A Starlit Summer Page 16

  Jenna caught sight of Heidi on the other side of the trailer, a flash of her blonde hair between the sea of extras getting ready. Her heart sank. They’d be heading into hair and make-up together.

  It was a relief to escape the noise, heat and the smell of body odour in the costume tent and breathe in fresh air as she walked the short distance to the principal make-up trailer.

  ‘Morning, Jenna!’ August called breezily as she swung the chair round for her.

  Jenna sat down. ‘Morning.’

  ‘Any new gossip to share?’ August winked and Jenna smiled at her through the mirror.

  She couldn’t be cross with August, the happiest, loveliest lady despite the long hours she worked day in day out. Her smile lit up her already welcoming face.

  ‘I’m trying my hardest not to be the centre of gossip.’

  ‘Aah, Jenna hun, you’re no fun. We live off gossip in here, don’t we, Vicky?’

  The trailer door swung open and Heidi appeared, in a near identical costume to Jenna’s.

  ‘We certainly do.’ Vicky turned to the open door. ‘Here’s our newest recruit. Morning, Heidi.’

  ‘Morning, ladies. Hi, Jenna.’ She lightly touched Jenna’s shoulder as she walked past and sat in the free chair in front of Vicky.

  ‘You two know each other then, do you?’ August waggled a make-up brush between the two of them.

  Heidi caught Jenna’s eye in the mirror. ‘Yeah, since drama school.’

  ‘Have you worked on things together before?’ Vicky squeezed foundation on her hand and dabbed a little on Heidi’s cheek, blending it in with her fingers.

  ‘A couple of things,’ Heidi said.

  ‘We’re usually up for the same roles so it’s not often we get to work together unless someone wants two blonde-haired, blue-eyed, twenty-something actresses. You know how it goes.’ Jenna avoided looking at Heidi and instead focused on August sweeping blusher on her already rosy cheeks.

  ‘Haven’t you just finished working on the new Bond film, Heidi?’

  Jenna’s stomach did a little flip. She held her breath and waited for Heidi to answer.

  Heidi coughed. ‘Yeah, I wrapped a few weeks ago.’

  ‘Oh go on, tell us all about it.’

  ‘There’s actually not a lot I can say.’

  ‘It’s all hush hush is it?’

  ‘Pretty much. It’s easier to not talk about it in case I let something slip by mistake.’

  August finished dusting blusher over Jenna’s cheeks and reached for an eyebrow pencil. ‘You must be able to tell us if you’re playing a goodie or a baddie. Or perhaps a love interest?’

  ‘A sort of goodie. But love interest...’ She pretended to draw a zip across her mouth.

  August raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh it’s like that, is it?’

  Jenna’s fingers clenched the edge of her chair. She desperately wanted to be done and back outside. The last thing she wanted to listen to were the details of Heidi’s time on the Bond set and to relive the jealousy and anger that even thinking about Heidi over the past few months had made her feel.

  ‘What’s Daniel Craig like?’

  ‘As you’d expect, a dream, a total gentleman.’

  ‘You lucky, lucky thing.’ Vicky sighed and swept powder over Heidi’s face.

  ‘You must have worked on some amazing projects though?’ Heidi asked, glancing between the two make-up ladies. ‘And worked with your fair share of famous actors too?’

  August carefully finished filling in Jenna’s eyebrows. ‘Yeah, yeah of course. We shouldn’t complain really, should we?’

  ‘Not really.’ Vicky laughed. ‘It’s just you have a thing for Daniel Craig, don’t you?’

  ‘It’s true, I do.’ August grinned. ‘But yes, I’ve worked on some amazing films – lots of period pieces which I love, so I get to do the rather gruesome side of make-up with blackened teeth and scarred faces, as well as the preened and powdered faces of the wealthy.’

  ‘Ooh, tell us which films?’

  ‘Too many to count, but I loved working on Vanity Fair with Reese Witherspoon – although that was a fair few years ago now. It was one of my first big films and I was in awe of the amazing talent. Other period films King Arthur, Elizabeth, The Duchess. More recently I worked on Mary Queen of Scots with the divine Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie.’

