‘Abigail?’
I nodded.
‘Look this way, please.’ She pointed to her right and as I followed her finger there was a flash and a whirr. They’d got me again. My security pass for the Venice Film Festival was even worse than the one forMoonmen– something I hadn’t thought possible.
‘This is Phoebe Barrington, my agent,’ I said. ‘Can you check if her name is on the list too, please?’
Chiara went all the way through the list, then shook her head. ‘It’s not, no. But you do have a platinum pass, which is access all areas and means you can sign in a guest.’
‘Access all areas?’ I repeated, astonished. I couldn’t believe my ears.
‘Yes. If you’re happy to vouch for her, she can come in with you.’
I nodded silently, in shock.
Phoebe could barely contain herself. ‘See?’ she said, slapping me on the arm. ‘I said you had friends in high places.’
A platinum pass? Surely Blake hadn’t got me a jobandupgraded my access? This was turning into the best apology of all time.
‘OK, here you go,’ Chiara said, handing Phoebe a red lanyard. ‘Your pass only works on the front door. Abigail will need to accompany you within the building.’ Phoebe did a happy dance as she put her lanyard on, and Chiara turned to me. ‘You are working with Jemima Andams in Room 17. Through the doors, take the elevator to the second floor and it’s the fourth door on the right.’
‘Lovely, thanks,’ I said, taking a deep breath. This was so bloody cool. ‘Let’s do this.’ Phoebe and I walked down to the backstage entrance, and I buzzed us both in. There was a flurry of activity on the other side as a group of guys wheeled an enormous elephant down the corridor. The organised chaos of being behind the scenes. I’d missed it. There was nothing more exciting than the opening night of a new show. Seeing everything come together for the first time, getting the actors ready for their big moment, and seeing the audience go wild with applause. We were a team, and we were all in it together. We followed Chiara’s instructions and got in the lift, quickly moving down the corridor to find my room. I was nearly an hour early, but I wanted to make sure I was in the right place.
‘Here it is,’ Phoebe said, stopping outside Room 17, constantly scanning faces as people rushed past.
‘I doubteitherof the Ryans will be wandering aimlessly around the backstage corridors,’ I said, knocking tentatively.
‘Come innn!’ a sunny voice sing songed.
I opened the door into a large, airy space, curtains cordoning it off from other similar spaces no doubt. There was a floodlight in the centre of the room and two make-up tables set up in front of a huge mirror. And there, stood in a gold jumpsuit, wearing an apron and a welcoming smile, was the actual, real-life Gem Adams.
Twenty-five
Friday 6thSeptember
‘Hey, nice to meet you – I’m Gem,’ she said, holding out a waiflike hand to shake mine.
‘Oh wow, hi,’ I said, starstruck. ‘I know who you are, I didn’t realise it was you I’d be working with.’ I gave Phoebe a death stare.What the hell?
‘Neither did I,’ Phoebe said, frantically checking her phone. ‘We got the booking through a… Sparkle Productions.’
Gem nodded. ‘Yes, that’s me. We always keep things on the down-low with new bookings, so there’s no advance pressure.’
‘Great idea,’ I said, with a nervous laugh. Feeling all the pressure RIGHT NOW instead.
‘I’m Abi’s agent,’ Phoebe said, going in for a handshake. ‘Phoebe Barrington.’
‘They have you listed as Jemima Andams upstairs?’ I said, putting two and two together. ‘It must be a typo in your surname.’
Gem gave me a wink. ‘It’s fine. I do it deliberately to confuse people. My name is synonymous with Eva’s and her performance is a surprise, so it’s better for us if people don’t know I’m here.’
‘Eva Mavareaux?’ I whispered.
‘The one and only,’ Gem replied. ‘We’ll be doing make-up for her and a couple of her friends.’
Blake must be one of them. I hadn’t realised he was such a global megastar. I really needed to watch thatOutlawsprogramme – I was clearly missing out.
‘Do you bring your agent along to all your bookings?’ Gem asked with a grin, smoothing her hands over her peroxide bob. She must have been ten years older than me, and had that cool, rock-star thing going on, with green cowboy boots and plenty of eyeliner.
