Chapter Eight
Hannah
“So, you know that we have to go somewhere and celebrate the fact that you got the part, Hannah. I mean, you do know that, right?”
We sat on my bed the next day, talking about the audition. I was still blown away by the fact that I was chosen for such a major role. It all seemed surreal. I just hoped that if I was dreaming, I wouldn’t wake up anytime soon. “Yeah, I guess we can go out somewhere. Hell, it’s probably going to be one of the last times I’ll have some free time. I heard we are shooting some of the movie in New Zealand.”
“New Zealand? Wow. I promise I’ve always wanted to go there. I am so jealous of you right now, Hannah.”
“What? Why don’t you come with?”
She shot a side-eyed glance in my direction. “Um, no. You are flying there to work… which means you will be getting paid for it. Us common folks? We need to stay here and work our jobs on American soil before we don’t have a place to live… or a car to drive.”
I sucked my teeth. “Like you’ve been paying rent anyway. I think I’ve been footing the bill for the past three months.”
She laughed. “Yeah, you have. But hey, I’ve been taking care of everything else, so it’s been working out.”
“Whatever.”
She glanced at the Satin Sheets novel that was on my nightstand. I handed her the book before she could ask for it. “So,” she said, flipping through the pages. “You know about the sex scenes in this book, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I mean, I know they are in the book. I glanced over one of them and, um, it gets pretty intense.”
“Um-hm,” she said as she searched for the same scenes.
“Page 147. The second paragraph.” She snapped her fingers and flipped right to the page, reading it out loud.
“He grabbed the side of her face and gently guided her down to his penis as she wrapped her lips around it.” She looked at me with a smirk, then lowered her head and continued reading. “She flattened her tongue and ran it down his shaft as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. With her free hand, she gripped a hold of the top of his penis, stroking it up and down as she slithered her tongue down to his testicles.”
She slammed the book closed and looked right at me, “Hannah! Wow. This shit is explicit! Do you know what kind of movie this is going to be?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I know. I mean, it’s a big jump from what I normally do, but… hey, Halle Berry had to get fucked on screen before she won anything, so… maybe… I have to do the same.”
“Yeah,” she said as she tossed the book on the bed, “Billy Bob fucked the shit out of her. Well, what about the guy? Did you see him yet?”
I stood up and walked to the mirror as Ezra’s face floated into my imagination. “Yeah,” I said with a smile. “I saw him.”
She stood up and rushed to my side, “Well, what does he look like?”
“He is handsome. Very handsome. He has a rugged look because of his stubble. He was buff. My God, he was buff. I could feel his strength when he pulled me in close to him. My panties were damn near soaked when he held me from behind.”
“Wow. Well, I guess if you’re going to get fucked, at least he sounds hot!”
I laughed. “I mean, I don’t know what is in the movie yet. I haven’t read the script, but I’m sure there are some of those passionate scenes.”
She sat on the edge of the dresser. “And you’re OK with that?”
I looked in the mirror. My reflection glared at me as I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter if I am. I have the part, and I’m going to go from there. I mean, you stripped in front of random men and took pictures. I know what I will be asked to do may be a little different, but we will see.”
She tapped me on my arm. “Look at you, stepping out of your comfort zone! I am proud of you, girlie! Just think that if you didn’t come to that photo shoot with me, not only would you have missed this opportunity, but you would’ve never had the chance to break free from your own shackles.” She hopped off the dresser. “So, get yourself ready. We are going to go to Bar Louie’s tonight and let loose. Live it up! My girl is going to be a movie star!”
She left my room, seemingly happier than I was about my role. True, I was nervous about it all, but I didn’t want to jump the gun because I didn’t know exactly what was going to be asked of me in the movie. That was something to worry about in the future, though. Right now, I was going to head out with Carrie and enjoy myself. I was a movie star. I smiled at myself in the mirror, then started getting ready so we could leave.
Carrie stood in the front room wearing tight red pants and red pumps with a silky white T-shirt. Her lipstick matched her shirt, and she exposed the middle portion of her breasts. “Are you ready?” she asked, holding her purse in the fold of her arm.
I wore jeans with a black lace top and two-inch heels. “Yeah, I am ready. Um, Carrie, just promise me that you won’t get so drunk that I have to carry you out. I don’t know if I am up for it tonight.”
She rolled her eyes, “Girl, please. I will be fine, so don’t worry about that. We are going to enjoy ourselves and celebrate your accomplishment. That’s it! Now, let’s go! I think ladies drink free before 10, so we have about 45 minutes to get there before we have to pay.”
