Unkindly tagged a bimbo, Roxy Reeves awoke on the first morning of what she already believed was a big change in her life. She knew she'd done the right thing by resigning from the law firm were she'd been employed to break her adulterous link with Jerry Truman, and to avoid the looming possibility of being fired.
Emotionally she felt secure because of the kindness she'd received from Sophie Scott who had invited Roxy into her home as a temporary refuge. Roxy yawned, had a quick shower, dressed carefully to ensure she looked attractive to create a good impression and went down for breakfast with Sophie and husband Robert.
Roxy had no idea what the time was. She was alone in the kitchen and the wall clock indicated 9:30. She sighed, realizing her hosts would be at work. She found a note from Sophie on the kitchen table and called her.
"Hi darling, I'm glad you slept in."
"Thanks for saying that. I was embarrassed I didn't join my hosts for breakfast."
"You can do that at the weekend darling. Breakfast for us during the week is pretty much a pick-up and run affair. I told my mother about you staying with us and she insists on bringing over lunch today and getting to know you. Mom is difficult to stop when she gets going so I hope this unscheduled arrangement is okay?"
"Sure I have no plans for today."
"Oh that's the other thing. Your screen test is at 4:30 today. I'll collect you at 4:00."
"My screen test?"
"Yes and I'm sorry to drop it on you but it only developed during the night. It's Plan C but taking a slice of Plan A as well. I pitched to Robert last night after softening him up with sex. To humor us he's arranged a test for you as a possible replacement for the relief weather girl. Darling it won't be a fun test like I had planned; people who need to be there will be there. Um Robert says stay off alcohol and coffee and be perfectly relaxed, ah as well as you can."
"I know what you are saying. Why are you pushing me like this Sophie?"
"Because I'm treating you like my adopted daughter. Is that so bad?"
Roxy laughed delightedly and said no, not at all. In fact she was delighted.
"Um Roxy please listen, this is so important. My mother is a highly social animal and is very talkative and will be out to fill you with red wine, overly rich food and very strong coffee. Please resist avoiding over-indulging before your big test."
"I will and will do so charmingly because I'm your pretend daughter but never fear, I'll not tell her our secret."
"God no please not a word because I haven't mentioned that to her. Oh my mom is from Italy and despite all the years since she left Italy she still struggles with English and ..."
"No problem Sophie. Just relax and enjoy your day and think carefully before having office sex."
"Go wash your mouth out wicked girl," Sophie laughed and cut the call.
Sophie arrived just before 4:00 to pick up Roxy and to her horror found her mother Maria was still there and half drunk.
"This house guest of yours, she is very good. She says I'm beautiful but left me to drink all the wine. And she talks to me in Italian when you struggle so with my native language."
"Roxy speaks Italian?"
"That's what I said. Why don't you listen?"
"I can't believe this."
"So you call me a liar eh, your own mother?"
"No of course not. But I just wasn't aware that..."
"You must talk to Roxy more. Be polite. She's your house guest. What do you want from Roxy, sex?"
"Mother!"
"What's so wrong talking to your mother about your sexual desires? Roxy's sister Clara married an Italian boy, not like you. When they were young girls Clara and Roxy lived one month each summer in the house of their English grandmother near Lucca, in Tuscany. Oh here comes my Roxy now. Doesn't she look so beautiful?"
Sophie turned and gaped. Roxy wore the type of tight dress weather presenters appear to favor that outlines breast and belly curve and her hair was up on Countessa style that Maria used to do with Sophie's hair when she went on dates in her late teens. Roxy with her olive skin and glorious chestnut hair looked absolutely stunning.
Maria and Roxy talked rapidly in Italian and Sophie struggled to keep up.
"Maria says I made her drink too much home and she stayed for you to drop her off and the way to the studio."
"But mom lives in the opposite direction."
"We have plenty of time. That's why I let Maria do my hair."
"My mother allows you to call her Maria?"
"Roxy is a good girl. She may call my anything she wishes but she should change her name."
"Mom, Roxy's name is part of her identify."
"That's exactly what she told me. So you do talk to Roxy?"
"Come on Maria, let's get you home," Roxy said, leading Maria to the door and calling, "Oh darling could you grab the picnic basket from the kitchen table. It's all packed."
"So you call my daughter darling? Are you ready to have sex with her?"
Sophie cringed until she heard Roxy's reply.
"You are drunk and naughty, in fact you are very wicked Maria. I think you need a new husband to kick you into shape."
