The Rich and The Famous Ch. 01

1.

Sabrina Meadows looked at her naked reflection in the mirror, analysing it critically. She was already forty-something (a fact that she kept under close wraps), but she didn't look a day over thirty, and she knew it. Of course it took a hell of a lot of work to keep up her figure- hell not everyone aged as well as Jane Fonda- a dietician and cook, a personal trainer, microdermabrasion, botox, restalyn injections, a lift here, a tuck there, (not so much that she'd look like Melanie Griffith mind you!) and a good stylist for when she was invited to red carpet events. Although the invites had been coming in dribs and drabs lately and she knew soon they'd dry up all together if she didn't have a hit movie soon, or at least a good supporting actress role in a hit movie. The problem with that was that she hadn't been offered anything like that in a good two years. Sabrina found it annoying that the general public could probably name a good dozen leading men over forty but it was not the case with women. Hollywood use by dates were a double standard and therefore roles for women over forty were hotly contested. The movie business was most certainly a dog-eat-dog world. But it was all Sabrina knew. She had no other skills, no qualifications, nothing to fall back on if she couldn't find work soon. Of course she had her mansion in the Hollywood Hills with a million dollar view but giving it up would be a last resort. She'd rather starve than have to move down out of the hills and rent a place.

"Come on Sab, stop cheering yourself up!" She said out loud with a wry grin at her reflection. She ran a hand over her breasts which were still firm and high, down her flat stomach and stopping at her pubic bone. It was probably almost time for another Brazillian.

She went into her walk in wardrobe and surveyed the clothes for something to wear to her lunchtime meeting with Alex Hammond, one of Hollywood's top directors. His PA had set the meeting up and she'd been tight lipped about what he wanted with her. Sabrina hadn't heard any news of him having a movie in the pipeline-- and if he had been working on a movie she would have heard, everyone would have heard. That was the way the movie business grapevine worked. She pulled a low cut, red, satin dress off a hanger and held it against herself as she looked in the mirror she'd had installed in her wardrobe. No, too sexy for lunch, it was more of a nightime outfit. She tossed it aside (the maid she had come in every morning would look after it- although if the current monetary situation was not addressed soon she might have to cut down drastically on the maid's hours) and then picked out a ocean blue sweater dress but decided that was too casual for meeting with someone of Alex Hammond's calibre. She briefly debated a black, pinstripped suit which would have been perfect if they weren't having lunch in the latest L.A "it restuarant", "The Park." Anyone who was anyone had flocked to the restaurant which described its food as Indian and Italian fusion-- whatever on earth that meant. It was not like she'd be eating much anyway. Eating a lot in public was a big no-no for her, and a cardinal sin for actresses and wannabee actresses. They could probably take away an actresses "SAG" card for that. Finally Sabrina settled for an elegant black dress (every woman worth her salt had a LBD didn't they?) and red strappy sandals with a bit of a heel.

She put the dress on and then attacked her shiny bright red hair with a hairbrush before artfully arranging it so some strands rested on her chest and drew attention to her decollatage. She put on some cream foundation, set it with powder, added two coats of volumising mascara, red lipstick ala Gwen Stefani but toned down a bit and finally dabbed some gloss in the middle of her lips. Back at the peak of her career Sabrina had been a Maybelline spokeswoman, appearing in their magazine ads, on billboards and a television comercial and she'd been given a load of free products. And ever since then she recieved boxes of products frequently.

Back in her bedroom she picked up her purse and keys and left to meet Alex.

*****

"Sabrina! You look younger every time I see you." Alex said, standing up to greet her and Sabrina laughed, flattered.

Walking in to the restaurant she'd been the object of a few admiring looks and she'd held her head up proudly as she sashayed across the room. She heard someone whisper to their companion "Look, isn't that Sabrina Meadows?" and was glad to know that even if she'd been out of the spotlight for awhile people still remembered who she was.

The restaurant was filled with the power brokers of the town-- top agents, directors, a couple of actresses and actors and studio bosses. Occasionally she stopped to greet a familiar face, doing the patented "L.A hello": "George, loved your latest movie!" "Julia you don't look as though you gave birth last month-- what's your secret?" "Brad-- nice to see you." "Kate we must do lunch, give me a call."

"You're not doing so bad yourself Alex. Married life must be suiting you." Sabrina replied, taking a seat. She felt a pang of something go through her and wondered what it was-- lonliness? Jealousy? Longing? Perhaps a combination of the three. She'd been married twice and neither relationship had worked out. The first was as a naive, wide eyed girl who moved from Texas to L.A with the intention of becoming-- surprise, surprise-- a star. Cut off from a family who didn't understand, or respect even, her ambition, finding becoming a big star a lot harder than she thought it would be and only managing, despite her talent, to get paid extras positions, she clung to the first person she met with all the intensity of a drowning person holding on to a lifesaver. They got married just on six months after Sabrina first arrived in town in a registry office. He was also an actor with visions of making it big. Unfortunately he also had a serious drug problem which prevented him from getting much work which meant Sabrina was supporting the two of them. As her career began to take off she realised he could only hold her back and she left him. There was also the fact that she was pretty sure she'd never loved him.

