Every Rose has a Thorn.

Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

Twelve months ago, Mercedes Jones had been given the chance of a lifetime, after a stringent audition process she'd been picked to play Cleo in the series version of a remake of Set it Off, it was a brilliant film back in the 90's but everyone was hoping that the 21st Century version was going to blow everyone away. She'd not been away from home before, so she was feeling a mixture of excitement and vulnerability, with the insecurity of not knowing how things in Hollywood worked. It was a place that definitely felt larger than life, and she was letting the horror stories she'd heard on from friends run riot around her head.

Hollywood was crawling with awesome, she loved the themed bars, movies in the spooky cemetery, comedy clubs, the apparent history of the place and of course everyone was stunningly beautiful but was that really her. As a 21 year old fresh out of acting school, previously living a humble life, familiar with the streets of Harlem, she was already struggling to find her place in this new place.

They'd spent three weeks doing a pilot originally, everything felt new and alien, her aunt had been instrumental in getting her the part, she was friends with the director and had asked for the try out, and Daniel had agreed. A month after they'd finished shooting, the Pilot went out, shocking everyone when it was a great success, now they were back doing a full 20 episode series that was going to take anything up to 10 months.

She'd made friends of the women playing Stony, Frankie and Tisean and now she'd moved into her own apartment was looking forward to making friends, only Stony had prior insight into how things went so they all sort of looked to her for big sister advice.

The first day back was crazy, amidst all the rehearsals, studio malfunctions, actor drama followed quickly be exhaustion there were these two guys that made it their duty to be a damn nuisance to everyone, Dean was well past 40 years old, walking around donning a string vest, with his turning grey curly permed hair tied back off his face and dangling down his back. Mercedes thought his look was from the 1980s, especially after seeing his Mr T tattoos, coupled with the crushed shell suit bottoms that were so tight they forced you to look at his nether region, the man was lacking something and trying to be someone he wasn't.

His apprentice who introduced themselves as Martin, seemed to be going through some stuff of their own, a tat overdressed for a technician, obviously still partying from the night before, stood in the middle of set, requesting gender pronouns from everyone, Martin's preference being, he, him, his or Martin. Martin had everyone on their toes from the off, the world soon learned to let Martin get on with his expression of identity.

Two weeks into filming and everyone seemed to be getting on "I bet you wish you could be me" Martin walked past Mercedes leaning in to whisper in her ear, Mercedes moved away shocked, she wasn't expecting anyone to come into her personal space "What?" Martin asked, his tone telling her he was offended.

"Nothing I just didn't expect…"

"To be talked to, I know" he huffed flicking his hair off his shoulder, his heel clicking as he walked off towards Dean, Mercedes stood watching the two of them in deep conversation, concerned when it ended with them both looking back at her, she knew she'd started something, but she wasn't prepared for what was to come.

It was bearable at first, Dean would wolf whistled every time the main cast walked on set, and to be honest she was sort of flattered by it all for a while, after a week or so the whistles stopped being so general, they seemed to be following her, bringing everyone's attention every time she entered set, then Martin joined in the two would stand staring at her, watching her every move, she could feel eyes peeling her clothes off as the two examined every move her body made. She wasn't ashamed of her body and if that was the behaviour her moves brought on, she was sucking it up, she was enjoying time with the new cast so much, she let it all slide.

Two months later and the looks had evolved to following her around the place, she'd find the two stood around corners, popping their heads around her dressing room door, or physically blocking her movements by standing in her way to stop her from getting past, eventually moving just a few inches out the way, meaning she'd need to squeeze past to get out of harm's way, finding herself being the one to say sorry for intruding in their space.

She reported this behaviour to Daniel who seemed to think she was telling a story, rather than depicting a traumatic incident in her life "I'll speak to them" was all she got. No one took the time to realise the behaviour of these two idiots was impacting on her well-being, everyone seemed oblivious to her misfortune. She'd get home at night and cry so hard she was in pain, she couldn't understand what she'd done to generate such hatred, maybe if she apologised they would let up on her, so that was what she'd decided to do when she got to work the next day.

"Martin, Dean" she walked up to them nervously "Can I just…" she looked around to make sure she wasn't alone with them "I wanted to apologise for whatever it is I've done to make you angry" she looked up at them.

"There's nothing to apologise for" Dean told her.

"Nothing" Martin echoed with a smirk

"Can we just get on, I mean we've got another seven months together, can we just be civil to each other?"

"What are you suggesting?" Martin asked

"That we get on".

