‘Whatttt? Well Google it now and have a look,’ Lucy said, aghast.
‘No, it’s fine, I’d prefer not to know, honestly…’
Lucy pulled out her phone and started speed-swiping. ‘Just a second… let me find ittt… Yes. Here he is.’ She handed me her phone, then busied herself in one of the cupboards. And there, frozen on the screen, dressed in full cowboy regalia and sitting on a black stallion, was Pete. Or – as the rest of the world knew him – Blake. His body was tanned and glistening. White shirt and dark blue jeans with battered leather cowboy boots and silver spurs. He looked so unbelievably hot. I felt sick.
‘Mm-hmm,’ I said, nonchalant, as the clip started auto playing at maximum volume.
‘We gotta get outta here before the sheriff gets wind of this. Imma thinking youse might know the way to…’
‘How do I turn it down…?’ I asked, pressing buttons in alarm. There was a sharp knock on the door, as Lucy ran over, but she stopped in her tracks as Blake walked in, his voice still bouncing off the walls.
‘Howdy, ladies,’ he drawled, with a smile. I nearly threw the phone out the window, as Lucy took it from me and made the noise stop. ‘I thought I’d do the rounds and introduce myself.’ Blake briefly looked at Lucy, then set his eyes on me. I had no choice but to style it out.
‘That’s a great idea,’ I said, more confident than I felt. ‘Go for it.’
He laughed. ‘Thank you. Well, hi, I’m Blake Thomas. Master Moonman. You might recognise me fromOutlaws?’ he said, nodding at Lucy’s phone.
‘I definitely recognise you from somewhere,’ I replied, keeping my gaze steady. ‘Nice to meet you,Blake. I’m Abi. I’m one of the make-up assistants and will be making up your moon head for filming each day.’
‘And I’m Lucy – also make-up – Abi is assisting me.’ Lucy reached out shyly to shake Blake’s hand.
‘Good to meet you both.’ Blake’s eyes twinkled and his star-quality vibe filled the room. ‘The heads look pretty great, don’t they?’ he said, walking over and picking one up.
‘Oh, I… you’re not really allowed to…’ I said, worried he might drop it.
‘That’s OK, Abi. He’s fine,’ Lucy said, dismissing me, as he carried on regardless.
Blake held the moon head up to the light and looked inside. The shell was made from fibreglass and the inner skin would be a tight-fitting silicone around his face.
‘We’ll need to update your skin test when you have a few minutes,’ Lucy said, keen to have everything in order. ‘Yours, and the other Moonman.’
‘Travis isn’t here yet, but I can do mine now if you like?’ Blake unzipped his gilet and sat down. ‘Top off, is it?’ He looked at me with the question.
This day was already very weird, and it was only 10 a.m. I wasn’t quite over the shock of seeing Pete/Blake in the flesh again, yet, and now here he was, sitting in our perfectly laid-out room, about to whip off his top.
‘Er… no, just roll one of your sleeves up, please,’ I said.
Lucy poured some water into a bowl and started stirring in the silicone mix. ‘Your paperwork doesn’t list any allergies,’ she said. ‘You’ve never had any trouble with anything before, then?’ Blake shook his head. ‘And you haven’t worn prosthetics for any of your other roles?’
‘Not for work, but plenty of costumes over the years,’ he said, with a wink. ‘I’d know if I had a problem with silicone.’
I wiped Blake’s wrist with disinfectant, then covered it in Vaseline. His skin was hot to touch, and his eyes were on me, watching my every move. I clicked the lid back on in a fluster and gave him a fleeting look, as Lucy brushed on a glob of red silicone and we both stood back to let it set.
‘It’ll only take a few minutes and then we can peel it off,’ I said, pulling out my folder and flicking to Blake’s page, pen poised to write down anything unusual.
‘I hardly felt a thing,’ Blake said, fluttering his eyelashes at Lucy, as she gazed at him. ‘Any chance of a coffee while I wait?’
‘Yes! Of course!’ I said, jumping up. ‘I’ll go.’
‘No, no, he askedme,’ Lucy swooned, skipping out and closing the door, leaving the two of us alone.
I turned my back and started clearing away. ‘I’ll just run these few things through to the kitchen,’ I said, hurriedly.
‘Not so fast,’ Blake said, his legs wide open and arm outstretched. ‘How’s Ibiza, Abi?’
I stopped, unsure how to play it for a second, then turned to face him with a chuckle. ‘I’m having a great time thanks,Pete. How are you?’
He laughed. ‘All these little white lies, eh? Can’t trust anyone these days.’
