A Day in the Life of Actress Jenna Lane (A Short Story)

5 - Coq Tease

She awoke to Lucy's voice screeching, "Do not fall asleep on me! I need you to stay with me! Fuck the lunch plans, we're going to the ER."

"Wass probuhm?" Jenna mumbled.

Lucy didn't hear her. "Stay with me!" she demanded.

"'sssjust benn-drill," Jenna slurred.

Then she fell back asleep.

---------------

When she awoke again, Jenna was laying on a bed in a private hospital room, and the doctor was trying to calmly explain to Lucy that the only thing in her system was extra-strength Benadryl, that she was totally fine, she had just been knocked out by the strong anti-histamines. He pointed out that the lack of any real food in her stomach on top of lack of sleep probably made the drowsy side effects stronger, but that Jenna would be ok.

Jenna, for one, did not feel particularly ok. She just wanted to go back to sleep. But as soon as Lucy saw her, a look of relief crossed her face before she pounced. "You're going to be fine," she said with authority she hadn't possessed a moment ago.

"We're going to get out of here. You missed the lunch meeting with Archie Quidd, that director who wants you for his next biopic, but I've rescheduled that. We need to get you cleaned up so you can make it to the audition for 'The End of the World as We Know It.'"

"Where is my t-shirt?" Jenna asked. "And my boots?" She looked at the clothes Lucy handed her, then at the hospital gown she was wearing. "I take a nap and you steal my clothes?"

"You were still wearing the studio's things when we left. They said you can keep them, which is a small price to pay for them handing you dogs without running it by me first and putting you in the hospital."

"They didn't put me in the hospital. You did."

Lucy ignored her. "Hurry up and get dressed."

---------------

Rodridgo met them at the location for the audition, armed with a huge bag of makeup, industrial-strength makeup remover wipes, and a grim expression. "You ok sweetness?" he asked, genuine concern lacing his voice. "Had us all scared there for a minute."

"I'm fine," Jenna said. "Just tired and hungry."

Lucy looked at her watch. "You did miss lunch," she conceded. "I'll go grab you something while Rodrigo fixes your face." She strode out of the dressing room without looking back.

"And breakfast," Jenna grouched, then sat back for her makeup artist to do his job.

"Damn, girl," he remarked. "You look like a red and white cheetah."

Jenna grinned at him. "That's why I'm lucky you're amazing." He grunted in approval and got to work.

Lucy returned thirty minutes later, as Rodrigo was putting the finishing touches on Jenna's eyes. She was back to looking effortlessly flawless and makeup-free, regardless of the thick layer of paint on her face. Lucy set a crinkly plastic bag on the counter and pulled out a large, also plastic, container full of salad.

"Hurry and eat," she said. "We don't want to keep them waiting."

Jenna looked at the salad. "No meat? Or dressing?" Lucy just looked at her pointedly. She sighed and tossed her dry salad around and pretended she was dousing it with buttermilk ranch. She took a bite and grimaced.

She'd only finished half her salad before Lucy announced that she was out of time, did a lettuce-in-the-teeth check, and dragged her out of the dressing room. They were on their way down the hall, passing several people milling around when a loud buzzing began. It pulsed a few times before Jenna realized her ass was vibrating and pulled her phone out of her back pocket. It was Owen.

"How are you feeling?" He asked when she answered.

"Better," she said. "Thanks for the Benadryl. It knocked me out and Lucy panicked and took me to the hospital to sleep it off. The doctor said it affected me so much because I hadn't eaten anything," she looked pointedly at the back of Lucy's head. Lucy ignored her just as pointedly.

Owen chuckled. "You were also pretty tired. I bet you just really needed a nap."

"Yeah," Jenna agreed. "I also need some real food. So far all I've had today was a quarter of a bagel, half a salad, and some doughnut glaze off Rodrigo's fingers."

"Well, not to brag," Owen replied, very obviously bragging. "But I'm about to eat Coq au Vin."

"Oh my god!" Jenna cried. "YOU COQ TEASE!" She stopped when she realized that everyone around her had gotten quiet and begun staring. She realized how her outburst had sounded. "Wait," she explained to them. "Coq, as in the French word for 'chicken.' Not coke like cocaine. I meant coq like chicken. He was teasing me with coq au vin..." she trailed off when she realized that the situation wasn't improving.

"Never mind," Jenna mumbled. Lucy sighed the deep sigh of a long-suffering personal assistant, and Owen laughed through the phone. "I have to go," she said quietly to him. "I'm about to audition for something, I think. Or maybe it's another interview? I can't remember."

Owen's deep, soft chuckle filled her ear before he said, "Alright, good luck," and hung up. She returned her phone to her back pocket and looked at Lucy.

"Audition,"the S.D. clarified. "And they're ready for you."

**********
A/N: Have you ever had coq au vin? AMAZING stuff, I tell ya. 

On another note, when I asked my husband what he thought about this story, he said, "It's very you."  Whatever that means. 

-Evie