"That would suggest there was something not to get on about" Martin snapped.

"No" Mercedes rolled her eyes "That's not what I meant by my apology".

"You don't even know what you're asking, this conversation is over" Martin dismissed her and walked away, Dean literally laughed in her face and followed him, it was clear they weren't about to stop the harassment.

Later that day, they had the audacity to carry on their harassment, Dean came into her space again, this time demanding a date, suggesting her mind should be on providing sexual favours, Mercedes rebuffed the suggestions several times during the day and again found herself crying in her flat alone, having been brought to the edge again with the torture these two people were dishing her.

Feeling defeated she decided to call for help, an advert she'd seen on the TV of a helpline prompted her actions, and at this point she thought it wouldn't hurt, she couldn't carry on like this. She wiped her tears, grabbed her phone, and swallowed the last of her glass of wine "Hello" she snivelled wiping her nose with the crumpled tissue she had in her hand "I called because I don't know what to do" she broke down, bringing tears she never realised she was holding back..

"Cry if you need to, we're here to listen" the soft comforting voice on the other end of the phone told her.

"This isn't me".

What's your name?" the person asked.

"Mercedes"

Hi Mercedes, my name is Shannon, just take your time, we're not on a clock, I'm here to listen" Shannon assured her.

Mercedes finally composed herself "I'm not a weak person, but I feel like I'm going to do something stupid, I can't cope anymore" she sat waiting for a response, the silence on the other end forcing her to carry on talking "I'm dedicated to my job, this is a new city for me, I don't have many friends here, so I guess the fact that I'm missing home makes everything seem worse, but these two individuals are making it impossible for me to feel comfortable at work" she blurted out, the full story coming out without any coaxing.

"It's really important to give yourself a pat on the back for acknowledging and recognising that you needed some help right now"

"I feel desperate and weak more than anything" she commented feeling more at ease for sharing her story, and feeling listened to

"You're Brave for reaching out, and rest assured that doesn't make you weak, it shows you want to be strong about this" Shannon told her.

They sat talking on the phone for nearly two hours, after that conversation Mercedes felt slightly more confident to face the individuals that were harassing her, she went to work the following day doing her best to ignore or keep out of their way, it wasn't a solution, but it would do until she worked something out. Everything went so well that day by the end of it, she'd convinced herself that she could actually live like that for the next six months, eating her lunch with the crowd, never being out of the company of her co-stars and rushing off home at the end of her day.

They quickly caught on to her game, by day three they were on her back again "What's the matter, don't you like men?" Dean asked her, stepping out of a dark corner as she ran towards the main gates, she said nothing just held her head high and walked past him giving him her disgusted stare hoping it lingered long after she passed him

"Don't mind him, he's upset because he can't get any" the women who played Frankie and Stony walked past her laughing at the guy, they'd taken to calling each other by their character names while off set as they'd already messed up so many takes using wrong names, they were trying something else,

"That's because Mercedes here is frigid" Dean told them.

"It's because Mercedes here wouldn't let you touch her with a very long freaking pole" Frankie told him.

"I have a very long stick" he wiggled his eyebrows teasingly.

"Leave me alone Dean" Mercedes snapped, walking off leaving them listening to her heels on the concrete floor.

Eight months into the series and she was back in that place again, fed up with the jeering, sexual innuendos, the jokes at her expense and no matter how she tried, they wouldn't leave her alone, it was like their eyes were on her every move, just when she thought she'd shaken them, they popped up out of nowhere.

"Daniel" she walked up to the boss, hoping she'd proved herself trustworthy enough for him to listen this time "Dean and Martin are still harassing me, it's getting worse, would it be possible for you to have a word?"

"And say?" the man looked down at her with no expression

"That sexual harassment, especially at work isn't on" she looked up at him puzzled "I'm sure you can see what they're doing

"They're harmless, take no notice, the more you do, the more they'll play with you"

"So, you're not going to speak to them? She stood stunned at his reaction "I don't believe this" she walked off muttering profanities to herself. After that she felt hopeless, she'd went back to crying about it every night, vowing to quit, but above all her feelings the show still came first, forcing her to go back.

It seemed like Daniel had given Dean and Martin the go ahead on the bullying after that, they were openly sharing lewd jokes, and fictional sexual stories about what they'd done with other cast and crew members. She knew her constant grumbling was making enemies amongst the cast, and when Frankie snapped at her she knew it was time to shut up about it. Dean and Martin changed their tack on things after that, they'd built a false profile they were using to slag her off, there were never any names used but her stage name was being used to make comments, she just knew it was them. The last one she'd looked at, confirmed it was them, it had her head attached to some young girls naked body with bidding boxes underneath it, she was a mess emotionally.

