Tara Miller looked out the window of her private jet plane as it flew high above the skyline of New York City. She was heading out on location for her next movie but really wasn’t looking forward to it at all.
She just finished filming a movie on location in Europe and had enough time to come back to New York for a week for some interviews and photo opportunities before re-packing and getting onto her plane for the next location.
Her manager, Markus Jones explained that it was the best for her; as long as the scripts kept coming she was going to do as many movies as possible. All of this could stop tomorrow and she knew that, she was grateful that she had such great movies so far, this one would be no exception but she wanted a break. She wanted to be normal for a while. But who knew when that would happen.
She sighed as she looked out the window, watching the plane head higher into the sky and the city below her disappearing. She reached into her purse that was sitting on the seat beside her and pulled out her IPOD, and stuck the right head phone into her ear before putting it on shuffle mode and leaning back in her chair and closed her eyes getting ready for the plane ride.
Her eyes stayed closed for about five minutes before someone shook her back into reality. She turned towards the aisle and opened her eyes slowly.
She saw the outline of her assistant Hannah McCoy standing next to her, looking down at her holding a phone to her ear. Her long curly blonde hair was up in a bun out of her face, and her thin rimed glasses sat on her nose.
“Tara,” she whispered.
Tara groaned sleepily. “Hmmm” she mumbled before closing her eyes once again.
“Markus is on the phone,” she said. “He wants to talk to you.”
Markus had discovered her while she was doing a small modeling job in New York when she first moved out there and took her under his wing and turned her into the star she is today.
“Tell him I’m sleeping,” she mumbled yawning.
Hannah sighed. “She’s sleeping,” she said into the phone.
Hannah was quiet for a minute before Tara opened her eyes and looked at Hannah who was frowning and held the phone out to her.
“He said he heard you talking, so you’re obviously not sleeping,” she said with a pleading look.
Tara sighed before sitting up in her chair before reaching for the phone that Hannah was holding out to her, and took the ear phone out of her ear before putting the phone to it.
“Yes Mark,” she said.
Hannah made an apologetic face before going to sit back down in her seat that was across the plane.
“Everything ok?” he asked. She could hear the tapping of a keyboard on the other side of the line.
“Fine, I’m trying to rest before I get there,” she said into the phone.
“You’ll have plenty of time for that, they don’t start shooting until this weekend,” he replied. “How’s the flight so far?”
“Fine,” Tara said looking around the plane.
Hannah was sitting in her chair going through her organizer and her bodyguard Teddy was reclined back in his chair, his baseball hat covering his face.
“You should be the last to arrive, everyone got there today,” Mark began to explain as Tara rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair looking out the window of the plane.
“Hannah has your schedule, so have her go over it with you and you guys have a run through tomorrow so be ready,” Mark finished.
“I know Mark, I have the script memorized,” Tara replied before yawning.
“Jus makin’ sure,” Mark replied chuckling.
Tara sighed as Mark finished talking to her before hanging up the phone. Tara closed the phone as Hannah turned and looked at her.
“Everything ok?” she questioned.
Tara nodded before holding out the phone for her. Hannah got up and retrieved the phone, putting it away in her purse.
“You have about two hours before we land,” she said, “if you want to take a nap.”
Tara nodded before putting her earphones back into her ear and pressing play on her IPOD before lying back in her chair to look out the window again, her eyes beginning to close.
-*-
About two hours later Tara stepped out of the private jet making her way down the steps that led to the ground holding on tightly to the rail. She had on a long black jacket, and big sun glasses that covered her eyes from the setting sun. She gripped her purse tightly as she looked around the landscape as she made her way down the stairs and reached the bottom.
Hannah was right behind her making her way down the stairs her big purse hanging from her arm as she followed Tara down the stairs. Teddy was right behind them, scanning the landscape as he made his way down the stairs as well.
There was a large black SUV waiting a few feet away with the driver standing outside the car, arms crossed over his chest as he waited for them to make their way towards him.
Tara stepped off the last step and looked around the rural Tennessee area as she adjusted her purse on her shoulder. Hannah followed behind her making her way off the stairs and made her way to stand next to Tara.
“The car’s gonna take us about an hour to the hotel,” Hannah said as she looked back at Teddy who stepped off the last step of the plane.
