I Remember You

Chapter 5

Lily parked her car at the first available space before cutting her engine. She took a deep breath and looked in the rearview mirror, giving her reflection a pep talk. When Petra had called, her to tell her the good news she had acted surprised, well semi-surprised and semi hesitant, both of which were true emotions.

Petra would have no clue that she had already been told that she had gotten the part. Somehow, in the years since moving to Savannah, she had kept exactly how close her relationship with Stevens clan was from Petra. She couldn't say why she hadn't shared, perhaps it was because she was protective of it, but now she was glad that she hadn't shared. The fewer people who knew, the less likely it was that someone would think that she got the job based solely on the connections that she had.

Petra knew about Sam and Penny, and that the Stevenses lived next door, but she didn't know that she had been accepted into their family circle or that her nickname was LeeLee. On the other hand, Mason didn't know that Petra was her best friend, and that was how she had found out about the audition. That wouldn't go over well with some people either although she had little doubt Uncle Mason would find it highly amusing.

There was a sudden banging on the car window, and Lily jumped in surprise. Next to her was a small woman who was very round with a blond bouffant hairdo and a dress that looked like it was straight out of the 1950s.

Lily opened the door of her car thinking she was an actress on the show, but when she had a cup of coffee thrust in her face with a chipper smile and the woman reached for her bag Lily hugged it to her.

"I put a little cream and sugar in it since I was unsure of how you liked it. If you would prefer tea, I can have that for you next time." She tried to reach for Lily's bag once more, but Lily held it away from her.

"Who are you?" Lily asked softly.

The woman's hand flew to her cheeks as she giggled. "OMG! I didn't." She giggled again. "I'm Cindy, but everyone calls me Cindy Lou for some reason. I'm a Production Assistant. I was sent to meet you and show you around for your first day!" The woman was outrageously energetic, and Lily reluctantly let her take her bag when she reached for it again. "I'm so excited you're here!" The woman reminded Lily of one of those little toy dogs that had so much energy they were always shaking.

"Thank you," Lily said with a smile, "I like your dress."

Cindy blushed. "Thank you. It's one of my favorites."

Lily listened to Cindy as she led her onto the massive sound stage that housed the sets for the show. It was surreal that the locations that she had seen on t.v. were now in front of her.

"There's an entire set that's behind this building that we use for outdoor scenes, but in a few weeks, we'll be shooting on location. There's some private property south of here that has an abandoned church, and we use that for the church scenes. We all stay on a private island that is owned by Elias Emory and his wife, and we film some outdoor scenes there as well. Elias helps with the soundtrack for the show, so does Mason Stevens's wife, Cassie," Cindy was talking in a hushed whisper as if it was all top secret. "We're all excited that you're here. The rumor is that you and Mr. Baxter have great chemistry."

Sure, if by chemistry one meant he was bored by the sight of her and she was intimidated by his dark stare to the point that she repeatedly made a fool of herself.

"I'm not sure about that," Lily hedged, not wanting Cindy to get her hopes up.

There was a huddle of people off to one side of the set, and next to them was a teenage boy sitting in a tall director's chair rocking back and forth while counting on his fingers. It was evident that something was upsetting him, and Lily would have stopped, but Cindy pushed her past the little scene.

"Who was the teenager?" Lily asked as Cindy turned a corner and opened a door with her name on it.

"That's Mike," Cindy said. "We do our best to pretend he isn't there. He gets upset when people try to talk to him. He likes to sit in that spot in that chair, so that's where he sits." None of it explained who he was or why he was there. "This is your dressing room!" She said, grinning as she sat Lily's bag down in a corner.

"Now, if you'll follow me, we'll go to make-up and wardrobe, they want to get a look at you before filming tomorrow. Then I'll take you around the rest of the set and introduce you to everyone else."

Lily followed Cindy down another hallway, landing in a large room with bright lights and lots of mirrors.

"Ladies!" she greeted with an extra cheer, almost as if the three women who turned to look at them intimidated her. "This is our Brooke Wisse, also known as Lily Mercer. Lily, this is Monica, Bianca, and  June. June handles makeup, Bianca handles hair, and Monica handles wardrobe."

The women who had all been sitting around turned to look at her with their trained eyes taking her measure. She had worn blue jeans and a t-shirt, left her hair a frizzy mess, and had her glasses firmly in place.

"We won't have to do much, will we? At least at first," Bianca said, standing and grabbing a fist full of hair.

Bianca was an older brunette with vivid green eyes that she had a feeling were contacts. She was tall and skinny, too skinny. Lily watched in the mirror as Cindy slowly backed out of the door. It was almost as if she was afraid to move too quickly for fear that they would remember she was there. June stood up, she was broad and tall, and Lily had the feeling that she was transgender, she could be wrong though. It was hard to tell.

"Her skin is nice, and she's young, so there will be fewer wrinkles to hide," June said as she removed her glasses. Her voice gave it away; she was transgender.

"But she is stunning despite all of this," Monica said waving her hand at Lily in a way that encompassed her entire body, "and that figure is excellent. The transformation will be fun."

"Yes," Bianca nodded, "turning her from ugly duckling to swan will be fun."

Lily felt overwhelmed by their study of her, and she did her best to pretend as if it didn't matter.

"Let's get some measurements!" Monica clapped her hands. She was told to remove her clothes until she stood before them in her underwear as they pulled out a measuring tape. June grabbed her hand and started to rub different colors of makeup on it. She was pulled poked and prodded as they made their game plan.

"Don't worry Lily, almost everyone thinks we bite, but we don't. Our job is to make you look fabulous." June whispered in her ear.

"Plus, we know all the good gossip," Monica assured her, which wasn't reassuring at all.

The dressing room door flew open, and a large handsome man with white hair and shocking blue eyes stood before her, his hair mussed and his glasses on top of his head. He eyed her in her underwear, and it gave Lily the creeps, she couldn't suppress a shiver as Monica reached for a robe to cover her.

"We've told you to knock Mudd!" June chastised a little hotly.

"Sorry, I heard our little ingenue was here, and I wanted to say hello."His eyes looked her over once more. Lily vaguely recognized him from her audition. He had been one of the people at the table.

"Preston Mudd, the director," he said, holding out his hand.

Lily took it and suppressed another shiver as he kissed the back of it. "Lovely," he murmured as he looked at her once more before leaving.

"Watch your back with that one," Monica said, but that was all that she said. They needed their jobs too much to say anymore. Gossiping about the crew and actors was one thing, but the director was another, at least on this set.

It was the only upset in an otherwise unexpectedly good day.