by Cecilia Gray
Kat took a leisurely shower, dressed in an orange maxi dress and denim jacket, and slipped a half dozen long, beaded necklaces over her head. She set about blow-drying her hair into long, sleek waves and applying her makeup.
There wasn’t much to do today, now that she thought about it. Coffee, wardrobe, lunch, and a script read? She had plenty of time to figure out when they were casting the extras…and how she could get noticed. With resolve bursting from every pore, she grabbed her beaded hobo bag and stepped out of the trailer.
It was nearly an hour later, and the dry heat sent her hair into a frizz. She drew her hands along her head to tame the tresses and was instantly reminded of Izzy’s compliment. Her cheeks flushed with excitement at her first full day on a film set. She meandered toward tent city, and her jaw dropped at what seemed like the entire cast and crew assembled under the main tent where she and Henry had danced the night before.
It was a madhouse of conversation and moving equipment, of people milling about and grabbing snacks bite from the catering truck. In the midst of it all, the director was barking animatedly. His hands gestured high over his head, and his scarf jumped and pulled with every gesticulation. He didn’t seem angry, just excited, as if he was telling the best story in the entire world. Josh, still in his jogging gear, and Henry, in a gleaming, white cowboy hat, stood in front of him. Their brows furrowed in concentration as he spoke, and they nodded while scribbling madly on their scripts.
At least she had found Josh’s script—the question now was how to get her hands on some highlighters.
Mission aside, she allowed herself a quick glance at Henry. His cowboy hat didn’t match his jeans and dark tee, but it did go with his brown cowboy boots. He seemed ready to ride off into the sunset, and she half expected a horse to trot by. How did he do that? How did he just totally become someone else so easily?
Kat often prepared for weeks for a role, finding ways to insert herself into another person and imagine their life, how they would react to certain situations, the way they would hold their shoulders, how their hands would move, the kind of words they’d use when they spoke.
A spark of movement caught her eye, and she shook herself out of her reverie. Josh—just next to Henry, who had turned away from her and was speaking to the director—gestured for her attention. Their eyes met, and he made a motion with his hand as if he were tilting a cup toward his mouth.
Latte, right.
Kat swallowed a curse. She was already late. She had assumed he would come back to the trailer and shower and that she would have more time. She had assumed wrong.
She wove into the crowd, spun around the set guys, and shouldered her way past the boom operators until she was in front of the food truck.
“Hi—Megan, right?” she said, recalling the girl’s name from when Henry had introduced them. Just like last night, she wore heavy, dark eyeliner, but she seemed chipper and friendly for so early in the morning.
“Good morning, Kat.” Megan smiled, her lip ring jingling a bit. “What can I get you?”
“Latte,” she said as she glanced down at Josh’s list. “Extra foam, please.”
“Ooooh—sorry.” Megan gave an apologetic smile. “We’re a coffee-only institution. The sound of an espresso machine on set makes the director mental. I can add plenty of cream, though, to fake the effect.”
“Oh.” Kat glanced around to see if there were other catering trucks, but it was useless. She would have noticed them yesterday. “I think I’d better follow Josh’s instructions.” She flashed the list, to Megan’s amusement. “Do you know where I can get a latte? And maybe some highlighters?”
“Of course.” Megan laughed as she wiped down her counters. “You can get most anything in town. That’s where we grab all our refills and supplies in the morning.”
“This isn’t morning?” Kat deadpanned.
Megan laughed.
Kat spun around to all points of the horizon, which seemed to stretch to the mountains. “And aren’t we already in town?”
“This is Bande ghost town,” Megan said. “Bande’s actual town is about ten miles away. Mostly to support the tourism here, but they have their own stores, a bank, a gas station. Even a school with its own mascot—the Bande Rattlers, which doesn’t make me feel too good about potential snake encounters in the desert.” She shuddered.
“Ten miles… Which way?” Kat asked.
Megan pointed in the direction opposite the one she and Josh had come when they’d exited the freeway. “Just down the road. You can’t miss it—there isn’t anything else.”