  ‘So historical make-up is your speciality, is it?’ Jenna said, relieved the conversation was moving away from Heidi and the Bond film.

  ‘You could say that; I guess I’ve just fallen into it over the years. The more films I’ve done, the more experience I’ve had and the more I get hired – it’s only natural I guess, but I love it.’

  ~

  They were driven to location together, just the two of them. They sat in silence in the back of the car for the twenty minutes it took to reach the peaceful and picturesque setting of a whitewashed cottage on a hillside overlooking sloping fields down to a sheltered bay and the shimmering ocean.

  The crew were already there, having set up earlier. Jenna knew this location had been used lots throughout filming, as it was Milo’s character’s parents’ house. As well as the outside shots, the inside of the cottage was being used too, cramped but by all accounts, charming and full of character.

  Jenna and Heidi’s scene was taking place outside; the two women ironically love rivals for Milo’s character. The scene required tension and dislike between the two women, and Jenna was confident she could pull that off with ease. She might even enjoy it.

  ~

  ‘And action!’

  Take five and the wind buffeted Jenna’s face as she rounded the corner of the cottage. Tears stung her eyes and she stalked across the front garden to the gate. Her hand hovered over it as Heidi called after her, her words snatched away on the wind. Jenna swung the gate open and slammed it behind her, its banging joining the crunch of her heels on the path.

  ‘And cut!’

  Jenna turned round and headed back towards the cottage. The director was talking to Heidi, and the crew were getting ready to shoot the scene again.

  The director turned to Jenna as she reached him. ‘That was great – the perfect amount of moodiness. Heidi’s face was a picture. Well done. We’ll reset to film it from the other angle with the focus on your face, Jenna.’

  And so the afternoon marched on with two scenes being filmed, one with dialogue and the two of them arguing, the other the aftermath as Jenna stormed off. They’d started filming later in the day and didn’t wrap until early in the evening, just before the light began to fade. They’d been lucky with the weather again, patchy sunlight and high white clouds, a fresh breeze floating inland from the sea.

  Somehow they’d managed to not actually talk to each other all day, apart from stuff related to what they were filming. They were civil and cooperative with each other then. They’d stopped for a late lunch and were driven back to the base, where they’d eaten separately, Jenna catching up with Lily, while Heidi disappeared off somewhere. The less time they spent with each other the better, at least while they were working.

  When they wrapped, the tension between them in the car on the way back was palpable, to the point Jenna had no clue what to say to Heidi to even start a conversation.

  Heidi broke the silence a couple of minutes away from the base. ‘Are you planning on ever talking to me again?’

  Jenna studied the back of the driver’s head aware of him being able to hear everything. ‘I don’t really have much to say.’

  ‘You have plenty to say. We need to get this awkwardness between us out in the open and be done with it. Today’s been unbearable tiptoeing around you.’

  ‘Seriously? That’s how you feel? That you have to tiptoe around me?’ Jenna folded her arms. ‘I’ve done nothing today to make you believe that. Maybe it’s guilt making you feel that way.’

  Heidi turned and stared out of the window. Hedges zipped by in a green blur. ‘Come over to the hotel tonight and talk. Properly talk
. We can’t ignore each other forever.’

  Jenna bit her lip. She’d felt stressed all day having to work together with an unbelievable amount of hatred coursing through her. ‘I want to talk but I don’t think coming over to the hotel’s a good idea.’

  ‘Milo won’t be there if that’s what you’re worried about – he’s got a night shoot. He’ll have left the hotel by now and won’t be back until the morning. Come on over whenever you like.’

  The driver pulled into the base and stopped the car. ‘There you go, ladies. Enjoy your evening.’

