Her three “windows” were zipped open, with the screens letting in plenty of fresh air. Her bed, a relatively comfortable portable thing one step up from a cot, squeaked when she sat heavily and dropped her head into her hands.
It just didn’t make sense. None of it made sense.
It had been almost fifteen years since the Alicia debacle, and in that time, Haley had gotten good—really good—at picking out scam artists, narcissists, self-involved jerks, and drama queens. So how had Piper slipped through?
Piper.
As she’d done a few hundred times a day for the past two weeks, she thought of her, that dazzling smile making her gorgeous eyes light up. In every way, she’d seemed so earnest, so genuine. How could all of that have been a lie?
Flopping onto her back, Haley stared up at the peaked canvas roof, finally calm enough to let Piper’s words reach her brain. Was it possible that she hadn’t lied? Could Charlie be responsible for the chain of events that had ripped Haley from all of the things that gave her control over her own life? At this point, she honestly wasn’t sure how to tell. All she knew was that she missed Piper as much as if they’d been lovers for years, and that longing was just about to drive her crazy.
***
The chili burger with green chilies and cheese seemed like a very good one. But Piper was so down she barely tasted it. Things were really bad when a juicy burger didn’t help a bit. Tossing at least half of her meal away, Piper got up to look for Charlie, eventually finding her wandering around what was probably the main set, all alone.
“Hey,” she said, watching as Charlie climbed a rough-hewn set of stairs that circled around a huge, man-made tree, leading to a rickety-looking platform that floated twenty feet off the ground. “What are you doing up there?”
“Just looking around.” She started to walk back down, reflective and abashed. “I’m really sorry for screwing around in your business,” she said, her focus locked onto Piper. “I honestly thought you two could work things out if you had time alone—”
Piper cut her off when she caught her on the bottom step, folded her in her arms and hugged her tightly. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” she murmured. “You were trying to be helpful.”
“Yeah, I was, but you told me to stay out of it.”
“We both have the same flaw. We both think we know what’s best. We get into a fair bit of trouble doing that, but at least we do it because we love each other.”
“I do love you,” Charlie crooned, nuzzling her face against Piper’s neck. “And I’m really sorry you’re sad.”
“I am,” she admitted. “This is a new kind of sad for me.” Her voice lowered. “It sure would be easier if Haley was back in LA though.” She held up her hand. “Do not take that as an invitation to meddle. This time I mean it, Charlie. Stay out of this one. For good.”
***
Charlie spent the whole afternoon with the wardrobe department, with several technicians working feverishly to fit her into identical sets of shorts and a T-shirt, each set more tattered than the last. Piper sat in a make-up chair, cooling her heels. She wasn’t exactly bored, but she was close. Watching people work wasn’t really her thing, but she guessed she’d be doing a lot of that on set.
Three women clustered around Charlie, each with a specific vision for how a T-shirt would look after ten days of hard use, twenty days, etcetera. Charlie certainly wasn’t going to win any style awards for this movie, but Piper had a feeling the T-shirt was eventually going to turn into some kind of sexy bandeau top. And the shorts would definitely wind up as bikini bottoms. You could never show enough skin.
Tim poked his head into the wardrobe cabin late in the afternoon. “Still up for a tour?” he asked, catching Charlie’s eye. Piper noticed that the wardrobe people, who faced away from him, rolled their eyes, but none of them said a word. When the boss wanted to take the star away, you had to stand back and figure out another way to get your work done.
Piper got up to follow along, and soon they were walking along the wide path to the main set. “There wasn’t anything here when we first arrived,” he said, proudly surveying his life-size paradise. “Have either of you read the Eden series?”
“No,” Piper said. “I like fantasy, but I thought it was for tweens, so I didn’t bother. I was going to pick it up once Charlie got the role, but we’ve been crazy busy.”
