‹ Prequel: Mercy
Status: WIP
Sweet Child O' Mine
Maggie?
The blisters on my feet ached and my calves cramped in the four inch heels that perfectly matched my designer dress. But I smiled through the pain as I walked the red carpet like an expert. I waved to my fans and answered question after question about my latest movie, whether or not I was dating someone or who I was wearing. (I always found that to be the stupidest question and the smart ass in me wanted to say that I wasn't wearing anyone, at least not that I knew of!)
I had only been out of my limo for a grand total of five minutes and I was ready to go home. I answered each question that was thrown at me in my fading southern accent. That’s what happened when you lived in L.A., you lost your accent, your family, your friends, and your self; it was some what of a prerequisite for your induction into this elite club of wealthy idiots. And I was becoming one of them. My name is Maggie Miller and I'm an actress. Not so much by choice, as it was by force...but that’s a story for another day!
Sometime around 3:00 am I kicked off my heels, and slid out of my two thousand dollar "little black dress" and crawled into bed with a sigh. My bed, the one place that I could be me.
"Maggie?" says voice from the other side of the door, accompanied by a very persistent knock.
I groaned, pulling the satin eye mask off of my face and rolled out of bed. When I opened the door Bert my body guard and Ralph Burns my manager were standing there.
"Is there something I can help you with at the ass crack of dawn?" I ask, a little irritated.
"Darling, its noon, time to rise and shine." he says clapping his hands together. "You have a very busy schedule. Lunch with Matthew Salem- "
"Who?" I ask interrupting.
He sighs, flipping back a few pages in his day planner. "Matthew Salem, he's an up and coming producer and he wants to have lunch with you at Bistro today at 1:30, so chop, chop, sweetie, time for hair and makeup." he says ushering in two people to take care of those things for me. Before I could protest or even blink, a man was pulling my robe off and another was cursing at me in French about sleeping with my makeup on.
"And Maggie, please don't say Y'all today. It’s so Southern." Ralph says rolling his eyes, before leaving me alone with the two men, as I clutched my naked body. I learned long ago that you had to get used to being naked around strangers...or as the business called them, "Wardrobe Stylist."
"Sure." I reply to Ralph as he leaves the room, Bert gives me a little wink and closes the door. I sighed and sat down in the makeup chair that was a permanent fixture in my large bathroom; saying a silent prayer for myself to help me get through the day.
********************
"Yes, you look like an excellent candidate for the job, Mr. Chapman. A former Bounty Hunter, wouldn't hurt to have one of those on our team, now would it?"
********************
I strolled out of the club, drunker than a skunk (as my grandma always said) and stepped into the black SUV that was waiting on me.
"To my house." I instructed the driver, whose name escaped me at the moment. Tonight I was bodyguard free, a rare occasion for me. I argued with my manager for a good hour for that privilege. I had a date, he would protect me.
I giggled and smiled at Matthew Salem, who I had been dating since we had lunch together three months ago. That was another thing I learned, if your publicist and his publicist thought you'd look good together, they made sure you met (and stayed together).
He returned my smile and leaned into to kiss me. I moaned and pulled my short dress further up my thighs and straddled his waist. He ran his strong hands through my hair and started to suck my neck.
I pushed him back a little and said "Slow down, this isn't high school, I don't need a hickey. I’ve got a photo shoot tomorrow."
He pulled my neck toward him and continued. "I'll stop when I feel like it." he says squeezing my waist roughly, with both hands.
I pushed back once more and pulled my dress down, returning to my seat. "Take him home first." I called out to the driver as I glared at Matthew.
***********
Sure enough when I woke up the next morning there was a hickey on my neck. I let out a disgusted grunt as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. "Son of a bitch." I say, turning my neck to get a better look at it. "Why cant men ever listen?"
I couldn't worry too much about it today, there was too much going on. A photo shoot at 11:00, an interview at 1:15, and to end my day, a magazine was coming to my home at 3:30 to take pictures of my house for a feature article that was being published in their Christmas Issue.
Two hours and a lot of makeup later, I walked down the stairs in a pair of jeans and a designer t-shirt. Not my normal look, but it was definitely the most comfortable one.
