When makeup artist Nia Balewa signs up to work for the Glamorous Beauty Pageant, she is unaware that her ex-best friend, whom she hasn't spoken to in six years and who also happens to be the current Hollywood heartthrob, is judging the pageant.
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If there was one thing that Nia Balewa had learnt in the last five years, working as a makeup artist, it was that whoever said appearances could be deceptive, was goddamn right.
One of her first jobs as a makeup artist was to glam-up an entire theatrical troupe for their daily rendition of Hamlet. Due to their scarce budget, they could not afford to hire experienced professionals, so they'd settled for her. Nia had not complained back then.
Working behind the scenes, there were a couple of things that she had learnt better than the audience: the first being that all the action took place here. Whatever was witnessed in front of those screens was a lie, a facade, built on remarkable acting skills.
So, if you'd grown to love the devilishly handsome and intriguing Prince Hamlet, you would have to be prepared to be devastated because he just happened to have a raging temper that when triggered, would bring down the entire building; his short-temper had led him to punch a newly-hired light board operator, in his face, when he messed up the lighting during a practice session. That was why everyone would steer clear of Hamlet no matter how charming he seemed.
That was the second thing she'd learnt: appearances and their deception.
Nia believed that she had a fair judgement when it came to people she worked for—people from the fashion and movie industry—but she'd learnt her lesson a long time ago; six years to be precise.
Lucky for her, the head of her department at her current job was as charming as he seemed. No ruse there. He had been a spectator at one of the shows, and wanting to meet the person behind the Hamlet's casts' artistically painted faces, he'd snuck up backstage just as the play was about to end.
He had enquired with Nia, who was standing close to the entrance, about wanting to meet the makeup artist.
"That's me," she'd said, surprised. A lot of fans would occasionally sneak backstage once the show was over to applaud the actors, but no one had ever wanted to meet the makeup artist. This was a first.
"I'm Colin Samuels," he'd introduced himself, but Nia had been too distracted by how green his eyes were, to pay attention to what he had said next.
Only when he handed her his business card, had she taken her eyes off his. Staring at the tiny letters, it took her a couple of seconds in the dim, yellow light to be able to decipher the words. Skimming through Colin's details, Nia had squinted to read the name of the company he worked for.
Lizzie Sinclair
Her breath had caught in her throat. Lizzie Sinclair was one of the largest companies in the makeup and glamour industry. The founder was a legend and Nia had looked up to her ever since she'd found her true passion. That was why she'd first applied for a job there and was heartbroken when she was turned down because she wasn't good enough.
