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[Emmy Rossum]

Emmy's cell phone kept ringing. No matter what she did, she couldn't stop it from ringing incessantly. And as annoying as it was to answer it, she felt guilty if she didn't. What if someone had to reach her about something important?

But everybody has limits. After Emmy's mom called her for the third time in half an hour, she knew that she had to do something. Come Heck of high water, she wasn't answering that phone for the next hour. Period.

And that was when Emmy realized where her phone session had taken her: straight to the candy store. I really shouldn't...she thought to herself, but knew that she would give in anyway. After all, candy was one of the most enjoyable things in life. Especially chocolate. And she hadn't indulged in anything in the longest time. So it would be ok, right?

She might as well splurge, as long as she was being bad, right? "I'll take a caramel covered apple," she told the girl in the candystriped vest. And what was handed to her looked like a piece of Heaven itself.

"Thank you so much!" She said, handing the girl money and not bothering with change. After all, she had plenty of money for herself, and that girl was probably making minimum wage.

[Rosario Dawson]

Yes, yes it was a good way to kick off her brief time off from the movie Rosie was in the middle of shooting. The schedule had been insane and just last week, the stunties had been giving Rosie a few last minute pointers on fight sequence that they had been working on. Rosie was determined to do more of her own stuff this time around and the dark bruise on her right arm proved it. It was just a bit of a dull ache now, nothing that couldn't be knocked out with a few aspirin. To celebrate her few days off, Rosario had started by waking up very late and unhooking the battery out of her cell. Another hour of dozing later, Rosie had pried herself from bed and got ready to head out and about.

Hitting the streets in a simple outfit, dark orange skirt and off white sleeveless shirt, Rosie grabbed a light jean jacket in case the wind got cooler. Her dark brown hair was cut short again. Rosie found it easier to just chop it off than try to bunch it up under a short hair wig. The people traffic on the sidewalks was always insane, but Rosie loved it. It let her people watch, a favorite past time. Well, she liked it until she noticed a couple that looked very much in love. Broke up since November, did she miss Jason? Yeah, she had to admit that she did. She wasn't moping around like someone had died, but the apartment was really too quiet when she came home.

She glanced at the windows as she walked by the shopping, lingering at a few, trying to decided whether or not she wanted to head in. She kept passing the shops until the bright window of the candy store lured her in. After spending the past few weeks fighting like some crazed tough-ass, a little something sweet sounded like bliss. Heading into the store, Rosie wasn't surprised to see that there weren't a whole lot of people in there. Image, Image, Image. To hell with image, Rosie thought with a grin as she looked up and down the rows.

She heard the door open again, though she didn't look up and continued on her own search. Letting out a small laugh, she picked up a box of those jelly beans that were marketed by those Harry Potter movies. Rosie couldn't help but love those things. Debating for a second, she picked up one more box and headed to the counter.

"I'll take a caramel covered apple,"

Rosie looked up from the boxes she was holding. She had been reading the back of the box to see what new vile flavors she'd have to dodge. The voice was very familiar.

"Thank you so much!"

Got it, Rosie's brain said, clicking in the voice with the person. Definitely her. Rosie didn't have a lot of time to catch movies, she really needed to slow down some. But she had caught Phantom. Rosie always had respect for actors that took a risk on musicals, even before she had taken her own stab at it. Rosie always thought that showed more guts than getting blown up in a car on a stunt set. People were always brutal about others' singing.

Rosie stepped up to the counter as the cashier stuck Emmy's change back into her drawer. Setting her boxes on the counter, Rosie looked over at Emmy.

"Emmy Rossum?" Rosie asked as the first box beeped on the scanner. "Just wanted to say your work in Phantom was great." Rosie said with a grin as the second box beeped.

[Emmy Rossum]

The second the caramel apple stick was placed in Emmy's hands, her brain went into overload. She couldn't help it; that was just the kind of girl that she was. She was a rational thinker, and rationality told her that she had to go back out, onto the streets, after eating this thing. And there were photographers on the street, just waiting to catch a glimpse of somebody. And the apple was covered in sticky caramel, which would probably find its way onto Emmy's face and hands, and probably her clothing, too, if she wasn't careful. And she certainly didn't want that to happen.