"You cannot talk to me like that."
"Maria I'm not your daughter who you boss and I'll bite you unless you speak nicely."
"My lovely Roxy. What has happened to you? You were so nice to me."
"Well you behave and nice Roxy will return."
A few minutes later Sophie almost drove off the road when her mother said to Roxy, who was in the back seat with her, "So you think I need a man to keep me in order?"
"Yes I do."
"Well men my age are no longer interested in sex."
"Then marry a much younger guy, one around Sophie's age."
Sophie said after they'd gotten Maria safely inside her unit in the retirement village, "God does my mother love you. Having you two together is a real scream."
"Rarely have I met an older woman with so much character and liveliness as your mother."
"You have to be joking."
There was silence.
Sophie said, "Omigod, sorry. Obviously you were serious."
"Sophie my mother died of a\blockage of the lung artery when I was sixteen and I have no idea where my father is. You might like to think about truly appreciating your mother while you still have her."
"Oh but I do, we get along very well. Truly we do."
"But she wants to be teased and spoken to firmly at times and to FEEL that you love her."
Sophie drove along, feeling the tears coming and then a soft tissue was pressed against her hand on the wheel nearest Roxy.
"Thanks darling," Sophie sniffed, dabbing her eyes. "I don't know how but you've got it."
"Got what?"
"It's not something to worry your pretty head about."
"This something you mentioned, does it mean personality?"
"Look it means charm, personality, personal image projection and other things. Just cease thinking about it. It's not necessary to understand it. Just ride with it and accept you are destined to become a person of note because I believe you have your gran's genes and that's not the jeans you wear."
"I know," Roxy laughed and added, "And I know your mother wants you to talk to her like you do to me, on equal footing, not like a dutiful daughter. It's not in your mother's mind to have a dutiful daughter."
Sophie drove on and pondered. How on earth could Roxy know that? But did it matter. And another thing, how the hell did Roxy know how to handle Maria?
At the imposing front to what really was a converted warehouse, Robert came out to greet them, looking worried because they were a little late. But then he looked closed at Roxy and smiled.
"You look great."
"Thanks."
"But you guys are late," he growled.
Sophie opened her mouth but too late, Roxy was already purring to Robert, "It's my fault. Sophie arrived on time. Enough said?"
"Yeah well that's okay I can't see make-up being able to do much more with you and that's saved heaps of time. Come I've arranged someone to coach you. I apologize in advance. I'm perhaps guilty of over-selling you because it's been decided to conduct a full screen test. All the execs who need to be here will be here and possible others because word will be out a full screen test will run."
"No worries and thanks for taking an interest in my welfare."
Robert looked more than pleased and said that was okay. Um Roxy was a bit like his protégé.
"Come with me girls," he said, and Sophie 'went with the flow' having realized Roxy had slipped into a different mode to handle Robert, who was almost as difficult to handle as his mother-in-law, but Roxy had managed the transition with ease and Robert wouldn't realize he was being treated with due deference according to his own concept of his self-importance. Omigod, Sophie thought, aware she'd taken some years to learn how to handle her temperamental husband. It was as if Roxy was on permanent all-wheel drive acting mode, fueled by instinct.
They went to make-up and just as Robert had indicated, there was little requiring attention. Augustine dusted both of Roxy's cheeks and retouched the lips.
"Whoever prepared you darling really knows what they're doing. Don 't even bother going to hair-dressing."
Sophie was astonished she'd never recognized her mother had make-up talent because her mom's own make-up appeared to be thrown at her face and neck and her hair was never precise.
Mrs Smith the coach, aged in her early sixties, took one look at Roxy and smiled, "I'm far from being rude to you darling but they are wasting time doing a screen test with you. Providing you possess the fundamental you are through. Well when you go on stage you'll see feet placement marks like this..."
"Face left stage, the far one is face right stage and the center one is face audience."
"Yes dear, substitute profile for stage and camera for audience and you have total understanding with that."
Mrs Smith took Roxy through a series of facial expression calls and then some calls on voice pitch and vocal expressions of joy, anger, sweetness, a snort, a haughty laugh, a cackle and her natural laugh.
As they walked over to Sophie and Robert who were drinking coffee, Mrs Smith said, "You have awesome telegenic image darling."
"Doesn't that require on camera evaluation?"
"So it's said darling but never believe everything you hear."
Mrs Smith said to Robert, "I thought you said Roxy was untrained."
