This is probably not the next chapter many of you are hoping for, but I promise it's coming up. Thank you to everyone who's been following along and commenting.
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Interlude: Monique
The wrap party wasn't a huge affair. Part of that had to do with the budget; they didn't have a lot left over to splurge and really go crazy like some big-budget productions. But they still rented out a hotel ballroom and got a huge spread of food and an open bar.
The small crowd was from a combination of it not being a particularly large movie (not counting background extras there were maybe 13 speaking roles) and their dismissing a good amount of the crew for the last month and a half of filming so Dakota wouldn't have to show herself off to more people than necessary.
It was still bittersweet. Four months was a long time, especially condensed into the intense environment of a film shoot. Relationships, both casual and intimate, had formed and reality now intruded for better or worse.
For some, though, it had happened much sooner than that. And reality hadn't just intruded, it had breached the gates and set fire to the stronghold.
Dakota had stood up in front of the crowd and given her thank you speech. She was friendly and funny, thanking everyone for helping her move past being a dorky teenager. She made jokes about coping with being in everyone's 'mental porno cast' from then on, and joked that she was so sick of taking orders that she'd probably scream at the flight attendants when they told her to put her seatbelt on.
Monique had known it was an act. The confrontation with Mistress Samira, followed by the scene with her and Danny, had wrecked her. She'd refused to discuss it with Monique, at one point throwing back in her face the warning she'd given Dakota; she wasn't a real psychologist.
Monique
had
studied psychology, however, and knew there was a lot of risk right now. Dakota had been able to focus on getting the film done. Remembering her lines, her cues, her blocking, her schedule, everything. Now she had nothing. There were no obligations on her time. There was nothing to focus her mind on anymore. And due to her own choices and life circumstances, she had no real family or friends to lean on either.
By working the room, she eventually figured out Dakota had gone to a room in the hotel. Danny was also gone, and a lot of the crew were joking that the two of them were finally giving in to the sexual tension building up through the entire film.
Monique knew that wasn't true. Danny's ex wife and his kids had been visiting the set on weekends. Dakota had actually been entertaining his kids. First she was the celebrity star neither of them ever thought they would meet and just kept them captivated by her mere existence. Then she gradually morphed into the friendly big sister that was old enough to fit into the "mentor" category but young enough to "get" the kids. All of which had given their parents time to reconnect. Despite his wanting to keep it secret, at least twenty people knew Danny had absconded with his family and planned to give his ex a box with a diamond in it.
Monique found Dakota's room, braced herself, and knocked. She had no idea what she'd find in there, and had already promised herself that if Dakota didn't answer, she would get the manager. Major life changes were always shocks, and sometimes people didn't cope well.
She let out a sigh of relief when she heard the fumbling of someone undoing locks. Then she almost coughed when she inhaled as the door opened. She didn't think licorice-flavored paint thinner was a thing, but Dakota had apparently found some.
"Oh, it's you, good," Dakota said, her voice unsteady.
She only had a robe on, and when she'd answered the door Monique got an eyeful. It shouldn't have been a shock, really, given how much of the past month Dakota had been naked on set, but context was everything. There was a difference between seeing an actress nude and made-up for a performance and seeing a woman answer her hotel room door half-naked with her hair a mess.
Monique followed Dakota into the room, dreading what she might see. She let out another sigh of relief when there weren't any other naked bodies on either of the two beds, nor was there a hand mirror or baggies of powder or pills anywhere. The bottle of liquor Dakota currently held seemed to be the only one open, though Dakota saw another one, sealed, sitting on the dresser under the TV. She did raise an eyebrow at the porn scene playing on the TV, showing a redheaded girl completely entwined in ropes, including several that deformed her generous tits. What seemed to be a whole crowd of men hovered around her, taunting, poking, and generally abusing her.
"I need you to tie me...oooh," Dakota stopped to let out a breath, "Tie me up. And then you're gonna fuck me."
"Dakota, that's not-"
"You're the intimacy coordinator!" Dakota insisted loudly, "so...so coordinate the intinimiacy!"
Dakota took another pull from the bottle in her hand and grimaced. "What the fuck. How does she drink this?"
Monique sighed and prepped herself for a long night.
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Two hours later, Monique stepped out of Dakota's room. She went back down to the lobby with the two bottles, one with only a quarter of its contents left. She figured she'd hand the other one back to the bartender.
Regis caught her at the entrance and his French was frantic.
"Did you find Dakota?"
"Yes," she replied in kind, "Stupid girl was drinking herself blind in a hotel room. And yes, she was alone."
Monique had never quite figured out the dynamic between Regis and Dakota. His concern definitely wasn't fatherly, maybe more like an elder sibling? But it also had questionable motives. Everything he'd worried about with Dakota could be genuine concern, but it also could have just been a director worried about his star's ability to perform and represent the movie.
He stood fretting for a moment, though he looked a little less panicked. "Will she be okay?"
Monique mentally recalled the session of fending off come-ons, crying, screaming in anger, vomiting, and exhaustion she'd just shepherded the nineteen-year-old through.