So Emmy did the most practical thing to do; she tilted her head sideways to get a piece of the apple without getting her nose covered in caramel. And it actually worked! That was when she heard a voice. Oh no. She had been spotted, and not exactly in the most flattering position. And while Emmy wasn't avoiding people, or wearing a disguise, or anything, she hadn't wanted to be seen while looking like a complete idiot.

"Emmy Rossum?"

Emmy chewed delicately, swallowing before replying. Her mother had taught her manners, after all.

"Yes, that's me," she said, smiling and expecting to greet a fan. Though the voice did sound more mature than that of the fan girls who normally assaulted her.

That was when Emmy realized who it was. It was Mimi! Er, Rosario Dawson! Being a musical person, of course Emmy had seen RENT. And Mimi was her favorite character.

"Just wanted to say your work in Phantom was great."

"Gosh, thanks," said Emmy, blushing. Phantom had only been about the greatest experience of her life. But then she could have killed herself. She sounded like a six year old, and she was in the presence of Rosario Dawson. And Rosario had complimented her! Did the wonders never cease?

"Though I have to say, RENT was awesome. I never knew that you were musical!" She talked with her hands as she spoke, gesturing with the caramel covered apple, and not realizing how stupid she looked. But that was Emmy.

[Rosario Dawson]

"Yeah, me neither," Rosie joked with a laugh. Not really a true claim. Her mother had dabbled in singing as had Rosie, but she never really considered herself a "singer." She belted out nonsense songs for her own amusement and the amusement of her friends, but other than that, it was more something that she did from time to time. RENT had been a different story though. Rosie had jumped at the chance for it. And she didn't regret a minute of it. Everyone from that cast was still pretty much an extended family for Rosie. Especially Anthony and Wilson.

The cashier had started to bag the boxes. "Oh, don't worry about that, going to eat 'em now anyways," Rosie said, handing over the money for the candy. "Thanks," Rosie said with a grin. "You flip that apple anymore, it's going to slip right off that stick," Rosie mused with a warm smile, her eyes following the caramel apple as it bobbed about as Emmy spoke. Rosie opened the first box, sticking the second one into the pocket on her jacket.

Rosie laughed, thinking for a moment. "You know, I'm working right now on a movie where I've got to practice fighting for about three hours to make sure it looks good and right, work on cables, and I still don't come home half as tired as I did coming home from RENT," Rosie said shaking her head. "Was it like that for you when you did Phantom?" Rosie asked, popping a few of the jelly beans into her mouth. Rosie never did have chance to ask another actor that had done a musical that. She couldn't very well ask her fellow RENTheads, they lived and breathed musical theatre afterall.

[Emmy Rossum]

Emmy lifted one eyebrow. "Really? So you totally went out on a limb for RENT?" Emmy had always known that she was a singer; she had been in music school at the age of two, then been a part of the Metropolitan Opera from age seven. The Phantom of the Opera hadn't been a major stretch for her; in fact, the singing had been the thing she worried about least. It had been getting her ballet up to where it needed to be that had worried her. And then, of course, the fact that she was 16 while everybody else was 25 +, and she was supposed to be the female lead. That always worked well.

"You flip that apple anymore, it's going to slip right off that stick."

Emmy blushed, holding the apple still. "Oops. I forgot that it was in my hand..." That would have been embarrassing, to have her apple fly of its stick and onto somebody else. Or onto Rosario. Emmy could see the headline now, "Dawson bruised by Rossum's stray apple, details inside." Wouldn't that be great?

"Was it like that for you when you did Phantom?"

"Oh yeah," said Emmy, nodding emphatically, "I was in a corset, and I was only sixteen, and I swear to you: that corset stunted my growth. Not to mention that I practically died of exhaustion every night in my hotel room." Running around in a corset was no joke. Emmy could understand why those women in the 1800's had been so lazy; it took twice as much effort just to move in those things.