The second Mr. Sabrina Meadows had been when she was twenty eight and, at least she believed, more grown up and not so innocent. He was not an actor as Sabrina had made the decision that having a relationship with anyone in the business was not prudent. He was a commercial lawyer who was pretty pleased with himself for having scored a famous movie star for a wife. Unfortunately once they were back from their honeymoon his libido dissapeared and he couldn't get it up. So after a few years of being married in name only and she left him. Since then she'd had relationships yes but nothing serious or long term. She presented herself as being happily single and most of the time she was but sometimes she felt a yearning for companionship and true love.

Alex smiled and took a sip of his wine. "To tell you the truth I have trouble keeping up." He confided. "She's a bit younger than me you know."

"I don't believe that for one second Alex." Sabrina said and she blushed as his eyes met hers. She had dated Alex a long time ago but they'd both worked out that they were better as friends than lovers.

Alex let her off the hook by looking away and signalling the waiter and they both ordered (although Sabrina only order a chicken caeser salad), before Alex poured some wine into Sabrina's glass. "You have to drink with me. A man shouldn't drink alone."

"Well I don't want to dissapoint you." Sabrina answered as she took a sip of the chablais.

They sat in silence for a moment before Sabrina could wait no longer. She knew she was meant to play it cool, wait for Alex to bring it up, but she needed the exposure one of Alex Hammond's movies would bring and the timing couldn't have been any better. Since she'd gotten the phone call about the lunch she'd felt a hell of a lot better knowing that her monetary problems would be behind her and of course a leading role-- a supporting role too-- would no doubt lead to further offers. "So Alex-- what is this amazing idea of yours? A blockbuster I'm sure with your reputation." Sabrina asked.

Alex hesitated and was about to answer her when the waiter brought over a garlic bread. "It's on the house Sir." He said.

Alex waited for the waiter to leave before giving Sabrina a shrug. "You know you've gone down in the world when you only get a free bread." He said breaking off a piece and offering the plate to her.

"Sorry, too many carbs." Sabrina said quickly. Bread was her one weakness when it came to carbs-- foccacia's, herb bread, dinner rolls...She made sure that bread was never in her house so she was never tempted to eat it.

Alex finished his chunk of bread before speaking. "So my idea is actually a series- Don't say anything yet, hear me out." He held up a hand. "It's based on the lives of a rich, famous family in New York. It's kind of a Jackie Collinsesque, Bold and the Beautiful cross. The cast is mostly made up of unknowns-- there's even a young woman I saw at the supermarket believe it or not, who entertained no thoughts of ever being an actress but is really good and has this down-to-earth beauty and shyness that will make men want to hold and protect her and women want to be befriend her. There's also a young man whose been in a few movies but hasn't had big parts who has those classic good looks that will have women, young and old, going. But the cast is lacking something Sabrina and I think that something is you!"

Sabrina fiddled with her napkin. "Alex you know my policy. I don't do television." She said slowly. It was a decision she'd made when she was still at the top, when she'd honestly believed that she'd never have a need to do television. "Plus television is a huge committment-- assuming it gets picked up of course."

"It will." Alex said confidently. But he could be confident considering he was up there with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. "We need you Sabrina. You'll be the star, the owner of the company, the young woman's mother-- don't look at me like that, she's only a teenager still and looks younger than she is even. You'll be the center of the cast, the show will revolve around YOU Sabrina. We'll pay you well too."

"I know but will you at least look at my script?" Alex pressed. Seeing that his lunch companion was wavering he added the final nail. "For an old friend?"

Sabrina had to smile. "Your tugging at my heartstrings Alex." She said. "Can I have some time to look over the script and think about it?"

Their meals arrived then and Alex eyed his medium-rare steak with relish. "You can have as long as you need Sab-- provided you don't take more than a week because if you say no I'm going to have to go searching for another lead before we go into pre-production."

"Deal." Sabrina said. Ordinarily she would have said no straight away, stuck to her no television policy, but when you hadn't worked for awhile you couldn't afford to be choosy. And of course the concept of being the star of a Alex Hammond show was appealing.

Alex reached down and unclasped his briefcase. He took the script out and handed it across the table to Sabrina. "Your going to love it."

Sabrina glanced down at the title page: "THE RICH AND THE FAMOUS."

"Your salad looks...appetising." Alex said as he cut into his tender steak.

"Bullshit." Sabrina said with a small smile curving her lips upwards.

Alex laughed loudly. "I'm glad to see you haven't changed Sab." He told her.

Sabrina titled her head and smiled. She always enjoyed compliments. All women did, especially actresses who were used to adoring fans, agents and directors, telling them how fabulous they were.

*****

Later that afternoon Sabrina changed into a pink bikini-- realising that she really was overdue for that Brazillian-- and went outside to sit by the pool. Through her sunglasses she watched the gardener pottering around and wondered how come "Desperate Housewives" had a hot gardener but it didn't happen so much in the real world. She opened the script and ended up reading it from beginning to end in that one sitting. She could actually see herself in the lead role, the star. So she opened her cell phone and called Alex with the news-- she would be his star...