They call you in on the first day to put makeup on you. Makeup is pretty foreign to you. You like to keep the makeup simple and pretty and keep things classy. But they like makeup seeing as it doesn't make your face look shiny on camera so you make no arguments.
They escourt you into the studio where they are preparing and setting up for the filming that starts in a couple of days. Today is experimenting day. Today is find the perfect look day. As an extra you've done this several times before and know the drill.
Most places have separate make up rooms or trailers and the director will send you to one of those rooms and your makeup person will introduce themselves and look at you and decide if you're a warm golden or a fair and then they'll mess around with your hair to see how thick it is. After that is when you get down to business and they put on foundation and powder and they'll sometimes wash your hair to make it perfectly fluffy so they can get the perfect hairstyle. Then they'll get it approved by the director and you're good to go. You sit at the set being quiet for the rest of the day. Boom. You're an extra. That's all it takes - a pretty face and talent.
You show the gaurd your ID and he let's you in and escourts you to a tall handsome man, probably in his early thirtys.
"Hey, Frank." The gaurd says, "We've got another extra."
Frank has a clipboard in hand and is signing something off when he looks up. His eyes shine. He hands the clip board off to a short woman who quickly bustles off. Frank smiles, "You must be Iris. Pleasure to meet you in person! We've heard good things about you!"
"Thanks. I try to do a good job." You put your professional happy face on. Always make a good impression from the begining. If they see you smiling and happy they like you.
"And you haven't failed to do so, so far, with any of your previous employers. Anyway, we'll take you on back to the makeup room if you're ready?"
You look around a bit. Over Franks shoulder, "Uh, yea-"
You make eye contact with someone while looking over his shoulder. Not just someone. HIM. The one you totally haven't been obsessing over for the past few months. The one you haven't laid awake at night thinking about what a terrible idea it is to be in a movie with him. Thomas Sangster.
You feel your face get red as you quickly pull your gaze away. "Um, actually could I go to the bathroom first?"
"Yeah, of course. It's right over there."
Luckily he points in the complete opposite direction of Thomas.
"Great! I'll be back in a jiffy!"
You quickly walk towards the bathroom and you don't look back. You throw the door open and step in.
Ahhhh, safety.
You look in the mirror as you clutch the counter desperately.
Saftey from what? From someone you've idolized or more like had a crush on, since you were little? Safety from making a fool of yourself? Safety from having to talk to him?
Yeah, all of those sound about right. You'd more than most likely make a fool of yourself. But would you ever really talk to him? Probably not. He's a big famous celebrity and you're an extra. You won't have to talk to him. It'll be totally chill.
"But I won't have another panic attack." You tell yourself, "Don't act stupid, he's just another good looking person in the world. No biggie."
You look at yourself again. Your cheeks aren't red anymore. They just look like they have a little color to them. That's okay. It's all good. Good to go.
You look yourself in the eyes.
"Alright. Let's do this."
- - - -
You walk into the makeup room. No one has a trailer yet, they're getting here tomorrow, so they shoved everyone into two huge rooms gave them a few tables and mirriors and voila! Makeup rooms for the day.
Apparently only four extras are showing up today. They only needed four to figure out the makeup situation. And lucky you, you are the one that's getting experimented on.
Your beautifier is named Sarah. She has dark skin and a girly attitude. She's kinda like Effie from The Hunger Games meets Bon-qui-qui from the King Burger video.
"Hey, huney. You must be Iris, I've heard so much about you! I'm Sarah. We're gonna have such a good time getting to know each other."
"Yeah. I look forward to getting to know you too." You say this with complete honesty. You already like her. She seems so bubbly.
"Alright, then. You have a seat, I don't mind where and we'll get started." She says smiling.
You walk over to a mirror and seat and sit down in the tall leather chair. Sarah walks over,
"M'kay, we're going to start with the foundation and then the powder, blush, the usual."
"Sounds good."
"Alright."
