Free Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva by Victoria Rowell Page B

consisted of a seventy-two-inch-radius wall, four portals, and four seats.
    “Man, I got as far as Pittsburgh. Cheapskate Randall had the temerity to piggyback my personal appearance at a mall in the hood with no air-conditioning. Bootlegged the gig, turning it into a location shoot.”
    “Ooh, that’s rough, Calysta.”
    “I swear it was over a hundred degrees in that damn building. Sweated my hair out lookin’
busted
for three whole days.” I shuddered. “I don’t understand why I stuck around this place for so long.”
    “Because you love it.”
    “Huh?”
    “Maybe not all the cast or the crap, but you love playing Ruby Stargazer, and more than that, you love your fans. Hell, most actors see daytimeas a stepping-stone to prime time. But you would’ve been perfectly happy sticking it out for the long haul if those idiots only knew how to treat a
sistah
of substance.”
    He was right. Most soap stars wanted to be on prime time, prime-time stars wanted to be movie stars, movie stars wanted to be rock stars, rock stars and wrestlers wanted to be politicians, politicians wanted to be in Hollywood, and all I wanted was to be Ruby Stargazer on
The Rich and the Ruthless
for the rest of my life.
    “So what are you gonna do?” Derrick asked, as he rolled the car up to the Artists’ Entrance.
    “Hell if I know. You-all hiring over at your show?”
    “You know if they were you’d be the first honey I’d call.”
    “Yeah right; you know you want some spicy young thang to play your love interest.”
    “They don’t get any spicier than you, mamma. By the way, I kinda miss those plastic palm trees that the soap borrowed from
Deal of the Century
for our tropical destination shoot.”
    “Liar,” I said with a half smile.
    Derrick got out and went around to open the door for me.
    “Holy crap, is that who I think it is?” one of the extras asked a fellow day player as they passed by.
    Derrick cheesed for the girls while I shook my head.
    “Boy, you never quit.”
    “Fo sho,” Derrick said, grinning. “Can’t nobody match my swag!” He took my hand. “On the serious tip, it’s gonna be all right, babe, ’cause you’re one of the most talented, beautiful women I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with on and off the set.” He winked. “And you know what else? We’re both Taurus: sexy, sweet, and stubborn. Remember what our motto used to be over some Hennessy?”
    At first I pretended I didn’t, knowing Derrick had it tattooed on his right bicep.
    “Oh yeah,
Never Blend In
.”
    “That’s the ticket,” he said, raising the sleeve of his skintight T-shirt. “Stand your ground, girl, and don’t give up a blink. Put your game face on and no matter what, don’t break your cool. I ain’t even worried aboutcha. Be honest, you know you love makin’ coin.”
    Laughing, Derrick pulled me in, locking his seductive bedroom eyes on mine and saying with devilish charm, “Call me if you need anything, and I do mean anything.”
    His Phantom sped across the lot.
    Seeing Willie Turner’s Impala Caprice approaching was an immediate downer, reminding me exactly why I was rescued in the first place. Couldn’t believe that shmuck Randall had the audacity to send an intern to escort me to the set.
    Wasn’t enough that he and his ant farm had managed to drive me to quit, now they were out for humiliation.
    “They’re messin’ with the wrong woman today!” I said under my breath.

CHAPTER 9

“Nothing . . .
Absolutely Nothing”
    W ho’s your naughty Snuggle Bunny?” Randall asked Emmy mid-thrust in his corner office.
    “
Goo
are.”
    “Louder,” he demanded in a growling whisper, spanking the bubblette, causing her to wince.
    “
Goo
are,” she repeated, garbled words coming from the corner of her mouth, face smashed against a pile of
R&R
scripts on his desk. “
Goo are my gaughty, gaughty guggle gunny
.”
    “That’s right,” he grunted. They were having a celebratory romp in honor of Calysta