Cinderella - Part 2, Birthday Girl

I left off in my last post where I had returned to Denver after a weekend in Los Angeles of dead leads in regards to music opportunities.  I had received 6 phone messages while I was in flight, several of which were from Abercrombie who I had lunch with the previous day and had shot me down politely.  He was now asking me to fly back to LA that night to meet with a friend of his who was interested in my music.  I called him back and agreed to get on a plane he had already booked for me later that night and meet with his friend who just so happened to be a huge Hollywood Actor and Film Producer who I will call "New York".  Though I was not particularly familiar with his work since most of my interests involved music, I was excited to meet him and was honored that he heard potential in my music.  My heart was soaring and I thought that surely my moment had come.  I went home and got cleaned up, repacked my bags and headed to Los Angeles once again.  With my boss' blessing, his Platinum American Express card that had no limit (for emergencies), a hand full of cash since I had no bank account, and a little pep in my step, I boarded my plane.  The two hour flight felt like 2 minutes as I delightfully pondered all of my dreams falling into place so magically through this new opportunity.  I knew at first glance I was a nobody with a crummy low budget demo, but now the small voice that whispered to my soul that I was special and called to greatness didn't seem so silly.  I had dreamed of a big break like this my whole life and so I hoped and prayed (though I did not know God) that the real me under my fake tan would not show up and blow it for me.

When I had lunch with Abercrombie the day before, he was a man of few words.  His friend who was a producer did most of the talking.  That made everything Abercrombie did say more interesting, which is probably a common strategy in "Big Shot" training 101.  I found it fascinating though that he never bragged about his friendship with such a huge Hollywood Actor and I was instantly charmed by his all American Abercrombie build and smile.  (Hence the nick name...)  I did not take him as a music guy, but definitely a sharp and savvy business man.  I was also intrigued by the fact that he had shot me down the day before, and how quickly the tables had turned.  He was very professional and thorough in his instructions to me about the trip and I got the feeling he was more than just New York's right hand man, and I was right.  Abercrombie has built himself quite the empire over the last 10 years since I have seen him in film and music producing, including a private Jet service for only the most elite clientele.  His business profile lists the following excerpt that echos ancient Chinese philosophy:

"Those with the 8 Life Path are gifted with natural leadership and the capacity to accumulate great wealth. You have a great talent for management in all areas of life, especially in business and financial matters. You understand the material world; you intuitively know what makes virtually any enterprise work. Your talent lies not with the bookkeeping or petty management, but with greater vision, its purpose and its long-range goals." -Author unknown

I do not relate to Abercrombie's passion to acquire wealth, but he was still a very smart and driven individual who I admired very much.  From my observations, Abercrombie was exactly the kind of excellent person that New York liked to keep around his business endeavors.  In my times with NY and his crew, I developed a little secret crush on Abercrombie.  He just seemed safer than NY since he wasn't a celebrity actor with girls throwing themselves at his feet everywhere he went.  I had somehow offended him early on and he had a very tough exterior that did not welcome me at all.  I talked to NY about it and he told me to handle it as if to test my ability to problem solve.  I was able to turn Abercrombie's Titanic heart around and get him to warm up to me, but I was never brave enough to let him know I liked him.  He may have seemed safer than NY, but I later found that he had just as many girls swarming around him like bees to honey and I did not see how a girl living next door to the girl next door like me could ever keep his interest.  And though Abercrombie appeared to have every luxury at his disposal, my heart is now wrenched, wondering if he will ever understand that its all vanity and vexation of spirit.

When I landed in Los Angeles, there was a man waiting for me with one of those white rectangular signs that had my last name on it and he took my bags for me and loaded them into a shiny black Lincoln town car.  The ride to NY's house seemed to take forever and I got car sick with all of the curves and turns in the Hollywood Hills.  It was well after 9:00pm now and after the flight, my business outfit was not as crisp, and I hoped it was appropriate for the unknown setting I was about to walk into.  I chose a tailored crisp white business shirt, tucked into gray satin business slacks with a cuff at mid calf, accented by choker pearls and a pair of Burgundy patent leather penny loafer heels.  My hair was pulled up on the sides casually, and extra frizzy from the humid California air.  I took a deep breath in preparation of my confident grand entrance as the car slowed and pulled into NY's driveway.  The driver helped me in with my bags and Abercrombie was at the door to greet me.  He told me NY would be right out and I waited for a moment wondering which hall or doorway his gigantic frame would appear out of.

