Page 1 of Wynns of Change
Chapter 1
“…as if he didn’t know how this would affect you.” Jillian McElroy rolled her eyes, tightly gripping the back of the chair.
Harlow, in full actress mode, lowered her head, her shoulders sagging. “Alex no longer loves me. I know the truth.” Her eyes filled with tears, genuine tears forming from years of practice. All she had to do was think about something sad, in this case her mother’s death, and the tears flowed.
“You’re too ga-good for him.” Jillian flubbed her line, and not for the first time.
To be blunt, the woman, Harlow’s soon-to-be-ex-husband’s assistant and fling, had zero acting skills.
Maybe she wasn’t even a fling anymore. Robert had probably elevated her to the next level, just below the “public appearance girlfriend” level. But he would need to wait until the papers were filed and the press release ready to go to parade Jillian around for all the world to see.
She could almost read the headlines now:Megastar Harlow Wynn and husband/manager Robert Barbetz file for divorce.The tabloids would have a field day with it. She wondered if he realized how bad it would look…the fact he’d all but abandoned Harlow not long after her automobile accident.
Surely, Robert had read the news stories, hinting about how he was seen everywhere except with his wife while she struggled to recover from her car crash. Or maybe he didn’t care. Sometimes bad press was equally as effective as good press.
She could feel Robert, who was standing on the sidelines watching his wife and girlfriend face each other, staring, or maybe glaring, at her.
During her long weeks of recovery, Harlow had taken a good, hard look at her life. She didn’t like what she saw.
Her marriage was a sham and had been since almost the beginning. She’d been too busy building her career these past few years, allowing Robert to dictate her every move, keeping her distracted and not paying attention to what was going on.
At first, she felt sad and depressed. Harlow hadn’t married, thinking someday she and Robert would go their separate ways. She took those solemn vows as a lifetime commitment. He had made them with “until-the-next-big-thing-comes-along” in mind.
“Cut! Cut!” Steven, the director, made a chopping motion with his hands. “You did it again.”
It was Jillian’s turn to flip on the waterworks. “I can’t help it. I’m nervous.”
“Look. Clearly, you need professional training.” Steven’s tone softened. “You have only a handful of lines. There’s no way you can make it to the next level at this rate without some acting classes. Maybe Harlow can give you a few pointers about how to teach your brain to retain the lines without flubbing them.”
It took every ounce of willpower for Harlow to bite back a snarky reply. There was no way on earth she was going to train a woman who was likely gunning for her roles down the road. And if Robert had his way, he would do it PDQ, as in…as soon as the ink dried on the divorce papers.
She had no doubt her husband’s plan was out with the old—Harlow—and in with the new, voluptuous and incredibly young Jillian McElroy.
Harlow offered them both a tight smile. “I’m sure Robert will have his own ideas about Jillian’s training.”In more ways than one,she silently added.
Steven strode over to where Robert stood watching and lowered his voice. He waved his arms in their direction. Judging by the look on her husband’s face, Harlow was certain it wasn’t a pleasant exchange.
Finally, Robert crooked his finger, signaling Jillian to step off the movie set. The trio engaged in a brief conversation before walking off. Steven returned to the stage. “I’m sorry, Harlow. This won’t work. I’m replacing Jillian with Anorah.”
“Fine by me.” With Jillian gone and Anorah, one of her co-stars filling in, the scene went smoothly without a single retake.
Out of the corner of her eye, Harlow glimpsed Robert standing off to the side, a brooding scowl etched on his face. She knew him well enough to know he was furious. His barely-out-of-her-teens protégé would have to score her first legitimate acting gig somewhere else.
No doubt, Robert would blame Harlow for Jillian getting booted from the set. Somehow, it would be all her fault.
*****
“And that’s a wrap, at least for you, Harlow.”
The camera crew and actors broke out into a spontaneous round of applause. Harlow Wynn had pulled off what she thought would be the impossible—remaining on the set ofA City of Glassdespite her recent injuries. She excused herself tofreshen up in the restroom, down a long hall and in the back of the building.
The large warehouse, where the final scene was being filmed, creeped her out, but then it was supposed to be creepy, when everything righted in her “make believe”A City of Glassworld.
She smoothed her hair and leaned in to check her makeup in the mirror. It was starting to itch, which meant she would have to scrape off the caked-on goop soon or risk breaking out in hives.
Harlow could only tolerate a certain brand of makeup and cosmetics, being highly allergic to most others, including some very expensive skincare products. Despite the high-end brand touted as organic, free of chemicals and preservatives, she could feel her pores clogging.
“There you are.” Harlow’s scalp tingled. That voice. She would recognize it anywhere.
