One year later

You’re a boss! You’re a badass! You’ve got this!

Jessica Alba closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply through her nose, then holding the air in for a heartbeat before blowing it out through pursed lips. Time seemed to slow down for just a second and for at least a tiny instant she could feel her little meditative act cause the shivers of her nervosity to dissipate and the angsty energy calmed. She took another moment, enjoying the quietness of her empty, parked car before she repeated her little mantra in her head one more time.

You’re a boss! You’re a badass! You’ve got this!

Nodding sharply as if to reassure herself, she snapped her eyes open, the corners of her mouth tightening as she got going. Her hand found the handle and she pushed the door open, stepping quickly out into the warm LA sun. Almost on autopilot, she closed the door behind her, then briefly fumbled inside her leather clutch purse to lock the Tesla as she briskly walked away across the half-empty parking lot.

She swallowed, feeling the momentary calm of her meditation disappear and the nervousness taking over. Her mouth felt dry and she could feel her knees shiver a little, her steps feeling rather insecure as she made her way towards the restaurant. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and her gaze focused completely on the mansion-like building in front of her.

“Come on, you fucking coward, it’s just a meeting!” the actress muttered to herself through tightly clenched teeth, “You’ve done this a million times before, bitch, get it together!”

She **** herself to hasten her pace, feeling like she would much rather run away, get back to her car and drive off than enter the large, luxurious restaurant in front of her. This wasn’t the time to run away though. This was all or nothing!

You’re a boss! You’re a badass! You’ve got this!

She could feel her heart race as the well-dressed doorman spotted her and put on a polite smile as he stepped aside, opening the door for her. Her eyes flitted up, briefly making contact with his, nodding in polite recognition as she almost rushed past him, out of the warm sunlight and into the air-conditioned cool of the restaurant.

She almost gasped and stopped dead in her tracks when she caught her own reflection in the mirror and realizing just how obvious her anxiety was. Her eyes were wide, like a deer in headlights, nostrils flaring and jaw clenched. This was far from the cool, poised look she had been aiming for and it just wouldn’t do in this particular situation. Once again, she **** herself to stop and take a few deep breaths before she proceeded, willing her pulse to slow down and consciously relaxing her tense muscles.

The change in her appearance was instant and reassuring. Within seconds, Jessica watched her vibe change from a deer in headlights to a confident, serious woman. Her teeth were unclenched, her breathing calmed and her poise returned and as she watched herself, a small, cocky smile spreading across her lips. She still didn’t feel confident, but she sure as hell wouldn’t show it. She would bluff her way through this meeting like she had done all those other times.

This really wasn’t like all those other times, though. Jessica had faced all kinds of pressures before, the life of a professional actress and entrepreneur simply was full of tense situations, be it castings, interviews or boardroom meetings. However, Jessica couldn’t remember the last time she had been in a do-or-die situation like this. Usually, she could calm herself that there was another chance, another role, another opportunity even if she fucked this one up. Even if the producer didn’t like her or she failed to convince this particular investor, she always knew there’d be another one that would do business with her. This time, it was all or nothing.

She wasn’t exactly sure when things had gotten off the tracks. It didn’t feel too long ago that things had been going so smoothly, her business going so well that she had deliberately scaled her acting career back further and further. Progressively in the 2010s, she had been going for small, fun projects that awakened her interest and were comfortable, rather than big movie projects where she was treated like a small cog of a big machine.

With the Honest Company burgeoning and expanding, it had felt to her like she was set, that being an actress was little more than a side hustle at this point, more of a hobby than a job.

It turned out that it had made her complacent, Jessica grimly thought, feeling a mix of anger and shame. She had allowed herself to slip from the limelight, hadn’t put all her energy into the competitive movie business and other actresses had overtaken her. That had been fine for as long as business had been going well. Then business started going bad. Then it became worse. Then it kept getting worse. Now things were dire.

It wasn’t like she was about to be poor, but if things kept going at this rate, a change in her lifestyle would be imminent. After years of shiny headlines, her Company was now in free-fall and things didn’t look good. It turned out that she had underestimated that her fading fame would have an impact on sales, her reputation acting as a strong pillar to the company. With her acting career neglected, things snowballed and at this point, fatal consequences for The Honest Company were no longer out of the question.

Long talks with the leading personnel at Honest, as well as Jack, her agent, had left her realizing that there really was only one way to salvage the situation. She would have to undo the damage she had done over nearly a decade to her acting career. Getting back into the limelight would set the scene for the company to get back to strength, solving one problem would solve the other automatically.

It really was a sizeable problem to solve though. Getting back into Hollywood as an actress in her early forties, fifteen years after she had been at the top of the game and with little critical acclaim in the recent decade… would not be easy. She really needed the right project to come along, for things to work out perfectly.

Then Jack had called her, telling her about just the right project to come along.

Ruby Moon. An erotic thriller, set in the 1980s in Los Angeles and dealing with a team of private eyes that, during a missing person’s case, stumbled across a secret cult working in the seedy underbelly of the city. Inspired by movies like Chinatown, it was aiming for a retro-noir flair that easily could slide into corny areas, but the names attached to the project strongly suggested a darling with critics and audiences. The role of the female lead, Nancy Santos, was outlined as a tough, single mother of two with a Hispanic background. There were character flaws and issues outlined in the brief summary that Jack had presented her with, but Jessica had been sold that the role was perfect for her before he even dropped the best part. Casting for the part hadn’t even started yet and Sean Laurie was responsible for the casting choices of the movie. It really couldn’t have been more perfect.

Sean and Jessica had worked together on numerous projects back in the 2000s, the time Jessica had been at the top of her game in terms of her movie career. About ten years older than her, the producer was charming, good-looking and funny, and while they hadn’t kept in contact as her fame in the movie industry increased, he definitely was someone she was on friendly terms with whenever their paths crossed. He was a decent guy by Hollywood standards, which only meant that when he realized that Jessica had no intention of sleeping with him for even better opportunities, he had simply backed off rather than trying to convince her, still casting her in several projects along the way. If Sean was responsible for the casting of Nancy Santos and the casting process had not even officially begun, Jessica felt good about her chances to secure this role.

This very well could be her only shot. An opportunity like this was rare and Jessica had played the game long enough to know that if this one passed, it could take years for another opportunity to come along, maybe forever.

So, do or die.

You’re a boss! You’re a badass! You’ve got this!