"You look great, doll." Ralph says, pushing me out the door.
As I walked to the SUV, I noticed a tall man, wearing dark sunglasses following right behind Bert. He noticed me looking and gave me a quick nod. I wrinkle my eyebrows and get into the vehicle. Ralph slides into the seat beside me, and the stranger and Bert take the last row of seats.
"Who's the big ape in the back seat?" I whisper in Ralph's ear.
"Your new bodyguard. Behave, he's not an ape, he was a Bounty Hunter. And he's hot." Ralph says, barely above a whisper, as he glances at the back of the SUV.
"Ralph, you have a boyfriend, stop hitting on my people. And why do I have a new bodyguard?"
"I’ve told you a hundred times, Bert is retiring in a month." Ralph says.
"You're leaving me Bert?" I say a little louder as I turn around in my seat. Bert had been my constant companion since I was a teenager. I met him after I did my first movie, and he had been like a father to me ever since. "Ralph says he told me but I don't think he did." I say with a smile.
Bert chuckles, says, "Yep, this big ape right here will be taking care of you from now on."
I cut my eyes at the stranger, he was wearing dark sunglasses and I couldn't see the look in eyes as I turned around. I saw Ralph glance at me out of the corner of his eyes as my cheeks turned a deep shade of pink. I was embarrassed for the first time in many years.
Duane Lee's POV:
'I couldn't believe the bitch called me a big ape' I thought to myself as we exited the car for her photo shoot. Maybe it was mistake coming here. I tried to shake the nagging thoughts from my mind as I stood just outside the door to the dressing room, waiting on the princess to emerge.
'Maggie Miller, the Teen Queen is all grown up', I remember reading that head line years ago when she turned twenty one. She had starred in many movies, gaining more popularity with each one. She had on again/off again romances with co-stars, and movies stars, musicians and models. Now at the ripe old age of twenty five, she stood 5'10" and weighed 125 at best. Her long brown hair was almost to her waist and she had bright blue eyes. And from everything that I had observed, she was exactly as the tabloids and media portrayed her; a princess. (I never knew if they meant that in a good way or a bad way?) Maybe working for her would give me a different opinion, but I doubted it.
I followed closely behind her as she made her way across the large loft that was rented for the photo shoot. She was covered in a fluffy pink robe, and her long hair was down and tousled, giving her the appearance of bed head. As I rounded the corner I saw a bed covered in red satin sheets. Maggie slipped the robe from her shoulders revealing racy black lingerie and crawled across the bed.
I swallowed hard, biting the inside of my lip to keep the rest of my body in check. Any red blooded man would have killed to be in my position right now. Oddly enough, it made me think about Leland. My brother had always loved Maggie, he watched all her movies, I think he even had a poster of her on his wall at one point in time. And here I was watching her in her lingerie, it was almost ironic considering everything that had happened in the last year.
"It’s alright, son." Says Bert from my left. "You just get used to it after a while...she is a beauty though, isn't she?" he says, patting me on the back.
I just nodded, and watched the show. That afternoon I was treated to a tour of Maggie's large house, it was being photographed for some kind of Home Magazine, it was decorated for Christmas from floor to ceiling. I wondered if Maggie had done any of this herself.
"Kinda gets you in the spirit, even if it is October." I hear Bert telling Maggie as the photographer snapped away, taking a million pictures of the large Christmas Tree.
Maggie smiles at Bert "Yeah...kinda." she says, pretending to be happy.
I was an expert at reading peoples faces, and her face told a story . She was unhappy, maybe even depressed, and the Christmas Spirit the magazine was trying to conjure up wasn't helping any...but it wasn't my place to intrude.
Hours later I drove to my tiny apartment; somehow I managed to survive my first day of being a personal bodyguard to a movie star. Living in L.A. was interesting, to say the least, but it wasn't Hawaii and for that, I was thankful. Finally at 11:30, I closed my eyes as I layed down, saying a prayer for my little girl before drifting off to sleep.
Three weeks later, we were all flying out to the Caribbean for Bert's retirement party.
