"What have you got for me, Cal?" Barbara stepped into her agent's office, lighting up a cigarette as soon as she sat down. She was dressed fashionably for her age and status, wearing sporty chic leggings, a blouse concealed by an expensive leather jacket, topped off with a silk head scarf and a pair of designer sunglasses shading her eyes.
"Well, I received a call from Disney and they were really, really interested in you," he ran his fingers over the printed script in rapid succession, "like first choice they thought of interested. Th-"
"That's not the first time I've heard that Cal. I'm artiste, my skills are always in demand. But the question is, is it worth it to me?"
"The money is worth it! They're offering a two million advance, eight million when it's complete. And! AND a 1% profit sharing deal! Think about it, that's more than you've made in the past decade. And to be really honest, if you don't take it I don't know for how much longer you can employ me as your agent. So I'm begging you, pleading with you, please hear this out. You haven't even heard the pitch."
Barbara looked at the left hand wall momentarily. "All right, what is it?"
"Disney is wanting to reboot the classic animated movie 'Sleeping Beauty' for live action, but the twist is it focuses on Maleficent is as the main character. Now if you're answer is 'no', Disney already told me they're prepared to go with their second choice, Angelina Jolie, for the part."
The premise piqued Barbara's interest, "I remember that movie when I was a little girl, let me see that script."
Parsing through the script didn't alleviate Barbara's concerns about the project. "Maleficent is good in this? Okay. I remember her being an evil, spiteful witch, but whatever, you can't have a villain as your protagonist in a major Hollywood production. She has a young, handsome man into turns into a raven as her companion, that might be fun." Reaching to the end climax brought a frown of disappointment. "Wait. She doesn't become a dragon at the end? Cal, can we get a script rewrite on this? If we can, I'll absolutely accept."
Calvin grinned at her enthusiasm, "I'll get right on the phone with Disney. We'll see what adjustments they're willing to make."
While Cal called the film's producers, Barbara pulled out a tiny makeup mirror, inspecting herself. She was always considered attractive in a classy kind of way. And for fifty-five years old, she did look pretty good, years of expensive beauty treatments have preserved her looks as best as they can. A few wrinkles here and there, and her once platinum blonde locks have grayed over time. But she could not deny the fact she looked fifty-five.
Cal returned to her a few minutes later. "Good news Barbara, Disney agreed to all of your demands! They're ready to begin filming in a month."
Barbara looked back at him, "Give it to me straight Cal, are you sure I can still play roles like this? It seems like the job for a woman twenty years younger."
"Come on Babs, that's no way to talk. With make-up and modern special effects, we could have you playing lead roles for another two decades. Really, you owe it to the world to give another patented Barbara Stewart performance."
The nickname "Babs" rankled Barbara a little, "I've told you before, Cal, don't call me Babs. I've always hated that nickname. But thank you for the words of encouragement, I'll take that with me on day one of filming."
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