- - - -
After she washed your face and put on the foundation, she went through her powders. She seemed to talk non-stop. And when she got talking she talked incredibly fast. You found out that she was from California and she talked about how her Daddy had been a Pastor for a Baptist church and how her Father had been a little anxious about her going into the celebrity feild of work and whatnot.
It was now that she paused and asked herself, "Now which one would complent her more?"
You'd already closed your eyes so you're surprised when you hear a male, British voice say, "Oh, I'd have to say that one."
You realize who it is and it takes every ounce of you not to open your eyes.
"Thomas you rascal! You startled me and Iris, don't do that!"
You can hear the amusement in his voice, "Sorry Sarah. Sorry Iris, was it?"
You open your eyes a bit and look to Sarah who gives you a look of approval. You take a deep breath before you shift your eyes over to Thomas. Your heart skips about four beats. He's even better looking up close and in person. His brown eyes steady on yours.
You clear your throat, "Yeah, my names Iris."
"Pleasure to meet you Iris." He hold his hand out to shake.
Your head feels fuzzy as you hold mine out and he shakes your hand, which is surprisingly not shaking. He raises his eyebrows,
"Very nice, soft hands. That's lovely. Good for you."
He plops down in the chair right next to you and looks at the mirror.
Oh, no. He's not staying here is he?
A blonde woman who looks to be in her fourtys walks over, "We working here Tommy?"
"Yep." He says popping the P.
Darn it.
Then again you feel a little excited and realived. You don't want him to leave.
"Hey Sarah." The blonde lady says politely. You never noticed her thick southern accent before now. She is seriously south.
"Hey Shea." Sarah says to the blonde woman.
Shea looks over at you.
"Who've you got?" Shea asks.
"An extra. Her name is Iris."
Shea comes over to look at you.
"Oh, she's lovely."
You blush, "Thank you."
"Don't mention it sweetheart."
Thomas who has been paying close attention to the whole conversation pipes up, "How come you never call me sweetheart?"
Shea rolls her eyes, amused and says, "Only pretty girls get called sweetheart."
Thomas pretends to take offense, mock hurt in his eyes, "Are you saying I'm not pretty?"
"Not until I'm done with you." Shea says grabbing a squrit bottle filled with water and squirting it on his face. He's obviously surprised and jumps, "Hey!"
Shea ignores him, "I like your shirt, Iris. I love Muddy's."
You hadn't really paid much attention to what you were wearing before now. Just a T-shirt from a cupcake place you loved, some jeans and black converse.
"Oh, thanks." You say looking at your shirt, "I love Muddy's too."
"Mm-hmm. That place has some real southern hospitality." Shea says.
Thomas turns around and looks at her, glaring a bit, but not meanly, "What is it with you and bloody southern hospitality? That's like the eighth time you've said it today!"
"Honey, I'm from the south and this is what we say. I'm trying to get you northerners and brits used to it."
"You should start intoducing yourself as southern hospitality. I may just call you that anyway."
Thomas clears his throat and says in a mock southern voice, that actually isn't that bad, "Hello, my name is southern hospitality. It is a real pleasure to meet ya'll. Well, dag-gum - that is the curliest hair I have ever seen! Aren't you pretty!"
You and Sarah laugh while Shea swats Thomas' arm, even she can't supress a grin.
"You know I'm doing things to your face right? It'd be a shame if I accedentally put bright red lipstick on you."
"Ah, but I'd still be freakin' gorgeous!" He says through laughter.
"Oh, you're shameless." Shea says smiling and finally getting down to buisness.
I let my eyes linger over Thomas for a few more seconds than I should and luckily he doesn't notice. But I watch him. The way his shoulders lightly move up and down when he breathes, the way his muscles slide when he shifts in his seat.
I look away and into the mirror. Thank goodness Thomas didn't notice. But Sarah sure did. She raises her eyebrows at me before she gets back to work.
I don't really care if Sarah knows. I trust her already. She won't tell anyone.
I glance over at Thomas, who is humming to himself and l look into my lap to let myself have a little fangirl smile.
This isn't so bad after all.