Seeing Stars By Jason Ulloa Original story by Moonsong Continued with her permission. Chapter 1 "Serena Moon...," Darien moaned worriedly to himself while absently taking a sip from his previously forgotten soda. "I finally get a big part in a movie and who should I be working with but the one actress who hates my guts." He shook his head at the injustice life was currently handing him and sighed. "Something tells me that this is going to be a LONG two weeks... that is, if the high-and- mighty Ms. Moon doesn't demand that they bring in someone else to replace me." "Come on, Darien," Andrew said consolingly. "You don't really think it's gonna be THAT bad?" "No, I KNOW it's gonna be that bad," Darien replied fatalistically. "Maybe I should just stick with my P.A. job...." "No way!" Andrew exclaimed insistantly. "This is the opportunity that you've been waiting for! You can't just let this pass just 'cause you're afraid...." "Who says I'm afraid?" Darien retorted. "But, being fired from my first big job doesn't exactly appeal to me, ya know?" "Yeah, I guess so. But, you already agreed to it, Dare." "...." Darien finally realized that during his shocked stupor that he did mumble an agreement to work that job. 'Oh boy....' he thought to himself as he finished his soda and rose out of his seat. "Might as well get on with it." "Who knows, maybe this could even work out," Andrew called out to Darien as he left. "Serena could've even forgotten about the whole thing already." "If I'm lucky," Darien muttered as he reached the door. "Bye, Andrew. Thanks." "Sure thing, Darien. And good luck!" **************************** Darien parked his car and trudged reluctantly into the building. He marched slowly up the stairs to the third floor - he really didn't feel like using the elevator - and down the hallway, stopping at one of the many office doors lining both sides of the hall. He glanced up at the glass window of the door, at the lettering lining the window. Mina Blake. His agent. He could see her through the glass. Her blonde hair was held back with her usual red bow, and she was dressed in this gorgeous yellow pinstriped suit with a similar yellow dress skirt. Her shoes were a dark red with small heels. She was chewing on the tip of one of her pens, which was a little habit of hers when she was waiting for someone. He steeled his resolve and knocked on the door. "Oh, coming!" Mina answered and headed toward the door. "Darien! Sweetheart!" she exclaimed excitedly and rushed him into the office. "Have a seat!" she said and all but shoved him into the chair in front of her desk, then took a seat at her own desk. Darien wondered to himself - and not for the first time - how she could be so... hyper all the time. It was like she was on a permanent sugar rush; she seemed full of excess energy and showed it in the way she rushed about and the way she would get overexcited at finding possible work for him. On the other hand, she was one of the best when it came to finding work for him; this new job with Serena Moon notwithstanding. "Here ya go, Babe," Mina replied, pushing the movie script across her desk toward him. "I've highlighted your part." He turned the script around, since it was currently upside-down to him, and read the title. Total Eclipse. 'Sounds like....' "In case you're wondering, it's an secret agent/action flick," she explained. "Kinda like those movies of that Bond dude, except the roles are reversed. The girl's the main character and the guy's the one who she rescues, then falls for her. Heh, you're gonna be like a Bond girl." With that, Mina started cracking up, while Darien just gave a polite, reserved laugh. "So, I'm a supporting actor?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. 'From an extra to a supporting actor? Woah, she's GOOD.' Mina slowly regained her composure and nodded. "Yeah. The shoot starts tomorrow at 6 a.m., like I told you. The director and producer both thought you'd be good for the part, especially after looking at the photos of you I gave them. They said you looked like the man they were looking for: tall, dark, and handsome." She gave him a little wink. "You'll be reporting to the director. What was her name again? Oh, yeah! Amy Anderson!" "Anderson?" Darien asked. "I've heard of her. She's one of the newest directors in the field and I heard she's already directed 3 blockbuster movies. I also heard that one of them is likely going to win her an Oscar for Best Director." "Yep, that's her. She's now working on this movie and she says that you match what she wants for this part." He looked down at the script in his hands. 'I'm going to be a supporting actor in a movie directed by Amy Anderson? My career is definitely taking off.... That is, if Serena Moon doesn't try to get me fired first....' "Okay, I think that pretty much covers everything," Mina said, smiling. "You only have to worry about the lines I've highlighted. Knowing you, you should have the first five pages memorized by the end of the day." She rose from her desk as Darien got to his feet and walked with him to her office door. "Oh, and one more thing," she said as she opened the door for him, "I've heard that Amy has been known to rearrange a script to suit how she thinks the movie should be. If she likes your work, she may try to keep you for the entire movie instead of just the two weeks. If you're lucky, this job could last for months! Good luck, Darien, sweetie! I'll be hoping for good news!" With that, she closed the door to her office, leaving him to stare after her in complete shock. 'Months....? With Serena Moon?!? This is going to be a looooooooong movie shoot....' **************************** To Chapter 2 **************************** Author's Note: And so it begins. I know it's short, but this might take a while for me to finish, since I've got my own SM epic to work on, The Earth Scout Chronicles. This was originally Moonsong's idea, but she's busy with her Fushigi Yuugi fic, so she left it to me to finish. I figure I can work on this between the chapters of my own fic. You can reach Moonsong at tsukinouta@yahoo.com or join the Fan Fiction Exchange at Yahoo to discuss this or any other fic including yours! http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/fanfictionexchange Also, you can reach me at jasonulloa@hotmail.com to discuss this or my other SM epic, Sailor Moon: Alternate Reality - The Earth Scout Chronicles. The epic can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/jasonulloa/index.html Please sign my guestbook while you're there. I'd appreciate it greatly. Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. The story belongs to Moonsong and myself and I would appreciate you emailing her or myself for permission before posting it anywhere else. Thank you. Prologue Copyright © January 24, 2000 Moonsong. Other Chapters Copyright © August 12, 2000 Jason Ulloa. All Rights Reserved.