I tried my best to not let it affect me, but whatever energy he was giving off was overpowering. “I… yes. Hair and makeup are my specialty,” I said, igniting a false confidence within me.
Alina was eating her food, completely oblivious to whatever thing was happening in front of her.
“And you did that?” he asked, jerking his eyes over to Alina with a fierce motion.
I nodded and smiled.
The smile ran away from his face and he turned serious. He turned his attention to Alina and said, “You could have worn a wig, you know. That’s what they did in The Last Kingdom for the blonde girl character. You didn’t have to do… all this,” he said as he gestured to her hair.
An unpleasant feeling twisted in my gut.
“I wanted to get all the way into character,” she said with a simpering smile. “Wouldn’t want the critics to accuse me of being ‘so lost in my own reflection, that I forgot to act!’”
My mouth popped open. That was exactly the line from a well-known critic who’d very publicly written a piece about Mason’s performance in The Last Kingdom.
Mason’s eyes narrowed the tiniest bit. It was subtle, but it spoke volumes.
He stood up, drained the last of his beer with a gulp, and set it back down on the table with a clunk.
“I’m going to head back to the set,” he said, his face turning arrogant and his eyelids going heavy. Every syllable was like a dagger, a promise aimed right at Alina: You’ll pay for that later.
She took another bite of her sandwich, unaffected.
“Okay, bye Mason!” she said with her voice wavering on his name flirtatiously.
He scowled, an expression that looked much more natural on his face. When he played the king in The Last Kingdom, that was his famous look.
As soon as he left the table, it was like there was a vacuum of gravity sucking all of the heat into the spot he left. The laws of physics knew that something with a huge cluster of energy had just left that space and it was trying to correct the balance.
I shuddered as I felt the warmth leave me.
Alina turned to me with a sly smirk spreading across her face.
“That was bold,” I said.
“I’m a bold lady. I’m Lady Bryn,” she said matter-of-factly as she bit into her pickle.
Chapter Five
After Mason left, I watched as Alina took command of the table. I let her direct the conversation with the other stars — she looked completely natural in the spotlight.
I was an introvert surrounded by extroverts. Watching all this energy crossing the table in front of me was starting to get a little tiresome, but I had to remind myself that I’d never get an opportunity like this again. Getting to be around these over-the-top personalities was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I was going to force myself to experience all of it.
Still… I couldn’t help but relate to the golden man in the corner, Leo Knight. His nose was still in the book, and I was stricken by a wild thought:
Was he using the book to hide his face?
He moved the book away from his face for a second to take a sip of his beer.
When I got a full view of his face, I was stunned. He seemed like he was simply too beautiful to exist; too beautiful to be allowed. That face couldn’t be real; that chiseled jawline, those perfectly sculpted lips, that strong nose, those bushy eyebrows…
Seeing him in person was a completely different experience than seeing him on T.V.
He was beautiful in a way that made me feel less close to him; less relatable. One thing that Mason had was that guy-next-door thing going. He was handsome in a way that made you think of your high school crush, all propped up by popularity and arrogance. It was way easier to picture yourself getting a chance to have him look at you one day, than it was to do the same for Leo.
Leo was like a statue; it was like he was sculpted into perfection but the hands of a skilled artist. He looked up from his book and fixed his golden eyes on me.
And just like that, I felt it. It was the feeling me and Alina were talking about earlier in her trailer; that gut punch. It was as if suddenly, everything in my life made sense. Everything that had ever happened to me, had happened because it was leading me to this moment.
I blinked and I saw Hazel’s shimmering silver eyes, filled with an I-told-you-so brilliance.
My mouth came open and Leo returned his eyes to the book.
All the wind was taken out of my sails.
I was nothing to him; I was just a hairstylist. Some rando that showed up on the set of his show, following Alina around like a little puppy dog.
Sadness flooded through me as I knew for sure that this man was the sun, and I was nothing more than Pluto orbiting on the edges of his solar system.
“It’s time!” Alina said after glancing at her watch.
I had been so enraptured in the conversation around me and that stunning man in the corner that I’d lost track of time. I hadn’t noticed the shadows around us lengthening, the midday heat slowly creeping back down, and the sky slowly turning a pale pink color.
When we were down by the beach, I got to watch as the cast assembled and the director, Reese Riley, gave everyone a pep talk.
“This is a scene that’s pivotal to the rest of the series,” he said in his sharp British accent, his tie flapping in the beach wind. “Everything hinges on what happens on this beach tonight. Luckily, we’ve hand-picked every one of you to come together for this series.”
He paused for a beat, his slim form standing tall like a stake in the sand.
“Even though this scene only has Leo and Alina, I want all of you to know that it’s just two notes. Two notes out of a symphony of art.”
He snatched the wind with his hand as if he could capture it in his fist. It occurred to me that that was exactly what he was trying to do as a director — take this intangible quality of the people, the settings, the story, and weave them together into something an audience could consume.
I couldn’t help but swoon a little.
He continued with his speech, and the entire cast and crew were enraptured. By the time he was finished, some people surrounding me had tears in their eyes.
