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.

Feedback: j_rose75@yahoo.com

"Jordan, get up."

Annah was pulled from a pleasant dream about her and Rivers when she heard the object of her affection calling to her from the doorway of the guest bedroom.

"Don't wanna," she said, clutching her pillow closer to her face.

Rivers thrust the cordless phone in her face, and said, " I think you better take this."

"Hello?" Annah croaked, her voice rough from sleep.

"Jordan, it's Johnson, we need you at the studio, now. Come as you are, we're going to start filming today."

"What?" Annah was suddenly wide-awake.

"There have been some rewrites, we've got to start on this today if we want to keep the budget down. We need your ass down here now, I just sent a car, they'll be there in about 15."

He hung up and Annah held the phone to her ear for a few more minutes until her brain could finally wrap itself around the horror that was wracking at her fuddled mind.

"What's wrong Jordan? You look like you want to be sick." Rivers asked, taking a seat next to the prone woman.

"I have to go and make a movie."

Annah was on the set less than an hour later, dressed in Jordan's baggy shorts and a t-shirt.

Johnson came to meet her in the trailer that she had been shown to, and she was still checking out the small kitchenette when the director found her.

"Thanks so much for getting here, I was worried after last night."

"Why?" Annah turned to the shorter man, and noticed that his toupee looked crooked. She debated whether or not to tell him.

He sat on a stool and joined his hands together, "I know how you like to party Jordan, and I was concerned when I found out you didn't go to Gina's little shin-dig."

"Rivers and I were tired, and I honestly would rather have gone home."

" Rivers is a good girl, Jordan," he said, his eyes boring into her. He reminded Annah of her father. Ari was always good for a stern look or two.

"I know she is, I don't know why she puts up with half the crap she does. You don't have to worry though, she broke up with me last night."

"What?" The director stood, "She answered the phone this morning."

" I know, I told her to stay at the house and I'd find somewhere else to go. I don't want to worry about her, and I'd feel better if I knew she was there."

"Okay, where is the real Jordan and what have you done with her?" Johnson asked, and Annah felt as though her eyes were going to fall out of her skull and roll onto the floor at his feet.

"Relax kid," he patted her on the back, " I know this is our first time working together, but we've known each other a few years now. I like your attitude, and maybe it isn't too late for you and Rivers. I don't want to have to worry about you not showing up for work Jordan, or about you coming to the set toasted or zonked out of your mind. Can I trust you?"

"Yea, of course you can. I'll do my best," Annah said sincerely, and she was met with a genuine smile.

Hair and makeup came to the trailer soon after Johnson left, and a script was delivered for Annah to go through. Apparently some scenes had been changed, and those were the ones on schedule to be filmed that day. Two people were there to work on her, and they explained that the elusive Rhett wasn't feeling well and they were his stand ins. Annah thought it was funny that even makeup men had stand ins, but chose to keep that to herself. As one woman worked on her hair, and a young man took care of her face, she held the pages up and attempted to memorize her numerous lines. It didn't take her too long, she had always had a photographic memory, and she had the makeup man, Jeremy, read through the scenes with her. Bouncing the dialogue back and forth helped her grasp her lines in no time.

Maybe this wasn't going to be so hard after all.

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

Filming, as it turned out, was a long and laborious process. Annah spent most of her time sitting in a chair waiting for the scenes to be set up, and for everything put into place the way that Johnson wanted it. While she sat there trying not to fall asleep she wondered what Johnson's first name was, and why he was content to have people call him a wiener, even if it was his real name.

She was wearing the tight black leather cat suit that she had been fitted for that first day she had found herself in Jordan's life, and she noticed it was a little tighter. She attributed that to the fact that she was getting plenty of food, more than she could pack down. It was the one thing she was thankful for, after these past few days. Well, that and meeting Rivers, and she quickly offered a small apology to whoever was listening that she had put her stomach first.

"Jordan, let's go," Johnson barked her way, and she stood and took her mark. It was then that she got nervous finally, when faced with the other actors, some of them looking at her with admiration, others with undisguised desire, and even a few with disdain. It was a scene in which she was to rally the people into fighting for their way of life against an army of raiders who had murdered most of their families.

"Action!" Johnson yelled, and the set grew silent as one of the actors said his lines.

"And why should we believe you?" he asked.

Annah tried to answer, but she only managed to turn her head before she promptly, and regretfully, threw up.

The rest of Annah's day wasn't nearly as awful, and after a few rough takes, she had it down well enough that Johnson wasn't yelling "Cut," every other minute, and the other actors weren't looking at her like she was a complete mess.

They probably think I'm toasted.

The extent of her dramatic experience had been as one of the extras in "Oklahoma," when she was in the eighth grade. She remembered that she had gotten sick right before she went on stage, and that was the end of her acting aspirations. She figured that if she was good enough to convince the people that were closest to Jordan that she was the actress, then she must not be half bad at it.

