Fallen Embers

The quiet of the room was broken when Sam screamed, "Are you fucking done, LaChappelle? Jesus Christ!"

David looked at the little blonde headed man with disgust. "Yes, I am finished and it will be one of my best shoots ever. Thank you for allowing me the time to do it Samuel."

"Yea, yea." muttered the director. When the photographer left the set, Sam started to give Sabrina direction for the scenes being shot. "I am looking for despair. You are being used and you don't like it. Start off in the bed and then move off and go to the window. I also want a shot of you in bed and then jumping out to cower in the corner of the room."

Sabrina nodded and moved over to the bed and slipped under the sheet. She quickly unbutton Tre's shirt and slipped off her underwear and tossed both items off to the side. She had an idea of something and she was going to do something she never did before for this video. It was all or nothing. She heard Sam yell playback and her song once again filtered through the stage. It was one of the slow parts. So she thought about the fact of what happened with Tre. The feelings she was thinking about made their way to her face. The emotions of insecurity, loneliness, pain, and unsure swept across her features.

Sam couldn't believe the performance she was giving. Everything he wanted she was delivering with ease. He told her to move toward the 'window'. He watched as she rose from the bed clutching the sheet to front of her body and walking to the window with her bare behind showing. It actually was really art-isy and not graphic. She held the sheet with one hand and placed her other palm flat against the 'window' and gazed out with a wistful look upon her face. A look that said, 'why am I here, what happened to my life, will it ever get any better?'

Sam yelled cut, and directed her back into the bed for the next scene. As Sabrina got re-arranged on the bed, Sam walked over to her and sat down to explain what he wanted in this last scene of the day. "Okay, this will be a scene where he is coming home and coming after you. The music will be that one part right before the guitar solo, where the music swells. You think you can do that?"

"Hell, I'll remember what it was like back then..." she said with a deep sigh. "I'll need the practice for tomorrow scenes. Which will not a good day."

"You gonna be okay?" the little director asked the woman sitting on the bed.

"No," she answered honestly, "but it's gonna make for a great video Sam. I can feel it in my aching bones." Sabrina said with a wry smile.

Sam nodded as he got up from the bed, "This is the last scene for the day." As he walked away he called for playback of the song a few bars before he wanted, and called "ACTION"

Sabrina sat and listened to the music and when it started to play what Sam wanted, she closed her eyes and brought herself back to days long ago. She thought about what it felt like to be 22 years old and in a relationship where she got the crap kicked out of her. She opened her eyes and reacted to the music where it sounded like someone was going after her. She flinched at each burst of drums and guitars, and when the music rose in a crescendo, she leapt out of the bed and with the sheet tucked around her and ran to a corner of the room. She had a look of sheer panic on her face as she huddled into the corner trying to make herself as small as possible to avoid being seen by someone in her mind's eye.

She never heard Sam scream "CUT, That's a wrap for today folks." She was lost in her thoughts from so long ago. When Sam came up to her and touched her shoulder, she flinched and screamed. He backed away not knowing what to do. Toby came running over and hunkered down near Sabrina. Sam couldn't hear what Toby was saying, but soon Sabrina started to respond to the words, and shook her head as she came back to this time and place.

The woman stood up and said nothing as she walked from the set. She walked past her friends who had gathered at the edge of the set without a word. Toby followed her and stopped at the group who stood there. "This is not going to be a good shoot." he said with a frown on his face.

"Wow, what happened back there Toby?" Billie asked while biting his lower lip in worry.

Toby sighed, "Well Sabrina is channeling her emotions from when she was in that bad relationship. It's how she acts, use what you know, method acting. She's right you know, it will transfer great on film, and she will destroy herself to get it. It's just how she is. That giving 110% even if it kills you mentality."

The man ran and hand through is short hair, "I just hope it won't totally ruin her." He turned and ushered the group toward the waiting vans since he knew that Sabrina would want to leave right away.

And everyone forgot about the camera which recorded everything.

Sabrina emerged from the wardrobe trailer and climbed into the waiting van. As she settled into her seat, she spoke up. "Where is Tre?"

Adie looked at Sabrina, "He had one of the vans take him back to the hotel earlier. He called Billie's cell once he got there and said to tell you that he'll talk to you when you get there."

Sabrina nodded at the information and sat back against the bench seat. Her eyes drifted closed and she felt a hand on her leg that gave a gentle squeeze. She opened her eyes back up and looked over to Mike who had a supporting look in his eyes. She smiled at him and moved over to lean against him and rest her head on his shoulder. Within a few moments she was asleep.

When the vans arrived at the hotel, Mike gently shook Sabrina to wake her up. With a yawn and a stretch, she was ready to walk up to her room. As the group made their way through the lobby and to the elevators, the subject of dinner came up. "I am so exhausted, so I think I'm just going to order room service and stay in. I have a big shoot in the morning and want to be completely rested up for it."

The others nodded their understanding and made plans for them to go out. As they walked down the hallway to their rooms, and Toby noticed Sabrina glancing at Tre's room as they walked by. He didn't say a thing to his older best friend, because he didn't know what to say. He wished that he could smack both of them and tell them to say what they really felt about each other. He just sighed again as Sabrina entered her room and knew that the next couple of days were going to be rough.

