"Oh, now I know he's lost his mind!" Chris said as he got off the phone.
"Who has?" I replied.
"Who else? Marty."
"What'd he do now?"
Tigress' manager Marty O'Brien had been saying that some new gigs with "the girls" (as he put it) would be coming soon. They had a new album to promote and between the photo shoots we usually worked, Chris explained he had a new appearance in mind for them on the CBS soap opera "The Young and the Restless".
"You're right, he has lost his mind." I replied "but it is a novel idea. It's not just Mom's watching you know. I know a girl that's in Grad school who has a daily viewing club, probably a blog for all I know. Oh, there was also-"
"Hollywood..." He interjected while staring stone-faced at me "Your logic is scary sometimes."
I knew this was his way of saying I was right.
And I should also quit philosophizing while I was ahead.
In other words, shut up!
Marty gave us the lowdown on his plans. Tigress would be appearing on the show as a new music act playing a club in the show's fictional town of Genoa City, Wisconsin. I was hoping we wouldn't be part of the show like the time we were in London (although my encounter with Hilary Duff there was rather nice).
This was one time when being naïve` about everything helped. I didn't know anyone from the cast so I didn't try to do any stargazing. I figured the better dressed people must be cast members. We were shuttled to the nightclub set where the girls would do their performance and we'd snap photos. But Marty, being the publicity hound he was, grabbed me.
"Hey! Get some shots with the cast, Jim." He said
"OK" I said before leaning in close to him "now tell me who's in the cast?"
Marty had this exasperated look on his face, then quickly looked around for someone, anyone.
"Uh, I'd love to be in a photo." A voice said nearby.
"Great! Right this way..." he said as he guided a pretty blonde wearing a dark pantsuit with a silky white blouse underneath. "What's your name, darling? Just so the girls know, obviously."
"Sharon Case, I'll be in this scene." She said with a smile. "I play Sharon Newman on the show."
"Great!" Marty said again as I followed him. "This is Jim, he does the photos for their website."
I gave a slight wave to her as Marty pulled the girls together.
"Snap away, Hollywood." Marty said
"Right, boss." I said with a roll of my eyes.
"Hollywood? How'd you get a name like that?" Sharon asked with a laugh.
"Because he's a star!" Candy from Tigress said making all three laugh.
That made me blush somewhat. I knew very little about this show, but if this girl Sharon was on it, I might just add this to my TV viewing. She looked hot.
Chris and I stood off to the side of the set while Tigress filmed their scenes in the club. He was idly checking his phone for messages and seemed pretty bored by everything. I tried to get an idea of what Sharon's storyline might be as she did her dialogue with another actor who seemed to be her husband on the show. Then she had a heated exchange with another character. This wasn't quite as thrilling to watch as when we were working on Blake Lively's film, but Sharon sure looked hot nonetheless.
Then Tigress had their big moment as they performed. I snapped away as Marty stood by, giving me little hints of great shots. Surprisingly, they nailed their performance in 3 takes. Either they were so professional or the directors had a schedule to keep, and retakes were not encouraged. Tigress had finished their work for the day they'd be called back for another scene tomorrow. So our work was done.
As I was packing up our gear, Sharon came over to me.
"So Jim, what do you think of this?" she asked "Oh, wait! I should call you Hollywood shouldn't I?"
"Please, Jim is fine. I've never seen the show, but my sister was a fan, so I don't know much about what goes on here."
"Oh, there's a lot!" she laughed "I've been on here for like 10 years."
"Really? I guess a lot's happened to you."
"Oh yes, let's see...I've been married 4 times, had 3 kids, been accused of murder, been kidnapped, couple of affairs...but other than that I'm pretty normal." She said with a ho-hum expression.
We both laughed.
"I'm an amateur compared to some of the others here." She said as she looked at her cast mates. "But they're great, they've been doing this show so long, they're the reason it's still on."
Sharon was then called away by the director
"Hey, I'll see you later Jim." She said as went away to makeup.
Marty was nearby
"Hey, any idea when this'll be aired?"
"I think in like a week, why?"
"Oh, just wondering." I said as I followed Chris out to his Jeep.
"Well, you watched a soap opera being made...your life is complete." Chris said with his usual sarcasm.
"Possibly..." I replied.
The weather in Los Angeles had been lousy all week, but with the sun out the following Saturday, I finally had a chance to wash my SLK. We'd become friendly with the owner of a mega-sized car wash called "Clean Machines" and we had a guaranteed discount at the place. It was a huge operation with about 10 self-service wash bays plus automated washes and every conceivable cleaning supply available. I wasn't the only one with the same idea that day. The bays all had large glass windows, the only reason why was I guess the designer thought it would be cool to see everyone else washing their car. The SLK was getting the premier treatment (of course) and as I was crouched down to wash the tires, I heard a low, mean sounding rumble from the bay next door. I looked up and a gorgeous navy blue Corvette was pulling in. Man, did this car sound and look great! It had to be an early 70's model. The Vette's owner's back was to me, but it was a shapely blonde girl wearing khaki shorts and what appeared to be a Grateful Dead tank top. She crouched down and seemed to be using a big sponge to wash the mag wheels. Giving me what seemed to be a glimpse of her thong panties. Then she stood and bent over the hood and got a big lather working onto the long hood of the Corvette. She lathered up the car with slow, loving movements of her hands. She continued to work this soapy magic all over the car. At one point she bent over and I could see a gorgeous ass, this girl had spent a lot of time in the gym! Once the Corvette was awash in soap suds, she went over and adjusted the high-powered spray nozzle to give the car a good rinse. As the suds dissipated, the car began to truly shine. And I could finally see the owner when she removed her gold rimmed Aviator sunglasses and they casually hung by a thin strap around her neck, looking so sexy, too.
It was Sharon!
I don't know if it was coincidental but the hose I was holding suddenly spurted out a huge stream of water (subliminal message, perhaps). I quickly shut it off and wondered if I should try to catch her attention.
"Well, here goes nothin'." I said to myself
I went over to the huge window and knocked as best as I could, hoping to get her attention.
After just a few knocks, she looked up and her eyes lit up when she saw me.
"Hey!" she called "You're here too?"
"Yes, giving my car a much needed cleaning." I said pointing to the SLK.
"Same here..." she said pointing to the Corvette.
"That car's yours?" I asked, amazed
"Sort of, it's really my Dad's, he used to work for Chevy long ago and he's had that car forever. He has me store it out here, and I get to drive it on days like this. I just have to clean it and do the oil changes and stuff."
"Wow, it's a beauty."
"Aw, thanks. It's so cool to drive..." then added in a slightly excited voice "..and it's wicked fast!"
"I'll bet!" I said with equal excitement in my voice.
"You have much more to do on your car?" she asked
"Not much, why?"
"I figured we could, um, get some coffee or..." her voice trailed off and she twirled her blonde hair on her finger slightly, like she was nervous. "We didn't get to talk much that day on the set."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let me finish up and I'll help you with the monster machine here." I said pointing to the Vette.
Sharon and I laughed as I went back to finish rinsing off my car. I quickly finished up, parked it nearby, and went back to help Sharon.
She had now worked up a thick mix of soap and car cleaner in her hands with a big sponge. With a slow motion she worked all around the top of the car, then down its low-slung body. I was trying to concentrate on cleaning the silver mag wheels, but watching her was incredibly sexy. Somehow, I finished the drivers' side wheels and moved over to the passenger side where Sharon was. Again, it was hard to concentrate when her perfectly smooth legs were only a few feet away, and with only thin brown sandals on her feet. Sharon noticed where I was now.
