This is essentially a modern day fairy tale. It is necessary to forget everything you know, everything you think you know, and believe that anything can happen in the land called Hollywood.

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Annah walked casually along Sunset strip, mixing in with the tourists, most of whom took no notice of the tall woman. The homeless of Hollywood were easy to ignore, especially when one was looking for Marilyn's star, which was in front of a fast food restaurant, or John Wayne's footprints. Annah's faded jeans and worn t-shirt fit her snugly, her long dark hair tied back in an ever-present ponytail, her only sweater wrapped tightly around her small waist.

She liked days like these, warm but not too hot, when she could just walk around and if she was lucky, score a half eaten burger, maybe some fries. With the California summer just beginning, the tourists were beginning to flock to the mecca of movie making, and though she hated to beg for money, sometimes she just had no choice.

So on this day, it was with a certain amount of surprise, and even anger, when someone grabbed her as she walked in front of the door of the Williamson agency and began to fuss over her.

"God dammit Jordan, you're late again. Where in the hell have you been?"

A woman that Annah was certain she had never seen before, with bleached blonde hair, and an even faker tan, began looking her up and down.

"And what's with the clothes? Since when do you do casual? Wait, make that grungy."

Annah stiffened, "Look here lady, I don't know who the hell you think you're talking to but I-"

The woman cut her off, "Listen Jordy, you were supposed to be here an hour ago. Barry wants to talk to you about the movie, and you know damn well how cranky he gets when he has to wait. Now go in there and make him happy."

Annah looked down the hall at the door the woman was pointing at, Barry Williamson- Agent, was adorned in gold letters.

The woman began shoving her towards the door, "But wait, I think you have the wrong person, I have no idea who any of you people are."

"Very funny, now get your ass in there." The woman opened the door and after pushing Annah inside, closed it softly behind her.

"Well, it's about time Jordan. Despite what you might think, I don't have all damned day to wait for you."

Annah stood there looking at the chubby bald man, with the cigar in his mouth and phone pressed to his ear.

'This has to be a joke, I'm on one of those shows, candid something or other. That has to be it,' she thought.

Barry hung up the phone and looked at the still standing woman, "Would you sit already, you make me nervous."

Annah smiled, and did as she was told. She hoped that at least she'd get a few bucks out of the people filming the show, she hadn't eaten since the morning before and though her long neglected stomach knew better than to protest, she still couldn't stop the thought.

"Now listen, they want you to start filming next week. I know you told me you needed a month, but they don't want to let this thing get any further behind than it already is. You need to go down and start fittings, and they revised the script, again."

Barry looked at Annah expectantly, and when he saw no reaction he continued, "They keep giving me shit about the drinking Jordan, and I had to promise them that there weren't going to be any problems. You have to be on time, you have to bother to show up, and you have to be an all around pleasure to work with. The studio won't hesitate to fire you this time, and I won't be able to stop them. It's in the contract."

Annah continued to stare at Barry, quite blankly by anyone's standards. She was waiting for the joke to come, or anything that would tell her that all she had just heard wasn't true.

"I'm supposed to make a movie?" she finally asked, unnerved when Barry stared at her like she was from another planet.

"Are you drunk?" he finally asked, pulling the cigar from his lips.

"No," Annah said indignantly, "I just keep waiting for the punch line, sir."

"What's with the sir shit, Jordy? This is no joke, I have a car coming to pick you up and you'll start fittings today. Johnson should be there, so play nice. Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Well, we can't have your main source of nutrition be Parrot Bay and cranberry juice," Barry said as he pushed the button on his intercom. The blonde woman, who had met Annah at the door, answered.

"Ginger, get something to put a little meat on Jordan's bones, please."

"It'll be up in a few minutes."

Barry looked at Annah, really looked at her, and there was something...something different about her, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Lately, with Jordan's continuing substance abuse problems, he was never quite sure who he was dealing with. Having been her agent since her career began, it was disheartening to see someone with so much talent wasting it on the bottle. Looking at the woman across from him, as thin as she was, could only mean that things were getting worse.

"How is Rivers," he finally asked.

" Rivers who?"

"Oh dammit Jordan. Rivers, you know, the woman that you live with? Your other half?"

"Fine?" Annah answered, and hoped it was the right one.

"She still have you sleeping on the couch?"

Annah thought that there was nothing wrong at all with having to sleep on a couch, hell she had done it plenty of times in the past, but she figured that this Jordan person probably didn't like it too much.

"It's no big deal, it'll work out," she said, and got a genuine smile from the chubby red-faced man in front of her.

