When Alex's phone rang on this evening, she had no idea it would lead to the sexiest and most memorable encounter of her life.
"Are you sitting down," asked Tasha.
"Actually, yes. I was just having a glass of wine on the balcony. What's up?"
Tasha smiled at Alex's nonchalance knowing that was about to change. "How would you feel about doing a Quentin Tarantino movie?"
Alex wasn't sure she heard Tasha correctly. "What did you say?"
"I said......how would you feel about doing a Quentin Tarantino movie," Tasha repeated.
"Are you fucking kidding me," Alex sputtered as she almost choked on her wine.
"No, I'm not actually. I got the call this morning" said Tasha in her usual matter-of-fact tone.
Alex's head was reeling. She had only completed makeup school a month earlier and had worked on one commercial. She couldn't believe this was happening. In Hollywood it was all about who you knew and she was glad she new Tasha. Tasha had been the head of feature film makeup departments before and was doing Alex a favor beyond her wildest dreams bringing her on as her assistant.
"Tasha. I don't know what to say," whispered Alex. Her mind was spinning.
"Say yes. We're having a production meeting at the studio tomorrow to read through the script and talk ideas. Be there at 8:00am sharp and don't make me regret my offer," Tasha chided.
Alex hung up the phone, took the biggest breath of her life and went back inside for another glass of wine to calm herself. Her whirling brain was wondering who would be in the movie, what crazy hours she's be working and how much better this could possibly get. Those questions would have to wait for their answer until morning.
*******************
Alex's alarm went off at 6:00am. Normally Alex wasn't a morning person but this was not an average morning. This was the morning that could open doors and change her life. She hopped out of bed and showered with an excitement that should have been bottled for some new energy drink. The L.A. traffic sucked as usual so she was glad she left in plenty of time to make it downtown. She found the closest parking ramp and walked hurriedly toward the skyscraping, gleaming office building. Just as she entered the lobby she saw Tasha waiting for the elevator.
"Tasha!"
Tasha spun around and chuckled silently as she watched Alex half jogging to the elevator, jet black hair flying out behind her, perfect breasts bouncing against her silk sleeveless blouse as she ran. She was beautiful and on this day she had chosen a slim, sexy yet professional skirt with a small slit up the leg and black strappy heels. She knew how to accentuate her assets. If Tasha had been so inclined, she would have definitely wanted Alex. Tasha was "strictly dickly" though so it was a mere passing thought.
"Are you ready, " asked Tasha.
"Oh, God," panted Alex, "I'm not sure I can do this. I feel like I'm going to throw up."
"You're not going to throw up. You'll be just fine," assured Tasha. "Not everyone is going to be here today, mainly Tarantino, two of the producers, wardrobe, and a couple of the actors that were available for the read and some interns. Alex, you can do this. You're great at what you do and I wouldn't have brought you on board if I didn't think you could handle this."
Alex took a deep breath and stepped into the elevator. As the doors closed she felt that there was no turning back. She didn't want to turn back. This was an amazing opportunity. When the doors re-opened, she and Tasha walked toward a slightly open door to what looked like a giant board room. She could see people moving about inside and suddenly felt like she could faint. She saw a water cooler and coffee cart right outside the door and thought maybe something to drink would help or at least keep her hands busy so she didn't fidget nervously the entire time. She handed her Coach bag and suit jacket to Tasha and headed toward the cart. She saw a man standing there from the back and wondered if he was as nervous as she was. Just as she approached the cart, the man turned around and Alex almost fell right in the floor. Tim Roth. Before she could even process what she was seeing, he reached out to shake her hand.
"I don't believe we've met. I'm Tim," he said as if he really needed to tell her. Tim Roth had been the unknowing participant in many a fantasy for Alex. My God, she had used the slow motion and pause features on her DVD player more than once watching his sex scenes. One could say she was completely enamored with him.
"Um....uh..." Alex couldn't even remember her own name at that moment. The warm touch of his hand brought her back to reality. "Alex," she finally managed to get out.
"Alex....beautiful name. It suits you. Well, nice to meet you, Alex. See you inside then," said Tim and with that he breezed past her and disappeared into the room. Alex grabbed a cup of coffee with shaking hands and headed into the meeting. As she quickly scanned the room, she was looking to see if she recognized any other actors. She thought she had seen one guy on The Office but she wasn't sure about anyone else. She then realized she was the last one in and the only seat left was in between Tasha and Tim. Oh, man....this is too much . She shot Tasha a terrified look and slid into her chair.
As everyone went around the table and introduced themselves and said what their part in the process was Alex barely heard anything. She felt like she was underwater and running out of air. Tasha reached under the table and put a reassuring hand on Alex's leg and gave it a gently squeeze. It made Alex feel a little better and she made a conscious effort to calm herself down before she had to introduce herself.
After the introductions, Mr. Tarantino announced that he'd like to read through the script once and then release the actors so he could discuss ideas with makeup and wardrobe. The reading of the script began and all Alex could think about was how close she was sitting to Tim Roth. She wondered if he could feel the heat radiating off her as she was sure she was blushing from head to toe. After a time, she finally heard Tim's voice reading aloud. He was playing a villain in this film and it was a scene in which he was bullying a woman before he inevitably raped her.
"You're a whore, aren't you," Tim read. "A filthy whore who deserves to be taught a lesson."