  Chapter Twenty-One

  All Jenna really wanted to do was head back to the peace of the cottage. Finn and Gary would have left by now and she’d have the place to herself. She could make a simple meal, sit outside in the garden and listen to the birds in the trees, the sigh of the wind, the rustle of creatures in the undergrowth. She could pull up some brambles before it got dark and take out her frustration on the weeds. But the tension in her chest told her otherwise. A talk with Heidi was long overdue and it wasn’t healthy to feel so angry at someone who was once her best friend. It had been eating away at her for long enough. She needed to deal with it.

  She stole a little time to herself though before she left; ten minutes sitting outside with a soothing camomile tea. She cupped her hands around the china mug and gazed across the garden, making a mental note of all the places she still needed to tackle. One of the best jobs she’d ever had was during the summer before starting drama school. A friend of her parents had put in a good word for her at a National Trust place and she got a job working in the garden for seven weeks. She’d learnt so much from the head gardener and loved the days spent digging, weeding and planting. For a week of that summer she’d also worked backstage at an amateur dramatics show. She’d been exhausted but happy; she also knew that she wanted to be on the stage rather than in the wings, but again it had been a last minute favour for a friend after one of the crew had pulled out. Thinking back on it now, sipping tea and looking over the wilderness she was trying to tame, it was the gardening she had the fondest memories of. It had been hard work physically, but less complicated with few people to deal with. Her week working for the amateur dramatics society had been full of drama both on and off stage. Big egos, big characters, lots of complicated relationships both romantic and otherwise. It would have made a good plot for a novel. She remembered being glad to escape on the show’s last night. It reminded her of how she was feeling now about wrapping on the film. She drained her tea, swept her hair into a messy ponytail and took her cup inside.

  This time when she reached the hotel and parked she didn’t bottle it and head straight home. She turned the engine off and got out of the car. The hotel was bathed in the honey tones of the retreating sun. Heidi had said to meet her in the hotel bar, but Jenna took the longer more picturesque way around outside.

  The terrace only had a couple of people sitting out but no one from the film, so Jenna headed inside. The bar overlooked the tropical gardens and had an incredible sea view from its floor-to-ceiling windows.

  She’d only just stepped inside when someone called her name. She turned to see Lily waving to her from a table with Timothy and Ade.

  ‘I didn’t know you were joining us this evening?’ Lily smiled and hugged her.

  ‘I wasn’t; I mean I might a bit later but Heidi wanted to talk.’

  ‘Ah, okay.’ Lily gave her a knowing look.

  ‘She’s over at the bar,’ Ade said. ‘Join us after if you have time.’

  Jenna left them, her feet heavy as she walked to the long sleek bar. Heidi was perched on a stool, her long blonde hair cascading down her back. She was wearing a colourful print maxi dress with a denim jacket flung casually on top. Only a year or two ago they’d have both been sitting side by side like twins, looking the same, dressed the same, giggling together. Jenna hadn’t changed out of the clothes she’d worn to work – not that it mattered as she’d been in costume all day, but she hadn’t thought about it when she pulled on skinny jeans and an over-sized short-sleeved top that morning. She hadn’t dressed to impress like Heidi had.

  Jenna slid on to the stool next to her. Even with her back to them she was certain their cast mates were watching.

  ‘Hey.’

  ‘Hey.’ Heidi turned to her. ‘I wasn’t sure you were going to turn up. You should be staying here, you know. Loads more fun than being on your own.’

  ‘I like it at the cottage.’

  ‘Of course you do; would you admit otherwise?’

  ‘Why would I lie about it?’

  Already the tension in her chest had intensified again.

  The barman appeared in front of them, smiling and glancing between them both. She was used to the attention the two of them got when they were together. No doubt he knew that they were associated with the film too.

  Heidi’s hands clasped a large glass of rosé. The barman looked at Jenna. ‘What can I get you?’

  ‘Gin and tonic, please.’

  Jenna watched him making it, unsure what to say to Heidi to get the conversation started and wishing she was sitting with Lily, Timothy and Ade instead.

  The barman placed her drink on a napkin and she handed him a fiver.

  ‘Let’s go and sit outside.’ Heidi jumped down from the stool, grabbed her drink and was off across the bar before Jenna could say anything.

