Stephen Leather: Take Two

‘I’ll go back and give the missus a surprise,’ said Billy.

‘Yeah, well be careful with that,’ Carolyn said, opening the door. She climbed out and walked into the reception area.

A uniformed security guard raised a cup of coffee in salute. ‘Good morning, Miss Castle.’

‘Good morning, Charlie. How’s the wife?’

‘Not happy at me doing nights,’ he said.

‘What time are you off?’

He looked over at a digital clock on the wall. ‘Another two hours.’

‘At least you get to spend the day with her,’ said Carolyn.

Charlie laughed. ‘She’s on days this week,’ he said. ‘It’ll probably be next week before I get to see her.’

Carolyn smiled sympathetically, then pushed her way through the double doors to the production offices. Jake Harrington was already at his desk, going through the day’s shoot with his cameraman, Frank McWilliams. Frank had a thick black beard that merged seamlessly into a mop of unruly hair. He grinned at Carolyn. ‘The early bird, huh?’

‘Please tell me the camera’s working today,’ she said.

‘All good,’ said Frank.

‘We’re set up to go as soon as you’re ready,’ said Harrington. ‘Kelly’s waiting for you in make-up.’

‘I’ll go right in,’ said Carolyn. ‘Can you do me a favour, Jake? Can I come with you to the awards thing tonight?’

‘Of course,’ said the director. ‘What’s happened to Eddie?’

‘He’s not feeling too well,’ Carolyn lied. ‘Tummy bug.’

‘Frank and I will be leaving at about six,’ said Harrington.

‘I call shotgun,’ said Frank.

Carolyn laughed and walked along the corridor to the make-up department. There were three chairs facing a mirror that ran the full length of the room. Kelly was in her early twenties, and as always was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed despite the early hour. Kelly generally worked the early shift and Tracey came in at midday. She had shoulder-length blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and wore faded denim dungarees with lots of pockets in which she had slotted her brushes and combs. The lights around the mirror were so bright that Carolyn had to shade her eyes with her hand as she sat down in the middle chair. Carolyn hated the mirror and the lights, the combination showed up every imperfection, every flaw.

‘How are you this morning?’ Kelly asked.

‘I’ll let you know in an hour or so,’ said Carolyn.

‘You’re not really a morning person, are you?’ Kelly said and laughed.

‘Never have been,’ said Carolyn.

‘I love mornings,’ said Kelly. ‘Up with the lark, I am. Early to bed, early to rise.’ She bent down and peered at Carolyn’s face, gently running a finger under her eyes. ‘You’ve got your panda look,’ she said. ‘Were you out late last night?’

‘Quiet night in,’ said Carolyn. She forced a smile, trying to hide her discomfort. She had barely slept and had tossed and turned all night, checking her phone a hundred times. In the middle of the night she’d actually called her mobile from her landline just to check it was working.

‘No worries, easy enough to cover up,’ said Kelly.

She took out a brush and picked up a pot of foundation.

Carolyn looked at Kelly in the mirror. ‘How does my hair look to you?’

Kelly gave her a beaming smile. ‘Don’t worry, Jake’s already been in. I can take care of it.’

‘Take care of what?’

‘The thinning,’ she said. ‘A bit of spray and you’ll be good to go.’

‘It is thinning, then?’

‘It’s nothing to worry about,’ said Kelly, rubbing her brush on foundation. ‘It happens to everyone as they get older. And, trust me, there’s many worse than you.’

‘That’s good to hear,’ said Carolyn. She ran her hand through her hair and sighed.

‘So have you heard about Andrea?’ asked Kelly.

‘What?’

‘Her agent has just got her a huge pay rise. They’re going to make her part bigger.’

‘Come on, Kelly, how would you know that? No one talks about their salary in this business.’

Kelly looked around as if she feared that someone might be eavesdropping, even though they were alone in the room. ‘One of the extras told me yesterday,’ she said. ‘The blonde with the breasts.’

‘And how did she know?’

Kelly looked around again then lowered her head to whisper into Carolyn’s ear. ‘She’s been seeing one of the network producers. That Martin, the young one. He got her the job on this show and he told her they’re going to make Andrea’s part bigger. Apparently the viewers love her.’

‘Do they now?’

‘They did some market research, that’s what she said.’ Kelly began applying foundation to Carolyn’s cheeks. ‘And she said Andrea’s going to be taking over the company.’

‘What?’

‘She’s going to be taking over the company, that’s what she said. The writers are working on the plotlines now.’ She frowned. ‘Didn’t you know?’

‘They never tell us anything,’ said Carolyn.

‘But something like that, you’d think they’d mention it, wouldn’t you? You’re the star, when all’s said and done.’

Carolyn laughed bitterly. ‘When it comes to the power plays, we’re right at the bottom of the totem pole,’ she said.

There was a quick double-knock on the door and Harry appeared with a mug of latte and a croissant for her. ‘Anything else I can get you, Miss Castle?’ he asked.

‘Another two hours sleep,’ joked Carolyn.

It took Kelly just under an hour to get Carolyn ready for shooting, and most of the time was spent on her hair. Jake Harrington popped in twice to check on her progress. The second time he gave her new pages of dialogue, printed on pale green paper. ‘We did a bit of tweaking last night, sorry about the short notice.’

‘No problem,’ she said. She scanned the two sheets, then frowned. ‘You’ve cut my bit back, why’s that?’

‘Just a bit of tightening, that’s all.’

Carolyn put down the sheets. ‘You’ve gutted it, Jake.’

‘We’re running over, that’s all, and there were a few lines we could lose,’ he said. ‘I just thought it’d be better to do it now rather than when we’re editing.’

‘What about Seb and Andrea?’

‘We’ve trimmed everyone back.’ He laughed uneasily. ‘It’s not personal, cross my heart. We’ve just had to lose thirty seconds, that’s all.’ He patted her on the shoulder. ‘It’s still a powerful scene,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be brilliant.’ He winked at her in the mirror and then hurried out.

Carolyn sighed. ‘He’s nice, isn’t he?’ said Kelly.

‘He’s young,’ said Carolyn. ‘Directors always start out nice but it never lasts. The suits wear them down eventually.’

Kelly spent another ten minutes fussing over Carolyn’s hair before she was satisfied, then Carolyn went through to the wardrobe department to put on the Chanel suit and Prada shoes. Terry Carter, the props manager, appeared with her handbag. ‘Here you are, darling,’ he said.

Carolyn took the bag. It was a Louis Vuitton, the latest model. Like almost all of the bags, clothes and shoes she used on the show, it was a gift from the manufacturer. Designers were lining up to have their products featured on Rags To Riches as without fail an appearance on the show produced a spike in sales. Many of the designers also sent samples to Carolyn’s home in the hope their goods would appear in her paparazzi shots and while she ended up sending most to charity shops, she still had a wardrobe that would have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds if she’d had to buy them herself. It was one of the many advantages of being famous, and went some way to making up for the complete lack of privacy that went with the job.