“Hold your breath,” the stylist orders.
Gabrielle obeys, and the stylist starts to tie the laces at the back of the dress. She tugs them painfully tight, and Gabrielle finds herself panting for breath. The stiff fabric feels like it’s crushing her. How am I supposed to do anything in this? She wonders nervously. I’ll probably pass out the second the cameras start rolling.
“Okay, that’s it,” the stylist says. “Now, get back on set.”
The minute Gabrielle walks back onto the set, people stop and stare. The long gown swishes romantically around her ankles, and her dark, straight hair looks glossy in the spotlights. She takes a deep breath, straightens her shoulders and marches up to Mr. Edgar. She grabs her sword and swishes it through the air—though it’s only plastic, it makes her feel like a powerful warrior.
This is no different from the Top Girls Club, she thinks. It’s just another performance. All I have to do is remember my steps, control my expression, and give the audience whatever they want.
“You might just prove me wrong after all,” Mr. Edgar murmurs.
He straps her into the harness and then rushes to stand behind the cameraman. The tight harness pinches her sides, and she squirms uncomfortably. Then the ropes creak, and she’s hoisted into the air. For a moment, she worries she’ll faint, but then the exhilaration takes over.
The ropes swing back and forth in a graceful arc, and the wind machines roar to life. Her hair blows out behind her, and her dress flows in the air behind her. As she looks down at the palace and village below, it’s easy to believe she’s really flying. She brandishes her sword and slices it through the air, and then flips around and lands on the palace roof.
“Cut,” the director shouts.
Gabrielle shifts on her feet and looks down at the studio. Dozens of crew members and extras have pushed their way onto the set. They stand behind the cameras and stare up at her with admiration. Gabrielle smiles and waves at them.
“That was excellent—you looked just like a queen,” Mr. Edgar shouts. “Now, let’s do it one more time from a different angle.”
The ropes creak, and Gabrielle feels tugged back into the air. She dangles helplessly for a minute, and then the director calls the action. The billowing sleeves of her gown blowback to reveal her pale, delicate wrists, and she swings her sword back and forth.
“Okay, let’s take a break,” the cameraman calls.
Janetta stands up and marches off the stage. She and Bryan have been filming a love scene all morning, and she feels hot and irritated.
“Come on, Bryan,” she says, grabbing his arm. “Let’s go see how Gabrielle is doing with her little action scene.”
This will be good, she thinks. I bet timid little Gabby is having a complete breakdown. I can’t wait for Bryan to see what a mess she is.
“Alright, that’s great,” Mr. Edgar shouts.
Gabrielle looks down, and her stomach drops. She’s dangling high above the floor on a thin rope. Without the choreography to distract her, she realizes just how far from the floor she is. She watches the crew members rush back and forth as they adjust the camera equipment and try not to think about what would happen if she fell.
I’ve done scarier things before, she thinks. I can handle this. She takes a deep breath and then another and watches the people bustle around the set. Mr. Edgar and a man she doesn’t seem to recognize are in deep conversation. They keep pointing up at her. I wonder what they’re saying, she wonders.
The spotlights are blazing with heat, and she feels a drop of sweat creep down her back. The heavy gown is almost suffocating in the heat. But I’ve worn more uncomfortable costumes at the club, she thinks. At least this covers my ass. She looks at the cameraman and director, hoping they’ll let her come down, but they seem to have forgotten about her.
They’ve turned their backs to the set and are talking with a couple standing in the shadows behind them. Gabrielle squints and recognizes Janetta and Bryan. It’s hard to tell with the glare of the lights, but it looks like Janetta is scowling.
“Okay, we’re going to bring you down, Gabrielle,” Mr. Edgar shouts. “I want to show you another action sequence.”
The ropes began to creak, and Gabrielle finds herself standing on the hard wooden floor. Mr. Edgar, Bryan, and Janetta rush over, and suddenly Gabrielle wishes she was back in the air. Janetta’s expression is even angrier up close—her eyes flash, and her lip curls up in a sneer.
“You must be happy,” Janetta hisses. “Mr. Edgar never likes anyone’s work—you have no idea how lucky you are.”
Gabrielle shrugs and says, “I guess I’m just a hard worker.”
“You, a hard worker?” Janetta asks with a laugh. “Tell that to our dance master. Remember him—Monsieur Jacques? Mom and Dad got us dance lessons, but you always slept in the corner. You said you were too sick, but Monsieur Jacques always said you were just too lazy.”
“Oh, don’t listen to her,” Bryan says with a wink. “You looked like royalty up there. And Monsieur Jacques was such a bore.”
Gabrielle blushes and smiles as Mr. Edgar pulls her back to the training mat. He snaps his fingers and demonstrates a complicated action sequence. He moves so fast she feels dizzy.
“Since you did the other sequence so well, I thought we could make it a little flashier,” he says. “Show me!”
She takes a deep breath and does her best to copy his moves, throwing her body through the air and onto the mat. Together they run through the sequence again and again. When she does something wrong, he clicks his tongue like an angry mother, but he doesn’t hit her. At the club, Abbie wh.i.p.s her legs every time she makes a mistake, but Mr. Edgar is surprisingly gentle and patient compared to the dance teacher.
“You really have a gift,” Mr. Edgar says. “You’re learning this choreography like a natural.”
Gabrielle smiles and lets him strap her back into the harness. It’s a dramatic fight with half a dozen other stunt doubles. The other doubles, all strong men with lean muscles, fly through the air and attack her. She dodges and flips to the side and slashes at them with her plastic sword.
Like the film, she starts to imagine they’re the men from the club. Their reaching hands and fierce eyes make her blood boil, and she throws herself at them with extra force. Each time she swings the plastic blade, she imagines metal and blood.
Janetta grits her teeth and watches as Gabrielle swoops through the air. She shoots a sideways glance at Bryan and sees that he’s completely entranced: his eyes have gone wide, and his mouth has fallen open. He looks like he’s seeing Gabrielle for the first time.
Janetta clenches her hands into fists and curses under her breath. I should never have tried to humiliate Gabrielle like this, she thinks. But how was I supposed to know that she’d actually be good at it?
“She looks like an avenging goddess,” Bryan says. “Even her expressions are perfect—she could be a star.”
“Pshh, I can do that too,” Janetta snaps.
“Oh come on,” Bryan says with a laugh. “We’ve done a few movies together now, but I’ve never seen you pull off a scene like that. You’re much better at the softer, dramatic scenes.”
“Well, that’s what matters,” Janetta says. “Gabrielle isn’t really acting—she’s just following instructions. Anyone can do that.”
“If it’s so easy, why aren’t you doing it?” Bryan asks.
Janetta turns around, ready to march off the set, but she stops when she hears applause. At first, it’s only Mr. Edgar, but then the crew members and extras join in; a few even whistle and cheer, Gabrielle smiles and blushes as the crew lowers her back down to the floor.
She looks like she’s floating, Janetta thinks bitterly. How could she have learned so much in only a few weeks at the club?
Gabrielle rushes over, flushed, and glowing with exertion. Her long dark hair looks windblown and dramatic, and her chest heaves as she pants. Up close, the green velvet looks even more stunning against her pale skin.
“Wow, you were amazing,” Bryan says.
Janetta catches him staring at Gabrielle’s chest and pinches his arm. He smirks but looks away. I’ll have to ask the costume designer to lower the neckline on my gown, she thinks. I can’t let this flat-chested little girl upstage me.
Gabrielle sees Janetta’s fierce glare first. For a moment, the old instinct to run away and hide takes over, but she squares her shoulders and marches toward her sister.
“I hope I didn’t let you down, Janetta,” she calls out.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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