Chapter Four
Hannah
I laid my mat out in front of me and sat on top of it Indian-style. I always looked forward to my yoga class on Tuesday mornings with Carrie. It was just another time to get away from the stress that I was dealing with in my life and ease my mind. The stretching was therapeutic for me, and as Carrie unfolded her mat, she smiled. “Another day, girlie. I soooo look forward to these sessions. It keeps me flexible for the times that I need to um,” she winked at me, “try something new.”
“Oh, my gosh. You are always thinking about sex.”
“Sex is natural, Hannah. And speaking of,” she sat down Indian-style on her mat, “when was the last time you let someone pop that coochie?”
I shook my head as the yoga instructor walked into the room. “I am too busy with trying to get my life in order. I don’t have time to think about that.”
“That?” she said with a smirk. “Girl, THAT is what will help you loosen up. You are kinda uptight right now, you know? Yoga helps a bit, but there ain’t nothing like a nice, big dick to really help you loosen up.”
“All right, ladies,” the instructor said as she stood in the middle of the room. “Thank you all for attending Go Yoga today. If you have a partner, go ahead and begin the initial stretch routines. If this is your first time, or you don’t have a partner, please get my attention, and I will help you find what you need.”
Carrie turned towards me, and we joined hands with our feet facing each other. We took turns slowly pulling each other back and forth as we stretched our legs and lower back. “So,” she continued, “Like I was saying. You need to meet somebody, Hannah. You’ve been single for way too long, and I know you haven’t had any male visitors for as long as I can remember.”
“I told you, Carrie. I don’t have time for it. In fact, I have another audition for a commercial later today.”
She rolled her eyes. “A commercial, Hannah? What is that? Like the umpteenth commercial you’ve done in the last year? It is a waste of time.”
I gently pulled her towards me. “It is not a waste of time. Who knows if a big break will come through one of those opportunities. I have to stay ready.”
“Skip it.”
I stopped pulling her. “What?”
“Skip it. Don’t go to that audition. So, what if you get the spot in a commercial? How many careers have taken off because of a damn commercial?” I stuttered through a response until she cut me off. “Exactly. None. Zero. If you get that part, you’ll just continue to go in a cycle of people wanting you to do commercials. Once you make it big, you’ll be able to do all the commercials you want, and people will pay you good money to endorse their bullshit ass products. Skip it.”
“Carrie,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t just ‘skip it.’ My agent found that audition for me, and–”
“Who cares? Things come up. Tell her your dog died or something. What is she gonna do? I am telling you, just skip it. As a matter of fact, you should come to this photo shoot with me after class. There are usually some people there who are in the loop about everything Hollywood, so it might even serve you better to be there.”
She pulled me towards her, and in a way, I felt that she was doing the same thing with our plans for later today. I exhaled. “Fine. I’ll cancel it, but if my agent gets pissed–”
“Then just send her my way. I’ll make sure she knows her place.”
I laughed as the yoga instructor took her place in front of the room. “All right, ladies. Are we all stretched and ready to go? Great. Everyone get on your knees so we can begin.”
“My knees?” Carrie said with a smirk. “That is a position I can relate to.”
After class, we went home to shower up and then I rode with Carrie to her photo shoot. It was in an art studio that was about 15 minutes away from our two-bedroom loft. She walked inside ahead of me as cameramen and photographers were positioned throughout the lobby. “Hi, Robert,” she said, greeting an older man with gray hair in the middle of the lobby.
He kissed her on each cheek. “Hello, darling. It is good to see you. I am so glad you could make it on short notice.”
“Yes, I mean, how could I turn down the opportunity to shoot with the great Robert Lawson again? No. I’d change my schedule around in a heartbeat for that.” With a smile on his face, he made eye contact with me. Carrie turned around. “Oh, Robert,” she said, placing her hand on her chest, “I can’t believe I forgot to introduce you to this gorgeous woman. Robert, this is my best friend, Hannah. Hannah, this is Mr. Robert Lawson, only one of the most legendary photographers in California.”
“Oh, come now,” he said, extending his hand towards me. “Carrie has a way of flattering me beyond measure. Nice to meet you,” he said as his beady eyes scanned my body beyond what was conscionable. His mouth all but salivated as my hand rested on his.
“Um,” I said, wrinkling my eyebrows together. “Yeah. Nice to meet you, too.” I slipped my hand out of his grasp, a motion that seemed to snap him out of his trance.
“Robert, I was telling Hannah that there may be some Hollywood connections here. You know she is an aspiring actress, and we all know that in that business, it is usually about who you know more than it is about the talent you possess.”