While I waited, I scoped out his place.  He lived on a corner in the Hills surrounded by lush tropical greenery that served as a privacy wall around the side of the house and back  yard.  It was a white Spanish stucco house with brick colored tile roofing, rich dark wood floors, and Spanish tile bathrooms and kitchen.  His home furnishings were elegantly simple, a white linen Pottery Barn style couch, a rugged dark wood dining table, and a few large edgy paintings, one of which was a post apocalyptic woman with a weapon in place of her missing leg.  After 5 minutes, I heard clunky footsteps from a hall behind the living room I was facing from the doorway.  A 6 foot 2" character appeared out of the shadows and walked towards me.  He was wearing a black turtle neck sweater, brown leather pants, and rugged brown boots and he somewhat nervously approached me as Abercrombie introduced us.  (Can you believe he was a bit shaky when we met?  This guy had been around the world and back, but truly welcomed me as a guest and a creative equal.  I will be forever honored!)  As I said previously, I was not a follower of his acting career and would not have considered myself a fan.  But everything about his regal posture and presence drew me to him uncontrollably and I was instantly converted from a disinterested diva in the making to a #1 groupie in a split second.  I shook his hand and he gave a very sexy smirk and apologized in his deep mellifluous voice for being stuck on a phone call when I arrived.  All I kept thinking was how is this happening to me and what in the world did he want from me to fly me out here so suddenly?

NY invited me to sit down and we chatted a bit about why he had flown me out.  He complimented my sense of music and told me that he liked the song "Spin" on my demo.  He said that he heard a true artist behind the roughly sketched songs and wanted to use some of my music for an indie film he had self produced and directed.  He offered to let me stay in his guest room as we worked out the details and I told him I was perfectly fine getting a hotel, but he insisted that I stay with him since he was leaving in a few days for re-shoots for his recent film in Mexico and saw no reason for me to incur the expense when his place was safe and suitable.  He then asked me if I had my passport to accompany him to Mexico but I did not have one.  He said he would check into it and get back to me if it was still a possibility.  After chatting about our favorite musicians, and muscle cars, NY offered to let me retire, or head to a birthday party in Hollywood with him and a few friends.  He said he was obligated to be there, but that I was welcome to stay or go.  I agreed to go and he said I had time to change and freshen up.  I put on a knee length Sherbet orange silk spaghetti strapped dress and nude strappy heels.  When I came out of the guest room, NY politely asked if I was sure I wanted to wear a dress since it was a more casual crowd and I boldly insisted on my choice with a little humor and sass.  Looking back, I would have been wise to welcome more of his advice and not be so hard headed.  I was so used to being controlled and manipulated by men that his good advice felt like chains instead of the wings his words could have provided.  After all, he knew his world much better than me.  I am still not sure what he saw in me, if anything, or why I did not accept his many generous offers to come under his wing and learn to fly.

We left NY's house for the birthday party in his black Escalade.  I sat in the back seat, feeling like a wanna be Prom Queen in my dress and wishing I had taken NY's advice to change.  Trying to think positively, I was glad I looked classy and had stood my ground so that I did not seem weak or subservient.  20 minutes later we arrived to a club in Hollywood and valet parked in front.  I followed NY and his small entourage in feeling more out of place than a ballet dancer in a boxing rink.  I stood up straight and walked in like I had seen models do on TV, trying to make the $76.00 dress look like a million bucks.  Hilariously enough, because I was there with NY, I could have been wearing a gown of live mice tied together with their tails and been excitedly greeted and welcomed by each party guest, swooning over my new fashion trend.  In this fake world I was in, status was everything, and I mean everything.  NY had earned his status, and he had so much influence and fame that the people around him were mostly "yes" men, agreeing with everything he said and did, including Abercrombie who had shot me down just 24 hours ago, but was now somehow my biggest fan.  Not because he was two faced though, he just knew that it was his job to back NY when he needed him.  Also, in Abercrombie's defense, there was absolutely nothing good about my demo and it is a miracle that NY heard even a shred of potential on the CD that would have been better off as a coaster.  But talent or no talent, if I was valuable enough to NY to be there, I was magically valuable to everyone else and it was something I never embraced or exploited, though I could have.

Birthday Girl

Lights flashed through the dimly lit club as techno music thundered from the DJ booth.  There were a few girls dancing like "Fly Girls" from the show In Living Color on the dance floor, surrounded by tables of guest drinking and trying too look too cool to stare at Vin and his crew, but failing.  I sat with NY's friends and he disappeared into the crowd.  I instantly connected with two girls in his circle who were exotic model types who also did acting and dancing.  One was skinny with proportionate C cup breast implants that were unnaturally perky and aimed at me like two loaded guns.  The other was also slender but a little shorter and had a very sculpted and natural dancer's frame.   They both wore all black tight pants and tops with messy hair in their face and smokey eye makeup.  They acted very excited to meet me and told me that I was lucky to have entered into NY's group and told me that I would be well taken care of.  They talked about other parts of the Hollywood scene that would not have been safe for me to stumble upon and told me that none of the drugs and weird stuff existed in NY's crew and that everyone was down to earth and professional.  I was shocked to look up and see a huge banner that read, "Happy Birthday Beyonce" as the sultry birthday girl paraded by surrounded by a group of girls who were drinking and laughing.  We did not stay long since NY was not into celebrity hang outs and just wanted to pay his respects.  But the night was still young so we moved onto our next adventure.

To be continued.....