A Starlit Summer by Kate Frost (best manga ereader txt) 📕

having sex with a movie star, evidenced by a photo of them semi-naked together. There was no return call or message from Finn. Jenna switched off her phone, stuffed it in her bag and vowed not to look at it again until she finished work.

They were bussed back to the base at lunchtime and Jenna queued to get food. Not that she was hungry; she was too annoyed by everything, her stomach in knots. She sat with Lily and picked at her plate of salad and quiche.

‘You’re a fast mover.’

The familiarity of the voice made Jenna’s heart drop. She looked up and came face to face with Heidi.

Heidi dumped her plate of food on the table and sat down opposite. ‘I wouldn’t have had him as your type; you like blonde-haired, blue-eyed kinda guys. But I guess Milo Blake is rather rich and famous.’

‘Seriously. You’re going to do this, are you?’ Jenna gritted her teeth and tried to keep her voice low and controlled. She leant forward, aware of Lily listening next to her. ‘I promise you, I would never stoop so low just to further my career. Why don’t you take a long hard look at yourself before accusing me of messing about?’

There was no hello, no how are you. It had been months since they’d last seen or spoken to each other and all she could do was accuse her of sleeping with Milo to get ahead in her career.

Jenna dropped her knife and fork on to her plate and stood up. She turned to Lily. ‘I’m going for a walk before we’re needed back.’

‘Are you okay?’ She looked at Heidi and back to Jenna.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. Just need some air.’ She should do the decent thing and introduce Lily and Heidi to each other but the rage burning in her chest told her to get the hell out of the place, away from prying eyes and ears, away from any further conflict. She dumped most of her lunch in the bin and stacked her plate with the other dirty ones. It was stifling in the tent and noisy with chatter and she was relieved to escape. There was nowhere to go apart from across the field. On the far side was a cluster of trees, so she headed for that, walking the long way around the edge.

There had always been a healthy competition between Jenna and Heidi. They were the same age and looked similar with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Jenna was tall and slender, Heidi curvier, but both got lots of attention. They were often up for the same roles and offered the same opportunities. Jenna had honestly believed that they’d learnt to live with that, the healthy competition between them driving them both on to bigger and better things. Until Heidi had abused their situation and destroyed any trust.

The long grass was dry and scratched at her legs. The costume department would kill her if she snagged her stockings. She had thirty minutes until she was needed back and she didn’t want to be near anyone, least of all Heidi. The sensible brown shoes she was wearing were nice and sturdy for walking across the hard dry earth; the long-sleeved blouse and fitted skirt were less practical. She slowed down, aware that she’d be a hot mess by the time she got back if she kept up the pace.

The wood was cool and dark and she sheltered from the sun beneath an oak. She leant against the trunk and gazed out. The incline of the field was gradual and she hadn’t realised quite how hilly it was. Now she could see all the way down to the base with its white tents and silver trailers, a mini city in a farmer’s field in the heart of Cornwall. She could just about make out the sea too, a smudge of dark blue against the pale blue sky.

She couldn’t hide away up here. She couldn’t hide from the gossip either. She needed to confront Milo, explain herself to friends, family, and her agent. No doubt Beth would have left a message or ten by now. And Heidi. She had to deal with her. They had to talk and clear the air. It didn’t mean they had to be friends again but they had to confront each other because Jenna couldn’t continue to carry around this kind of anger any longer. More than anything, she needed to talk to Finn.

~

The afternoon dragged; it was the first time since they’d started filming that she wanted the day to be over. It was back to filming the same scene after lunch, sipping tea and pretending to chat with Lily. When she finally got back to the cottage in the evening, Finn and his dad had already left and there was no message from Finn either. Despite having eaten very little all day she still wasn’t hungry. A knot of tension made her shoulders ache and she felt talked about and abused. It was a strange feeling to be a part of such gossip. The only reason she answered her mobile when it rang was because it was Carla.

‘Hey you,’ Jenna said, her voice sounding as weary as she felt.

‘You kept bloody quiet about that.’

‘Oh Carla, not you as well. All anyone’s talked about today is that flipping picture.’

‘So it’s not true?’

‘Of course it’s not true!’

‘Woah, okay, I’ve hit a nerve there.’

Jenna rubbed her forehead. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.’

‘I get why you’re upset being gossiped about if it’s not true, but why the hell isn’t it true? I mean you’re all over each other. You’re hot, he’s hot; you’re single, he’s single. Why the hell are you two not banging each other? They’re saying you’re having “hot sex”, so why the hell not have some?’

Jenna wandered from the kitchen into the living room, slumped on the sofa and put her head in her hand. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘You don’t want to talk about it?’

‘Not particularly. Not right