Starlet

Chapter Four- The Firsts

Serena pulled herself from the stiff sheets of her cold bed and moved directly to her bathroom to mend her mind from the night before for the day ahead as the bitter cadence of the alarm clock echoed throughout the bedroom. Immediately, she carried her fingers to the faucet of the tub and watched as the tub began to fill to the brim with water cascading with steam and finally stilling just before it would then spill onto the floor. Carefully, she escaped beneath the tepid surface until her caramel skim was encased by the glass water. 

For a moment, she thought of the contracts and the pending fame-but with this came the thoughts of Paolo. She detested how he managed to occupy so many of her thoughts despite the fact that she could not bring herself to stand the narcissistic egoist that he portrayed himself to be in their few but brief interactions. But as she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but recall his close proximity closing in on her as he only managed to do as much as breathe on her and yet thrilled her in a way she had only felt by her boldest fantasies. But now, there she was entirely immersed into a fantastical display of forbidden attraction with a man she was both parts intrigued and bothered by. 

"Serena!" The harsh voice of Randall startled her from this daydream state as she thrashed within the water by the abrupt demanding of her name. 

"I will be only a minute." And quickly, she returned to the surface of the bath and collected her robe from the chair beside the tub before standing before her fiance. 

"I...I'm sorry." He confessed as he drew his fingers to her cheek for her to turn her face and he could then analyze the evidence he left on her following his outburst. But as his seemingly kind touch met with her skin, she could recall the details of being pushed against the bedroom door and hit with the back of his hand as vividly as if it happened only a moment prior. "I am a monster with little sleep and an abundance of liquor-but you know I love you." She nodded and found a light passionless peck to silence any attempt at a response as he moved beyond her and in the direction of the kitchen. 

The aroma of breakfast nauseated her along with the memory of her evening as she begged for a mental distraction to tear her from the reality of her circumstances. But the sudden knock upon her front door would make her believe that God had taken pity on her at this specific moment as she breathed a sigh of relief as she was aware this was Paolo coming to collect her. 

"From the studio?" Randall questioned Paolo, seemingly an amnesiac to how he spoke to him the night prior, as Serena disappeared into the bedroom to dress for the day; beginning with her undergarments that allowed her to be covered enough to no longer be nude. 

However, she was unaware that Randall sent Paolo within her direction, unintentionally allowing him to view her figure in a way not even her fiance had come to witness. He stood in awe behind the door, left ajar to the sight of her garter belt holding a pair of bude stockings directly beneath a set of shorts and matching brassiere that hid the more intimate parts of herself behind its cream fabric. He couldn't help but observe her as if she was a priceless figure etched in mesmerizing marble as each section of her was pleasing to him. If not the curves of her hips, then the fact that he was well aware that she had never been seen so vulnerable. But by this thought, also came the guilt that came too late. 

"Paolo!" She spoke his name aloud to herself before rushing to the door to close it, blushing on her side of the now closed surface. She felt somehow lightened by the moment yet exhilarated; the same way one would feel just before the crest of a roller coaster before it would descend to its depths. Only, this left her entirely childish with the thrill of a first lover's spark. 

"I didn't-" Paolo attempted to speak as she emerged from the room before she separated from him and moved into the direction of the front door. 

"Good day, darling." She kissed Randall upon the cheek before leading the direction from the home in her gray dressing. 

"I hope you do not think it was my intention-" 

"Your intentions or your interests are not a concern of mine. I am set to perform and you are expected to ensure my arrival. There is no need for assumptions or-" 

"I wanted to apologize-" 

"There is no need." She attempted to move away from him but found him speaking her name to keep her within her tracks. This was not from the fear that may have developed if Randall had summoned her, but instead, for the curiosity of what it was that he intended to say. 

"I have witnessed so many young chicks saunter into the studio with starry eyes and wet ink on their fingers from new contracts...But I was foolish to think I could direct you as it seems you have a direction all your own...and I am intrigued to observe you in it." Her eyes narrowed inquisitively as he spoke quickly with his suave silver tongue. "Professionally, of course." 

"Why do you mind what I think of you?" She asked as her hands folded in front of her with grace as he couldn't help but picture her in that same bare outfit he knew was in possession beneath her current ensemble. 

"Well...we are due to spend quite an amount of time together and I would detest if that would be done in...animosity or discomfort." Although he chose the polite and honorable approach, the truth was beneath his eyes of his consistent tense flirtation that remained in every word he spoke to her. 

"Of course. Consider a slate made fresh." She explained before slipping into the car and being driven to the studio once again; only now, finding Sylvia awaiting her-tapping her foot as the events of this morning had made her late. The woman with soft doe eyes but a cruel line of a frown made over her lips had casted a look of disappointment to Paolo before finally tearing Serena into the studio and to the very office she had signed the contract in not even twenty four hours prior.

"Kitten...take a seat, will you?" Her eyes flashed to each member within the room before she was suddenly shown a thick stack of paper, similar to that of her contract. But prior to the legalities, she instead came to notice the top page having caught her eye with a single title and her name written below it. 