“I don’t like to read,” Charlie added, not even slightly embarrassed to admit to things that most people wouldn’t reveal under pain of torture. She was the most transparent person Piper had ever met. “It takes too much time.” She paused, clearly thinking. “And it’s boring.”
Tim found that funny. Of course, most straight men found everything that came out of Charlie’s mouth funny. “It can take up a lot of time.”
They stopped in front of the big tree. “As you can probably tell, this is where the settlers, the settlers that Eve joins up with, that is, have built their homes.”
“Does that mean there are settlers Eve doesn’t join up with?” Piper asked, having no idea what he was talking about.
“There are two groups.” That charming smile came out, making Piper’s knees a little weak. How did straight women resist him? “You can’t have an action movie without renegades.”
There were quite a few huts made out of natural materials, most of them slightly elevated. “The treehouse is their sacred space. It’s where they meet when they have to decide something important. Over the years, they’ve elevated it to be able to keep an eye out for the renegades. Given that it took us two weeks, thirty crew members and every modern power tool, I have no idea how the settlers managed it.” He let out a low laugh. “But it’s in the book, so we’re good.”
He pointed to an open space with palm fronds stacked up in big piles. “That’s where we’re going to stow your boat.”
“Is that the best place for it?” Charlie narrowed her eyes, like she was trying to picture a boat on dry land.
Tim removed his baseball cap, scratched at his head for a second, then resettled it. “Do you know the story at all?”
“Just what you told me that day at the studio,” Charlie said. She was quiet for a minute, her gaze growing unfocused. During those seconds, Piper took a look at Tim, who, much to her surprise, placidly watched Charlie. That was a great sign. Most guys in his position didn’t cede the floor to a young woman for more than a second. Charlie faced Piper, then spoke in a thoughtful, precise manner. “I’m a lonely, unhappy girl who’s got money, but not much else. I spend most of my time sailing around the islands alone. No one really cares what I do, so I never tell anyone where I’m going.”
Tim couldn’t constrain himself, clearly too excited about the project to let Charlie run with it. “Eve was heading northwest when a storm came up and blew her off course—”
Charlie interrupted, but gave him a quick smile before she continued, “I land right here. On this tiny, uninhabited island. A bunch of hippies settled here a long time ago and haven’t had contact with any outsiders since. Our first scene is when the settlers come out to meet me.”
“Right,” Tim said, smiling reassuringly, like he probably did with his kids when they remembered something important.
Charlie continued, “The hippies call themselves the settlers, and they really don’t want to be found. They came here originally because they thought big business had taken over the country, and they’re sure the world has only gotten more dangerous. That’s why they convince me to let them hide my boat—so any rescue efforts won’t spot it.”
“But wouldn’t your character tell them things aren’t that bad?” Piper asked.
Charlie’s expression morphed into deep sadness. “They are for me, Pip. My world is exactly the hellish vision the settlers believe in.”
“Hellish? Really?”
“My home life sucks hard. My mom’s an alcoholic, my dad’s dead, and my older brother’s a bully. I’ve just been biding my time, waiting until I’m eighteen so I
can leave.”
“You can leave before that,” Piper said, worried she’d found a major plot hole. “In California you can be an emancipated minor at fourteen.”
“Right,” Charlie said, seeming to like the fact that Piper was thinking this through. “But I’m waiting for a big trust distribution that I’m going to get on my eighteenth birthday.” She narrowed her eyes as she thought. “But I’m still trying to figure out why I gave up my inheritance so easily, Tim. Actually, I’ve kind of given up my whole future.” She moved away, walking over to a big table to rest her hands on it, leaning into the substantial piece of furniture. “I’m struggling a little bit with how horrible my home life must have been. I keep thinking I would have already left if it’s bad enough to make me give up my future.” She looked up at Tim, determination sparkling in her eyes. “My Eve isn’t a victim.”
“No, no, I don’t see her as a victim at all. Just remember that Eve doesn’t have to take that leap right away. She takes an instant liking to the settlers, who are both kinder and more interested in Eve than her family is. They don’t have to work too hard to get her to agree to stay—for a while, at least. She figures she can wait for her birthday here as easily as she can at home.”