[Rosario Dawson]

"Really? So you totally went out on a limb for RENT?"

"Sure, I mean, I always thought I sounded pretty good, though everybody likes to think they can really belt one out." Rosie said, eating a few more jelly beans. "I don't think I've ever met anyone that'll actually admit to sounding about as good as nails on a chalk board," Rosie added with a laugh.

"Oops. I forgot that it was in my hand..."

Rosie laughed. "Sounds like something I would do. At least you manage to hang onto it. I was over at the craft services table and got caught up in talking about something, and I had just picked up a glass of cranberry juice. I suppose I got a little too into what I was talking about 'cause I forgot I was holding it and went to throw up my hands," Rosie said, miming her action as she said it, "And, er, the juice got flung out of the cup and onto Elijah Wood. I was pretty mortified for the rest of the day." Rosie said. "Though he did look good in that shade of red," Rosie added with a laugh, munching a few more jelly beans.

She had her share of embarrassing moments. "Now I try to make sure my cups have got lids on 'em." Rosie said.

Rosie grimaced at the thought of corsets. If an actress hadn't had a stint in a corset, there had definitely been a time when they had gotten stuck in something just as uncomfortable. "Ich, I don't think I could have even tried to sing tied up in one of those things," Rosie said. "I would've gotten kicked off the set probably after the first day for throwing a heavy blunt object at the director when he said 'ok, let's try that one more time from the top'." Rosie said, finishing off the box and tossing it into the garbage can near the door.

[Emmy Rossum]

Emmy took small bites of her apple as she listened to Rosario, using part of her brain to make sure that she didn't get her curls stuck in the sticky caramel. Not that it would matter, since the caramel wasn't much lighter than her hair.

"Well you have a really good voice, so I'm glad that you decided to give it a go!" Emmy's family couldn't sing worth anything, but they would never admit to it. In fact, she had been the only one in her whole family to get any musical talent, at all.

"Now I try to make sure my cups have got lids on 'em."

Emmy giggled slightly, finally relaxing. Sometimes she felt like a poser in Hollywood, because she hadn't done as many successful projects as a lot of the other actors and actresses. But Rosario was so down to earth that it made her feel more comfortable. Not to mention that it was nice to know that other people had embarrassing moments as well.

"I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has done stupid things," she said, grinning. She had eaten all of the caramel off of her apple now, and she looked at the inside of it, wondering if she was feeling healthy enough to actually eat the part of it that was good for her.

"Ich, I don't think I could have even tried to sing tied up in one of those things,I would've gotten kicked off the set probably after the first day for throwing a heavy blunt object at the director when he said 'ok, let's try that one more time from the top'."

"I was just thankful that I didn't have to do the actual singing in a corset. At least we recorded it at a studio where I was in my normal clothes. If not, I would have died, or passed out, or something." Emmy shook her head, remembering how long those days had seemed. "But by the end of the day, I was begging Joel, the director, to just let me take it off and go home."

[Rosario Dawson]

Rosie laughed. "I was always caught between wanting to do that or staying another hour or two to make sure everything was right. It was insane, though I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to do it again." The sheer surrealness of Hollywood was boggling sometimes. Getting to chat with Emmy Rossum wasn't something a lot of people got to do. Rosie was just glad she had been able to get the words out to talk to her. It was often that way the first day on new movie set, Rosie would spend the better part of that day just star struck.

Noticing Emmy eye her apple now devoid of caramel, Rosie opened up her second box. "That's the trouble with those things. Now all you've got is a healthy snack," Rosie joked with a grin. "What are you working on now?" Rosie asked, just before eating some of her jelly beans. Rosie was a horrible sweet tooth. It was a real weakness for her. Though, most of the time, she didn't think of it that way.

Rosie could barely keep up with the pace of her own life, but that didn't mean she wasn't interested in what other people were up to. And when you were in the business, there was usually a fairly interesting answer to that question. The door to the candy shop opened and Rosie couldn't help but hear the flicker of a shutter on the other side of the window.

