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Chapter 5: The Raging Tigers

Serena kicked her feet up on the coffee table when he mother walked in with a catalogue in hand. She plopped down next to her daughter, her red hair wrapped up in a black silk scarf and her bright red lips curved in a happy smile. She pointed to the glittering blue dress on the page.

"I think you would look excellent in that one for the premier party for M.O.D.," she said.

"Mom… do I have to go?" Serena whined.

"Yes you have to go. You need to make an appearance and show yourself off. It's like back in the sixteenth century when girls were exposed to the world at a certain age with balls and being presented at court. Well, now it's your time." She shifted in her spot and leaned her temple against her closed fist, "Are you going to take a date? What about that one boy you were seeing for a while?"

"Carlton? He's so conceited."

"Welcome to the world my dear," she grumbled. "You know that Darien will be bringing a date."

"Yeah. I've seen her before."

"I heard she was fired from her job. Never ended up turning in that story she had to write about him."

"I bet she's trying to gain him as a husband or something," Serena speculated.

"Well, you're going to that party darling."

"Hey Mom…"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever felt … trapped?"

"Trapped?"

"Yeah, like you're suffocating in a room full of people?" she elaborated.

Karen brushed a few of her daughter's bangs out of her face and asked, "Are you alright honey? Do you need to see Dr. Hirsch again?"

Serena stared off into space for a moment, her eyes glued on the picture of the dress that her mom wanted her to wear. Her world was fake. Everything was fake. Was she herself like that? She had been having an existential experience ever since Darien told her that he was freer that she was. Was this true? The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she had been raised in a cage like a tiger at a zoo. She should know her true jungle, her real home, but this was her whole world.

She shook her head and got out of her trance, standing up to her feet, "I gotta get going now, otherwise I'll be late."

"Okay honey," she replied as her daughter left. "Call me later. Bye!"

Once she heard the door shut, she was left alone with her own thoughts. She wondered if maybe Serena had any idea about Cooper being her real father. She was certain that she didn't, but with this day and age, you never know. Karen had done her best to keep all the records off line and even had Serena's birth certificate changed right around the time she was to be accepted into kindergarten, telling her husband that she was so out of it when on the drugs they had given her afterwards that she didn't remember to give him the birth certificate to sign. It was a strange request from her, but he had been so in love with Karen at that time that it didn't matter. He would sign divorce papers immediately after their marriage if she had asked him to. Grunting in frustration at all of these thoughts, she got up off the couch and walked into the master bedroom to get more work done.

Serena leaned against the brick wall of the final scene in the series. She had signed on for the third season, which was coming to a close now, and possibly a reoccurring role in the future fourth season. Her character was going to be leaving, making Darien's character – and probably Darien himself – oh so depressed. She had been pursued by him these last few weeks, trying to use their show as a catalyst. However, his girlfriend Lenora was overtly jealous and used any means necessary to make sure they weren't left alone in a room together. She often felt relieved when they were on set together because then she didn't have to hear the young girl's ranting when there were dozens of people in the room.

Darien approached the set finally and she was able to relax a little bit, knowing that she would be done with this show for a while. She crossed her arms over her leather cat suit covered chest as she studied his own costume; a long black coat with a matching turtle neck, jeans, a pair of steel toe boots.

"This is so cliché," she murmured under her breath.

"Don't I know it," he replied, obviously dismayed. "I argued that they should have dressed me in a suit or a motorcycle jacket …. Something other than an ensemble that says, 'I'm an assassin' so bluntly."

"Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and taking him off the set. "I can't possibly take you seriously when you're wearing this."

"You're not going to get your way."

"I always get my way."

He let her drag him through the set and gestured to Haruka that would be back in a little bit. They made it to the stylist's wardrobe room and stopped in front of woman who was responsible for this horrendous outfit. Her name was Georgia and she was a slender young woman with her own fashion sense being torn straight off the runway at times.

"What can I do for you guys?" she asked as she shoved a pen in her thickly wrapped bun.

"I can't work with this," Serena announced, gesturing to Darien's outfit.

"Ugh, why?" she moaned.

"Because it's so cliché! It's stupid! Give him something more modern and less Matrix, please," she ordered.

"Ami!" Georgia hollered.

The short blue-haired girl came rushing up with her clipboard in hand and looking extremely flustered. She was the woman who researched everything from the type of guns they used, the outfits they wore, to the make-up that was placed on their faces as well as the set design. They were as authentic as the television show Mad Men, if not more so even though it was a rather out of this world story line. Ami was able to make it work though using references from Greek Mythology, the CIA, and even stories from the FBI. She was the woman to go to for any questions about the validity of anything in the show.

"What can I do for you?" she asked breathlessly.

"Can you change this outfit for me? I can't stand it," Serena said. "Even my own is a bit over the top."

Ami flipped through a bunch of papers and then called for her own assistant who handed her a binder full of images. She came up to a photo of a male model walking down the catwalk with a shorter brown coat with gold buttons, a pair of blue jeans, some fur lined boots and a thin, button down shirt. Darien nodded in agreement and looked to Serena who seemed to highly approve of the outfit. Ami then showed the blonde actor a photo of woman walking down a runway with a blue, lacey blouse, a sequined jacket, a pair of satin pin striped pants, and the a pair of shiny black heels. Ami flipped through a few more pages and suggested that maybe she wear a hat with a lace covering pulled over her face to compliment it. She agreed to the whole outfit as Georgia went through the large wardrobe and was bringing the pieces out to them as fast as she could find them. The two actors were starting to change into their outfits while Georgia and Ami left them alone.