Tara nodded as they made their way towards the SUV, the driver and Teddy were already loading the luggage from the plane into the trunk of the SUV, as Hannah opened the back door and Tara climbed inside.
“Are you hungry?” Hannah asked as she got into the back seat next to her.
Tara shrugged as she buckled her seat belt, “Kinda” she said. “But I don’t know what I want.”
“We’ll see what they have,” Hannah said as she closed the door of the SUV.
The driver and Teddy finished loading the car and got into the car as well, Teddy in the passenger seat and the driver started up the SUV and they began their journey out of the airport and towards the highway.
Tara watched the night life pass by her as they made their way down the darkening highway eventually taking off her sunglasses because of the setting sun. They passed a small town and it looked like it was completely closed down, she looked at the clock on the radio it was only going to be 7 o’clock. This was going to be exciting for the next three months.
“Is there any place to eat around here?” Hannah asked the driver as they passed the small town moving on to the next one.
“There’s a diner next to the hotel where you’re staying,” the driver explained, “We should be there in about 45 minutes.”
Hannah nodded and looked at Tara, who nodded in approval. The rest of the ride was quiet as they continued their drive towards town. The driver turned onto what looked like the main road to the town. There were a few shops on the street, including a general store, a hair salon, some antique shops, and an auto repair shop and at the end was the diner across the street the hotel.
The driver parked the SUV at the hotel and everyone filed out of the car.
“Let me get us checked in, and then I’ll meet you at the diner ok?” Hannah suggested.
Tara nodded before looking across the street at the diner.
“Teddy, go ahead with her, I’ll get the bellboy to help me with the bags,” Hannah said.
Teddy nodded as he made his way next to Tara and they made their way across the street towards the diner as Hannah made her way into the hotel as the driver started to unload their luggage onto a cart.
Tara looked up and down both sides of the street before she made her way across the street with Teddy following behind her. She didn’t even know why she looked, there was no one around.
She adjusted the purse on her arm as she stepped on the curb and reached the door of the diner. She opened it, stepping inside and holding the door open for Teddy who made his way in behind her.
“Evening,” came a female voice from behind the counter.
Tara put on her best smile, “Hi” she said.
“Have a seat anywhere, someone will be around to help you,” she said.
Tara nodded and opted for a booth in the back of the diner. Teddy followed sitting next to her as she moved to sit in the middle of the booth, putting her purse next to her on the bench.
She looked around the small diner and noticed a few older gentlemen sitting at the counter, cups of coffee in hand as they talked to each other. Tara put her purse in front of her and began to look through it, taking out her cell phone to look at the time.
8 o’clock
She put her phone away and took out a lip gloss that was in one of the inside pockets of her purse and applied it before looking out the window to see if Hannah was coming.
After a few minutes of silence, a young waitress came over holding a stack of menus. She had her brown hair up in a bun with a pen sticking through it like it was holding it in place. She had on a pair of jeans and black polo shirt, with white Keds covering her feet. She had a short apron wrapped around her waist, a pad of paper and pen sticking out of it.
“Evening guys,” she said as she reached the table and handed out the menus.
Tara smiled up at her and took a menu as did Teddy.
“My name is Megan, I’ll bet your waitress,” she started. “Can I get you guys something to drink?” she asked.
“I’ll take some sweet tea,” Tara said.
“Just a water for me,” Teddy said.
Megan nodded. “Are you guys waiting for someone else?” she asked.
Tara looked out the window again and noticed Hannah making her way across the street, “She’s on her way,” Tara explained.
Megan nodded and waited for Hannah to walk into the restaurant and made her way toward them and sat down next to Tara smiling up at the waitress.
“I was just putting in the drink order, do you want anything?” Megan asked as Hannah put her purse beside her.
“I’ll have a coffee thanks,” she said with a smile.
Megan nodded before leaving and going behind the counter.
“Everything is fine,” Hannah said as she reached for a menu. “I got us three rooms, all on the same floor next to each other and with the other cast,” she explained.
“Did you see anyone?” Tara asked as she flipped through her menu.
“I ran into the director in the lobby” she explained. “He said he may be looking into getting people trailers for their remainder of the stay instead of us living in the hotel.”
