Part 3 (1/2)
”Nope.”
”I think we should.”
I stopped in the middle of the corridor and swung round to face her. ”Okay. Did you have to be so condescending?” I hissed.
”When?” Elise asked, frowning.
”Just now. In recording.”
She looked perplexed. ”You're talking about when I suggested you might like to loosen up a bit?” Elise suddenly looked amused. ”You were playing Jasmine like some tight-a.r.s.ed spinster, Holly!”
”Bulls.h.i.+t!” I lowered my voice as one of the lighting guys came past us.
”You thought that was condescending?” A hint of a smile tugged at her lips. ”What's patronising about offering a little advice?”
”As if it wasn't bad enough you telling me I couldn't act, you go one better today and tell me-in front of everyone-how you think I should be playing Jasmine!” I was practically shaking with rage by now; the look of barely concealed amus.e.m.e.nt on Elise's face wasn't helping. I glared at her. ”Were you there when Jasmine found out her uncle was trying to kill her? No. Were you there when she was trapped in the house fire? No. Were you there when she-”
”For the hundredth time, I didn't say you couldn't act,” Elise interrupted. ”I'm sorry if you've misunderstood me.”
”I've been doing this s.h.i.+zz since I was this high,” I said, holding my hand out above the ground. ”So I don't need you to be telling me how to play Jasmine, okay?”
”It was just advice, Holly, that's all.” Elise held my gaze, making me uncomfortable.
”And does this advice extend to pretty much telling me how you think Jasmine thinks? Or how Jasmine speaks?”
”Nothing wrong with a bit of flexibility.” Elise half laughed.
”And there's no need to laugh at me,” I said indignantly.
”I'm not.” Elise looked down at the floor then slowly back up to me. ”You're kinda sweet when you're angry. It's hard not to smile.”
”I'm not angry!” I blurted. ”And I'm not sweet!”
”You are,” Elise said, leaning on the corridor wall, her arms folded. ”And...you are.”
I stared at her, mouth slightly open, totally flummoxed. ”Anyway,” I stuttered, ”I've been playing Jasmine since I was twelve years old so I think I probably know her just a teensy bit better than you, don't you?”
”Now who's being patronising?” Elise asked, one amused eyebrow raised.
”I'm not,” I said slowly. ”I'm just telling you like it is.”
”Well, that's me told then, isn't it?” Elise said. Another twitch of amus.e.m.e.nt on her face as she said it made me feel funny inside this time, rather than annoyed.
She pulled herself away from the wall and walked past me, brus.h.i.+ng so closely that our arms b.u.mped. I watched her saunter off down the corridor, then hastily looked away again as she glanced back at me, the look of amus.e.m.e.nt still on her face, before disappearing around the corner and out of sight.
I was livid. Worse, I was livid about being livid. How was it she was able to wind me up so easily, when I barely even knew her yet? Everything about her just oozed superiority and contempt, and at that moment I knew I should loathe her, but there was something about the way she'd been standing and smiling at me and telling me I looked sweet that...
I shook my head angrily. Sod being sweet. I knew my character inside out, and I sure didn't need some smart-a.r.s.e like Elise Manford coming in and offering her so-called advice.
She could just go to h.e.l.l.
Not wanting to go to my dressing room, knowing that I'd stew over things until I was called back on set that afternoon, I grabbed myself a coffee and a sandwich from the canteen and made my way to the green room instead, figuring it would be good to chill out for an hour or so. Secretly I was hoping someone would be in there that I could blare off to, however immature and petulant that might have been, but I didn't care. I was in that kind of mood, thanks to Elise.
I was in luck. Bella was already sitting on the sofa, nursing a steaming plastic cup of coffee, her gla.s.ses perched on the end of her nose as she read the latest gardening magazine.
”Hey!” she said cheerfully, looking over her gla.s.ses at me when I entered the room.
”Hi, Ma,” I replied, as I always did when I saw Bella.
Bella Hamilton was the sort of person who loved life and was everyone's absolute best friend. She'd played my on-screen mother, Anna Hunter, since we'd both joined the show eight years earlier, and had become as close off-screen as we were on-screen. She was my surrogate mother, there was no doubt about that, filling the gap that my own mother had left when my parents had decided to relocate to the countryside from the suburbs, when I'd finally moved into my own apartment in London.
My parents loathed London. They hated the noise, the smell, the crowds, the transport system-everything-and did their utmost to avoid coming to the capital at all costs. My hectic work schedule meant visits to them were few and far between. Bella was, essentially, the only family left close to me, and I loved her almost as if she were my own mother.
”Whoever invented coffee from a machine needs to be shot,” Bella now said, waving her cup at me and spilling a drop of coffee down her front. ”b.u.g.g.e.r it!” She frowned and hastily dabbed at it with her sleeve.
She looked across towards me and shrugged. ”Ready for another afternoon at the coal face?” she asked, still dabbing away.
”I guess,” I replied, picking my way around the tables and sitting down on the sofa next to her.
If I'm truthful, my second spat with Elise had really gotten to me, and I'd thought about it more than I wanted to. I didn't know why, though, but eventually put it down to the fact that I'd been hurt more than annoyed with her because I'd thought we should be getting on better now, and I didn't understand why she would want to do it to me again. The first squabble that we'd had had irritated me; the one that we'd had this morning had just hurt me, plain and simple.
”Enthusiasm. Love it.” Bella gently b.u.mped my arm, spilling another drop of coffee down her top. ”For the love of...!” She looked down at her jumper.
”I'm just finding work a bit tough-going at the moment, Bella,” I said, getting my script out of my bag and putting it on my lap.
”Heavy workload?” Bella looked sympathetic. ”I must admit when I saw your schedule coming up, I thought it was a bit full-on.”
”No, the scripts I can cope with.” I idly flicked the papers. ”It's just, well...I don't know.”
”Wanna talk about it?” Bella lowered her voice, aware that a few others were lurking around nearby.
”I don't know.” I sighed.
”Is it the new girl?” Bella slurped noisily at her coffee. ”I don't see her around in here too much.”
”She seems to keep herself to herself a lot,” I replied. ”In her dressing room mainly.”
”You two don't hang out together, then?”
”Nuh-uh.” I shook my head. ”Not at all.”
”Oh.” Bella took another slurp from her coffee and grimaced. ”It's still early days, Holly,” she said, picking up a swizzle stick from the table in front of her and giving her coffee another stir.
”I wondered that,” I said. ”Okay, I know she's only been here five minutes, but I don't feel like I know her at all. It's almost like she has barriers up.”
”So she's shy. Everyone finds starting a new job daunting.”