Kat thanked her, bought a croissant for herself, and wandered away from tent city, past the parking lot of cherry-colored cars to the main road. She set her hands over her eyes and stared far into the desert, trying to determine if she could walk ten miles in sandals and a maxi dress—and wondering how Josh would react if she failed.
“Need a ride?”
Kat spun toward the infamous throaty voice.
How did Izzy Engel manage to look so fashionable in the middle of the desert? She wore dark jeans, knee-high suede boots, and a plum top unbuttoned to her collarbone. Even her blonde hair was perfectly blown out.
“I’ll figure something out,” Kat said. “Josh wants a latte, but I’m wondering if he’ll be able to tell if I just swirl together cream and coffee.”
“Anyone with taste could tell,” Izzy said. “They are totally different things. Molecularly different. We don’t want Josh to be disappointed with his drink, do we?” Izzy walked to a powder-pink sports car and jingled her keys. “Come on.”
Kat didn’t hesitate.
* * *
Even though Kat’s mom had made bank with her company, she still drove an old Chevy truck out to the field every morning. Izzy’s car, however, smelled like new leather interior. The seats were polished to a high shine. Even the doors were lined with quilted leather patterns. The inside of the car was sealed from the harsh winds outside and surround-sound speakers spouted acoustic guitar and a soulful crooner.
Despite the bleak desert desolation passing by outside the window, Kat felt like she was in the lap of luxury and Izzy was queen. Her perfectly curled hair flowed down her shoulders, and her long lashes framed her eyes.
“So.” Izzy glanced slyly at Kat.
Kat looked away once she realized she had been staring at Izzy. “Yeah?”
Izzy gently rested the fingertips of her left hand on the steering wheel. “What’s up with you and Josh? He…you know.” With her right hand, she ruffled Kat’s bangs just like Josh had done the night before.
“Nothing.” Kat smoothed her bangs. “That’s just Josh making sure he has my attention.”
“You guys aren’t a thing?”
Kat couldn’t stop herself from making a face.
“Don’t react like that,” Izzy said. “Josh is hot! Don’t act like you haven’t thought about it.”
“Sure, he’s hot, but…” Kat pursed her lips. “And yes, I’ve thought about him and what it would be like to be with him. Every girl at the Jane Austen Academy has thought about him. But when I’m with him, I don’t feel anything.” Her fantasies always involved her and Josh showing up on the red carpet or giving interviews. They never involved him or what he was like. She didn’t even really know much about him.
“Are you sure?” Izzy asked. “Josh could be up-and-coming if he plays this movie right, and he seems to like you. Trust me—we don’t make a habit of bringing assistants onto the sets of low-budget movies.”
Kat was sure Josh didn’t like her—not like that. She’d been mystified by why he’d brought her on set, but last night had been eye-opening. As Izzy had dazzled everyone around her and Henry had the entire cast and crew charmed, Josh had seemed to be more of a loner.
School had a social hierarchy. It shouldn’t surprise her that a movie set was no different. She’d just assumed Josh would be closer to the top of it.
“He doesn’t like me,” Kat insisted. The m
ore she thought about it, the surer she became that he was more than lonely…he felt alone. A feeling Kat could relate to. “Besides, I wouldn’t want be with someone just because they’re famous.”
“That’s smart,” Izzy said with a nod of approval. “You don’t want to get distracted by guys, anyway. Not if you’re serious about your career. You’re serious about your career, right?”
“Definitely!” Kat straightened in her seat. “I act every semester, and every summer when I go back to Phoenix, I enroll in local acting workshops at the community theater.”
Izzy continued to nod as Kat described her dedication to being an actor, and she felt encouraged.
“I also watch my favorite movies over and over, of course,” Kat said. “To study what the greats do. I keep up-to-date on what’s happening in the business, what directors are taking on what projects. That sort of thing.”
“It sounds like you’re doing all the right stuff,” Izzy said. “All the same things I did when I started.”
