Chapter Text
In unusual fashion, Valerie was running late.
Her alarms didn’t go off. She set three alarms to make sure she woke up on time and her alarms still didn’t go off. She cursed the loose outlet her charger was plugged into as she rolled up to the studio’s lot, forty minutes late, her new iPhone 3GS battery at zero percent, and embarrassingly disheveled.
She ran to the lot where Scent of Winter was filming that day. Sara, her agent, was going to kill her.
“I’m here! I’m here,” she gasped out, tossing her bag haphazardly and sitting in the hair and makeup chair. “I am so sorry. I realize how bad of an impression this is giving you of me, but I swear this is just unbelievable bad luck.” Valerie was still breathing heavily, trying to maintain eye contact with the set hairstylist.
She was a short woman, dark red hair styled to perfection. Valerie winced until the hairstylist smiled. “Your problem won’t be with me. Jason’s been calling me for twenty minutes asking for your whereabouts.” She stood behind Valerie and fluffed up her dark hair. “Oh, you have a beautiful color.” Valerie wasn’t sure if she was talking to her or her hair. She sighed, dread set in the pit of her stomach at already angering the show’s director.
“Do you have an iPhone charger?”
The woman nodded to the charger poking out of the wall under the vanity and Valerie sighed in relief as she plugged her phone in, waiting for the green battery sign to appear.
“I’m Valerie, by the way.” She attempted to smile. At least the woman took pity on her. “I’m Katrina.”
Katrina made quick work of her long black hair, curling it the way her character on Scent of Winter wears it. As she did, the show’s makeup artist Matthew made her look presentable for the cameras. One of the PAs on set got her costume from her trailer and she changed into the pants, button down, and leather jacket, reciting her lines for the day to herself. They were filming three scenes that day, two of them including her, and she had to be on top of everything to make up for her tardiness.
She was an hour late to her 8am call-time by the time she arrived at the soundstage where the crew was preparing to finally begin shooting. She made eye contact with the director, Jason Lawson, who motioned her over. Valerie gulped and met him at his director’s chair.
“I am so sorry–”
“It’s fine. I heard what happened. Just make sure this is the last time, got it?”
Valerie nodded, relieved, and watched as he called to the cast and crew. “Alright everybody, let’s get started on scene 14.”
Valerie finally had a chance to look around at the new faces around her. This was her home for the foreseeable future. Her eyes landed on Celeste Brentford.
She shook her nerves and tried to remember their table read. Professional, eloquent. She can do this. Even in front of her scene partner, a three-time Golden Globe winner.
Getting cast on Scent of Winter was a dream. After working on small-time productions for five years, this was finally Valerie’s big break into acting, a place where she can cement her name in the industry. At 32, it was about time.
She watched as Celeste and her other co-star, Owen Ballard, stepped onto the soundstage. She followed and greeted them. “Hello. Sorry for delaying everything, it won’t happen again, I promise.”
Celeste made brief eye contact with her. “No, it won’t.”
Valerie blushed, embarrassed. Owen laughed awkwardly. “No worries, Valerie. First day jitters. Happens to the best of us.” Valerie nodded solemnly and went to her mark. They had blocked the scene the day before.
“Okay, first positions everybody!” Jason called out. “Roll camera.”
“Rolling.”
“Sound?”
“Speed.”
“Alright Scent of Winter season three, episode one, scene fourteen, take one,” the assistant director, Nora called, clapping a film slate in front of the camera.
“Action!”
***
Two hours later, the director called for a lunch break, and Valerie rushed to her trailer. Two hours under the judgemental gaze of Celeste Brentford made her sweat. She felt it every time they had to redo a take, every time she misspoke or had to get a touch-up. She was perfectly polite, just very… cold. Like she disapproved and wanted you to know it.
As Valerie munched in her trailer on the salad she snagged from the craft table, she assessed her performance for the day.
Perfectly adequate.
Nothing showstopping, but she knew her lines, she delivered them well, and she met all her queues. Not bad for a newbie.
The only thing she couldn’t shake off was Celeste Brentford.
At the table read Celeste was perfectly cordial, even humoring Valerie’s starstruck expression when they shook hands. Her dark blonde hair and honey-brown eyes were somewhat of a comfort during the read, Valerie’s very first for the show.
They didn’t have a chance to socialize afterward as Celeste practically rushed out, and judging by their interactions today, Valerie guessed she wasn’t too fond of her. Was her tardiness really that big of an issue? Gaining her idol’s disapproval within a day of working was not on her to-do list, and yet there she was. She shuddered at the prospect of their relationship being strained. They were going to spend a lot of time together, and if Valerie didn’t get her shit together, she was going to have a long eight months.
Plopping a cherry tomato into her mouth, Valerie chewed in contemplation. Celeste looked beautiful in the baby blue midi dress they had her in. Celeste looked beautiful in anything, to be fair. It was one of the reasons Valerie had a poster of her up in her dorm room in college.
Though Celeste wasn’t much older than Valerie, she’d been acting for decades. Valerie remembers turning on ABC every Tuesday to catch Celeste’s show Life with the Dennings, where she played a rebellious teenager. She had won a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice award for that role, and Valerie’s heart.
It felt like they had grown up together, in a sense.
Talk about never meet your heroes.
She followed her career from her teenage years to her more mature projects when she moved to film. Her career spanned genres and media, and she always delivered an excellent performance. Scent of Winter was her leeway back into television, and she was killing it. The show received multiple Emmy nods in its first two seasons.