“Now we begin!” he called, clapping his hands together.
When he did that, it was as if he called “action.” The people around me scattered and hustled into position. Alina and Leo were both dressed in the stunning costumery that had been created by the skilled designer they’d plucked right out of Parsons. I hadn’t been introduced to him yet — he was lost in his work, locked in his trailer, frantically sewing buttons onto Leo’s costume earlier today.
I watched from far back on the sand as Alina and Leo talked on the beach. As soon as Reese said “Action!” the camera started to roll.
It was magic. I watched as the beach transformed from the powerful performance from Alina and Leo. Everyone around me was completely enraptured in the magical moment, stunned by their acting.
When Lady Bryn turned to walk away, tears in her eyes shining pastel colors in the evening light, Prince Valentine took her hand.
She stopped in her tracks and shut her eyes tight, making some kind of internal decision. Then when she turned to face him, it was clear what she’d decided to do.
His face displayed a look of pure lust as he pulled her in for a passionate kiss.
It was… it was beautiful. They embodied forbidden love.
I felt something in my chest clench tight, knowing that from here on out in the story, shit was going to go sideways at every turn.
I couldn’t wait.
The scene only took one take.
Once they were finished, Reese stood up from his chair and regarded the two actors with wonder; as if he couldn’t believe what was happening in front of him.
“That’s… that’s all for tonight,” he said, shaking his head with a smile. “You both are something, you know that?”
Alina smiled as she looked up at him, and he looked
down into her eyes with a fatherly love.
For a second I got the inkling that Reese had a thing for her, but then he put his hand on her shoulder in a clear we are friends sort of way.
Something within me relaxed, surprising me.
Did I… did I have a crush on Reese?
I looked him up and down, then decided that I wouldn’t be too hard on myself if I did. He was… he was attractive, yes, but he also had that something that you can’t describe; that star magnetism. I wondered if he’d ever been an actor himself.
When Leo went up to him, the two chatted for a minute. I watched the friendliness between them and observed as Reese touched his shoulder in the same friendly way.
Then his hand slid from Leo’s shoulder down an inch or so.
I narrowed my eyes. The move was subtle, but it conveyed some kind of possessiveness.
It was clear that like everyone else in the world, Reese coveted Leo Knight.
“Charlie, there you are!” cried Alina from behind me.
I jumped and said, “Oh my God you were amazing!”
“I’m glad you liked it!” she said, pulling me into a huge hug.
“That was… do you even realize what you’ve done here on this beach?!” I gushed. “That scene is going to go down in film history!”
“I certainly hope so,” she brimmed, shimmering in the night.
Alina had that very same star quality that Leo, Reese, and Mason had in spades. Her grandmother was right when she predicted that Alina was going places.
For a moment, an unfamiliar feeling of envy twisted in my gut. I wondered what it would be like to have what they had; to be in the spotlight.
I’d taken theater in high school when I was a teenager and loved it. Though I always dreamed of making it big one day with acting, I secretly knew that I didn’t have the skill or dedication, looks, or luck that was required to make it. I’d gone to a few auditions when I first moved to L.A., but I’d been rejected from every single one of them. It only confirmed what I’d already suspected: I wasn’t that good of an actor.
Plus, I would have to compete with all these beautiful people…
My eyes slid over to a figure moving towards us in the crowd: Mason Vayne.
“Alina, congratulations,” he said clinically with that dazzling smile.
I was sure he was used to that smile getting him whatever he wanted.
Alina smiled back at him and blushed, the perfect show of flattery. “Aw, thanks, Mason!”
But I couldn’t miss that hint of suspicion in his eyes; she was very aware of his inevitable retaliation from the shots she fired at his ego earlier.
“It was a stunning scene. Truly, I’m honored to have you acting on the set with us,” he said with a stiff smile.
“You haven’t even shot a scene yet; I can’t wait to see how much better you do!” she said with a smile that was a little too big.
I looked from her face to Mason’s and back again. They were being a little too friendly.
Then I understood; this compliment that he was giving her, the reason he left the people he was talking with over by the spread of food, was to issue a warning shot.
The thought was erased from my mind when Mason’s icy eyes darted over to mine. There was a subtle quirk to his smile, then his eyes greedily flickered down.
All of the air left my lungs. Did… did Mason Vayne just check me out?!
But as soon as it had happened, it was gone, leaving me wondering if it was all just a figment of my imagination.
His eyes were back on Alina’s. “Well, have a good night Lady Bryn. I hope you get up early enough tomorrow to see my scene. But, if you want to sleep in, you can. It’s not required that you be there.”
Alina’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but her brilliant smile didn’t falter. “I’ll see you then.”
He nodded politely, then returned to his spot at the dessert table. I watched as soon as he showed up, he was surrounded by a herd of beautiful extras.
Later in Alina’s trailer, my suspicions were confirmed.
“He’s such a piece of shit,” Alina huffed as she brushed her stark white hair.
“Am I missing something?” I probed, loafing on my phone while lying across her bed.
