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Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from iStockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

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Sarah Carerra Book 2: Summer Medley

Chapter 2.23 - Star Power

"Megan, it's time to wake up," somebody said softly just before I was lightly shaken. I opened my eyes to see Dad standing next to my bed.

"Huh?" I mumbled. It was too dark in my room to be time to wake up.

"It's time to wake up," my dad repeated. It still didn't make any sense to me. I think I groaned because he started chuckling at me.

"I thought we didn't need to be there until 9:30," I said. "What time is it?"

"It's 4:00," he replied. "And you're right - we don't need to be there until 9:30. But it's in Seattle, remember?"

"Seattle?" I heard myself ask. He hadn't told me that the makeup shoot was in Seattle.

"Yes," my dad confirmed. "Last week I told you it was in Seattle. Now hurry up, because we need to be at the airport in just under an hour and a half."

I groaned, but threw the covers back. If I would have known that we were getting up this early, I would have gone to bed at a more decent time. As it was, I felt like I could sleep for another eight hours.

I struggled to get ready. Everything felt like it was in slow motion, even after a nice warm shower. I apparently took too long getting ready because I didn't have time to eat breakfast before we left, and I would have to settle for something at the airport. But eventually I managed to drag myself outside to find a white limo waiting for me.

"There she is," Dad smiled from where he was standing next to a guy I had never met. The guy appeared to be the driver if his suit was any indication. "Sarah, I'd like you to meet Eddie. Eddie, this is Sarah."

"Hi," I mumbled and gave him a short wave.

"She forgot we were waking up this early," Dad explained to him before turning back to me. "Eddie will be our driver for the concert tour. He comes highly recommended."

"It's nice to meet you," was about the only thing I was able to get out before Dad ushered me into the limo. I think he knew I still wasn't fully awake.

I remembered nothing of the drive down to the airport, but traffic must have been light because Dad awoke me from where I had fallen asleep against his shoulder sooner than I would have liked. When I looked out the window I noticed that we were pulling into the airport. I had just enough time to pull out my compact and make sure my makeup was okay before Eddie pulled the limo up to Terminal 3, where Alaska Airlines was located. He was quickly out of his door and around to the passenger side of the limo where he opened the door for us. Dad was the first to get out, but when I slid out myself there was a small crowd watching us.

I was afraid that someone would approach us and I'd have to put on a smile I didn't feel at the moment, but we were left alone as we entered the airport and headed for the security checkpoint. We were flying back this evening, so all I had was my purse and Dad had his normal laptop bag. I did have to smile for a few people standing in line near us and even signed an autograph for one of them, but before long we were through the checkpoint and into the terminal.

We checked in at the gate and then walked over to the food court to get some breakfast. Fast food breakfasts aren't often very good, and the food we ended up with was no exception, but it was nice to have something in my stomach. Several people kept pointing at me while I ate, but not many approached me. I did give out a couple more autographs while we ate, and even posed for a few pictures with some of my fans.

By the time we got back to the gate and found a place to sit for the remainder of the wait until boarding, I felt much more awake. A little food and some interaction with fans were enough to get my brain working, and then Dad decided it was time to make me wish I was still in bed.

"What's this?" I asked as he handed me some papers. I glanced at them and frowned before he had a chance to speak. This was work. I wasn't ready to start working.

"It's the script for the commercial," he said unnecessarily. "It would be a good idea to memorize the lines before we get there."

I nodded reluctantly and started reading through the lines. Everything seemed to come from the same cookie cutter mold as every other makeup commercial I had seen before, so I had a good idea of what would be expected of me.

I spent some time trying to memorize the lines and then I started to work on my presentation. I was speaking the lines to myself, but apparently I wasn't being quiet enough.

"Would you shut up?!" someone yelled nearby. I looked up to see a man glaring at me from the seats across from us. He looked really mad. "I'm trying to get some sleep before we board!"

"I'm sorry," I replied. I would have stopped if he had politely asked, but he didn't have to yell at me!

"You’d better be!" he wasn't frothing at the mouth, but it wouldn't have surprised me if he started. Being in a public area like we were I would have thought that he would be more understanding of the noises around him.

"Calm down, sir," Dad said to the guy. "She didn't mean to keep you awake."

"Who are you, her dad?" the guy asked. "Isn't she old enough to stand up for herself?"

