Page 28 of Role Play
Okay, I knew better than to believe that’s all it took. But still—we weren’t doing fuckingAvatarmakeup here. It should be relativelysimple.
“You are not the only one aiming for Oscar nominations with this film, Ash,” Elena snapped back to me through the headset. “And you know as well as anyone that rushing the makeup is not the best way to stay onschedule.”
My skin was rough beneath my palms as I rubbed my brow. “Please, just hurry up. You don’t have to rush… but also, don’t beleisurely.”
“Leisurely is just a nice way of sayinglazy. And I amnotlazy.”
I cut off my talk button andsighed.
“Boss,” Ben said from behind me. "We need to get the lighting adjusted, and the stand-ins never showed up thismorning.”
“What?” I snarled, spinning to face Ben. Involuntarily, my hands clenched at my sides. The air felt stale as I inhaled deeply, relaxing my balled fists. “No one told methis.”
Ben shrugged. “We were just hoping they werelate.”
“They’rebothno-shows?” That was unusual. Especially in this business. People worked their whole lives to get gigs on a large studio film crew—even a small gig like the stand-in. It’s rare for one person to be a no-show, let alonetwo.
Little flicking movements caught my eye as Ben tapped his fingers nervously against his clipboard. Sweat dotted his forehead and upper lip, and I narrowed my eyes. “What aren’t you tellingme?”
Ben sighed. “Someone on crew fucked up. Sent the stand-ins to the wrong sound stage in Burbank instead ofhere.”
A fireball of anger seared from my chest up my throat. Only, instead of bursting into a fiery explosion, I kept it inside, feeling my face heat. My lips tightened and tensed as I spoke through my clenched jaw. “That’s a pretty big fuck-up.”
“Yep.”
“And you’re protecting whoever thisis?”
Ben shrugged, his clipboard hitting the outside of his thigh with a slap. “It was one mistake. In the meantime, I need two people from the crew who look closest to Marly and Jude to get the lightingright.”
“Fine.Go.”
But Ben didn’t move. He stood there, his eyebrows arching, eyes alight as though he were waiting for me to realize… “Well we found a Marlena stand-in already. But Neil isn't here today because of the closed set, so we have no one to stand in for Jude. We were thinkingyou—”
The burning in my chest and face escalated as it spread wider across my cheeks and neck. I was pretty sure my face looked like a damn apple by this point. “You’re fucking kidding, right?Me?”
Ben put both hands up, calloused palms facing out. “We can wait for Jude to be out of makeup first, if you prefer. I’m sure he won’t mind standing in for himself today. But who knows how long Elena will be. It'll just set us back longer. And you’re the closest person here to Jude's height andcoloring.”
I rolled my eyes and tugged the headset from my ears. “Fine, let’s get this over with. Whatever gets us moving and makes it so we’re not here until two in the morning.” I’m nothing if not a team player. And if this shit got my movie back on schedule, I’d doit.
“We couldn’t find anyone that fit Marly, so we chose the best we could with the limited crew that’s here. temporary stand-in is a good match. At least she has the freckles. Her hair was all wrong but they found a wig for her in the wardrobedepartment—”
“It’s fine, Ben. As long as she’s comfortable with doing this. Let’s just get it over with,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. Then, looking up, I shouted with a booming voice. “Everyone out except Ben andErik.”
Ben nodded and yelled to the room, “You heard him. Everyoneout!”
Even though there were only a handful of people there, I didn’t want anyone seeing me as less of an authority because of this. The fewer people present, the better. Four of the other crew members shuffled out of the room and shut the door behindthemselves.
Turning back to my cinematographer, I added, “Other than you and Erik, no one sees this.Understood?”
Ben nodded. “Of course. AndLucy.”
I froze. “Lucy?”
Ben pointed haphazardly to the dimly lit set where a girl in a red wig was sitting. “Yeah, the costume assistant. Closest height and coloring to Marlena. Kelly and Elena were too tall. And they don’t have herfreckles.”
“Of fucking course,” I whispered. My fingers had gone numb, and I curled my toes inside myshoes.
“Let’s start with you two on the bed,” Ben said, guiding me to the middle of the set. It consisted of a minimalist designed bedroom with soft lighting. Because of course the one time the stand-ins don’t show, and I have to fill in, it’s the fucking sexscene.
