R&R!! And, yes, there were as many rumors and as much paparazzi and people DID have publicists in the '60's as there is today! Well, almost. Okay, that's all.
Chapter two: The perfect idea
Bri's POV
I sat down tiredly and sighed, my arm hung over the edge of the chair I was sitting in. "Bri!" My mother rushed into my hotel room. Oh no…I was trying to rest! I looked up at her, my hair falling back out of my face. "Yes..?" My mother crisply walked over to me and handed me a script. Again?! "Annie couldn't get this to you so I had to give it to you personally. Read over it and tell me what you think and we can get you an audition."
"What is it about?" I asked. "Like, what is it for?" My mom always tends to just give the minor details and leave out the bigger important ones. If this was a script for say a TV show then NO WAY. I'm already sooo exhausted and I'm up for so many things that I can't shoot a show and a movie at the same time. It's impossible. Well, at least for me. "It's for a movie," my mother continued. No. I can't say no to this one. Argh. "It sounds pretty good too! It'll really raise your publicity. It's called Keys and it's about this orphan girl who…" I tuned out at that point. I couldn't take it anymore. I was exhausted. My parents and agent and EVERYONE gets me roles right after I finish one job. Or two, depending on how eager I am to try it. I hate it sometimes, I really do. I get so tired and so sick of constantly working and being pressured about being "America's Sweetheart." Sometimes I want to be a normal kid! Like go to school, and have gym class and homework and real friends that I see everyday! But, unfortunately, I've never had that luxury. Ever since I was three I had been in the business; accepting free gifts and going to all the 'best' parties. And have demanding parents. It makes me so mad sometimes. But I have one friend that's doesn't act and I always go to her. Anna. She's amazing and is one person I can talk to about this problem. Actually, I think I will as soon as my mom stops tal-
"Honey, you listening?" My mom stood straight in my face so I had to lean back a little. I could smell the mint on her breath. "Uh, yeah," I replied, trying to put on my best smile. "So what did you think?" Mom asked. I pretended to look like I was thinking very hardly. "Um, I like it. I really do." I smiled wider. "I'll audition." Good, because Mom would've made me anyways. "Good, Sweetie." She kissed me on the head. "But right now we've got to go." I frowned immediately; I felt like I was always on my feet. "I'm meeting Annie's parents to talk with them on your next movie! So get ready and we'll be leaving soon." Mom left my room but I was so happy I didn't say good-bye. I smiled again. I had time to be with Anna. Anna was my one friend that wasn't an actress or anything in the industry (as I've said before.) Even though her dad was a famous producer- which is how we met. My mom always talks to her parents about some things that they can get me in on. I worked with Annie's dad on my first movie I had ever done and so me and Annie had always been childhood friends. But I am so envious of her because her parents don't pressure her like mine do. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE acting, I just get so tired of working all the time. And now there are lots of rumors of me going to get married to a 40 year old actor named Raymond Laring, who I co-stared with a few movies back. And the paparazzi aren't leaving me alone…I'm supposedly the next Marilyn Monroe. Yay for me? I think not. Though it is a bit flattering. Hehe.
"BRIANA ELIZABETH HARRISON!" Claire, my publicist, shuffled into my room. "Your mother and brother are waiting! Now, hurry! You still have to read that script and you have an interview with Butch Yarning this evening." I rose from my chair and tucked my hair behind my ears and straightened my skirt. Today I finally got to wear a short skirt that I really wanted to wear forever! Claire walked by me down the hallway, onto the elevator and out of the building. I practically had to run to keep up with her long legs! I entered the family car, a 1965 Cadillac, and slammed the door. I slumped back into the comfortable seat. "Baby, you look tired…" Jack, my older brother said, looking at me strangely. 'Baby' was my nickname for him. "I'm sure she's fine," Mom said instantly turning around to stare at me. "Aren't you Sweetie." There's no time to be sick in my life. What if I don't get The Part?! I didn't notice that my eyes were drooping until I noted my reflection in the window. "Yeah, I'm fine." I yawned, knowing that the only way I could get the bags from my eyes was to get Leon, my make-up artist, to pile on foundation.
To keep from falling asleep on the ride over to Anna's, I reached into my black bag and brought out my favorite book of all time: To Kill a Mockingbird. It's a great book, you should read it sometime. I always wanted to play in the movie version of it. Suddenly, I felt the book being pried from my fingers and then it was suddenly gone. "HEY-!" My mom had it. I immediately shut up. "Honey, you shouldn't be reading. You really don't need to, only the scripts," she said coolly. Of course. We're famous. See what I mean? My mom is so controlling and thinks that I'm some kind of special kid just because I'm famous. Claire thinks my mom is living from my fame. But technically my mom's my manager and I guess she has good intentions. I think. I watched as my mom slipped my book under her seat. There goes Scout…
I sighed and pressed my head against the window, feeling a little fidgety. I'm always so used to doing something. Maybe because I'm always working. I could feel Jack's eyes on me all the way to Anna's but I stepped out of the car without meeting his eyes. Anna's estate was cozy and homely, better than my estate. But right now we were staying in a hotel while my house was getting fixed up. Anna came out of her house and bounded down the stairs towards me. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans rolled up to the knee. "Hey Mrs. H, Jack, Claire, Trevor." She nodded to my 'family.' Trevor was my bodyguard. Yeah, bodyguard. He's been around for as far as I can remember. "Come on B," she pried me away from my mom. I followed her around back. She had a table set up with some pizza and two burgers. Oh, I was hungry. I settled down and started eating immediately. "So how're you doing?" Anna asked. She sat down and took a sip of Coke. "Good," I said with a mouthful of fries. She raised an eyebrow at me and I swallowed. Okay, she had me. "Not so good," I admitted. "Why this time?" Anna sighed. There was always something wrong it seemed. "Paparazzi, rumors, what Bri?" I shook my head. "Mom," I said instantly. She raised her eyebrows. "Wow, there hadn't been anything wrong between you two in a while." That was true. "Why so sudden?" she asked. I shrugged. "I just finished True Blue two weeks ago and all of a sudden I've got another movie to audition for about some orphan girl. I never seem to get a break. I'm constantly working-" "-Yeah, and now with that bullshit on you and Raymond…" I nodded. Sometimes I didn't have to say anything, Anna just knew. But she didn't understand completely. Maybe if she was an actress she would.
