Tears of a Shadow by Oliver Silver

Author:Oliver Silver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller
Publisher: Troubador Publishing
Published: 2023-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Shoot me

‘You have such great skin,’ Joan, the frizzy-haired make-up artist says, squinting kindly at me in the mirror. ‘You can’t be almost forty.’

Sitting in the high chair in front of my own reflection, a black bib covering the white Oxford shirt and grey V-neck jumper the costume department have already squeezed me into, I feel like a schoolboy pretending to like his new haircut. Forcing a weak smile, I scan the wooden desk in front of us, covered in an array of creams, powders, foundations and brushes like there’s an army of children round the corner ready for a big fancy-dress party. My eyes fix on my pack of cigarettes and I wonder whether I’ll have time for one more before we get going.

‘You shouldn’t still be smoking, though,’ she says, sensing me looking at the pack. ‘That will mess your skin up.’

My skin is already pretty grey and tired. I looked puffy and half-dead when I rolled into the Spectrecom Studios in Kennington at six thirty this morning, so I don’t know why Joan’s bothering to lie. That’s what the chemicals in cigarettes do; that’s what they’re there for. They dull the colour of your skin, turn your teeth yellow and rot you from the inside out. The compromise is, you know every puff you take is getting you closer to finding out what’s on the other side. Staring at my new reflection, I almost don’t recognise myself. Joan has been able to work some magic, mainly through the use of an orangey dust and flesh-coloured cream that she’s coated my face in, and has produced a near-perfect job – I look much brighter, much healthier; the bags under my eyes have disappeared and my skin looks tight. She has made the mistake, though, as they all do, of adding slightly too much powder, and the dust from the foundation has lodged in the various ravines and crevices across my face, which is definitely ageing. I wonder why she’s being so nice to me today. Joan is slightly overweight, and if I had to guess, I’d say she’s probably in her late thirties. A bouncy, bubbly woman, she was talking before about how good she feels now that she’s switched from coffee to green tea first thing in the morning, and that she’s contemplating dropping coffee altogether. Perhaps she really does think I’ve got good natural skin. Perhaps not. Perhaps she doesn’t really know what else to say.

‘They’re ready for Jonathan now,’ Kara, the earnest black assistant in her mid-twenties proclaims, appearing alongside Joan in the mirror.

Leaving Joan to her creams and pots of foundation, Kara guides me out of hair and make-up and along the corridor towards the room we’re shooting in. I feel strangely confident. It feels so new, so different, like I’m going to present the morning news on television to millions of people across the country. Everyone’s been very courteous so far today. Even the driver of the Addison Lee that pulled up in the pitch black at quarter to six to chauffeur me over here was deferential.

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.