  Jenna picked up her drink and followed Heidi out into the fresh evening, joining her at a table on the edge of the terrace.

  ‘So, you wanted to talk. Let’s talk.’

  ‘It was awkward as hell on set today,’ Heidi said. ‘I mean, the tension was great. Thank God we were acting a scene that required us to dislike each other, because if we were supposed to have been the best of friends there’s no way we’d have been able to pull it off. No way.’

  Jenna folded her arms. ‘There’s only one way we’re going to be able to clear the air and I’ve been waiting for you to say it for the last God knows how many months. Now’s your chance.’

  Heidi sipped her wine, placed it on the table and stared out towards the sea. Apart from the murmur of chatter from the few other people outside, the only sound was the gentle rush of the waves on to the shore below. It should have been soothing but it accentuated Heidi’s silence. Jenna clenched her fists beneath the table.

  ‘Fine.’ Heidi turned back to her. ‘What I did wasn’t right, but given the chance you’d have done exactly the same. It was a misunderstanding, that was all, and once I got there, even though they had your name down they let me audition because we looked so similar. In their mind, there was no difference.’

  Jenna leant an elbow on the table and rubbed her forehead. She concentrated on breathing deeply and staying calm because all she wanted to do was scream at Heidi. This wasn’t the place to cause a scene.

  Jenna shook her head. ‘I wouldn’t have done what you did. I wouldn’t have had the nerve and also I wouldn’t have wanted to. We’ve always had each other’s back, at least we used to. We used to be thrilled for each other when one of us got a role even if we’d both been up for the same part. Friendship, Heidi, that’s what we had. Friends don’t treat each other like that.’

  Heidi leant forward and lowered her voice making Jenna realise that perhaps hers had been rising. ‘It was an honest mistake. I only realised when I got to the audition and they were expecting you rather than me.’

  ‘It was my agent who left the message. Don’t you dare say you didn’t realise, of course you did. You listened to the message, thought it was for you, knew it couldn’t be for you because it was my agent but decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up. You knew I’d lost my mobile so the landline was the only way my agent could get hold of me. You used it to your advantage. You thought you’d turn up in my place and hope for the best. You deleted the message. You lied to my face. You stole a role that should have been mine. It was deceitful, hurtful and so unbelievably selfish. Whatever happened to friends first, job
s second?’

  ‘Truthfully?’

  ‘Yes please, Heidi, it’s about bloody time you were truthful.’

  ‘My agent had been chasing that role for me, so I felt – rightly or wrongly – that it was my opportunity.’

  ‘Okay fine, even if I were to believe you that it was a genuine mistake that you turned up at my audition, why the hell didn’t you get in touch with my agent when you realised?’

  Heidi folded her arms and sat back in her chair. Even in the softening light, Jenna could see that her eyes were brimming with tears.

  ‘Because I knew you’d get the bloody part, Jenna. You always do. And I wanted it so badly.’

  ‘No I don’t always get the part.’

  ‘You’re beautiful and talented...’

  ‘So are you...’

  Heidi raised her hand. ‘Let me finish. I’ve always had to try harder next to you. Yes, we’re similar in so many ways, but you’re stunning, Jenna, beautiful not just pretty. Your bone structure is to die for. You’re the perfect height, the perfect build. The only thing I’ve got going for me apart from the similarity to you with blonde hair and blue eyes, is big boobs and bum. I can do sexy but not understated and stunning. Everyone notices you walking into the room, just like Milo Blake does.’

  ‘What has any of this got to do with Milo?’

  ‘It’s just the opportunities you get, that’s all.’

  Jenna frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

  Heidi waved her hand. ‘Nothing. The simple answer is, I did what I did because I was so jealous you got the call and I didn’t. I took advantage of the situation that your agent couldn’t reach you; I took advantage of the fact she didn’t specifically say the message was for you, although of course I bloody knew it was. I wanted my chance, I wanted my big break to happen. I didn’t honestly expect to get the goddam role and for that I’m sorry.’