Lucky

Chapter One
By: Lara
© 2000

This is a story about a girl named Lucky...Early morning she wakes up ,knock knock knock on the door...It's time for makeup perfect smile, it's you they're all waiting for...

"Meez Lucky! Meez Lucky...Eet's seex o'clock...your makeup call eez seex forty-five!"

"Okay...okay...I'm up, Anna!" Lisa buried her face in the pillows and groaned. She stretched and slowly sat up. Six a.m. Somehow that didn't seem quite legal. She sighed and padded over to the shower.

"What you want for breakfast, Meez Lucky?" Anna asked when Lisa entered the kitchen. "Just juice. No time for breakfast." Anna plunked down a glass of orange juice and a bottle of vitamins. She eyed Lisa critically. "Meez Lucky, you can't go to the interviews like that!"

Lisa looked down at her University of Kentucky sweatshirt and old blue jeans. "Why not? Lara will have clothes waiting for me there."

"Your fans will see you and..."

"Too bad. I love my fans, Anna, but they will just have to realize that Lucky is a real person who wears jeans." Lisa glanced at the clock on the wall and jumped up. "The limo will be here any minute. Thanks for worrying about me, Anna." She kissed her maid's cheek then went to find her shoes.

Lisa moodily stared out the window of the limo as they sped to the television studio. She normally didn't mind doing the Today Show, but she just wanted to veg by the pool and eat junk food all day. She snorted to herself. Here she was with a Supporting Actress Academy Award on her mantle, an album in the Billboard top twenty, and her own line of designer clothes about to be released...and her idea of a great day was chomping on potato chips by her pool. "Here we are, Miss Lucky." The chauffeur opened her door. Lisa sighed.

Five years earlier the one-name identity had sounded like a good idea. "Think Cher...think Madonna," her manager had insisted. Now Lisa was dying to hear her real name just once...once a day...that was all.

"Thank you," she replied, taking his hand.

"Lucky! Lucky! There she is!" Three teenage girls squealed. Lisa pasted on her best smile and went to sign autographs.

"Lucky, are those jeans from your new line?" One girl gushed.

"Nope...just plain old Levis," Lisa replied with a smile.

"Wow! I wear Levis, too!" The second girl said. "Thanks, Lucky!" The third girl called as Lisa headed for the studio.

"Sorry about that...we tried to clear them out but they were pretty persistent." A young woman held the door open while holding a clipboard.

"It's okay, Lara. They were harmless." Lisa looked at her assistant's silk blouse and dress pants. "Do you SLEEP dressed up, too?"

Lara frowned at her. She patted her long ponytail, making sure every hair was in place. "ONE of us should look decent," she pointed out, poking her glasses back up on her nose.

Lisa held up a hand. "Talk to it, Lara." They headed down the hall to makeup. "Anything I should know?"

"They agreed NOT to talk about your absence at the Grammies, but refused to back down about the Tom Cruise thing," Lara told her.

"Dammit...heaven forbid that male and female costars JUST be friends," Lisa pouted as she sat down on the makeup chair. "Anything else?"

"Reggie wants to see you as soon as your butt hits this chair later...no excuses." Lara flopped down on a chair across the room, carefully crossing her legs.

"Grr..." Lisa mumbled. She hated dealing with her manager if at all possible. Her contract was too tight to get out of, and she hated the man's guts. She looked at Lara. "Do we have time to go shopping later?"

"Shopping? For what? Your line goes out into the stores next week and..."

"Not for me. For you."

"I don't need anything!" Lara exclaimed.

"You're what...a size ten? Why in the world do you dress like you're a size twenty?"

"Why in the world won't you let my wardrobe alone?" Lara retorted.

"You're twenty-seven, cute, funny and smart...you should have a man," Lisa said sternly, closing her eyes as the foundation was placed on her face.

"I could say the same about you," Lara said gently. Lisa puffed out an exasperated breath.

"Yeah...like that could happen. Every date starts with me thinking "is it me or is it Lucky?" and ends with me wanting to slap the guy across the face because it's ALWAYS Lucky."

"I'm sorry," Lara said softly. Lisa shrugged.

"It's okay. I have totally given up on finding any man as long as I have a career. It's been so long since I've had sex that I wonder if they've changed it." The makeup person burst out laughing and even Lara had to smile.

"Ten minutes, Miss Lucky." A stagehand poked her head in the door.

"Thanks," Lisa called out. She quickly pulled on the pantsuit that Lara handed her, taking a few deep breaths as she buttoned the front. She was soon out of the room and on her way down the hall, turning on the Lucky charm as she confidently strode down the corridor.

Lisa's behind was hardly in the makeup chair before a short man wearing a baseball cap hurried into the makeup room. "Could you knock, Reggie? God...she could have been changing," Lara said angrily.

"Seen it all before. Listen, kid, I have a proposition for you, and you can't say no. It's the biggest thing since sliced bread."

"No," Lara and Lisa said at the same time.

"Fuck off, Four Eyes," Reggie said casually to Lara. She blushed and said nothing. Lisa bit her lip, knowing that scolding him did no good. He sat backwards on a folding chair, facing Lisa. "Your next gig is gonna be on TV."

"TV? What...a mini-series? Movie of the Week?" Lisa said.

"Nope...variety show?"

"Variety shows went out in the seventies," Lisa reminded him.

"Yeah, well, egos are actually starting to get smaller again, and one of the networks contacted me about having you host a new kind of variety show. Mostly music with a little comedy thrown in. You'll be one helluva draw, and the money is excellent." He quoted a sum that made Lara sit down hard in her chair, but Lisa merely blinked.

"If this thing bombs, it could ruin my career," Lisa pointed out. "And you'd lose your meal ticket."

"Hey, there are other Luckies in the sea, babe." He dropped a folder in her lap. "Show tapes in two weeks. Here are your first guests. Learn 'em. LeAnn Rimes, Charlotte Church, and the Backstreet Boys."

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