Valerie sighed, bored of her salad. She grabbed her phone and opened Facebook, responding to a few messages and scrolling over gossip rags. Her eyes landed on a familiar name.
Celeste and Samuel finally tying the knot?
Valerie rolled her eyes at the obvious clickbait. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t intrigued, though. Against her better judgment, she clicked on the link, taking her to Page Six’s website.
Celeste and Samuel finally tying the knot?
By Hannah Gallagher
Published June 13, 2010, 5:40 p.m. ET
Celeste Brentford may like her privacy, but there’s nothing she can do to dampen her heart eyes when around boyfriend Samuel Ross. The pair looked adorably cozy on a romantic lunch at LA classic spot Polo Lounge yesterday. Brentford, 38, looked stunning in a floral print dress and yellow heels.
A source close to the pair gave Page Six exclusive information on where the pair is headed. “After 5 years of dating, Sam is ready to ask Celeste to marry him. He has already bought a ring and everything. He’s keeping it a surprise, but a proposal is definitely coming soon.”
Ross, Los Angeles FC midfielder, is rumored to be retiring soon. Why not retire a married man?
Valerie clicked off the website, significantly more annoyed than before. Who reports on a “secret proposal” publicly? The tabloids never ceased to amaze her. She wondered if she was ever going to be relevant enough for them to write about her.
The pictures attached to the article did distract her, though. Could it be true?
Valerie shook her head. They were an attractive couple, why wouldn’t they get married? If she was honest, she was surprised they didn’t get married years before, considering how heavily the tabloids pushed their relationship when it was fresh. Beautiful actress, handsome soccer player, what more could the public want?
Celeste didn’t strike her as a white picket fence kinda gal, though.
Just as she was about to lock her phone, it began ringing. Valerie sighed and swiped to answer the call.
“Hey Sara, wh–”
“Do you want to get fired?”
Valerie cringed. She saw the reprimand coming. “N-no, Sara I swear, my phone died during the night and I couldn’t–”
“Do you know how hard I had to twist the producers’ arms to get you this role?” Her tone meant business. She was fuming. It was times like this Valerie regretted hiring a hardass agent. She couldn’t fault Sara, though. She worked for the best talent agency in the country for a reason. “It was so embarrassing waking up to messages from Jason, and he gets so whiny it’s insufferable. I swear to God, Valerie, if this ever happens again…”
“It won’t! I swear. I’m getting an actual alarm clock today.” She tried to placate. “Also,” she paused, “I’d like to believe I got cast based on merit and talent.”
She heard Sara snort, nerves settling. “Yeah, sure. Now tell me, how’s your first day going?”
Valerie tried not to take offense, being familiar with Sara’s snarky humor. She wished she could benefit from nepotism in the industry, maybe she would’ve been somewhere by now. Alas, her dad was a retired accountant, and her mom was a nurse. When Sara took her on as a client three years before, she was over the moon, and she knew she recognized her talent and potential.
“Day’s going well. It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun!”
“Yeah, I bet. Especially with that hunky co-star of yours. I’ve gotta swing by some time and sniff around Ballard.”
She tried not to groan. Having to pretend to be attracted to men was getting harder everyday. She knew she could realistically come out to Sara, this was Hollywood after all, but she didn’t feel completely comfortable being vulnerable with her agent yet.
“Oh, yeah… for sure. He’s so,” she paused for a second to think of an appropriate adjective, “muscular.”
She could sense Sara’s raised eyebrow in the awkward silence afterwards. “Uh, anyway, I should get going. Break’s almost over.”
“Right. Good luck. No more fuck-ups, got it?”
“Got it.” Valerie hung up. Sometimes, Sara felt like her mother. Like a disapproving figure looming over her.
She got up and stretched. She had to head back for touch-ups already. She couldn’t lose track of time anymore.
She should get an assistant.
***
Valerie wasn’t sure she could get used to the ten hour workday. Her costume felt heavy, her makeup caked, and her hair was stiff from the products in it. As she made her way to her trailer after wrapping for the day, she saw Celeste leaving her own. Before she could overthink it, she speedwalked up to her.
“Hi!” She said a little breathlessly. She cringed at how loud she just sounded. “Sorry, er,”
Celeste gave her an unimpressed look. “Miss Hughes.”
Valerie tried not to balk at her idol remembering her last name. She’s your colleague now, grow up.
“Oh, please, call me Valerie. Even Val is fine, that’s what my friends call me. Not that we’re friends, we’re hardly acquaintances yet. I mean, I’d love to be friends wi–”
“Valerie.”
That shut her up.
“Your point?”
Valerie swallowed dryly. “I just wanted to apologize again for being late. It won’t happen again, I promise. I don’t want you to have a bad first impression of me, I’m usually very professional.” She rubbed at the nape of her neck nervously. Her and Celeste were similar heights but in heels, Valerie had to look down at her. She took the opportunity to really look at her, out of her costume. No engagement ring. Valerie wasn’t sure why that thrilled her. Her face was free from makeup and she was carrying a large purse.
“I believe you. I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early for our 8am call-time.” Valerie could swear she saw the slightest hint of a smile on her face. Her cross necklace shined in the streetlight before she turned to go to her car. “You got it! See you then!” Valerie managed to call out before she was out of earshot.
She needed to get her shit together. If she wanted Celeste and the rest of the cast and crew to take her seriously she had to stop acting like such a fangirl.
Easier said than done.