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 in law, 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 in law. 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 in law 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.