Ginger reappeared, with a stacked club sandwich and an iced tea and placed it in front of Annah, who without any prodding began to eat with gusto that Barry was sure he had never seen.

"A little hungry there?" he joked, pleased with that his client was eating.

Annah just smiled, and continued to have her fill.

'It'll be okay, I can do this. I'll get fitted for the clothes and then I can be on my way.'

Annah sat in the back of the large white limo that had been sent for her, or actually for this Jordan woman, and comfortably adjusted her large frame into the leather seat.

What an amazing day it had turned out to be for Annah. One minute she was walking along the gritty sidewalks of Sunset Boulevard, and the next sitting in one of the plushest offices she had ever seen in her 28 years. Now here she was, sitting in the back of a limo, on her way to a movie studio to be fitted for costumes. She smiled, and then began to laugh at her dumb luck. She felt more than a bit sad when she realized that as soon as dress up time was over, she was going to have to go and look for a place to sleep for the night.

After arriving at the studio, Annah was met by a pompadoured man on lifted shoes, at least 10 years older than what he was trying to pretend to be.

"Jordan, you're late. I hope this isn't going to be a habit for you."

"No, it won't be."

"Your hair is darker, when did you do that? I'm going to have to have the stylists work on it, and you look like you've lost a bit of weight. I'm taking a chance on you Jordan. I'm not interested in any of your drama; neither are the producers, and especially not the studio. Please, I'm asking you now as your director to try to be a good girl. It's only 4 weeks, and then you can go off and do whatever you want with yourself."

Annah looked at the shorter man, and felt genuinely sorry for him. Whoever this Jordan woman was, she obviously had a few problems, and there seemed to be people all around her who wanted to help. She hoped that Jordan would take them up on it, and see what she had going for her.

After a quick date with a stand in hairdresser, who apologized for Rhett not being able to come and take care of her, Annah was on her way to one of the costume trailers with her newly trimmed and colored hair.

"Hello Miss Allen," a thin, gray haired woman greeted her, "Just a few things to get through and then you can be on your way."

Annah nodded, and sat on a chair placed in the middle of the room for her. She took in some of the things hanging on racks, and noticed that there wasn't a whole lot to them.

"Am I wearing that stuff, Ma'am?" she pointed, and the woman nodded.

"It isn't much, I know, but its what they want. Call me Midge, It's nice to finally meet you"

Annah smiled, and then wrapped her arms across her chest, and sent a silent prayer of thanks that she would only have to try the stuff on, and not have to be the one to wear it in the film.

First up was a leather cat suit, one that snugly fit her body and left nothing to the imagination. Midge filmed Annah once she had the outfit on, and made her adjustments as Annah tried to remain as still as possible.

"You're a lot thinner than your initial measurements Jordan, is everything ok?" Midge asked.

Annah looked down and nodded, and Midge went back to making her adjustments, content to let the subject drop for now.

Next was a black leather bra, and black thong. As uncomfortable as Annah was in the get-up, she figured that Jordan would have probably been used to this sort of thing, so she played it cool.

"You're going to need a bikini wax Jordan, I'll schedule you one before you come in next week."

Annah couldn't help but blush a bit, but she still didn't say much. After more skimpy outfits, most made of leather, and two pairs of jeans and tank tops, Annah was finished, and couldn't have been more thrilled.

"Don't look so relieved Jordan, you act like you've never done this before," Midge joked.

"It certainly feels that way, especially today."

"Are you sure you're all right?"

Annah smiled, and took a long look at Midge, who in a weird way reminded her of her grandmother, and nodded.

"I'll be fine, and thanks."

"What is this? Jordan Allen thanking the help?"

"Maybe I don't say it much, but I do appreciate it."

Midge patted Annah on the back, and walked her to the door of the trailer. She sighed, and hoped that the taller woman was going to be all right this time around. The film was riding on Jordan's shoulders, and the older woman offered a quick prayer that she'd come through all right.

Annah settled back into the limo, and with the lull of the bumper to bumper traffic of the afternoon LA freeway, promptly fell asleep.

"Miss Jordan, Miss Jordan, you're home."

Annah slowly opened her eyes, and saw that she was still in her waking dream, and living someone else's life.

"I can't go in there," she said to the driver, "Can you drop me off downtown?"

"I'm sorry Miss Jordan, I have strict orders to drop you off at home, and only at home."

"I can't go in there," she said softly, knowing that the last thing she could do was invade this woman's home. And it would be worse if said woman was already inside. It wasn't as though she could just walk in and say, "Hi, it's been really fun being you for the day."

Then a woman came out onto the driveway of the large home, and looked at her curiously.