“Yes,” he said, his creepy eyes scanning my body once again. “I agree with that wholeheartedly. You know what, Carrie, remind me to make a call to my good friend Leonard after the shoot. I am sure he can help one way or the other.”
Carrie nudged me with a smile as I stood beside her. “Well, Carrie,” Robert spoke up, “go ahead and stand over there by the golden statue and we will get started. You, Hannah,” he said with a smile, “Just take a seat over there and watch us go to work.”
I took a seat in the corner of the room as Robert snapped pictures of Carrie. A fan positioned to the right blew her hair as if she were standing in the midst of a blustery breeze. Her bikini top pushed her breasts higher on her chest as she leaned forward and blew seductive kisses towards the camera. “That’s it, Carrie. That’s it, babe. Show me that sexiness.” The camera flashed as Robert moved in different positions, shooting Carrie from every angle.
“Excellent. Now, remove your top, Carrie.” My eyebrows lifted to the middle of my forehead, but before I could process his request, Carrie had already untied her top. Her full breasts fell from their cage as Carrie continued posing without missing a beat. Her pink nipples were erect, like the tips of Hershey kisses, as she stood to the side and put her hands on her hips. “Beautiful, babe. Absolutely stunning, you are.”
I watched, in utter amazement that Carrie was so quick to remove her top in a room full of men. The shoot lasted for at least 30 more minutes, and after they had wrapped everything up, Carrie approached me with Robert standing right beside her. “You did a marvelous job, Carrie. I couldn’t have asked for a better model, nor a more beautiful one.”
“I am just doing my job, Robert, and you make it easy.”
He glanced at me with a perverted eye. “Hannah, what do you think about modeling?”
“Um,” I said, clenching my purse as if that would shield me from his glare. “No, it’s not my thing. I am an actress, not so much a model.”
“The two go hand in hand, most times,” he said as he reached into his pocket, “but you have reminded me of the phone call I was going to make on your behalf. Will you be around a bit longer?”
“Yes, she will,” Carrie answered for me. “Take your time, Robert.”
He walked away as he made the phone call, and when he was just over a stone’s throw away, I spoke. “That man is a creep, Carrie. Did you see how he was looking at me?”
“He looks at everyone like that. It’s more a look of endearment than anything else. He thinks you are attractive.”
“Yeah. And then, five days later, I’m on Unsolved Mysteries or something like that.”
She laughed. “Oh, please. Robert wouldn’t hurt a fly, really. He is a good man. A little on the perverted side, but he is a damn good photographer.”
I looked at him as he paced back and forth, speaking on the phone and occasionally glancing in my direction. I turned my back towards him and continued speaking to Carrie. “I didn’t know you took pictures naked, though, Carrie. Is this like… a shoot for some porn magazine?”
“No. Don’t be silly. Sometimes, the shoot requires me to be nude.”
“And you’re OK with that?”
She squinted her eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be? See, that is your issue. You lack the self-confidence. Hannah, you are drop-dead gorgeous. You have a body that most women would kill for. Your hair is long, and you have beautiful skin. You are damn near perfect, sweetie, and you need to act like it.”
“I don’t know, Carrie.”
“Wait a minute,” she asked, folding her hands over her chest. “So, you’re telling me if you got paid over a million dollars for a role that you had to pose naked… or be naked for a few scenes, you wouldn’t do it?”
I looked over my shoulder at Robert as he quickly averted his eyes. I shook my head and focused on Carrie. “I don’t know. I mean… I just don’t know.”
“Shit, you better know because if I got that call, I would do it. Hands down. And I’m sure the next actress would do it, too, which means… you’ll be out of an opportunity because of your own insecurities.”
Just then, Robert interrupted our conversation. “Ladies,” he said as we both turned towards him. He smiled. His thin, pink lips barely made an edge of his mouth. “I’ve got some good news. Leonard is casting for a big movie this Monday. I’ve told him about, um,” his eyes walked over my body once again, “how attractive you were and he immediately gave me the information about the casting call. So,” he said, removing a piece of paper from his pocket, “this is the address and the time you need to be there. I told him your name, so he will be looking for you in particular.”
Suddenly, his perverted gaze didn’t bother me as much. I reached for the note as Carrie put her arm around me. “You see what I told you? You would’ve have missed out on this opportunity if you went to that commercial audition,” she said.
I smiled as I held the paper in my hand. “Thank you, Robert,” I said as my cheeks pushed up near my eyes.
“The pleasure was mine, my dear. The pleasure was all mine.”