Greta looked around her helplessly.
‘Are we watching the film now?’ she asked. The thought of seeing her own face so big, and at close range, made her want to run and hide. ‘What’s it about?’
Nora frowned, though her forehead remained unnaturally smooth. ‘You’ve already seen it, remember? We’ll watch the trailer alongside the rest of the audience. Then you’ll go on stage to receive your award. You can slip out while the film plays, or you can stay to watch it.’
Greta felt suddenly hot, and she wafted her face with her hand. ‘Yes, of course I remember it,’ she lied. ‘I just wondered.’
A brass band struck up a medley of dramatic music that she assumed was from the movie. A bass drum thudded so loudly it made her insides jump. The curtains twitched, then opened, revealing a tall wooden podium facing the audience.
A shot of adrenaline made Greta feel faint. She wanted to escape, but Nora stood firmly at her side like a gatekeeper she couldn’t get past.
A silver-haired man in a maroon tuxedo walked onto the stage and performed a bow. He proceeded to gush about the film like it was a masterpiece that would go down in history.
Greta saw Nora roll her eyes.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ the man boomed. ‘Before we watch the film, it is my pleasure to invite on stage someone who is no stranger to the limelight themselves. The star of over twenty movies, his name is synonymous with cinematic excellence.
‘A legend in his own right, please welcome the one, the only . . . Mr Tobias Blake . . .’
Greta felt her knees give way, and she almost fell into a swoon.
Tobias Blake was here?
Forher?
Chapter 20
WATCHING TOBIAS STROLLon stage in his midnight-blue tux, with his salt-and-pepper hair gleaming under the lights, felt like an out-of-body experience. Greta’s stomach performed several cartwheels. She rubbed her eyes to assure herself it really was him. His slightly wonky smile, leisurely walk and azure-blue eyes were all present and correct, though he looked a lot smaller in real life. She supposed she was used to seeing him on the big screen.
‘Tobias?’Greta hissed to Nora. ‘He’s really here?’
‘Well, he was your co-star.’ Nora nodded. ‘We have to impress him tonight. Ineedhim on my books. Do everything in your power to reel him in.’
My co-star? Wow.
Greta stared back at the stage, her mind reeling. They’d been in the movie together? What kind of scenes had they shared? Was the film a period drama? Action in space? Oh god, had she taken her clothes off?
Nora’s voice cut through her panic. ‘If you’re feeling nervous, just pretend the audience are a row of potatoes. Or naked. It works wonders.’
Greta attempted it, but the tip was too bizarre to help.
Tobias took the microphone, his voice as smooth as hot milk. ‘Thank you, everyone. It’s an honour to be here this evening, celebrating this film and the incredible talent behind it. And I’m not just talking about yours truly,’ he said with a self-depreciating laugh and a wink. ‘I am, of course, speaking about the wonderful lady who is so deserving of this award, voted for by you guys. But firstly, let’s take a look at her brilliance in action.’
The lights dimmed, the curtains slid farther apart, and the screen lit up, casting a silver glow across the audience’s faces. When Greta’s own face appeared, she wished she could curl up like an armadillo and roll into the orchestra pit.
A few brief highlights from other films appeared on the screen first. Apparently, she’d starred in a few romcoms, a Victorian melodrama, a whodunnit, and a vampire/slasher movie.
Greta hadn’t thought she had any flaws in Mapleville, until her face was projected several metres high. Suddenly, every pore, every line, and every hair on her face was magnified, making even her smallest imperfections impossible to ignore.
Even though she looked better than she had in years, the experience was mortifying—far worse than spotting fresh wrinkles in her bathroom mirror in Longmill.
Next came a trailer for the film she was being honoured for. It was a sequel to the shark movie she’d seen Tobias starring in.Deep Sea Fury 2.
There Greta was, skiing on frothy waves in an orange swimsuit, her face twisted in anguish as she spotted a fin rising above the water. She thrashed in the waves, screaming prettily as she bobbed below the surface, until Tobias heroically rescued her.
The scene shifted, and now they were kissing passionately, tangled in the bedsheets. Greta’s cheeks burned, and she hoped Jim wasn’t watching. Had shereallysnogged Tobias Blake? Damn. She couldn’t remember a thing about it.
Unable to bear watching herself any longer, she wrenched her eyes away, sweeping them across the audience to watch their reactions instead. Most people were enraptured, leaning forward in their seats, their eyes fixed on the screen. However, a couple in the front row both stifled yawns.