“Ugh, never mind! He’s just…”
She set the brush down with a clatter and put her head in her hands.
“Honey!” I said, rushing over to her. “Alina, no, what is it?”
She looked up at me with teary eyes, looking very much like Kim Kardashian when she ugly-cries.
“He’s just so mean!” she gasped. “And no one knows it but me!”
“Oh babe, he’s just mean to you because he’s threatened!” I said, my suspicion pouring out of me to comfort her.
“Y-you think so?” She asked tearfully.
I nodded. “Absolutely.”
“So… so I’m not imagining things? You see it too?” she asked.
There was a knock on her trailer door, and both of our heads snapped towards it.
“Can you tell them to go away?” Alina asked me.
I nodded, though I couldn’t picture myself turning down Reese, or Leo, or even asshole Mason.
Luckily, I opened the door and someone I hadn’t met was standing there. He was a cute guy, young, with smooth skin and an impeccable head of dark hair with a high fade haircut. He was fidgeting and looked down. When he looked back up at me, I was almost knocked on my ass by his gorgeous, light green eyes.
“Um, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt…” he said, trailing off awkwardly.
Because I was struck dumb for a second at how… how pretty he was, I lost my words. Then when my wits slowly came back to me, I realized what it looked like.
“Oh no, no no. You’re not interrupting anything, I’m her gay best friend,” I explained stupidly, “though I’m flattered you think I would be pretty enough to sleep with Alina.”
“Oh, you’re pretty enough,” he said quickly, then blushed and looked away.
It was the most adorable damn thing I’d ever seen, and I felt the blush rise into my cheeks.
“Is that you, Oliver?” Alina called from her vanity. “Charlie, let him in.”
“Sure,” I said, stepping back up into her magical space with this pretty boy Oliver on my heels.
“Sorry, I don’t think you two have met,” she said, gesturing to us both.
Now that he was standing next to me, I could see that he was just a little shorter than me but more broad-shouldered. Younger. Tan skin, bright green eyes that hinted at an artistic deepness full of mystery. I could tell that he thought about things in a different way than most people did. Even from this brief impression, I could tell that he looked at the world through a kaleidoscope of colors and feelings.
“Charlie, this is Oliver, our costume designer. Oliver, Charlie. He does my hair and makeup.”
Oliver’s green eyes softened as he finally looked at mine. Then he reached out to shake my hand with a smile.
“I’ve got to congratulate the magical man that did all that,” he said, gesturing to Alina’s stark white locks. “I don’t know much about hair, but I know that getting it from that color,” he pointed to Alina’s eyebrows, “to that one,” he pointed to her head, “Is pretty much impossible.”
“Well thank you,” I said with a hand to my chest, flattered. The compliment landed on my shoulder like a butterfly, and then I felt more of them multiply in my stomach.
I was stunned for a second and was very conscious of Alina watching me. A slow smile began to spread across her face when her eyes bounced from me to Oliver.
She was planning something.
“I have to compliment your clothing — that’s real genius,” I said. “I don’t know anything about fashion design, but these costumes — they’re amazing!”
He blushed and shuffled a bit. “I don’t know about that — I was raised to work hard is all…”
Alina cleared her throat, and Oliver snapped his
gaze over to her.
She raised one sculpted black eyebrow.
“Oh, oh right!” Oliver stammered.
I frowned. She interrupted the magical energy that was flowing between us.
“I came in here to ask for your dress from today — there are some adjustments I need to make to it before you wear it in the bedding scene tomorrow.”
I stiffened. “Bedding scene?”
Alina was unaffected. She said, “Yeah, tomorrow when there’s daylight, we’re going into that castle up there,” she gestured to the collection of sandstone spires just barely visible in the setting sun out the window, “and me and Leo are going to film that sex scene in the master bedroom.”
I blinked, unable to believe how she was saying this so nonchalantly.
“S-sex scene?”
Alina rolled her eyes and said, “It’s par for the course.”
“Especially with a show as raunchy as The Black Castle,” Oliver added, his green eyes shifting to me.
I tried to mask my discomfort, but I guess it leaked out of me.
“Wait, aren’t you from L.A.?” Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow. “L.A. people are really liberal when it comes to sex stuff, right?”
“He’s from the midwest, originally,” Alina corrected.
“…oh,” Oliver said, shifting his posture as he was looking at me.
Something about the way the air changed between us told me that he didn’t like that revelation about me; that he had a problem with me coming from the midwest. It was as if I was getting all of these waves of energy from him that were dousing me in his interest, and then suddenly they were shut off.
“…where in the midwest?” He asked.
His words could have easily been changed out to “how bad are you, really?”
I tried to stop myself from narrowing my eyes.
“Ohio,” I said proudly, standing up a little straighter.
Oliver smiled shyly. “Um… I don’t know where Ohio is…”
“It’s under Michigan, honey!” Alina chirped. “You know, the state shaped like a mitten?” She held the back of her hand out to face him. The gesture made it seem like she could have easily flipped him off.
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