Finishing her first day, she had to admit she was tired. She could certainly understand how Jordan may have needed substances to keep herself together. There was a lot of pressure placed on the star, to be perfect and pretty and to do as she was instructed. Annah could understand the stress. All she wanted was to go home and be close to Rivers...

Shit...she kicked me out.

"Milo?" Annah knocked on the window.

The partition separating the front of the car slowly rolled down, "What is it Miss Jordan?"

"Take me to Sunset Boulevard, by La Cienega, please."

" I have strict orders to take you to the Beverly Hotel."

"Orders? Who the hell is ordering you to do that?"

"Miss Rivers, she told me that you have a room there and that I was to take you straight over. I think she's meeting you for dinner."

"Thanks Milo," Annah said, and slumped down in her seat.

She wasn't so sure that she liked having her life planned for her. As a matter of fact, she was positive that she didn't like it at all. She wondered if this is how other stars sometimes felt, like they weren't in control of themselves at all, and at the mercy of agents and directors and publicists that told them where to go and when to be there.

Then she perked up.

I'm going to see Rivers.

The lobby of the hotel was almost empty for that time of evening, and the people who were there paid no attention to Annah as she walked in. She began looking around and spotted Rivers sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs that adorned the room. The chair practically swallowed the smaller woman, and she had her eyes closed as Annah approached her.

"Hey, you feeling ok?" Annah asked softly, thinking that maybe Rivers wasn't feeling well. She looked a bit pale, and Annah thought that she was a bit too thin for her own good.

Rivers opened her eyes, which looked darker than normal, and smiled sleepily.

"Long day, Jordan, just a really long day. How are you? You had me worried after you called."

Annah thought for a moment, and was absolutely sure that even though she was sick, she had never called Rivers.

"Uhm, what did I say?"

Rivers stood and tilted her head as she regarded the taller woman, "You said, 'Don't worry about me Rivers, I just wanted you to know I'm all right.' Then you hung up. I had Barry call down to the studio and he told me you had gotten sick. Are you coming down with something," Rivers asked as she felt Annah's head for fever.

"No, just got nervous I guess," Annah said as she found something interesting to look at on the floor.

Rivers laughed, "You? Nervous? I got you a bungalow Jordan, and I think you need to get to bed. You've got to be getting sick."

Rivers walked them out to a cemented path, to a bungalow that was surrounded by dark green lush vegetation. It gave the place a feeling of solitude, that this was the only place for miles. It was the ultimate in privacy, and quiet, and Annah could more than understand why the rich and famous of Hollywood would want to stay there.

Rivers opened the door for them and Annah immediately thought that she had never seen so much white. Everything, from the carpet to the drapes, from the bedroom to the bathroom, was done in the most amazing white that she had ever seen. The furniture that wasn't white, was cream colored and had the deepest darkest wood, and Annah was sure the finest artisans in the world had created it. She knew that there were people that had only dreamed of staying in such a place, and she was uncomfortable in the surroundings she was placed in.

"Rivers, this is too much," Annah said, as she made her way towards the door.

"You mean the cost?"

"Well, I'm sure there is that, but I mean, I don't think this is a good idea. I could have stayed at a regular hotel," she protested.

"Jordan, we stayed here the first week we got together, and you said then it was one of the few places you could feel at home. So what is so different now? You have your privacy, you can come and go as you please, it's paid up for two weeks, and I didn't think it was a big deal. I wanted you to be comfortable until I found my own place."

"But Jordan pays for the comfort." Annah said the words and then wished there was some way, any way, to rewind the previous moment and take it all back. She didn't want to have to use any of Jordan's money if she could avoid it.

"No, Jordan, I paid for it. Believe it or not, I do have my own money. I may not have Jordan Allen's millions, but I do have something. I bought my own car, I have paid for us to go out more than once in the past, and you have the nerve to bring up money? You are such an asshole, Jordan. I honestly do not know what I ever saw in you."

Rivers made towards the door to leave, but Annah grabbed her arm to prevent her from walking out.

"I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry. I'm tired, and cranky, and I need to sleep."

Rivers looked up, and watery dark green eyes met icy blue.

It happened so fast, that later Annah would swear she had no clue it would happen at all, but two sets of lips met and what was soft and gentle, soon turned hard, demanding.

Annah knew she was treading dangerous waters, but she could not remember the last time she had kissed someone, or when it had felt so damn good. She could feel that Rivers' hands had started to wander, and she couldn't help but moan when said hands were squeezing her ass and pulling her closer. When Annah felt Rivers tongue sliding against hers, she pulled away, and looked down at the panting woman.

"We can't do this," Annah said, placing her forehead against the shorter woman's.

"We can't not do this," Rivers said, and moved towards the inviting lips that had tasted so good to her.

"But you aren't mine, Rivers."

"What do you mean, I'm not yours? I've always been yours, Jordan. It was you who was never mine."

Rivers stepped away, and placed her hands on her hips, a pose that Annah knew she would never tire of seeing. It just made Rivers looked so cute, in a "I love you, I hate you," kind of way.