"Wow Bert, you really party in style!." I say patting him on the back. Bert and I had become good friends over the past month. He was an older guy, but more than capable of handling himself and any other crazy fan that tried to get to Maggie.
We boarded Maggie's private jet and flew off into the sunset.
I had only been out of my limo for a grand total of five minutes and I was ready to go home. I answered each question that was thrown at me in my fading southern accent. That’s what happened when you lived in L.A., you lost your accent, your family, your friends, and your self; it was some what of a prerequisite for your induction into this elite club of wealthy idiots. And I was becoming one of them. My name is Maggie Miller and I'm an actress. Not so much by choice, as it was by force...but that’s a story for another day!
Sometime around 3:00 am I kicked off my heels, and slid out of my two thousand dollar "little black dress" and crawled into bed with a sigh. My bed, the one place that I could be me.
"Maggie?" says voice from the other side of the door, accompanied by a very persistent knock.
I groaned, pulling the satin eye mask off of my face and rolled out of bed. When I opened the door Bert my body guard and Ralph Burns my manager were standing there.
"Is there something I can help you with at the ass crack of dawn?" I ask, a little irritated.
"Darling, its noon, time to rise and shine." he says clapping his hands together. "You have a very busy schedule. Lunch with Matthew Salem- "
"Who?" I ask interrupting.
He sighs, flipping back a few pages in his day planner. "Matthew Salem, he's an up and coming producer and he wants to have lunch with you at Bistro today at 1:30, so chop, chop, sweetie, time for hair and makeup." he says ushering in two people to take care of those things for me. Before I could protest or even blink, a man was pulling my robe off and another was cursing at me in French about sleeping with my makeup on.
"And Maggie, please don't say Y'all today. It’s so Southern." Ralph says rolling his eyes, before leaving me alone with the two men, as I clutched my naked body. I learned long ago that you had to get used to being naked around strangers...or as the business called them, "Wardrobe Stylist."
"Sure." I reply to Ralph as he leaves the room, Bert gives me a little wink and closes the door. I sighed and sat down in the makeup chair that was a permanent fixture in my large bathroom; saying a silent prayer for myself to help me get through the day.
********************
"Yes, you look like an excellent candidate for the job, Mr. Chapman. A former Bounty Hunter, wouldn't hurt to have one of those on our team, now would it?"
********************
I strolled out of the club, drunker than a skunk (as my grandma always said) and stepped into the black SUV that was waiting on me.
"To my house." I instructed the driver, whose name escaped me at the moment. Tonight I was bodyguard free, a rare occasion for me. I argued with my manager for a good hour for that privilege. I had a date, he would protect me.
I giggled and smiled at Matthew Salem, who I had been dating since we had lunch together three months ago. That was another thing I learned, if your publicist and his publicist thought you'd look good together, they made sure you met (and stayed together).
He returned my smile and leaned into to kiss me. I moaned and pulled my short dress further up my thighs and straddled his waist. He ran his strong hands through my hair and started to suck my neck.
I pushed him back a little and said "Slow down, this isn't high school, I don't need a hickey. I’ve got a photo shoot tomorrow."
He pulled my neck toward him and continued. "I'll stop when I feel like it." he says squeezing my waist roughly, with both hands.
I pushed back once more and pulled my dress down, returning to my seat. "Take him home first." I called out to the driver as I glared at Matthew.
***********
Sure enough when I woke up the next morning there was a hickey on my neck. I let out a disgusted grunt as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. "Son of a bitch." I say, turning my neck to get a better look at it. "Why cant men ever listen?"
I couldn't worry too much about it today, there was too much going on. A photo shoot at 11:00, an interview at 1:15, and to end my day, a magazine was coming to my home at 3:30 to take pictures of my house for a feature article that was being published in their Christmas Issue.
Two hours and a lot of makeup later, I walked down the stairs in a pair of jeans and a designer t-shirt. Not my normal look, but it was definitely the most comfortable one.
"You look great, doll." Ralph says, pushing me out the door.
