Tabloid Lies by RJ Astruc

Author:RJ Astruc [Astruc, RJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

8

AS LUCK would (or wouldn’t) have it, the next day, Roo and I wound up as extras on the same set.

It was a pilot for a science fiction show. I’d had it described to me as “part Doctor Who, part Star Trek.” I’d be playing some sort of alien, which probably meant piles of prosthetics and no face time. I didn’t like my chances of getting a decent close-up, but I needed the money.

I always needed the money.

Surprisingly, though, the moment I’d turned up on set, a woman with a clipboard grabbed me by the elbow and steered me into makeup.

“Make use of those perfect cheekbones,” she’d instructed the makeup artist. “Georgina is going to love him. We’ve got to get him up front.”

I found out a half hour later that my perfect cheekbones had made me a natural for the role of a mannequin man. I’d be playing a storefront mannequin that had come to life and wanted to become human. There were a lot of mannequin-men extras, but the director, Georgina, immediately declared she wanted to focus on me. When the shoot began and the mannequin men began shambling out of our shop windows like plastic zombies, it was me who led them.

It felt a bit like a miracle.

When I looked up at the end of the third take, my eyes met Roo’s.

Roo was playing a startled bystander, part of a crowd of people watching the mannequins emerge. I was so annoyed I almost dropped character. I’d kind of hoped after the Peter Frank meet-up that I’d be able to avoid him for a few days.

Predictably, the moment Georgina let us stop for a break, Roo rushed over to me.

“Wow, you look amazing,” he said. “Even for a mannequin.”

“Thanks.”

“Funny seeing you here, hey! What a coincidence.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve been trying to call you since yesterday,” Roo went on obliviously. “What happened with Peter Frank?”

“Nothing. I talked to him.” I shrugged. “I talked to him, he said he needed to write stories, I suggested he write them about someone else, but he said Mel was hot right now. So I guess we’ve got to wait until Mel and Katie’s careers tank.”

I left out the bit about selling a recording of Mel’s cringe-worthy phone conversation, and also the bit where Peter and I went out together, got drunk, and stumbled back to his place. And all the other bits that came after.

“Oh no.” Roo looked crestfallen.

“Maybe we could get Katie and Mel to do some charity work. Improve their images. You could suggest it to them.”

“Um, I don’t think they’d do that.”

I shrugged again. “What a shame.”

I called Peter on the bus home from the shoot. I’d had a great day, and I wanted to share it with someone before Mel killed my buzz. I also wanted to make sure we kept our stories straight. Just in case Roo, with all his odd contacts, found out I’d been lying to him.

“Hey, babe,” Peter said, picking up on the first ring.

“What’s up?”

“Busy, busy, busy.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.