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“Well, get into makeup. You can’t go on camera looking like that. Luckily, your parents are stuck in traffic, so we are running behind anyway.” He looked up from his clipboard and shot her a glare. “Why are you still standing here? Go!”
“Sheesh! What crawled up his butt this morning?” she muttered to herself as she obediently made her way to the makeup tent set up at the back of the parking lot. Natalie was there, finishing touch-ups on Frankie.
“Hey, I knocked this morning, but you didn’t answer. Spend the weekend at Adrian’s?”
Sofia sat back in her chair, casting a loaded glance at Natalie. She’d just as soon not have her breakup broadcast to the masses.
Natalie caught her meaning before Frankie did and laughed. “Oh, honey. I’m not miked, and unless you see Trina, there are no cameras here. I’m on par with your bartender or priest. We beauticians have an oath of secrecy as well.”
Sofia had to laugh at that, and it broke through her resistance. Natalie had become a fast friend during the last month of filming, and she might as well get it out now before she got her face all fixed.
“No, I didn’t see Adrian this weekend, and I’m not likely to again any time soon.”
Frankie turned to face her, much to the annoyance of the beleaguered makeup artist. “What does that mean?”
“Please, Frankie. Hold still.” Natalie swiveled the chair back to face the mirror.
“I don’t see why I need this crap on my face anyway. I’m a contractor, not some freaking model.”
“It’s so you look normal on camera. Now, I’m almost done. Hold. Still.”
“Fine.” Frankie turned back to the mirror, but didn’t let go of the question. “What do you mean by that, Fi?”
“It means that I think we broke up after dinner Friday.”
“No wonder you look like hell.”
“Thanks a lot.” She flipped off the mirror they were both staring at and immediately felt better, then turned her attention to the makeup genius. “Do you think you can hide it, Natalie?”
“No sweat, honey. I’m a professional. If I can make this mug look normal, yours is no sweat.” Natalie laughed and patted Frankie on the cheek. “That didn’t hurt too much, did it?”
Frankie answered with a smirk and turned back to Sofia, like a dog with a bone. “So why did you break up?”
“Short story—he doesn’t respect my opinions or my work. He expected me to fall in line with his plans just because we were sleeping together, damn the consequences to me or my family. If you want the longer version, you’ll have to wait for the red wine tonight, because I cannot afford to start crying again.”
“Well, if he was that much of an asshole, then good riddance. I wonder what this does to his plans to join the company.”
“I don’t know, but I’ll be damned if I answer to him as my boss. If he’s in, I’m out.”
“Your turn.” Natalie wrapped the paper bib around her neck. “It sounds like you need full armor today.”
“Waterproof everything.”
“You got it. Let’s knock him on his ass.”
Sofia closed her eyes, and relaxed as Natalie painted foundation on her face. She was definitely facing a battle today. It felt good to be pampered a little bit while she prepared her mental and physical armor. Even Frankie was quiet while Natalie worked her magic.
Sofia tried to pull her thoughts to the scenes they’d shoot today. B-roll, they called it, and they’d use it to fill in the transitions between big scenes and commercial breaks now that the pilot had been picked up. She wasn’t used to doing everything out of order, but she was learning fast. She had always picked up on things quickly. She just wished her dad respected that ability more. Instead he just thought that her job was easy, and that’s why she had stepped into the role seamlessly. After all, her mother had done it with ease as well. She hated what that said about her dad’s opinion of both of them. His casual disregard of her achievements burned. To have Adrian talk to her in the same dismissive way was the last straw.
Natalie was working on her eyes when Frankie piped up again. “So, you really think things are over?”
“I do. I won’t give myself to someone who doesn’t respect me.” Natalie’s hand paused briefly before resuming her blending of eye shadow.
“Well, it’s a shame that’s how you see me.” The deep voice rattled through her, and she kept her eyes closed out of mortification.
She’d been set up. She’d kill Frankie for this. Adrian sat in the chair next to her. She scrambled for a response. “What’s a shame is that I didn’t see that our relationship was dependent on your partnership deal.”
“I never hid anything from you.”
