“What a diva,” the guy said. “Didn’t he pull all sort of antics back in the day too?”
“Yeah, he was a mess. The director basically told him to get over it and that she wasn’t redoing the shooting schedule because he didn’t like who he was paired with.”
I sucked in my lips. When I looked in the mirror, neither stylist seemed to notice my internal freak-out.
They snickered. I had been a little offended on behalf of Charlie at first but was humiliated to know how much he was against this pairing.
“What set him off? Is he still sober? I saw he was in rehab a few years back,” the guy said.
I exchanged a look with Kristen next to me in the mirror. If the makeup artists were even remotely concerned about us hearing their gossip, they didn’t show it.
“Who knows? The times I’ve worked with him, he’s been nice.” She shrugged and started taking out my curlers.
“Who was he supposed to work with?” the other asked.
I blew out a long breath and raised my hand. At this point, the situation couldn’t get much more awkward.
They both looked at me and gasped. Kristen gave me a sympathetic smile.
“Shit. Sorry, babe,” my stylist said.
I shrugged likeit happens.
“What’s the deal? You’re a doll. I mean I don’t know you, but you seem nice enough,” my stylist asked.
“Thanks.” I flushed. “Nothing happened. I just rub him the wrong way, I guess.”
Or maybe all the stories I’ve written about him made him uncomfortable? Was he embarrassed? My stomach tightened with even more anxiety. It didn’t seem prudent to mention my stories.
She made a tsking sound like it was hard to believe. “Actors are just …” she started.
“Dicks.” The other finished. “What? They are!” He flinched back as she smacked his shoulder and widened her eyes to the surroundings. “They live in a different world. It’s very weird to witness.”
“They’re not all bad,” my stylist defended. “But yeah, definitely a different planet.” Then she pointed at the futuristic space station set around us. “Ha. I didn’t even mean to do that.”
They both cackled, and I looked to my chair partner and smiled. Some of the tension in my shoulders melted away. So, keeping track: RC told me actors are just people. But those who worked directly with actors all the time said they aren’t normal. It must do a number on your perception of self to be catered to all the time. People either talked shit about you or idolized you. There didn’t seem to be a middle ground.
Much like I had acted.
What if Charlie just wanted to be treated normally and I had freaked him out? I doubled down on my vow to just be chill around him. Whatever that meant.
Time to push thoughts of Charlie away and focus on why I was here. I was on the set for my favorite show ever, getting my hair and makeup professionally done.
Perspective, Kate!
A throat cleared, and we all looked in the mirror to find Charlie standing behind us. “Am I interrupting?” His tone was unreadable. His face a flat mask. I studied him in the mirror. He seemed slightly more refreshed than earlier, but his neck was flushed red like he’d been arguing with the director about how much he didn’t want to work with me. I mean, just taking a guess.
“Kate?” He said my name and I fought a shiver.
“Oh. Me?” I said like a total idiot when I realized he’d been asking me.
The hairdressers had grown suddenly silent, like they hadn’t just been talking shit about him.
“Um, I’m not sure,” I said, looking in question at my hairdresser.
“We’re just about done,” she said with a polite smile.
“I need to talk to K—Miss Dubois.”