"Uh oh," Rosie said, biting in her lip as she glanced out the window. "Seems like the 'Razzi is hard up for pictures today." She said, looking back over to Emmy with one eyebrow raised. "What? Do they think we're going to stick up the candy store or something?" Rosie asked with a laugh. "They really kill me sometimes. Sometimes it's like I'm stuck in a game of hide-and-seek with these guys."

[Emmy Rossum]

Emmy made a face at the apple. "Who wants to be healthy? Not me." She turned to the girl at the counter, who appeared to have finally realized that it was two stars in the store, and was staring at them star-struck. Emmy would have laughed, but she didn't want to make the poor teenager feel bad.

"Can you dip the rest of this in caramel for me?" She asked, glad that the girl appeared to realize who she was. She wouldn't do that for a normal person, but she took Emmy's apple and dipped it in the vat of caramel. That was called invoking star power, and Emmy had to admit that it was nice. She would probably feel guilty later, but that was later...not now.

She accepted the apple and turned back to Rosario, a triumphant smile on her face. She took a bite of the apple, sighing as the caramel taste filled her mouth again. What bliss.

"I'm recording a cd. Well, I start next Monday. I wrote the songs myself, so we'll see how it goes." Truthfully, Emmy was pretty apprehensive about it. People saw her as a classical singer now, and her album would be a pop album, so what would the public think? Hopefully they would like it.

"What about you? You're working on an action movie, you said." And then Emmy noticed the camera flashes. Her first instinct was to hide, but instead she forced herself to smile. "You know, we should give them something to take pictures of." Instead of brushing her hair so that it covered part of her face, like she normally did when she was spotted by the paparazzi, Emmy turned back to Rosario and began to pretend to talk animatedly.

"Here, we can either pretend to be best friends or enemies. Which would be better?" She asked, waving her hands wildly.

[Rosario Dawson]

"I wrote the songs myself, so we'll see how it goes."

Rosie felt her eyes grow a bit wider. "Very cool," She said with a nod. Rosie shut her box of jelly beans and stuck them in her pocket again. "I bet it goes great," Rosie added with a smile.

"What about you? You're working on an action movie, you said."

"Yeah, the sequel for Sin City. Got a few free days before I head back onto set." Rosie said. "That's the reason for the crazy short hair," She added laughing, running her hand across the back of her hair. She had sported the boy short before, though she preferred it a little longer.

"Here, we can either pretend to be best friends or enemies. Which would be better?"

Rosie looked back over at Emmy, having been a bit preoccupied with the stand of things behind her. "Well, you know, if it bleeds it leads," Rosie said with a small grin. Rosie's tone was as friendly as before, however, she mimicked Emmy's animated gestures. "But I've got a better idea," Rosie said, adding a small shove on Emmy's shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, Rosie noticed the flashbulbs flickering more. Taking a quick step around Emmy, Rosie grabbed a small bag from the stand filled with little cheapo toys. Standard little kids stuff, cap guns in fluorescent colors, little GI Joe men, everything a kid could want. Stuffing the bag into her pocket, Rosie walked back to Emmy.

"Come on," Rosie said, she sounded wickedly happy, but from the gestures she made, the window watchers outside thought it looked like Rosie was fixing to start a fight. Walking around to the side of the counter, Rosie caught one of the cashier's eyes. "There a back way out?" She asked. The girl pointed. "Thanks," Rosie turned around and walked backward. "I think I read there was going to be some rain in this area today," Rosie said, still grinning like she had found a million dollars. She waved Emmy to come with her, so that the window boys got the point. Glancing back over to the counter, she saw a water bottle. "Mind if I borrow that for a few seconds?" Rosie asked, the girl nodded and Rosie picked it up too. Nearly all the window vultures were gone, no doubt having run around to the back of the store. They had a long way to run around so when Rosie opened the back door, none of them had gotten there yet.

