dead gorgeous in my eyes. I wrote your character in mind of being older and mature, so your age is not a problem."

"Thank you!"

As she smiled back to him, Larry let out a sigh. The stress was clearly painted over his face, detailing the concern he had. After thinking for a second, he spoke again.

"I'm running quite a risk here with you. I wrote out my show as a star vehicle for you. If you turn me down, it's gonna put me in a deep hole. There isn't another actress I want out there. I want you, so what do I have to get your name signed to my gig?"

"Well, the network allowed me a bit of control over The Client List. I guess you could easily win me over if we could negotiate something similar. I would like to have executive producer credits, as well as artistic control."

Larry nodded. He was well aware of the studio control that she had as an actress with production of that show. Going into this meeting, he was prepared for a deal like this.

"That won't be a problem with me. You and I can work together on this. I'd like to develop a working relationship with you. I will work in your comfort zone with writing scripts and give you control of your character."

"Yes, that's what I'm looking for."

"One of the key things with this show is going to be music. A chunk of the budget is going specifically to licensed songs. The network is thinking if this show can take off, they can probably cash in on a few cheap soundtrack releases. I believe since you are the one doing all the dancing, you should be able to pick which songs you want."

"Oh, I would like that! There's a number of songs I think that could work with the stripper routine."

"There is only one major question for you, Jennifer."

"What?"

"How do you feel about doing sex scenes? This show is bound to have them in possibly every episode."

Taking in a deep breath, Jennifer looked away and folded her hands together. With her thoughts gathered, she answered him back.

"I don't have a problem with sex scenes. My agent told me about your work, so I am expecting you want these sex scenes to be a bit more realistic than my previous works."

Larry nodded to her words.

"Yes, that is true."

"Is nudity going to be a requirement? That's the one thing I'm worried about. I've never done anything in nudity. I don't mind revealing outfits, but I don't think I could do anything fully exposed."

Listening to her concerns, Larry shook his head.

"Not at all. The question of nudity depends on what you are comfortable with. When I tell you that I wrote my script as a platform for you specifically, I meant that. I'm not about to screw it all up by telling you what you can and can't do."

Jennifer smiled before replying back.

"Alright, I think I'm almost ready to work with you. I'll ask for one more thing before I commit to this. Can I have artistic control with my character to change the name? I went back over your script and I hate to sound rude, but I just don't like the nickname 'Moaning Lisa'. It sounds cheesy, I think I can come up with something better."

"If that's what it takes to get you dear, yes. How about we rewrite some of the script together? You can change whatever minor details you want. If you want to change the name, I don't care. I just want to get you locked in for my show, anything that it takes."

"Well, I think you've won. I'm in, count me as leading star, your Private Dancer."

She bit her lower lip, giving him a smile as a confirmation. Relief washed over Larry's face. The risk had paid off as now, everything was complete. Larry got back up from his seat, offering his hand for her to shake again. As their fingers laced together, he looked into her big brown eyes and spoke.

"Thank you, Jennifer. Welcome to the show, I promise you will be a returning star soon."

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Larry."

After they had shook hands to finalize the deal, Jennifer got up from her seat. Larry grabbed the phone from his desk, speaking back to her as he began to push the button for the line upstairs.

"Wait here, I'll send for the paperwork to get your contract soon."

For the next hour, Larry spent his time calling to confirm he had reached an agreement with the actress. A contract was presented to Jennifer which she gladly signed, sealing her part as the main lead for Private Dancer. The big risk had paid off and Larry could rest easy now. The network had their star and he was looking forward to resurrecting Jennifer's career. A new chapter had dawned for Jennifer Love Hewitt. Now taking advantage of all possibilities that had been teased on The Client List. Larry's show was going to push the boundaries, he was confident that he was crafting something remarkable in his hands.

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3 MONTHS LATER

Miami Beach, Florida

Spring had come and went, unfolding a long hot summer. In southern Florida, the summer came early and the season of spring was barely noticeable. Larry had moved filming down to Miami, taking advantage of the beach side where he had planned all along for the location of his show. The pilot episode was to be filmed around North Beach, sitting quietly among an area of urban decay where the strip club setting would easily fit in. A building had been rented out and redesigned for a set piece with the show. Since much of the pilot was focused in one setting, this made the budget easier to work with as filming had been set up in North Beach with a hotel and the club set piece.