"No, I'm her agent," Dad replied, more firmly this time while leaning forward into a more intimidating pose. He sounded really calm, but I could see the tension around his eyes that gave away the fact that he was starting to get upset.

"Are you going to an audition or something?" The man asked. He looked like he was calming down some, and I could see my dad relax slightly.

"No," I replied. "I'm shooting a commercial today. I was trying to learn my lines."

The man looked at me again with a new set of eyes. It was apparent that he didn't recognize me, but his expression led me to believe that he had seen my face somewhere before.

"Who are you?" he asked a moment later. I heard a couple of people nearby start chuckling at him, but they didn't say anything.

"Sarah," I told him. "Sarah Carerra."

His eyes shot up at my name. Although he had not recognized my face, he definitely knew my name. I could see some guilt creep across his face now.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," he said, like me being famous meant that I shouldn't have been yelled at. In truth, he shouldn't have yelled at anyone that way.

"It's okay," I replied. I did not agree with the reason for his apology, but at least he did apologize. "I should have been more aware that you were trying to sleep."

"Um," the guy looked nervous now. "My daughter...she's a big fan..." I laughed lightly, but I turned to Dad who was already pulling out a press photo for me to sign.

Being famous certainly had some perks.

*  *  *

The flight was just over two and a half hours long, which gave me enough time to become familiar with the script and get some more sleep before we landed.

We met our driver near the baggage claim and were escorted out to a black limousine that drove us to the studio where the commercial and photo shoot would take place. When we arrived, we were quickly ushered inside and down a hall to a studio. It looked like we were going to get right to work instead of meeting in a conference room first.

"Sarah!" exclaimed a kind looking woman. I couldn't quite place how old she was. She had one of those faces that could have been in her late 30's to her early 50's.

"Hi," I replied. I didn't know who she was, but I figured she was probably somebody important.

"My name is Caroline Murray and I'm a representative for Starlight Cosmetics. I'll be overseeing the photo shoot today," she said. Then she turned toward Dad. "And you must be Don?"

"I am," he said. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Caroline then turned to look behind her. "I don't see...there she is." She waved at someone, and another woman headed our way. When she reached us, she smiled at me.

"Sarah, this is Gloria. She'll be your photographer today," Caroline introduced us.

"It's nice to meet you, Sarah," Gloria greeted me with a joyful look in her eye that I hoped meant that she would be fun to work with.

"It's an honor," I replied, garnering a broad smile from Gloria. I figured that flattering her would likely make her easier to work with.

"We don't have much time this morning," Caroline interrupted us. "We have another photo shoot in here at noon, so we better get started."

Gloria nodded to her, and I was led over to a makeup station.

"Stephanie!" I happily yelled when I saw her standing next to a vanity. I quickly gave her a hug. "I didn't expect to see you here! You should have flown up with us!"

Stephanie laughed at my enthusiasm before replying. "Hi, Sarah. I'm flying back with you, but I came up yesterday to visit a friend."

"Well, I'm glad you're here," I told her. "My makeup should be flawless for these ads, and there isn't any other person whom I would want to do it for me."

She beamed at me and pointed to the seat. We chatted while she did my makeup. She had been asked by the company to be the makeup artist for the shoot when they found out that she had been the one who had made the decision to use Starlight's products on me. Apparently it was a real honor for Stephanie to be asked to do so.

Eventually she finished with me and I was led over to where the camera was set up. There was nothing but a white background in front of the camera.

"Alright, Sarah," Gloria told me. "Just beauty shots for the ads."

I nodded, and it wasn't long before I was posing for even more photos of Sarah.

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After a catered lunch, Caroline escorted us down to another studio. This one wasn't much different than the first, except that the backdrop in front of the camera was black with what appeared to be small twinkling lights. 'Starlight', I realized a moment later.

Caroline led us over to another small group of people who were sitting in some chairs waiting for us. They stood up as we approached.

"Sarah, this is Thomas," Caroline said while pointing to a man who was dressed very flamboyantly. I hadn't seen many people with this kind of fashion style, and there was a reason for that. I thought he looked ridiculous, but I was sure he loved it. "He is the director of the commercial."

"Sarah," Thomas said in a light, airy tone. I didn't like him immediately, but I didn’t know why. He seemed fake. "Good to meet you, darling. Love your music."

"Hello," I replied. I highly doubted he had ever even heard my music before. "It's nice to meet you too." I wasn't telling the truth, but I wanted to keep him in a good mood. I knew from my first photo shoot that I didn't work well with people who were upset and yelling.