"Thanks for getting them to change their minds," Darien said as he stripped out of his clothing.

"You have to be more aggressive," she replied as she unzipped her cat suit quickly and did her best to remove her body from the leather entrapment.

"I'm aggressive in other ways," he said cockily as he took his shirt off.

They were both undressed completely, only in their underwear, when suddenly the door burst open. Darien spun around to find that it was Lenora in a rather frantic state of drunkenness. She swaggered in, her eyes half open and lips glossed with whatever alcoholic drink she had stowed away in her silver canteen that was clutched in her hand tightly.

"What the fuck is … goin' on here?!" she exclaimed, her words slurring ever so gracefully.

"Ah shit," Darien mumbled as he jumped into the tight jeans he was supposed to wear.

He ended up tearing the knee as he did this, but ignored the ripping sound as he padded out of the room barefoot, pushing his girlfriend out the door. Serena could hear him call for an aide to get her off the set and into his trailer immediately, maybe even get her some water. Lenora cursed at him, tried her best to argue with him, but she was whisked off like a platter of cheese gone bad on the Kraft buffet. He returned to the room and this time locked it behind himself.

"She's not about to listen to reason," he shrugged as he started to finish getting dressed.

Serena was just buttoning up her blue blouse while she gestured with a pointing chin, "You think you're gonna need new jeans?"

He looked down at them and mumbled, "Dammit. Nah … fuck it. It'll add more character to my outfit."

She grinned as they continued slip into their separate clothing. She glanced at him for a moment once she had finished everything, and asked him, "Do you like her? She seems like a lot of trouble for a star of your status."

"You're telling me…"

"Why are you still with her if she's so difficult?"

"Going to bed alone is a lot harder than going to bed with a person whom you're having a deteriorating relationship with," he said.

"Really? I would assume it's the other way around," she quipped.

"You've never been in a serious relationship, have you?" he asked.

"Define 'serious'. Yours cannot be considered as such."

"Touché," Darien grinned as he finally got his boots all the way on. He opened up his arms with his coat on and asked, "What do you think? Should the coat be opened or closed for the final scene?"

"Open."

"Alright then."

As they exited the room, she asked him, "Are you going to bring Lenora to the premiere party tonight?"

"That's like letting a wild tiger loose in a meat factory," he laughed.

"I guess you're right."

This brought her back to her own imagery of herself as a tiger being caged up in a zoo. Would she finally be able to run free amongst the other creatures of the night like she had always wanted? Part of her hope so and the other part of her was scared to find out.

"What about you? You gonna bring anyone of any significance?" Darien asked

"No one comes to mind, so I suppose not," she answered.

"Wanna go together?" he suggested.

"Wanna be mauled by that tiger you just spoke of?" Serena scoffed. She wasn't just speaking of Lenora either when she made that joke, but he didn't know of it.

The two made it back on set and took their spots as the crew came back together, adjusting into their positions. Darien flipped his black hair out of his eyes and asked seriously, "Come on. We'll go as co-stars. Nothing else. A lot of celebs do that."

"Do they all have rumors about their relationship plastered all over the magazines?" she retorted.

"Most do," he nodded.

She took a few second to think about it, furrowing her brow and biting on her nail as she did. Haruka shouted for her to stop chipping away at the nail polish they had just painted on and she removed her finger from her mouth immediately. Serena's blue orbs traveled back over to Darien who was staring at her with a sly expression.

"Fine, we can go together as co-workers and friends, but nothing else," she ended up saying.

"Cool. I'll pick you up at seven," he smiled right as Haruka called for quiet on the set.

"Did I pull the right move Mom?" Serena asked as she adjusted her dress a little bit, examining herself in her full length mirror. She opted for a cerulean satin dress that was formfitting with wide shoulders instead of the tiny sequined on her mother had begged her to wear; it was too flashy for her demure taste.

"Are you talking about the dress or the fact that you're going with Darien Shields?" she replied snidely.

Karen was lying on Serena's four-poster bed with a magazine in her well manicured hands as she flipped through the images. That very company, some sort of hipster magazine, called her that day to schedule a possible interview and photo shoot with her daughter. She said she would contemplate it and get back to them. They at least made all the girls wear black tights and there weren't any signs of nipples being shown in any celebrity spreads…

"The latter."

"You know your father will have a conniption the moment you get home."

"Let him have his fits. He's always been so over protective of me."

"As he should be!" she exclaimed, throwing the magazine across the bed. "He's only looking out for your best interest."

Serena spun around with a shocked look over her face as she replied, "That's all fine and well, but I am a full fledge adult, you know."

"Who has yet to move out of her parent's house," her mother snapped back.

"Dad would have a heart attack if I moved out," she grinned.

"It would give him less control, that's for sure. But if you want to have your own life as you have been complaining about nonstop since accepting this role on this television show, then I suggest you start taking the steps for it," Karen advised carefully.

The doorbell rang making both of them jump slightly. Her mother briskly strolled up to the door, smoothing out her pastel yellow raw silk dress that she had on for a banquet she would be attending with her husband later that night. After adjusting her hair and pouting her lips, she swung open the door only to have all the blood rush away from her face.

On the other side stood Darien and his agent, Cooper Crane.

Please review! ^_^ Up next is the encounter with Cooper and the party!