Tara nodded. “I hope the beds are comfortable,” she said. “Where’s the rest of the cast?”
“I guess there’s this bar a few miles away,” Hannah explained. “Most of them are there, it’s Karaoke night.”
Teddy chuckled as he searched the menu. Tara giggled herself and nudged him, as he shook his head.
“C’mon Teddy Bear, you know you want to show ‘em how it’s done,” she said.
He laughed again before shaking his head. Tara smiled and looked back at her menu, she was just gonna have a salad. She was tired and would be asleep soon.
A few minutes later, Megan came back with their drinks on a tray and put them on the table in front of the right person.
“You guys decided what you want?” Megan asked as she took out her pad and pen.
They each told her what they wanted before she took off again. The three sat around making small talk as they waited for their food.
“So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?” Tara asked as she sipped her tea.
“We’re meeting at the school tomorrow after breakfast time,” Hannah said as she put some sugar and cream into her coffee.
“They’ll do a run through of the script, and probably get started on some of the scenes tomorrow,” Hannah finished as she sipped her coffee.
“Where are we filming?” Tara asked.
“The main high school is down the road a ways,” Hannah explained. “Its summertime here, so school’s not in session the only people there will probably be the sports teams that practice during the summer.”
Tara nodded. A few minutes later, Megan came over with their food putting a plate in front of each of them before taking off again. They all began to eat as they continued talking.
“Markus said he was gonna make his way down here in a couple of weeks,” Hannah said again as she ate a French fry from her plate.
“Yeah,” Tara rolled her eyes.
Teddy chuckled as he ate his breakfast food.
“Are we gonna go for a run in the morning?” Hannah asked Tara as she sipped more of her coffee.
Tara sighed. “I guess I should,” she said.
“You’re playing a high school cheerleader,” Hannah said. “You need to look the part.”
“Does that mean they want to dye my hair?” Tara asked as she ran a hand down her wavy hair pouting.
Hannah chuckled. “No, they may put some blonde highlights in it though,” she said.
They finished eating their meal and talking before paying the tab and heading back across the street to the hotel. After Hannah gave them each a key to their hotel rooms they headed to their rooms to get ready for bed.
-*-
Tara slipped the key into the lock of hotel room. It was just a small room, with a bed a couple of dresser drawers, a night table by her bed and small TV across from the bed. There was a small bathroom on the opposite side of the room.
She turned on the light switch by the door, and a small lamp that was on the table by her bed turned on illuminating the room. She noticed her luggage was sitting on her queen-sized bed along with her tote bag she had brought with her onto the plane.
She walked over to the small bedside table and put her purse down, along with her keys and kicked off her shoes. She noticed a small vase of sunflowers sitting on the dresser with a small note attached to it. She walked over and took the card off, opening it up.
Tara,
Glad you decided to take this movie. It should be fun working together. I just wanted to get you something to make sure your stay is more comfortable and not get homesick. I’ll see you tomorrow at the run through.
PS- My room is 255 if you ever need me for anything :)
Tara smiled as she put the card back into the envelope. She met her co-star Tyler Johnson one time at a fundraiser that Markus had set up. He was very charming and handsome, and she was semi-excited that she was going to get a chance to work with him on this film.
She walked back over to the bed and opened up her suitcase looking at the shirts and pants that she had packed. She probably wouldn’t get to spend much time in her regular clothes anyway. She figured she might as well wait to unpack until the director knew if they were going to move into trailers instead.
She took out a pair of sweat pants and a tank top, along with her toiletry bag before closing and zipping up the suitcase and putting it on the floor by the wall out of the way. She changed into her pj’s before walking into the small bathroom to do her nightly rituals.
After putting her hair up, washing her face, and brushing her teeth she walked back into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, opening up her tote bag and taking out the recent book she was reading. Reading made her sleepy, and she had to get her rest before the run through tomorrow.
She did some adjusting of her pillows before going through her purse and pulling out her cell phone and charger and plugging it in before putting it on her bed stand. She checked her messages, one from Markus, one from her mom, and one from her sister. She’d call them back tomorrow, it was already late.
She got herself under the covers and started in on her book, her eyes eventually closing and letting sleep take over her.