"Are you coming in, or are you going to stay gone for three more days?"

"Shit," Annah muttered, and stepped out of the car. "Goodnight Milo," she offered the driver, who tipped his hat and made his way down the long driveway and back into the Hollywood night.

The stranger came up to Annah, and put her arms around her waist, before burying her face in her chest. The first thing Annah noticed was how good the smaller woman's hair smelled, like the freshness of the Pacific ocean in the morning, and how it felt nice to have someone to hold in her arms again.

Painful memories came bubbling back up to the surface of Annah's consciousness, and she struggled against the onslaught of emotion.

She remembered that day with perfect clarity. Remembered the pain of having the one person she thought was the truest thing in her life tell her that it was all a lie, that the money was all gone, and that she wanted Annah out, leaving her with nothing. After a stint in the county jail, thanks to her former girlfriend, she had to go out and find work. With limited education and a record, there was only so much she could do. It seemed like door after door was shut in her face, and no matter how hard she tried, it was inevitable that she end up on the streets.

At first, it seemed like she wouldn't survive, that the combination of lack of street smarts and the shock of finding herself in such a position, would do her in, and that she would end up a casualty. Just another lost angel.

However, it seemed the more that the odds were against her, the more she found ways to make do. The shelters were good enough, and sometimes having one meal a day was much better than having nothing at all. LA was full of abandoned buildings and places that the homeless could find a place to settle down for the night.

Annah had spent 6 months on the street, and was determined that she would have a steady job and place to live before the year was up. There were people she had met that had been out there for five years, eight, some even more than fifteen, and Annah knew, with a stubbornness and sense of pride that her Greek heritage had given her, that she would never allow herself to get to that point.

How things had changed for her in one day! Here she stood, still holding a small and very soft blonde, who seemed to be weeping, and Annah found herself whispering the word, almost like a prayer, "Rivers."

***************************************************************

Rivers led Annah inside the one story home, and she was shocked to find that the home was a simple one. It was not at all the opulent thing that she had pictured in her mind for a movie star. She briefly wondered if Rivers was an actress as well, but decided it was in her best interest not to ask.

"Are you hungry?"

"Of course," Annah grinned, she wasn't about to turn down another meal.

'I'll eat and then I'll get the hell out of here before Jordan comes back and kicks my ass,' Annah thought.

The blonde pulled a plate from the oven and set it down before Annah.

"I was hoping you'd come home today," Rivers said, and hoped that her fear didn't show in the green depths of her eyes.

" I'm sorry," Annah said, and it seemed like it was the right thing to say, even if she didn't entirely understand it. It seemed like whomever this Jordan person was, she might have taken more than just a few people for granted, and Rivers probably received the brunt of most of it.

" Where did you go?"

Annah looked down at her food, the pot roast had practically melted in her mouth, and was unsure of how to answer the question of the day.

Where was Jordan Allen, and when was she going to come home?

Rivers took the delay in Annah's answer as yet another of Jordan's attempts to shut her out of whatever was still left of their relationship, and fought the urge to lash out at Jordan for yet another of her indiscretions.

"Who is it this time Jordan," she asked, trying to keep her voice level.

"Now, listen Rivers," Annah began, as an attempt to stall answering these new charges. She was cut off by a now standing, and very pissed off blonde.

"No you listen, Jordan. I told you one more time and that was it for us. I told you that I wasn't going to spend another god damned day with you if you were going to fuck around on me. What is it about them Jordan? Are they prettier than me? Better in bed? Tell me, damn you!"

Annah couldn't imagine that there were very many women who were prettier than Rivers, what with her perfect mouth, and small nose, and even the way she would run her fingers through her hair when she was irritated. 'Jordan must be nuts,' she thought.

Annah didn't know what to say, and wondered how it was that Jordan's lover still didn't realize that she was looking at and speaking to her doppelganger. She was suddenly brought back to the present when Rivers knelt next to her chair.

"Is that it Jordan? Are they better in bed?"

"No," Annah answered automatically. She knew how that one could sting, and she was unwilling to bring that kind of pain to anyone.

"I just don't know why I'm not enough, why it always has to be this way with us."

"It doesn't have to be," Annah said, as her hand traveled to the top of Rivers' head, and rested there in the halo of short blonde hair.

Rivers grabbed the hand, and noted how rough it now felt to her, attributing it to the fact that she hadn't touched the woman in weeks, that they had barely even spoken in passing, and kissed the palm, before placing it against her cheek.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch tonight."

Annah turned back to her food, and tried hard to hide the rise of panic that almost made her bolt.

To be continued...