A bright smile settled onto Charlie’s face. “Love it! Baby steps. That makes sense.”
“I don’t have a good idea of the timeline,” Piper said. “How long have the settlers been here?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s important,” Tim said. “Let’s go take a look.” They walked about a hundred yards, coming to the hull of a boat that had been placed upside down on some good-sized tree trunks. The wood was warped and had split in spots, making a better altar than vessel. “The settlers, sixteen in total, came to the island in this sacred boat in 1965. Everyone here—except for Eve, of course, is a descendent of those people, many of whom are still alive.”
“That’s a heck of a long time ago,” Charlie said.
“It is. As you’d guess, that’s plenty long for people to develop feuds. Some of the settlers’ kids took those arguments to a new level, and that’s when the schism began, around 1980. Since then, there have been skirmishes, and a few significant battles, but nothing as bad as the trouble that’s brewing right now.”
“So, I came at a bad time,” Charlie said, a worried frown creasing her forehead.
“Or she came at the perfect time to give them some perspective.” His eyebrows popped up and down. “You’ll have to stick around to see how that plays out.”
“Can’t wait!”
“We’re going to start with the first meeting, where the settlers find Eve when her boat washes up on the beach. You know, the introductory stuff. I thought it was important to set the mood, so I want to film at least those first scenes in order.”
“From the wardrobe we saw today, I’m guessing Eve is lost at sea for quite a while,” Piper said.
“Many weeks,” Tim agreed, “subsisting on the few fish she caught, and some rain water to drink. That’s why she’s so thin,” he said, looking at Charlie’s skinny body with approval.
“So we’ll shoot the sailing scenes later?” Charlie asked.
“We’ll do all of the ‘adrift at sea’ scenes back in LA. With CGI we can do most of that in a pool.”
“Cool. My wardrobe’s fitted, so I’m ready when you are.”
“We’re aiming for Monday morning. Bright and early,” he added. “You know an outdoor shoot is all about capturing light, so we’ll be doing lots of sunrises and sunsets.”
“My favorite times of the day,” Charlie said, beaming a very confident smile at him.
“This is an expensive shoot, Charlie. We’re going to push to get everything done as quickly as possible. That means at least fourteen hour days. And since you’re in nearly every scene…”
“No problem. I’m not a whiner, Tim. If I couldn’t act, I’d be a waitress, and no one would give a damn that my feet hurt after twelve hours.”
He shot a quick look at Piper, then turned back to Charlie. “If you can keep that attitude, you’re going to have a long career.”
“It’s the only attitude I have, so I think I have to keep it,” she said, dazzling him with her luminous smile.
***
They were still talking about the set when they entered the hair and makeup cabin for the first time, just to check it out. But as soon as they got inside, Piper could tell there was something off. Three women were fashioning long, ratty-looking wigs atop styrofoam forms, probably for background actors. But they didn’t look up or call out a greeting, which seemed odd.
The cabin was set up like a fairly typical hair salon, with shampoo sinks and adjustable chairs along two walls, then a partial wall dividing the cabin in half. The other half also held the adjustable chairs, but without shampoo sinks. Instead, there were large mirrors in front of the chairs, with professional-quality lighting for makeup application. It wasn’t a very large space, and Piper wondered how a whole cast was going to get ready at once.
Then the door opened and a stocky woman stood in the entryway, as imperial as a queen. Her hair was steel grey, swept off her face into a French twist, adding to her regal bearing. Her very attractive face, expressive eyes, and nice mouth caught Piper’s attention, with her taking a few seconds to realize that pretty mouth was turned down in a frown.
“I was wondering if you were going to appear today,” she said, her focus locked on Piper. “I’m dying to know how you’ll attack Monday without a schedule.”
“Schedule?”