Looking around for a moment, she noticed the steel stairs up to the roof of the store. "Let's go," Rosie said with a laugh. Climbing up the stairs to the roof, there was a medium height safety wall that Rosie quickly ducked behind. Sitting on the roof, back against the wall, she was well hidden. "Here you go," Rosie said, opening the small bag and fishing a few out before tossing it to Emmy. The bag was filled with brightly colored balloons. "They think they're going to get a fight, and all they're going to get is leaving all wet," Rosie mused, picking up the water bottle and filling a balloon.

[Emmy Rossum]

"I bet it goes great."

Emmy smiled confidentally, running a hand through her curls. "Yeah, I'm sure that it will. If not, it'll be fine. I can handle it." Emmy tried to exude confidence, and she was pretty good at it, even though inside she still had that nagging feeling...

"Yeah, the sequel for Sin City. Got a few free days before I head back onto set. That's the reason for the crazy short hair."

"Yeah, Sin City was pretty awesome. I can't wait to see the second," said Emmy, reaching out to touch Rosario's hair. "And I think the hair is pretty awesome. Though I would never be able to do that to mine." Emmy's hair was one of her favorite things about herself. It had always been long, auburn, and curly. And if it wasn't there, she would probably go crazy.


"Well, you know, if it bleeds it leads." Emmy raised one eyebrow, wondering what Rosario had in mind. "But I've got a better idea."

When Rosario began snatching things, Emmy had visions of them ending up in jail like Winona Ryder, so she grabbed a couple of dollars from her pocket and dropped them on the counter for the cashier.

"Sorry about this, I think the sugar made us hyper," she said by way of explanation. She then followed Rosario out of the store, running up the steps. Thank goodness she had worn flats, and not something more dangerous. She could just see herself falling backwards all the way down the stairs and onto the paparazzi below. Talk about headlines.

Emmy, believe it or not, was kind of good at water balloon fights. She had gone through her share in primary school. She quickly began filling her balloons with water and tying them closed, placing them in pyramid formation. "You know, I don't normally do things like this. I can't wait to see the headlines," she confided to Rosario.

[Rosario Dawson]

" I can't wait to see the headlines,"

Rosie was just throwing a quick knot into her last balloon. She laughed and then looked over to Emmy. "Headlines? I don't care what they print, I've just always wanted to give these goobs a little of their own medicine. I'd have done it before, but, you know, water balloons are kinda hard to conceal in a purse." Rosie said still grinning, picking up a balloon and turning around so she could just peek around the top of the wall.

The fast footfalls of about six people were soon echoing down the back alley of the shops. Rosie ducked her head back a little. "Looks like there's six of them." she said. "Last chance to duck out," Rosie said, looking back to Emmy. Rosie certainly wasn't going to pass up a great opportunity to dish out a little payback. Though she wasn't going to drag Emmy into it, if she didn't want to.

"Where are they?"

"I don't know, maybe they went back around to the front?"

"We better not miss getting a picture of this. People are wanting a new spat to choose sides for."

Rosie had to stifle back a laugh. "Are these guys serious?" Rosie asked in amused disbelief. "We better stop their thought process before our brains stop functioning," Rosie said, still amused. Straighting up from her crouch, Rosie set two fingers into her mouth and whistled. "Afternoon boys," She said, looking down that the photosnappers. The guys below had just turned to look as Rosie threw her first balloon. It landed with a great splat on one of the 'Razzi's heads.

[Emmy Rossum]

"Headlines? I don't care what they print, I've just always wanted to give these goobs a little of their own medicine. I'd have done it before, but, you know, water balloons are kinda hard to conceal in a purse."

Emmy laughed silently, still attempting to conceal her position against the wall. She could just see herself pulling a water balloon out of one of those oversized shoulder bags. Too bad she rarely carried large purses, because water balloons had to be one of the greatest ideas this century.

"I don't know, with the size of purses today, you could probably get away with it..." she whispered, wondering why she wanted to conceal her position. If the paparazzi started to run up the stairs, that only made it better.