By now her hair was falling out, she wasn't sleeping at night, she was finding it really hard to go to work in the mornings, she'd stand at the gate shaking, sweating, and feeling sick for what lay ahead for the day, wondering why no one had actually acknowledging that this was happening to her

"Mercedes" she heard turning, surprised to see Martin with a voice change too.

"Martin" she responded, watching Dean coming towards them, shocked when Dean's hand brushed across her chest to find her nipple and squeezed it "What the…?" her hand went up and slapped Dean's face "How fucking dare you" she snapped "Daniel" she spun around knowing he'd seen what had just happened "Did you see that?"

"What?" Daniel asked looking at them.

"We're always going to come up smelling of roses" Dean warned

"That will teach you to go snitching on bitches, bitch" Martin hissed

"You know what, fuck it" she threw the replica gun down, wishing right that second it was a real one, she'd finally flipped, that was the last straw "I'm out of here, my agent will wipe the fucking floor with you guys" she shouted, walking out leaving everyone stood staring in shock. She was too angry to think about what she was doing until she got outside the gates and stood breathing with relief at getting out alive after living the worst nine months of her life.

A few weeks at home and Mercedes was missing that life, not Daniel, Dean, and Martin, but everything else that had come with it, she just wasn't armed to defend herself against them, but she'd refuelled enough to think about taking the world on again. "Mercedes I've got a script for you, I think you should read it" Mia; her new agent, smiled walking into her office, happy to see Mercedes sat waiting for her "It's a musical as well, right up your street" she waved the script at her, throwing it on the desk as she passed her

"I don't want to work with any Daniel type again, you know this about me" Mercedes sat looking at the script on the table and back at Mia.

"But I think you'll really enjoy this one and it's a movie, maximum two months".

"Two months?" she looked at the script sat on the desk.

Maximum" Mia assured her, smiling at her picking the script up to have a look.

"I'll get back to you" she got up after fifteen minutes of reading with the script in hand, which meant she was interested "Tomorrow" she smiled.

"Tomorrow" Mia smiled at that being easier than she'd envisaged.

The next day Mercedes was in the office as soon as it opened sat waiting for Mia to show up again "I want in, this is brilliant" she told her when she walked in "Make it happen" she warned walking out. She was lucky this time it took nearly three weeks but there she was again going through the read, getting ready to turn writing into acting with what seemed like some really nice people.

This time she was playing in some sort of musical adaption focused on an orange is the new black, type theme, but not so intense, she had that feel good vibe walking into the studio, happy to see a familiar face "Bree" she grinned at the woman walking towards her smiling, they'd been at college together, back then Bree had left to pursue her singing which obviously hadn't worked out "What are you doing here?"

"You really haven't been reading your messages" Bree hugged her "I got cast an Andrea last minute, original woman backed out, scandal I hear".

"Seriously?" Mercedes gasped eager to hear the rest.

"So, I guess you didn't get my message telling you that…"

"Well look who it isn't?" Dean came walking towards them.

"God no" Mercedes rolled her eyes seeing this happening for the rest of her career "I can't do this again".

"I've come across his type before, it's up to you how this plays out, be strong" Bree told her walking away as Dean approached, unwilling to be a target herself.

"Some help" Mercedes hissed watching her so called friend run for the hills "Dean" she smiled at him stood in front of her.

"I thought this was going to be a dead couple of weeks, but apparently there's some fun to be had" he looked her up and down "Are we any closer to you seeing sense?"

"Sense as in?"

"Giving me what I want"

"Leave me alone Dean" she hissed at him walking off, the police were her next port of call on this, but would they even believe her against this man, she knew for a fact her story wasn't going to be backed up by anyone from her last job.

"We're ready for you guys" Kate, who she knew as the director came out of the main office announcing, watching everyone flood towards the waiting doors "Okay" she started once they'd all scrambled in "There are a few last minute changes, nothing too drastic, Miss Jones you'll be playing Claris beside Wayne" she looked across the room.

"That's the cheat, you're lucky, you'll be having an affair with Wayne over there" Bree nudged her, Mercedes eyes following her nod across the room meeting with a white boy.

"Why would I…" she started to ask the obvious question but stopped herself aware of her surroundings.

"The film demands you kiss a white boy, get over it" Bree snapped.