“Schedule,” she said soberly. “You’re Charlie’s personal hairdresser, so creating her schedule’s on you. But I haven’t heard word one about you starting to break down the script.”
“Break down—”
“Piper’s my sister,” Charlie said, putting on the charm. “She’s a great hairdresser, but she hasn’t worked on a movie before.”
“You’re not in the union?” the woman asked, her eyes widening.
“No,” Piper said. “I didn’t—”
“Good lord.” The woman brushed by her, going to a desk in the rear of the work space. Piper followed along, seeing a needlework nameplate in a frame, announcing her as Renée Ackerman.
“Renée?” she said, feeling like a fifth grader being embarrassed in front of the whole class. “Um, my sister’s right, of course. I don’t know the drill here. But I can work all day tomorrow if I have to. Can you give me some guidance?”
She lifted her gaze and let it settle on Piper. “We haven’t even started, and we’re behind. Charlie’s hair is fine for now. It just has to look wind-blown and unkempt from being on the ocean for weeks. But, because she’s skinny, Tim wants to jump ahead in the timeline to when there’s a food shortage. That’s when he wants her in dreads.” She’d been scanning sheets of notes, but she got up and went over to Charlie, feeling the texture and fullness of her hair. “You’re going to have to make a wig for that.” She lanced Piper with her intent gaze. “Can you do that?”
“Um…I never have.”
“We’ll do it,” she sighed. “Then we’re back to when she first arrives. As she gains some weight, and her hair grows, you’ll have to add extensions. You’ve done that, right?”
“Sure. Of course.”
Renée rolled her eyes, like she’d believe that when she saw it. “Then we jump ahead to when she’s normal weight, with dreads. That doesn’t last long, though. Everyone gets lice and Eve hacks her hair off with a knife.” She gave Charlie a sympathetic look. “We’ll come up with some tricks to make it look like the dreads are real, since Tim will want close-ups of you cutting it all off. That’s got to be real. There’s no way to fake it.”
“I don’t mind,” she said, seemingly not bothered by the thought of cutting off the very thing that gave her a good portion of her attractiveness.
“I do,” Piper said. “Who made that decision? Tim?”
“I assume so. He makes every important decision, and that’s a pretty big one. C
harlie’s only got a few scenes where she’s bald, so they’ll be at the end of the shoot.”
“So, I’ve got time to talk him out of it?”
“I don’t mind,” Charlie insisted.
“I do. You’re going to be bald while you’re doing publicity for your Aaron Evert movie. You’ll look ridiculous.”
“We can make her a good wig,” Renée said. “No one will know.”
“I’ll talk to Tim,” Piper said. She met Renée’s gaze again and said, “How can I prepare for the week?”
She went to a small copier and ran off a bunch of pages, then handed them to Piper. “That’s the rough schedule. It will change a thousand times, but they can’t get too far off track because of hair length and Charlie’s weight.” She gave Charlie another look, much warmer than Piper had yet gotten. “You’ve done a great job in getting thin.”
“Thanks. I can’t wait to put every ounce back on. I’m dragging,” she admitted, surprising the hell out of Piper. Until that moment, Charlie hadn’t registered a single complaint.
“Work out how you want her hair to look for those early shots,” Renée said. “If there aren’t production notes giving you exact details you’ve got some latitude, but obviously you’ve got to make her look like she’s been at sea for weeks.” She gave Charlie another glance. “You don’t mind looking like a drowned rat, do you?”
“Happy to. After playing hot but dumb women, I’m thrilled to do almost anything where my sole job isn’t to look pretty.”
“Oh, you’ll still look pretty,” Renée said, chuckling. “You’re supposed to look like a drowned rat, but a sexy one. This is still Hollywood, you know.”
Renée moved around to grip Piper by the shoulder. “You’re going to have to measure her hair and take photos for continuity. If you can get that done before Monday morning, it’ll help. It all has to be logged,” she said, staring at Piper to make sure she knew what that meant.
Fame Page 32
