Page 14 of Mistaken Impression

“Me? I know nothing about writing.”

“You don’t have to, really… not in this instance. Gavin’s very good at what he does. But your culinary expertise will be invaluable.”

Ella frowns, but I don’t know why. I’d love the chance to get involved in the writing. I doubt I’ll be given it, though. And in any case, I feel like I’ve already got my hands full.

Ruby starts for the door, perhaps hoping to halt our questions, and I take the chance to lean in to Ella. “Are you okay?”

She turns, her frown deepening as she looks up at me. “I’m fine.”

That was a little dismissive. I was only being friendly… or trying to, and I watch her walk away, shrugging my shoulders. Beautiful or not, she can be really frosty.

I follow Ella to the door, which Ruby is holding open, making it there just in time to see Ruby smile at her and place a hand on her bare arm.

“Don’t worry too much about Kennedy,” she says, keeping her voice quiet. “She can be abrupt sometimes.”

“I noticed.”

“You have to bear in mind, she’s got a lot riding on this show.”

I’m not sure that’s a good enough excuse for deliberately belittling someone, but I don’t comment. It seems Ella can be quite abrupt too, when she wants to be.

As I step outside and we start along the corridor, she hangs back a little, and I hear a slight sniffle. When I turn, she’s pulling a tissue from her handbag, and I’d swear there are tears in her eyes. I want to ask if she’s okay again, but I doubt she’d thank me. She seems embarrassed about being upset… and having me draw attention to it won’t help. I turn away to give her some privacy, but I’m wondering if I might have misjudged her. Perhaps she’s not so frosty after all. Maybe it’s Kennedy’s attitude that’s made her defensive…

“I’m just gonna focus on the areas you really need to know about.” Ruby stops walking and turns around as she’s speaking and I step just slightly to my right, to block her view of Ella, and hopefully give her the chance to compose herself before she catches up with us. It seems to work. Within seconds, she’s bymy side, and when I glance at her, she looks perfectly normal… and very beautiful.

We’re standing by a door and Ruby opens it to reveal a make-up room.

“This obviously concerns Blake more than you,” she says, turning to Ella with a smile before she looks at me. “I think you’re familiar with what goes on in here?”

“I am.”

I glance inside, noting the three make-up stations, their chairs tucked neatly beneath the black surfaces. The lights around the mirrors are switched off, making it feel dull and lifeless, and I’m about to step inside when I notice Ella, standing right beside me.

“I never realised they actually had lights around the mirrors like that,” she says, sounding intrigued. “I thought that was just something they did in the movies.”

“It’s to replicate the lights in the studio.” I look down at her, studying her enquiring face, her full, rose-pink lips and flawless skin.

“Oh… I see.” She frowns, tilting her head slightly. “Will you need to wear make-up then?”

“Yes, he will.”

We both spin around at the sound of a voice and see a woman coming towards us. I recognise her from this morning’s meeting. She was the make-up artist, although I cannot, for the life of me, remember her name. Now she’s standing up, though, I can see she’s around five foot six tall, and like most people here, she’s casually dressed in black jeans and a grey t-shirt.

“Ahh… Diana,” Ruby says, saving me the trouble of asking. “I’m sorry we’ve intruded. I was just showing Blake and Ella where hair and make-up is.”

“Well… Ella won’t be needing my services,” she says with a smile and then turns to me, narrowing her eyes as she assessesmy face with a professional eye. “And I know I said you’d be seeing quite a lot of me, but on second thoughts, I don’t think you will.” She sighs. “Such beautiful eyes… and perfect skin…”

I’m not sure how to reply to that, but Ruby saves me the trouble. “We’d better be getting along.”

Diana nods her head and we step out of her doorway, allowing her to move inside the room, as we pass on down the hallway, going through a set of double doors. Here, the corridor widens and although there are several doors on our right, there’s only one on the left.

“The men’s room is just here,” Ruby says, nodding to the first door on the right. “And the ladies’ room is at the other end.” She stops by the solitary door on the left and opens it. “This is the rehearsal studio.”

We all move inside, and she flicks on the lights to reveal a vast room. It has a high ceiling and is mostly empty, other than the large kitchen area at the back, and the table right in front of us, which is surrounded by half a dozen chairs. Between the two is an empty space, which I know is where the cameras would be in a real studio.

Ella wanders over to the kitchen, putting her folder down on the work surface and turning around to face us. “I appreciate this is for rehearsing, but is everything real? I mean, the ovens are fully functioning, and there’s running water, and a working refrigerator, isn’t there?”

“It’s an exact replica of how the kitchen will look in the main studio,” Ruby says, going over to her. “Blake needs to get used to where all the equipment is, so every detail is identical.”

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