"Have you read the script?" he asked. I saw a hopeful expression on his face, which made me grateful that I had taken the time to memorize the lines. I nodded to tell him that I had. "Excellent! This shouldn't be too hard for someone of your talent. Hopefully we'll be done early!"

I too hoped that we got through this quickly. I was already getting sick of the fake kindness he was showing me. Perhaps he was genuine, but that wasn't the impression I was getting from him.

Despite the attitude that Thomas seemed to have, he was very good at describing what he wanted from me. He led me over to the backdrop and gave me a brief explanation of what he wanted.

Dad and I had signed a contract with Starlight for at least three commercials over the next year. This first one, along with the print ad, was focusing on the 'Night Sky' eye shadow collection that Stephanie had been using to give me my signature look.

"The commercial isn't much more than an extension of the beauty shots that you did this morning," Thomas explained. "Most of the shots will be you moving around on the screen with a smile on your face. We'll get you to provide the voice over afterward. The only line you'll be speaking on screen will be the final line."

"Okay," I said with relief. Even if I hadn't learned my lines, I could have read them from the paper I had been given while we recorded. But I felt that I'd likely perform them better from memory than from reading them.

"Alright, Sarah, head over to makeup and wardrobe. I'll be waiting here when you are through," Thomas said and then turned and walked to a chair where he picked up a book.

I quickly made my way over to where he had pointed. There was a girl in her early twenties waiting for me. Unlike Thomas, her friendliness seemed to be genuine, and I smiled at her as I approached.

"Hi, Sarah," she greeted me. "My name is Gwen, and I have set out a dress for you to change into. Head on in." She was pointing at a door that I assumed led into a dressing room.

"Thank you," I replied and stepped inside. Sure enough, it was a small dressing room and waiting for me inside was something that had to have been picked out by Julia. There's no way someone else would have been able to hit my style so exactly.

The dress was primarily white, fell to my knees, and had thin straps over my shoulders. But it was the twinkling adornments that gave it that "glam" factor. In vertical rows all along the dress were small circular dots of some type of metallic material sewn to the dress. Each dot was connected to the others in the column by a small strand of the same material. I couldn't help but smile as I watched them. It looked kind of like starlight. I quickly removed the clothes I had been wearing and slipped the dress over my head.

Gwen was nowhere to be seen when I stepped out of the dressing room a few moments later. But Stephanie was nearby and she quickly touched up my makeup before sending me back toward Thomas. He plastered his fake grin back onto his face as I approached and stood up from his chair.

"You look smashing!" he commented to me. I smiled back, but I didn’t believe him.

The commercial shoot was ten times easier than anything else I had done in front of a video camera to date. Thomas had me moving about in front of the camera in the way that I remembered from just about every makeup commercial I had ever seen. We spent a lot of time doing headshots and three-quarter shots to try to emphasize my eyes. He even turned on 'You Can't Hurt Me' and had me sing some of the words in case they wanted to incorporate the song into the video somehow.

Eventually, we got around to shooting the last scene for the commercial. This was where I would make or break Thomas' expectations. Until this point, I hadn't had any lines to say, but now I had to cap the commercial off.

"Action!" Thomas yelled, and I immediately went into the motions he expected of me.

"Give yourself the attention you deserve," I repeated the lines that were clearly in my head. I was half afraid that I would forget the lines. But when it came to learning dialogue, or lyrics, I had a knack for remembering the words. "And shine with the power of Starlight." I gave the camera the best smile I could.

"Cut!" Thomas yelled excitedly. "Sarah! That was great! I knew you'd be good at this! Let's give it another take."

I chuckled slightly at his words, but moved back into position to do it again. It took five tries in total to get it exactly how he wanted it, but at least it wasn't the dialogue that he was tweaking. That was something I was able to pull off easily.

After redressing in my own clothes, I found myself in an all-too-familiar sound booth where I recorded the rest of the lines for the commercial.

I had been slightly nervous when I had entered the building earlier this morning. But as I walked out to the limo with Dad and Stephanie for the ride back to the airport, I felt just the opposite.

I felt like a star.

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Have a song you want to hear Sarah sing?
Thank you for all of the cover song suggestions that you have given. I've received a number of really good suggestions that I think will make it into the story. If you have any other suggestions, please post a comment below or here.

Thank you,
Megan