"Looks like there's six of them. Last chance to duck out."

Emmy looked at Rosario incredulously. "Are you kidding me? Back out now and miss all the fun? Never!" She turned around and knelt on her knees, gazing at the photographers below. She had the perfect shot for one of the cameras, but she wasn't going to risk it. No, these were some pictures that she actually wanted to see.

Emmy grabbed one of her water balloons and launched it at one of the photographers who was watching Rosario, and hadn't noticed that Emmy was there yet. It hit him squarely in the back of the head, and Emmy couldn't contain her giggles. She immediately launched another one at the female to his right, who was staring up at her in shock.

[Rosario Dawson]

"Yeah!" Rosie said with a laugh as Emmy's balloon crashed onto one of the 'Razzi. "Oh that's got to be 20 points right there," Rosie said, grabbing up another balloon and launching it down on another reporter. "Should have brought along an umbrella!" Rosie called down to them as the balloon landed with a splat on a bald headed reporter. Rosie laughed again with a great smile on her face. She heard a camera clicking away.

"Smile for the camera, Miss Rossum, seems like we missed that one," Rosie said amusedly, throwing her arm around Emmy in a one armed hug. Her other hand held another balloon. Holding the pose for a brief second, Rosie then launched her last balloon down at the photographer. It bounced off the boy's hat though and broke on the street. "Aw, too bad," Rosie said a touch disappointedly. The 'Razzi that hadn't gotten ballooned had already ran off and the ones that had already had beat a hasty retreat.

Rosie stood up and wiped off the the bits of dirt and gravel that had clung onto her skirt. She was still laughing and dabbed with the back of her hand a few tears. "We should really lure more of them into traps like that. I don't think we'd mind so much if we got to do that more often." Rosie added still grinning like a middle schooler. She picked the water bottle back up and headed down the stairs.

"Hey, you ruined my camera!"

The boy said, he looked like a cub reporter. New assignment, probably, and most likely wouldn't be able to convince his editors to buy him a new camera.

"No, I didn't" Rosie responded automatically, like a kid did when they got in trouble with a parent. The boy gave her an incredulous look of 'what the **k?'. "Let me see," Rosie said, sticking her hand out as she walked over to the boy. "Yep, that's soaked through," Rosie said as she looked at it. "Here, next time, do be so gung ho about hoping to catch two people in a private fight. Or maybe bring along a poncho or something," Rosie said, handing the photographer some bills, discretely folded over. The kid laughed slightly and hastily stuck the bills into his pocket.

"If that's not going to cover it, give this a call," Rosie added, writing a number on the back of the candy receipt. Clapping him on the shoulder once, Rosie turned back to Emmy.

"I gotta head back in and pay for those balloons. And give the girl back her bottle. "

[Emmy Rossum]

"Oh that's got to be 20 points right there."

Emmy laughed and smirked at the reporters. She would have loved to stick her tongue out, but that was undignified, and she didn't want to have that caught on camera. She could just see that plastered all over hate sites - not good.

She only had one water balloon left, and she surveyed the reporters carefully, trying to determine which would be the best victim to have last. Finally she decided on the rather chesty woman, and she dropped the balloon. It landed right on the woman's breasts, creating a large waterstain and causing the woman to shriek. Emmy laughed and hugged Rosario back. They were dastardly when they were together.

Emmy brushed off her pants and followed Rosario down the steps, doing her best to look dignified. The reporter at the bottom didn't look much older than her, and she shot him a sympathetic smile. "Sorry about that," she said softly.

She felt so bad that she gave him one of her cards, with her personal assistant's number on it. "Here, call this number and you can set up an interview. A legitimate one this time, though," she said warningly. She didn't want slander in the tabloids, so she would give him a real interview.

"I gotta head back in and pay for those balloons. And give the girl back her bottle. "

"Oh no, don't bother, I already paid the girl. I didn't want to end up like Winona," said Emmy, shuddering. She would look really bad in an orange jumpsuit.