Sabrina walked into her room and went over to the couch and dropped down into it. She closed her eyes and must have drifted off to sleep. She was startled awake by her cell phone ringing 'Dominated Love Slave'. She fumbled around for the phone and finally found it buried in the couch cushions. "Hello?" she mumbled sleepily into the phone.

"Are you okay? I've been out here knocking on your door for about 5 minutes and you weren't answering."

"Hmmm I think I feel asleep on the couch here. Give me a sec I'm coming to the door."

She closed her phone when she turned the handle to open the door. When the door opened up, there was Tre standing in the hallway with a concerned look on his face, and his phone to his ear. Sabrina smiled at him and gestured him inside. When he passed her in the doorway, she caught a whiff of his cologne and noticed that he had changed into a pair of jeans and a tee shirt and chucks. His hair was up in his faux hawk, though it was slightly messy looking now, and the guyliner still ringed his eyes.

"You hungry Tre?" she asked as she closed the door, "I was planning on ordering room service."

Tre picked up the remote and sat down on the couch, "Yea that sounds good, I haven't really eaten anything since lunch."

"Aww poor baby, you must be starving. Starvin' Marvin." she chuckled at the man.

"You'd better respect my authority." he joked back in an Eric Cartman voice.

Sabrina giggled at her ex-husband and grabbed the menu and sat down next to him on the couch. "At least find something good to watch man, is Spongebob on?"

He laughter rumbled from deep in his chest at the blonde's wanting of Spongebob. "The lady wants Spongebob so Spongebob it will be." He cruised the channels and found something to watch. "Well no Spongebob, but will Family Guy do?"

She nodded her head and opened the menu and held it so Tre could find something also. Within minutes, room service was called and their order placed. The two sat on the couch and watched TV til their food would arrive. "Get up for a sec will you?" he asked her. She nodded and watched Tre rearrange himself. He moved to the corner of the couch and leaned back and spread his legs down its length. He patted the couch and she laid down next to him with her head on his chest.

Once they were both settled in, Sabrina raised the burning question she had on her mind since the morning. "Tre?" He grunted his response. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything." he said as he stroked her hair.

"What was today all about?"

Tre stopped his hands moving and sighed as he leaned his head all the way back onto the couch. "I don't know Sabrina what today was all about."

"Okay, fair enough, but I just need to know what's happening, so I can brace myself."

"Brace yourself?"

"Well yea, if this is just going to be friends with benefits, or are we're going to try and work out something else. Either way, I need to know what's going on."

"I don't know Sabrina, can't we just take this one day at a time and not try to overanalyze it?"

"Okay, but can I ask a favor from you?"

"Anything Sabrina, you know I would do anything for you."

"I need you tomorrow. I have no idea what feelings this shoot will pull out of me, but I know I'm going to need someone to lean on afterwards. Can you do that for me? Can you catch me if I fall?

Tre brought his arms around the woman he still loved, though she didn't know that. He held onto her tightly and kissed the top of her head as he said, "I'll catch you."

Sabrina sighed as Tre held onto her. She felt as though everything was once again placed right in her life. She was finally happy with her music and she was in the arms of the man she still loved, though he didn't know that. "Thank you Tre."

The room service arrived and Sabrina went to grab the cart from the waiter. She was reaching to her jacket when Tre jumped up and pulled out a tip from his jeans pocket. The woman smiled her thanks and wheeled the cart over to the couch. They sat up and munched on their dinner of burgers and fries while watching TV.

When they finished, Tre found a good movie on TV, which actually was one of Sabrina favorite movies, Primary Colors. It was a movie about a book written by an Anonymous person which was loosely 'based' on Bill Clinton's presidential champaign. The two settled in with some popcorn that Tre had thought to order along with their dinner from the room service and they cuddled up like two people in love.

About halfway into the movie, Tre noticed that Sabrina had fallen asleep again. He smiled as he felt her rhythmic breathing against his chest. He lifted her up a little so he could stand up and leaned over to lift the sleeping woman and carry her over to the bed. He gently placed her on the covers and preceded to remove her clothes, since he knew she slept in the buff. As he went to remove her bra a voice spoke. "Who's seducing whom Mr. Braddock?"

Tre smiled at the use of his reference from earlier at the video shoot. "I would never try to seduce you Mrs, Robinson. I mean you didn't really think I'd do something like that?"

"Like what?" she replied getting into the game Tre has started to play.

"What do you think?" Tre replied getting into the Dustin Hoffman role.

Sabrina did her best Anne Bancroft "Well I don't know?"

"For god's sake Mrs Robinson. Here we are. You got me into your hotel room. You feed me, and we watch some tv and then you fall asleep."

"So?"

"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me."

"Benjamin, I am NOT trying to seduce you."

"I know that, but please Mrs. Robinson, this is difficult."

"Would you like me to seduce you?" she asked with her eyebrow raised.

Tre looked at her and didn't say the next line. Instead he showed her his answer by kissing her. He heard her moan and deepened the kiss. The man moved next to Sabrina and ran a hand down her stomach. She almost bucked up under his touch. A knowing smile came across his face at her response to his touch. He leaned in to kiss her again and they then spent the night getting reacquainted with each other's bodies.