“Really?” Kat squealed. She hadn’t ever imagined she and Izzy might have something in common. “I can’t even imagine you being where I am right now.”
“We’ve all been there—except Henry, of course. He hasn’t had to work at it like we have.”
Kat hesitated to respond, unsure what she was supposed to say. Izzy seemed to want Kat to agree with her, and while it was true that Henry had been born with the advantage of being Tom Trenton’s son, he still seemed to work as hard as anyone on set. Josh had already mentioned they had taken a lot of the same workshops, and Henry also seemed involved with every member of the cast and crew.
So instead of agreeing with Izzy, Kat steered the conversation to the topic that had been tickling at her brain since yesterday. “Have you ever been an extra?”
“We’ve all been extras,” Izzy said dryly. “I still remember my first job. I was a homeless girl in a soup kitchen on Days of Our Lives. I just had to stand at the end of the line looking hungry. I deliberately didn’t eat for two days before the scene so I would be in the right frame of mind. I almost passed out on set and later, when the show aired, it turned out the director had used a tight angle on the actors. I hadn’t even made it in frame.”
Kat made a sympathetic sound and laughed at the same time.
“It was a great learning experience, though,” Izzy said. “I don’t trust an actor who hasn’t been an extra or a walk-on. That’s how you pay your dues. In fact…” She glanced at Kat. “Did you know they’re looking for extras for the chase scene?”
“Yes!” Kat sat up so fast her seatbelt snapped her back in place. “But Josh asked me not to make a deal out of it, which I know is what I’m doing… I’m here as his assistant, and he’s already doing me a favor by letting me on set, so—”
“Oh, please!” Izzy waved her hand dismissively. “Like he wouldn’t have done the same if presented with the opportunity when he was starting out. What’s the big deal? Who does it hurt?”
“That’s what I said, too,” Kat said, feeling vindicated. “But still…I owe him.”
“Well, good news. I don’t owe Josh anything,” Izzy said. “I’ll speak to the casting director. It will be on me.”
Kat felt hope swell inside. “Do you mean it? Are you sure?”
“Of course.” Izzy tossed her a smile. “Us girls have to look out for each other.”
“Izzy, that would be…” Kat rested her hands against her cheeks. “It would be my dream. I wouldn’t even know how to thank you.”
“You don’t need to,” Izzy said. “Oh look, we’re here.”
The town rose from the dirt almost like a mirage. Adobe homes sat back from long driveways, and the street shimmered on the horizon like water. Izzy navigated her sports car through the residential streets until she reached a small thoroughfare of shops—not unlike the ghost town of Bande, only less run-down and with pedestrians.
Izzy parked, and they both slipped out of the car. They hadn’t taken two steps when Kat was blinded by flashes. Her hand instinctively flew up to protect her face. She blinked twice…three… four times. Kat slowly dropped her hand and squinted until her vision cleared.
Izzy was surrounded by three men holding cameras and incessantly snapping pictures.
“Don’t you guys have anything better to do?” Izzy rolled her eyes at Kat, as if to say, Can you believe these guys?
“Do you have better ideas for what we should do?” A short, skinny photographer dropped his camera, which swung on a strap around his neck. He selected another from a necklace of camera equipment, bringing it to his eye in a swift move to continue snapping.
“What have you been doing to keep busy?” a big guy with melons for shoulders asked, snapping with every word.
“Who’s your friend?” the last chimed in, buried beneath his baseball cap.
Izzy strutted around the car and linked her arm in Kat’s. She whispered in a loud voice, “Sorry, Kat. These guys are the worst.” She shooed them with her hands. “We’re just getting coffee, guys. Nothing to see here.”
“You’re always worth seeing, Izzy. You’re a sight for sore eyes any day,” Baseball Cap said.
“Best-looking thing for miles,” Skinny agreed.
“Flattery will get you a shot of my rear end walking away.” Izzy winked at she pulled Kat up on the sidewalk and through the doors of the coffee shop. “Aren’t they awful? I can’t even get a cup of coffee!”
