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“Well, I had to try it out, didn’t I?” She winked back.
“No, there’s no way I’m squeezing into that.
But I know that material.” She helped Heather into the rest of the costume and began straightening it out, buttoning the right buttons, and lacing the boots just so.
Then she turned Heather around so she could see herself in the long mirror on the far wall.
“Honestly, you look fantastic in it, don’t you think? ”
Heather tried not to smile too much at her reflection.
She did look good. She looked like someone else entirely, but at least she looked good.
Maybe this wasn’t such a bad look for her.
She lifted her arms a bit and turned one way and then the other, admiring the work of the costume designer and her assistants.
Today, Heather looked like exactly the sort of person who could get revenge on the powerful mafia boss who she blamed for her sister’s death, which was essentially the plot of the movie they were shooting.
“Thank you,” she said to the woman who had helped her.
She struggled to remember the name of this particular assistant, which the assistant noticed.
“Kim,” she said, shaking Heather’s hand briefly. “We’ll probably be working together again. They like to keep us on the same shifts, so the actors get comfortable with us. Unless you hate me, that is.” She grinned wide. “Then you can go ahead and have me moved to another time slot. No worries.”
“Oh, I’m keeping you,” Heather said. “I don’t know how you managed to make me look this convincing, but I think I might actually try to get into hacking, just in case I have some hidden talent.”
Kim smiled into the mirror and turned back to organize her workstation. “You should see the other guy,” she said. “Your counterpart. He looks pretty good himself. I’d even say he’s better looking than the star. Let’s just say I wouldn’t turn him down for a date. You’re lucky.”
“I’ll be anxious to see him.” Heather took a deep breath and turned away from the mirror. “But as for his appearance, you know what they say — don’t judge a book by its cover. He could be a total asshole, right?”
“Oh, we’ll see.” Kim winked like she knew something Heather didn’t and left the room.
Heather made her way out of her dressing room to greet her new coworkers.
The set was almost to the level it would be for final shoots.
She’d been rehearsing with a director-chosen partner for scheduling reasons.
It wasn’t the person she’d eventually be acting with.
They’d only really work together for test shoots and final shoots, so she hadn’t actually met him yet.
Mingling with the rest of the cast was awkward to say the least. Everyone kept mistaking Heather for the star of the movie, and she kept having to tell people she was “just a stunt double.”
“Well, well, well,” people would respond after she corrected them. “You two could be twins.” Heather was sure they were exaggerating to excuse their mistakes until she actually met the star herself.
It was like looking into a mirror. Her reflection reached out to shake her hand. “Hey, I’m Jessica. Most people call me Jessie. And you are?”
Heather caught her breath. “I’m you apparently,” she said. “They did a really amazing job in the costume department. My name is Heather.”
“Casting did great, too.” Jessie smiled and shook Heather’s hand. “We could be twins.”
It was the one person who could have said that to Heather without her wanting to roll her eyes.
And now that Heather was seeing Jessie up close for the first time, she could see why everyone appeared to be saying the same thing.
They really did look like they could be sisters, right down to their figure.
Jessie had the same small chest and wide hips that Heather had.
She was too curious not to ask. “So, are our counterparts just as well cast, or do we win the prize here?”
Jessie shrugged. “They’re pretty close, but I think we win.
” She pointed to someone in a crowd. “That’s him there.
” The man she pointed to was wearing what looked like a very expensive suit.
His dark hair was slicked back and his jaw had the perfect length of stubble.
He looked exactly like the sexy, young villain he was meant to be.
“That’s Simon?” Heather asked, meaning the other star of the film.
“No, that’s Cole. He’s your shooting partner.
You’re going to be fighting him, lucky girl.
” Jessie grinned at her, and Heather looked back at her stunt partner with wide eyes.
He was gorgeous. She hadn’t seen a man that gorgeous in her whole life, not outside of movie posters.
“I’ll introduce you to Simon if you want,” Jessie said, “but fair warning. He can be kind of a jerk. Maybe his stunt double will have a better personality, though, and a smaller head.”
After her talk with Jessie, Heather went around being introduced to other cast members, other doubles, and crew.
But she couldn’t help glancing over to wherever her counterpart was, watching him do the same.
She was both eager and terrified to be introduced to him.
All she could hope was that, in this case, the cover really did reflect the book.