"It is your first script." Her eyes lit with excitement as she began to flip through the small collection of pages exclusive to her parts. "However...there is a matter to discuss prior to your first clocked minutes…" immediately, her heart began to race as her eyes came to view the very man who had attempted to force himself on her a few nights prior. "This is my son, Gable...the director…" her eyes darted away from the man as he extended his hand and played coy to this woman he surely remembered. 

"I look forward to spending time directing you…" his words seemed innocent enough to those in earshot, all while Serena recognized that look of mischief behind his eyes-a look she knew all too well. 

"I do as well." She spoke pleasantly as she caught Paolo watching her for a moment just as the door came to a close. 

"Now the matter to discuss…" her heart throbbed with anxiety as she was unclear if this would be a moment she would come to loathe more than being beneath Gable's direction. 

"As we discussed before...your appearance makes quite an impact on us...and you cannot strut with a shiner...Your life's every detail is about to be documented…It will be an elevating or declining factor on how long you remain wanted by a fanatic or a critic…"

"I am sorry-"

"Your private life will no longer remain safe behind closed doors so it is expected for you to appear as gay as possible through any pains…" she nodded before Sylvia leaned forward to speak something to her boss before be bowed his head in agreement. "This is only to better you, my doll...as I also hope you can come to understand that we cannot have you associated with someone so...crass."

"I'm not following…"

"Do you know of any starlets that are married, Serena?" She paused to Charles’s comment as she tried to imagine the ‘big’ names in Hollywood, but could not think of any who had become betrothed with the follow through to a legal state of matrimony.

"N-no…" she stuttered nervously. 

"And do you know why that is?" 

She repeated her first answer once more as he leaned forward on his elbows and let out a sigh. "No man wishes to spend clams on watching a girl only to find out she is trouble because she is spoken for...However...a woman wishes to place herself into the shoes of the movie's heroine...which allows you a chance to not be alone…" suddenly the door opened to reveal a handsome man of debonair style enter the room with a smirk. 

"This is your NEW beau and also the co-star on this film. Allow the chemistry to grow as if you remain the characters you are portraying-"

"You cannot be serious…” This reaction surprised every soul present within the room as she rose to her feet in complete confusion and disagreement. “I have a life of my own...a fiance you cannot claim to choose for me! Perhaps I am not the girl you are in search of-” She spoke her truth before moving into the direction of the door, opening it enough for Paolo to hear the conversation, before she was addressed once more by Charles. 

“You have no choice in this, Serena.” Her brows rose before she returned to the room, her hands now crossed over her chest as if she was a youth protesting against her parents. 

“You cannot keep me here either...You may be able to convince others being the butter and egg man but if this is how you will choose to enlist and ‘care’ for your actresses-you can tear my contract directly down the middle! I will not be controlled by any man!” Speaking these words, she felt strengthened until a man stood from the opposite side of the room, a man she recalled as having been the object of her now ex-fiance’s uncle’s conversation upon the party her first night in California. 

“This is Larry...He is our saving grace for our stars...He can be both an asset...and a nightmare. I would not like to worsen your already fragile circumstances by having to assign him to you…”

“Are you threatening me?” She inquired as Larry smirked to her assumption as Charles slowly nodded to himself before moving closer to her. 

“I am reminding you that you signed a contract with us...one that has several clauses of your complete submission...acquiescence...and devotion to both your occupation and what we need and expect of you. If I ask you to tear out every one of your eyelashes for a roll, you better begin plucking…”

“I am not afraid of any one of you…” She confessed as she went to leave before Larry suddenly blocked the doorway, closing it once again to keep her from escaping into the hallway and to Paolo’s strong embrace as he was at the ready to defend her this time as he failed the night prior. 

“Do you remember the girl the night you arrived?” Larry inquired with a husky voice matching his worrisome complexion pitted and discolored from age and stress. “The one who we spoke of who had a lead in this picture? The one who was wearing her own blood and begging the guests for help...she was also wicked with her tongue and foolish with her actions...Now no one is sure what became of her...not even her own family...Do you wish to worry your dear aunt Lucille or have something befall her for the simple fact that you did not want to listen to a warning?”

“Did you...kill-” As she attempted to inquire about further details in regards to this young woman whom she knew she could have saved but allowed to slip into the dangerous hands of these selfish men, she was then thrust up against the door of her own motions to avoid Larry as he removed a pistol from the band of his waist. 

“Learn to keep your trap closed and a smile instead of questions and we can all find this to be beneficial. Otherwise you will learn of her fate...and it is one that would be quite a shame to have you endure as well…After all, it will be quite a long seven years otherwise...” Larry hid the gun from view and allowed the door to fall open behind her as she stumbled into the hallway, in tears and trembling-directly into Paolo’s chest. 

“Serena?” Her eyes darted in every direction but into his eyes as she struggled to breathe, suffering from an anxiety attack and found it impossible to move as he came to understand Paolo’s warning and the butterfly effect that would fall into place if she were to counter them. 

“Can you take me somewhere?” She questioned in tears as Paolo paused for a moment. 

“Is everything-”

“Is that a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’?”

“Of course...Where do you-” She interrupted him once again with tears now escaping down her cheeks and her chest heaving with a losing attempt to keep her emotions secluded from his prodding gaze. 

“Anywhere but here…” And with a nod and a few steps leading away from the studio, Paolo and Serena were able to slip away unseen, as she realized she was entirely trapped.