Kat glanced back through the coffee shop doors to the sidewalk, where the three continued to snap photos from outside. “Henry was saying something about paparazzi climbing over toilet stalls. I thought he was messing around.”
“Not an exaggeration.” Izzy marched up to the counter, posed for a quick photo with the barista, and ordered a cappuccino.
“Latte, please. Extra foam,” Kat said.
“Size and milk type?”
Kat felt a flash of panic as she tried to guess what Josh wanted.
“Large and nonfat,” Izzy said. She grinned at Kat. “Trust me.”
“Large and nonfat,” Kat repeated with a smile. “Thank you.”
After they collected their orders, Kat poured in two packets of sugar and stirred, her eyes straying back to the photographers. “What are paparazzi doing in Bande, California?” she asked Izzy. “I get it in Los Angeles—but here?”
“They always follow me. I tried getting a restraining order, but…” Izzy shrugged her shoulders.
“At least they didn’t follow us into the shop.”
“I guess the coffee shop filed a public-menace suit or something. Anyway, isn’t it chilly in here?” Izzy hugged herself tightly and rubbed her shoulders. “The air conditioning is on arctic. Let’s drink outside.”
“Are you sure you want to go out there?” Kat glanced back to the glass door. The three photographers had switched from taking photos to smoking cigarettes, but they still leaned coolly against the glass, waiting.
“I’m not going to let them dictate my life,” Izzy said with an upward tilt of her nose. “If I want to drink outside, then I will. I won’t let them stop me.”
Kat followed Izzy as she burst through the doors, walked to a lamppost, and leaned against it with her heel propped up. Kat had to shoulder her way past the photographers who were already snapping photos and shooting questions at Izzy.
“What’s Henry like?”
“Do you guys have any kissing scenes?”
“How is kissing Josh?”
“Who is the better kisser?”
Kat fought a grin. It was almost like being at school.
Izzy smiled over her shoulder. “Whoever is kissing me is the better kisser, boys, don’t you know that?”
Kat tucked Josh’s drink against her chest, waiting for Izzy to finish her cappuccino so they could escape the paparazzi. But Izzy barely touched her drink at all.
* * *
A second after Kat delivered Josh’s latte order, she went to the wardrobe tent and asked for an iron. Not
five seconds after she’d finished ironing Josh’s two suits, Ceecee’s sister pulled a rack of costumes out and looked at her expectantly.
Kat looked between the iron in her hand and the rack of clothes then back to Ceecee’s sister, who nodded and smiled sweetly.
Thus began Kat’s day on her feet.
She’d ironed the entire wardrobe. At lunch, she’d begged Megan for extra chicken and brought it to Josh, who insisted on her warming it up three times until it was the perfect temperature. After she’d returned for the fourth heating, Megan, overwhelmed from the lunch service, had thrown up her hands in exasperation. “You’re Josh’s assistant, right? Assist. Then you can use the microwave whenever you want.”
Within the hour, Kat was handing out poached chicken and steamed vegetables to the electrical crew and then making up lunch trays for the production assistants.
From there, Ben had asked her to drive into town for Vaseline, which they needed to clean off a camera lens. He’d even tossed her the keys with such confidence that she hadn’t felt it was worth telling him she’d only driven once since getting her driver’s license last year. After all, how much trouble could she get into on a dirt road?
She’d returned quickly, her eyes scanning for a white cowboy hat or Henry’s warm brown eyes, even though she had promised herself she wouldn’t let herself be distracted. She was disappointed that she had yet to spot him again nonetheless.
* * *
Finally. Josh’s script was highlighted, and Kat was returning to the catering truck for dinner. Megan was crazed again and looked about ready to fall over.
“Need a hand?” Kat asked.
“You don’t mind?”
“Just tell me what to do.”
“You already helped me with lunch. You must be exhausted.” Megan chewed on her lip ring for a moment then said, “Screw it—yes, thank you. You’re a lifesaver. I’ll handle most of the dinner trays, but if you could prep the vegetarian ones, that would be a huge help.”