"I have an early call," Annah said, and the look Rivers gave her could have 'melted Zeus' balls,' as her grandmother used to say.

Rivers turned and walked out, slamming the door as hard as she could for good measure.

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

"You look like shit, Jordan."

The hair and makeup man, that Annah deduced was the missing Rhett, had been waiting in her trailer for her to arrive and thought that Annah might need to hear that first thing on walking through the door.

"Thanks, now where do you want me?"

He pointed to a chair in front of a mirror and instructed her to sit. He began combing through the long dark tresses, and tying them away from her face so he could do her makeup first.

"So, how's that little hottie you live with?"

"Rivers?"

"Is there more than one?" Rhett asked, his eyes wide.

"Well, no. She's ok, I suppose," Annah said, sighing. The truth was, Annah felt really shitty about what had happened the night before and hadn't slept much. No one had ever kissed her the way Rivers had, and in those moments of honesty that she had allowed herself, she knew she wanted more. She could only imagine that Rivers was more than pissed about what had happened, and Annah didn't want to have to deal with that so much this morning.

"Spit it out."

"What?"

"Are you fighting?"

"No, well, sort of. She's mad at Jordan, and me." Annah said the last part under her breath, but Rhett, used to the strange behaviors of Hollywood stars, had long ago learned to read lips. His hearing of mumbled offerings was impeccable.

"Wait, there are two of you?"

Annah looked up into the mirror at the soft blue eyes that were staring at her, and shook her head no. "It was a figure of speech," she said lamely, hoping he would buy it.

He continued pulling her hair back, and after a minute or two had passed, he said, "Jordan, when did we last cover your gray?"

Annah appeared to be thinking it over, hoping Rhett would answer his own question.

"I knew it!" Rhett suddenly exclaimed.

"Knew what?"

He pointed his brush at her, as if it were loaded with bullets and capable of great harm.

"Who are you?"

"What do you mean, who am I? You know who I am." Annah fought to keep the panic out of her voice.

"Jordan has never had a single gray hair, in all the years I've styled her! She would have kicked my ass for even suggesting such a thing."

"Oh, dammit." Annah said, and made Rhett sit before she launched into her tale.

An hour later, hair and makeup completely done, Annah looked at Rhett and smiled.

"You have a gift, Rhett. Never in a million years would I have thought I could look like this."

"Nonsense, you've got cheekbones that rival even mine, and flawless skin. You are a natural beauty Annah, and I don't see that often in my line of work."

"So, what do I do?"

"Well, the one thing about Jordan is that she'll come back only when she's good and ready to. That could be days, weeks, you just never know with her. You're doing a fabulous job; word out is that people haven't seen Jordan Allen this good in years. The buzz is that you're working on a blockbuster Annah, and Jordan is going to be a bigger star than ever. If she came back now, who knows what she'd be getting herself into?"

"So you think I should stay?" Annah asked, though the idea scared her more than she was willing to admit.

"Think of it this way, what else have you got to do? If I were in your shoes, I'd be riding it for all it's worth. You're doing the work, you are entitled to a little of the benefits. I'm not saying go out and spend all of her money, but think of it this way, she's going to clear about 4 million for making this movie, not to mention all of the promotional stuff, I don't see anything wrong with you having a little bit of that."

"I haven't spent any of her money, all of my food and stuff has been taken care of, and Rivers paid for the bungalow. She's the one who is going to be hurt by all of this, Rhett. She really does love Jordan, as much as I can't believe it, she does," Annah said as she looked down. She hated thinking that Jordan had and would never appreciate how wonderful Rivers was.

"True, I know she does, but Jordan doesn't love anyone but Jordan. I never could understand why she kept Rivers hanging on the way she has, but even worse is why Rivers would stick around."

"Well, the past few days I think she really has started to stand up for herself a lot more. I just find myself caring for her a lot more than I should, and I have nothing to offer her. At least nothing that isn't based on a lie."

Rhett leaned against the counter that served as storage for the make up and hair supplies that he used, and smiled at her. His movie star good looks did not go unnoticed by Annah, and she wondered why he had never tried to make it as an actor.

"Don't you both deserve some sort of happiness Annah? Or is it so hard to believe that she might genuinely like you, once she got to know the real you?"

"And how do I do that?"

"You've got to woo her, every girl wants to be wooed. It's part of your genetic makeup I think. Take her to dinner, to the opera, hell, take her to see Mamma Mia. You can't go wrong with ABBA. But let her see you, and not you trying to be Jordan," Rhett punctuated his last statement by pointing his brush at her again.

"And when Jordan comes back?"

"Well, we can wait to worry about that."

Annah grinned, and looked back at her reflection in the mirror. It was the first time in the past few crazy days that she didn't feel like an actress in a role that was clearly not designed for her. More importantly, it was the first time in a long while that she felt like she had a friend.

To be continued...