Much of the script had been reworked in the past months with Jennifer and Larry working together. The first thing she did was change her characters name from Lisa Johnson to Maria Parker. Jennifer argued that the surname of 'Parker' would be a fine connection to her character name of Riley Parks from The Client List. Larry was already confident even without the name change that would instantly win over her old viewers, but he approved Jennifer's minor changes. The studio brought in a music composer to work an instrumental score for the show. Jennifer herself pitched the idea of singing a theme song for the show. Studio musicians were contacted to write the song and a music video was planned for production. Licensed music was a heavy part of the show and Jennifer had already made a list of 'Bedroom R&B' songs that she preferred to do dance scenes to.

As the script had been tweaked in minor details, the story still remained the same as a Neo-Noir thriller. The pilot episode of Private Dancer would be a two hour long premier, detailing the life of Maria Parker; a stripper in her late thirties who has traveled to Miami trying to escape the pains of her past and start a new life. Maria as a character was a down and out hooker with plenty of street smarts. She was a former housewife living in luxury with a rich husband back in Louisiana until one day life had took a turn for the worst. Maria's husband was busted for credit card fraud and like a loyal wife, she took the fall for him and served jail time while he got off free. Much of the planned scripted revolved around flashback scenes to detail the life Maria previously had before she went to prison.

The motivations of Jennifer's character would be to some how rise and escape the world of the strip clubs while going through various criminal underworld figures. The pilot episode would focus on Maria's life and her struggles with a sleazy pimp who owns the strip club that she works in. The original story plan was to have her eventually double-cross and figure out a way to bait her pimp into grave danger to get him out of the way. Larry had already written a few episodes that would detail Maria's rise out of the strip club and developing a relationship with a prominent gangster. It was Jennifer's decision herself which male lead character she wanted to eventually make her main love interest. She had told Larry before that she preferred the idea of her character becoming the main girl to a dangerous gangster.

Among the male actors, most of them were rising B movie and television show smaller names, trying to find success. Larry had told Jennifer before that half a million dollars alone was going into her salary for the pilot episode. Five million dollars was spent on the pilot episode alone, counting up for everything that could be pushed with the budget. There was one up and coming male actor who was thrilled to be on the set: Ryan Thomas. At thirty five years old, he had spent years working off and on in pornography where he developed a friendship with Larry White. When the old man was looking for new cast to pay cheaply, Ryan was one of his first targets. Though he had starred briefly in a few shows as a minor guest role, not many were aware that he used to work in amateur porn.

Ryan would be playing a small time gangster named Danny. His character was set an hour into the pilot episode to be a customer who buys a lap dance from Maria to begin a relationship among their characters. A sex scene had been planned in advance and now, Ryan and Jennifer began to take time together to develop a bit of chemistry. She found that she liked his looks, for he was a tall man with a clean shaved face and short brown hair. A few tattoos were over his arms, causing Larry to write minor details in the scripts that one of Ryan's tattoos proved he had history with a street gang. The man couldn't have been more happy to work alongside such a beautiful actress as Jennifer Love Hewitt. Ryan had been spending the week in Miami, getting to know the actress as they worked together.

To prepare for her role, Jennifer went the extra step to try and study into the mindset of a hooker. Back in L.A., her husband tended to the children while she was out filming. She spent two whole months in the gym, getting her body back into shape and doing dance routines to prepare herself. There was a professional dance choreographer that had been hired by the studio to help Jennifer with dancing, but so far she proved that she didn't need any help. There were a few moves that the dance instructor showed Jennifer, most of them taken from Hip Hop style music videos. She was encouraged to 'work her booty' as the instructor liked to tease her. Jennifer eventually worked a routine where she could bump her hips and grind her ass in an easy rotation. While The Client List relied on camera's focusing on her cleavage, Larry had other plans with his show. Private Dancer was to take advantage of Jennifer's complete voluptuous form to sexually entice viewers who lusted for the actress.