As I walked to the SUV, I noticed a tall man, wearing dark sunglasses following right behind Bert. He noticed me looking and gave me a quick nod. I wrinkle my eyebrows and get into the vehicle. Ralph slides into the seat beside me, and the stranger and Bert take the last row of seats.
"Who's the big ape in the back seat?" I whisper in Ralph's ear.
"Your new bodyguard. Behave, he's not an ape, he was a Bounty Hunter. And he's hot." Ralph says, barely above a whisper, as he glances at the back of the SUV.
"Ralph, you have a boyfriend, stop hitting on my people. And why do I have a new bodyguard?"
"I’ve told you a hundred times, Bert is retiring in a month." Ralph says.
"You're leaving me Bert?" I say a little louder as I turn around in my seat. Bert had been my constant companion since I was a teenager. I met him after I did my first movie, and he had been like a father to me ever since. "Ralph says he told me but I don't think he did." I say with a smile.
Bert chuckles, says, "Yep, this big ape right here will be taking care of you from now on."
I cut my eyes at the stranger, he was wearing dark sunglasses and I couldn't see the look in eyes as I turned around. I saw Ralph glance at me out of the corner of his eyes as my cheeks turned a deep shade of pink. I was embarrassed for the first time in many years.
Duane Lee's POV:
'I couldn't believe the bitch called me a big ape' I thought to myself as we exited the car for her photo shoot. Maybe it was mistake coming here. I tried to shake the nagging thoughts from my mind as I stood just outside the door to the dressing room, waiting on the princess to emerge.
'Maggie Miller, the Teen Queen is all grown up', I remember reading that head line years ago when she turned twenty one. She had starred in many movies, gaining more popularity with each one. She had on again/off again romances with co-stars, and movies stars, musicians and models. Now at the ripe old age of twenty five, she stood 5'10" and weighed 125 at best. Her long brown hair was almost to her waist and she had bright blue eyes. And from everything that I had observed, she was exactly as the tabloids and media portrayed her; a princess. (I never knew if they meant that in a good way or a bad way?) Maybe working for her would give me a different opinion, but I doubted it.
I followed closely behind her as she made her way across the large loft that was rented for the photo shoot. She was covered in a fluffy pink robe, and her long hair was down and tousled, giving her the appearance of bed head. As I rounded the corner I saw a bed covered in red satin sheets. Maggie slipped the robe from her shoulders revealing racy black lingerie and crawled across the bed.
I swallowed hard, biting the inside of my lip to keep the rest of my body in check. Any red blooded man would have killed to be in my position right now. Oddly enough, it made me think about Leland. My brother had always loved Maggie, he watched all her movies, I think he even had a poster of her on his wall at one point in time. And here I was watching her in her lingerie, it was almost ironic considering everything that had happened in the last year.
"It’s alright, son." Says Bert from my left. "You just get used to it after a while...she is a beauty though, isn't she?" he says, patting me on the back.
I just nodded, and watched the show. That afternoon I was treated to a tour of Maggie's large house, it was being photographed for some kind of Home Magazine, it was decorated for Christmas from floor to ceiling. I wondered if Maggie had done any of this herself.
"Kinda gets you in the spirit, even if it is October." I hear Bert telling Maggie as the photographer snapped away, taking a million pictures of the large Christmas Tree.
Maggie smiles at Bert "Yeah...kinda." she says, pretending to be happy.
I was an expert at reading peoples faces, and her face told a story . She was unhappy, maybe even depressed, and the Christmas Spirit the magazine was trying to conjure up wasn't helping any...but it wasn't my place to intrude.
Hours later I drove to my tiny apartment; somehow I managed to survive my first day of being a personal bodyguard to a movie star. Living in L.A. was interesting, to say the least, but it wasn't Hawaii and for that, I was thankful. Finally at 11:30, I closed my eyes as I layed down, saying a prayer for my little girl before drifting off to sleep.
Three weeks later, we were all flying out to the Caribbean for Bert's retirement party.
"Wow Bert, you really party in style!." I say patting him on the back. Bert and I had become good friends over the past month. He was an older guy, but more than capable of handling himself and any other crazy fan that tried to get to Maggie.
We boarded Maggie's private jet and flew off into the sunset.