Carrie drove downtown to Bar Louie’s. Cars flooded the parking lot as the line stretched out of the building. It was a popular spot in downtown Hollywood. The stars didn’t attend, but there were a few B-list celebrities who normally made appearances throughout the night. We focused on the line as Carrie spoke up, “No. Nuh uhh. No way are we standing in this long-ass line tonight.” She looked at me, “Hannah, I’ma need you to pull your shirt down a little.”
She pulled at my blouse, and my boob nearly popped out of my shirt before I slapped her hand. “Stop it, Carrie!”
“Oh, please. Don’t you get all bougie on me. I need you to use what you got, so we can get into this bar and skip the line. One thing men can’t resist,” she said as she looked in the mirror to check her makeup, “is white girls with big-ass tits. Especially these bouncers.” She tapped my leg, “Now, come on. Let’s get inside this bar.”
I followed her to the front of the line. I heard women suck their teeth as we walked by with our heels clicking against the cement. Carrie spoke once we got to the front. “Hey, um,” she said to the bouncer as she dropped her ID from her purse. She leaned forward to pick it up so he could get a good view of her breasts. “I’m sorry, clumsy me. But um, how long is the wait for two gals like us to get inside?”
He looked at his watch, “At least 30 minutes.”
“How about I send you a few pictures of me and her,” she tilted her head towards me, “together… being real friendly with each other? I mean, on top of that, you’ll have my number, and I sure do get lonely at night sometimes.”
He looked at me as I forced a smile on my face. He seemed to be gullible. “All right,” he said as he pulled his phone from his pocket. “Send me the pictures.”
Carrie pulled her phone out and sent a few pictures to his phone. I didn’t know if she photoshopped my face onto someone else’s body or what, because I had never done anything sexual with her since the time we became friends. As the bouncer looked at the pictures, a smile stretched across his face from ear to ear. Afterward, he moved to the side and let us in.
Carrie winked at me as we walked into the bar. Once the door closed, I grabbed her by the arm, “What pictures did you send him?!”
“Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” she said with a smile. “We are in, and that is all that matters.”
She grabbed my arm and led me to the bar. The music bounced off the walls as strobe lights lit up the dance floor in the middle of the room. The bar was crowded with men and women, standing around, waiting to be served their drinks. Carrie excused her way through until she got to the front. “Two Long Islands, please,” she said as she winked at the bartender.
“Two Long Islands,” he said above the music, “I got you.”
As we waited for our drinks, I heard a familiar voice behind me. It was hard to hear over the music, but once I felt the nudge on my arm, I spun around. “Hey, Brian!” I said as he mirrored a warm smile.
“Hey! I guess we just keep bumping into each other! It must be fate!”
“It must be!”
He extended his arms for a hug, and I obliged. A part of me felt like I owed him thanks for helping me see that I just had to be myself during the auditions. “So,” he said after we released each other. “The audition? How did it go?”
“What?”
He leaned in closer, “The audition. How did it go?”
“I got the part! The lead role! That is why I am here now!”
“No shit?! Congrats!” He leaned in for another hug, but this time, he held on a little longer. I tapped him on his back, signaling that we had held each other long enough.
“Yeah. Yeah, thank you. And thanks for the um, the encouragement.”
“Oh, no problem. No problem at all. You know, you are beautiful, and I just had to help you see that you could have any part you wanted. Once I saw your personality, I knew you had it all!”
Just then, Carrie interrupted us with my drink in her hand. “Oh, shit, the apoplexy guy,” she yelled above the music.
“What?” Brian asked with furrowed eyebrows.
I laughed. “Never mind her.”
He smiled. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your celebration. Congratulations again, all right?”
“Thank you.”
He hugged me again as I felt his hand slip just below my waist and brush across my ass. It was awkward, and I didn’t know how to take it, but he walked away before I could say anything to him. I watched as he maneuvered his way through the crowd, not once looking back at me. “Hannah?” Carrie asked as she stood by me. “Are you all right? It looks like you just saw a ghost.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
“Good!” She took a sip of her drink, then pulled me by the arm. “Now, let’s get our asses on the dance floor and celebrate your, woop-woop, starring role! Starring role, bitches!” She danced through the crowd as I looked in the direction that Brian headed. There was something about him that was unsettling. Something that made me believe that he wasn’t the nice guy I initially made him out to be, and I had an eerie feeling that he would turn up again sooner or later.