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

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