Page 10 of The Backup Bride Proposal

Mae felt like she was in the middle of something she wasn’t supposed to hear. “I should probably go.”

“No, Mae, you can stay,” Alexis said, motioning to the sofa where Kane sprawled. “Make yourself comfortable. There are drinks in the mini fridge. Help yourself. This shouldn’t take long.”

Since she’d been given the invite, she made her way over to the sofa. Kane scooted over and she took a seat. Alexis was talking, so she kept her voice low.

“This seems very serious.”

“It can be. Delays cost the production money. A few days, no problem. Several weeks? Big problem.”

And delays would mean this whole production would be hanging out at the vineyard and wedding area longer, too, which could not happen. Mae pulled out her phone and made a note to discuss this with her people later. They needed to be kept informed, and this seemed like a major development.

“Okay,” Alexis said as she turned to face them. “Everly has delays built into her contract, so we’re screwed. We’ll have to come up with a workaround until she’s free. We can start shooting your scenes that Everly isn’t in, but we still need to do a run-through of the entire movie and set up principal photography, which means we’ll need someone to step into Everly’s shoes, so to speak.”

“Yeah. That’s a problem.” Kane looked over at Mae, staring thoughtfully at her. “Then again, maybe not.”

He kept looking at her until she finally had to ask, “What?”

He stood. “Get up,” he said.

She did. Kane looked over at Alexis. “You see it, don’t you? The same height and build. Even the same hair. Eye color and facial shape is different, but as far as what the camera needs?”

Now it was Alexis studying her. She walked over. “Do you mind if I touch your hair?”

Mae had no idea what was going on. “Sure.”

Alexis swept her hand over Mae’s hair, pulled it up, then walked around and stared at her from the back before coming around between her and Kane. “You’re absolutely right. She’s perfect.”

Mae had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, she knew she wasn’t going to like it. “Perfect for what?”

“You could stand in for Everly,” Alexis said. “We could shoot you from behind for the scenes Kane needs to be in with her. And for the long shots. And then we’ll fill in with Everly once she shows up.”

“Fill in with…You want me in your film?”

“You won’t need to do anything,” Kane said. “Though it’d help if you’d learn the scene dialogue for flow, but not absolutely necessary.”

This was going way beyond the scope of what she thought she was going to have to do. “Uh, thanks, but I don’t think so.”

Alexis nodded and held up one finger while she grabbed her phone. She scrolled and pressed a button, waiting a few seconds. “Hi, Maureen, it’s Alexis Black. I’m fine, thanks. We have a small issue here. Our main actress is still finishing up a movie, which could delay production.” She looked over at Kane and Mae. “I know, that’s definitely a problem for both of us, but I have a solution. Mae is the same height and build and coloring as Everly and we were wondering if we could use her as a stand-in, allowing us to shoot a few scenes. I know it wasn’t what we originally—”

Alexis grinned. “Pay her appropriately? Well, of course. We’ll make sure she has the right credentials and get her on the payroll immediately.” She paused and nodded. “I agree,we don’t want any delays, either. Thanks, Maureen. Talk to you soon.”

She clicked off. “Okay, so Maureen has approved us using you for the movie. We’ll get you a SAG card and put you on the production’s payroll.”

Mae was at a loss for words. No one had asked her how she felt about it. Of course she wanted to help the Bellinis, and if it got this movie crew off the property sooner, she was all for it. But still, it would have been nice to be asked, to have a discussion with the Bellinis first.

“You do realize I’m not an actress,” Mae said. “That I have zero training in this.”

“You don’t really need training to just stand on a mark and maybe do some hand or body gestures,” Alexis explained.

“Still. This isn’t my job. My job is to act as liaison between the Bellinis and the production. Not to help you out of a jam because one of your lead actors is delayed. I’m sorry, but no.”

“Your boss has already agreed to let us use you.”

“I know. And I can appreciate her willingness to be cooperative. But this is me saying no. I’m just not comfortable with this at all.”

“But—”

Kane raised his hand. “Alexis. Hang on. Mae. I promise you that we won’t put you outside your comfort zone. I’ll be with you in every scene, and I’ll help you in any way I can. You won’t be in front of the camera since they’ll be filming you from the back. You’ll mostly just be standing there on a mark where Everly will be so they can film me, and then when Everly arrives they’ll film her in the same scene.”

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