I sighed and took a long swig of Pepsi. My body ached. "Just tell your mom you want a vacation," Anna said, rolling her eyes. I couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. "That's what I want A!" I confirmed. I slumped over the table. "Just for a month or two months or maybe four…Nothing big. I wouldn't be quitting. I'm big enough to not lose everything in that time." Wow, am I becoming cocky? "Besides, the paparazzi is enough right now that I can tackle that and I could come back. I'd still look like I'd be around with them following me all the time." I felt like someone was watching me from the bushes then anyways… "Kick the paparazzi's asses-" Anna was the kind of person that took crap from no one- "then let's go to Maui for a loco vacation!" she howled. She threw back her head and laughed.
I played with my fries. "Anna I'm being serious here! I can't take it! It's driving me crazy…Eleven years of doing this full time. What's a three month break?" "Bri, it's a lot in Hollywood!" Anna spat. "Remember, my father is a producer and a director. I know about this too! He took a break from making movies for a while and it almost ruined his career." I remembered that. It was horrible. "Yeah, but that wouldn't happen to me," I declared. "Why, cuz you're Bri Harrison?" Anna said slyly. I nodded, not meaning anything cocky from it. "It's a little different when you're an actress I think," I told her. She rolled her eyes then they lit up. "Then maybe it's time for you to pull a little Houdini. Go away for a while then after your vacation suddenly come back! It'd sooo bring up your publicity." She leaned forward on the table and her words hit me hard on the head. "Oh my gosh Anna it's perfect!" I squealed. That's just what I had been wanting! I'd go away for a while in disguise, and my parents and my "people" would be the only ones that'd know where I was. I'd get my fill of vacation, come back and people would be DYING to know where I was. I'd be more famous than I would've been before! I would make up some story about where I had been, maybe some kind of story or something about why I had been gone and-
"Bri, no way, that'd be horrible! If you just disappeared without warning, the magazines would have a field day and say that you hate acting or that you were kidnapped and the police would go looking for you and if you come back it would just be a mess! Bri, I was kidding." Anna seemed to go on forever but my mind was set. I wanted to get away.
"Anna, I'm going to do this, I've GOT to do this. Every guy all over America has my picture pasted in their locker and I'm working myself till I'm dead," I said sternly but in a desperate tone. "I need this. I can still do interviews and I can still run everything smoothly…" I convinced myself.
"Bri you can't!" Anna snapped. "You've been watching wayy too many movies. No one can pull that off. The magazines are monsters and you seem to be their prey right now. Taking a vacation could cost your career." I shook my head again, still looking straight at her. "I mean," Anna went on, "What would you do? Where would you go? I mean, would you go to some town and just start school like a normal kid with a different name?"
My eyes lit up and I knew it. Anna knew it too because she sat up straighter and shook her head slowly. "No…No, I know what you're thinking Bri. Briana you can't do this! It won't work. And again- I WAS KIDDING!" She yelled so loud that the birds in the trees overhead flew off. I wish I could be them.
"Shhh," I advised a little more sharply than planned. "Anna, you know more than any other person that I need a break." I ran my fingers through my hair stressfully and sighed deeply to make my point. "Yeahh, sooo…" Anna said eyeing me suspiciously. "So help meeee!!"! I pleaded.
Anna crossed her arms and turned away. "Pleeease…" I begged. I got down on my knees in front of her and gave her a puppy dog pout. She eyed me sympathetically and I knew I almost had her hooked. Hey, I'm an actor, and that's what I'm good at. "Anna I need this…I will die if I don't get this help. I'll stop eating and, and, I need this vacation!" I whined. Anna sighed and looked up at the sky for a moment. I could here tension music, like in the movies, right now as I waited for Anna to speak next. She twirled a piece of shiny black hair around her finger then sighed again and turned to me. "Fine," she said hard. I smiled so much that I felt like my face was about to split. I jumped on Anna and hugged her tightly. "Oh thank you thank you thank you, Annabelle Morgan!!" I cried. Anna pushed me back onto the ground and looked at me with a hard expression. "Okay, Bri, I'll help you, but remember that it's not my decision so I really can't help you here." My head felt light and my heart jumped in my chest. Right. I had to run it by Trevor and Mom and Dad, who was all the way in Oklahoma, and Annie and Claire. Mom wasn't going to go for it. She loved me getting jobs and was pretty supportive about what I wanted to do (which was basically all acting related) but I didn't think that she'd go for it. "Oh no Anna what am I going to do?!" I cried. Anna was grinning slyly at me. I knew that look. "What?!" I snapped desperately. "You know the best place to tell them would be at the True Blue after party…" I didn't know what she was getting at then it hit me. It'd be perfect because there'd be too many gossip gods there for them to yell, and my parents wouldn't want to look bad in front of the cameras so they'd try to look happy the whole time. Then I'd give them what I wanted in my best convincing voice. It was perfect. "That's perfect!" I declared. "Thanks Anna!" I hugged her again. She hugged me back this time. "And I'll help you if you need it," she said and winked. Oh boy, oh boy.