"Ten minute discussion and then we'll jump into it" Kate announced, Mercedes hadn't heard much more of the conversation, she'd been concentrating on what she needed to do, she'd read all the lines for Penny and now she was being asked to do some woman she hadn't paid attention to in the script.

"Okay let's do this" the guy sat next to her smiling.

"Okay" she opened the script unsure which part she was being asked to do "Sorry I was cast as Penny I've just been assigned this role I have no background" she fell into his eyes.

"Okay, so apparently this relationship is more passionate than the one I have with my regular girlfriend, so we'll need to get familiar fast".

"I'm the side chick" she nodded, trying to get in character.

"No" he looked into her eyes "You're the woman I actually love".

"Oh" she looked back into his eyes wondering what it was she was seeing, this guy was good, he could have meant that.

"I guess if we're going to get up close and personal I might as well know your real name" he laughed.

"Oh, Mercedes Jones" she held her hand out smiling.

"Come on Wayne" a voice interrupted them.

"Where are we going?" he looked at Bree asking

"I'm Tania to your Wayne" Bree smiled at him "Mercedes" she smiled directly at her friend.

"Bree" Mercedes nodded, not forgetting the girl left her to fend for herself out there earlier, this really was a dog eat dog industry.

"We'll catch up later" the guy turned to tell Mercedes before he got up to go do lines with Bree.

"You know that wouldn't happen in real life right?" Bree told the guy, looking back at Mercedes with a grin on her face.

"What wouldn't?" he asked puzzled

"She's not into white guys"

"We're actually working, not gossiping" he looked at the woman already marking her cards

They went through the reading the whole day, Mercedes sat wondering if this was fiction or real life because as they walked through the script, when she didn't catch Bree giving her bitchy looks, it was Wayne staring at her with a smile on his face. Maybe he was enjoying the rivalry he was setting up for Bree, because in her life Mercedes had not a single minute for guys and worse still not for actors, she'd never know if they were telling the truth or acting out some role on her.

The end of the day finally came, everyone absolutely exhausted, made their way across the set and out the gate "Walk you home?" Mercedes turned shocked at the voice

"No" she snapped at seeing Dean stood behind a sign along the ally "Why are you just standing there?" upset in her voice, this thing was going further than she needed it to, she looked around for someone, but the place was quiet "The others will be out soon Dean, and I will scream" she warned.

"I'm not going to force you to do anything Mercedes, you're going to give it to me freely".

"Be clear it's never going to happen of my free will" she informed him, walking off, if he were going to grab her, he'd do it any way, she was no match for him. She didn't know where this confidence had come from, maybe she'd started to grow that thick skin Daniel had told her about in one of their in the wind conversations, but Dean wasn't going to bring her down, not today, not ever

The next day they were all sat in the studio learning lines ready for the first actual day of filming, things were going faster than Mercedes had anticipated "You got away from me last night, but you won't tonight" Dean hissed in her ear.

"What do you mean?" Wayne asked, catching the last bit of the conversation, and watching Mercedes reaction.

"Nothing" Dean's head shot up he was definitely running scared, maybe because the Wayne had caught him in the act.

"The man's been sexually harassing me for nearly a year, he seems to be following me to every job" Mercedes blurted out unsure why she felt the need to tell this guy she hardly knew about her problems.

"Is that right?" Wayne looked at Dean asking.

"No Sir" Dean looked at the man, Mercedes stood wondering why Dean was calling him Sir

"You get two strikes and that's it" Wayne warned him.

"Yes Sir".

"Sorry Wayne" Mercedes called after he as he walked away "I didn't get your name yesterday"

"Oh" he smiled "It's Sam, Sam Evans".

"As in Evans enterprises?" she pointed at the sign above the main gates.

"One and the same but I'm Sam Evans Jr" he laughed

"Okay" she looked back a Dean, "One second" she left him to carry on walking

"You're going to be late" he called watching her go back to Dean, she waved her acknowledgement of his comment

"What was it you said about coming up smelling of roses?" she smirked asking the bully "It would seem I've stumbled on your thorn" she turned, flicked her hair off her shoulder and walked away "Sam" she called after him, running to catch him up, he was going to be her best friend from now on, no one was going to mess with her again "About this mistress" she smiled up at him.

"You read the script" he laughed

"Yeah" she laughed nervously "There are couple of nude scenes…"

"I thought you were going to ask something else" he laughed "Yeah, I asked for the changes" he looked at her "Up close and personal Ms Jones"