Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
“Don’t frown so much,” the makeup guys says. He’s the last one left. At one point I’d had three people hovering around me, fixing my hair, my nails, my everything. It’s enough to make a girl nervous. “The makeup settles in and gives you ghastly shadows.”
“I don’t think I should be doing this at all. I’m a production assistant,” I point out. I like to play around with makeup when we go out to clubs and stuff, but I don’t wear a lot of it in my normal life.
“You were a production assistant and now you’re a contestant.” Joe seems perfectly content now that he believes he’s got girl number thirteen on the hook. “Tomorrow you can go right back to assisting. Think of yourself as a stand-in. This is going to be easy. I won’t even make you do an introduction video. Normally there would be several hours spent getting a contestant’s life story.”
I know what he’s talking about. It’s what they’d been doing for weeks. Interviewing all the contestants. Not that most of the footage will reach the airwaves. Some of the contestants will get three minutes on air before they’re cut.
“Hours for a few minutes of tape,” Christy says with a shake of her head. “It’s mind numbing. When are we getting back to real film?”
I agree with her, though movie shoots can also have take after take after take for that one perfect moment of film. “I don’t know that it’s ethical for me to take a contestant’s spot. Maybe if I call her…”
Joe frowns. He’s a handsome man in his early sixties. Despite his well-documented substance abuse problems, he looks healthy and fit, with salt and pepper hair and bushy eyebrows that seem to be a vehicle for his every emotion. Those brows are in a deep V now. “Absolutely not. She’s dead to me. You, however, are very much alive, and I think you’re going to be spectacular. And by spectacular I mean you’ll blend in and no one will notice you until you’re standing in the elimination room without a flower.” He looks back at Christy. “Are we sure we have to go with the daisy? Roses look better on camera.”
“His Majesty insists it must be oxeye daisies, and they have to come from Ralavia,” Christy says as the makeup guy hovers over me with a massive eyelash in tweezers between his fingers. He studies me like a problem he needs to solve. “So now we have a couple thousand of them in cold storage. We need to use the daisies.”
Joe shrugs, obviously giving in. “The guy’s been more than easy to work with, so I’ll give on the flowers. Anyway, you’ll be standing there without a flower, and I’ll need you to look heartbroken. Can you do that for me, Anika?”
I’m pretty sure the only expression I’m going to be able to muster is deer in the headlights. Makeup guy zeroes in, placing the giant lash on my eye. I swear I can see the thing when I blink. I’m a little worried I might be able to fly with it. “What about the ethical aspect of this situation? You know that I signed an agreement that as an employee of Pinnacle Entertainment, I’m not allowed to try out for any of our reality or game shows.”
“You didn’t try out,” Joe points out. “You were recruited. And I already called legal. They’re waiving that clause. They’re viewing it as nothing more than a favor to your director. You’ll be helping me out, and I want you to know I’ll remember that. I remember the nice things people do for me, and I like to repay them with kindness.”
And jobs. That’s what he’s talking about. He’s offering to give me a leg up. Working on his next film could be a huge deal. He really wants this.
The problem is the thought of being in front of the camera gives me hives. Not real ones. Real ones might get me out of this situation, but my skin stays a creamy neutral with some sparkly undertones thanks to the magic the makeup man has worked. He’s kind of an ass, but the man knows what he’s doing. My hair is in a blonde halo around my head, and my neck seems graceful and long. I look like a very modern princess.
I still don’t want to go on camera. “Mr. Helms, I think there has to be someone better. I am not any kind of actress. I’m weird, and being nervous kind of turns me into a walking cautionary tale.”
“You won’t have to talk much,” he promises. “And we’ll edit out anything that doesn’t look good. You can trust me. I won’t make you look like a fool. Only a little of what we film tonight is going to be live. The rest is normal production. There’s no problem we can’t clean up in post. I’ll even let you sit in on the editing.”