Emmaline felt as though someone had just poured a bucket of ice water down her back.
The scene began and she forced herself not to react at all to Priscilla's pleased expression as she entered the scene and began acting.
How much did Priscilla know?
What did she plan to do?
What could she do?
Emmaline's mind raced even as she performed on autopilot, having rehearsed this scene so many times before.
By the time the shoot was over, Emmaline had calmed down.
She would have to be smart about this. Priscilla loved watching people suffer and she refused to give her the satisfaction.
So she just ignored Priscilla.
She could feel Priscilla slowly getting more and more worked up. The more Priscilla tried to draw attention to herself, the more Emmaline pretended she didn't exist.
It got to the point that Priscilla tried to stay in Emmaline's line of sight at all times and ended up tripping over the male star, Ethan Park.
Being Priscilla, she never passed up the opportunity to flirt.
"Oh my, Ethan, I'm so sorry," She purred without a hint of apology in her tone, "You seem so strong, you must work out a lot."
With a straight face, Ethan helped her to her feet within thirty seconds and took one step away from her.
"Yeah, you should hit the gym more," He told her in his British accent, "It might help with your balance."
Priscilla went red so fast that Emmaline had to pretend she choked on water to disguise her laughter.
Still, Emmaline couldn't deny the ball of nerves in her stomach when Priscilla finally cornered her at the bus stop.
She got out of her flashy car and leaned against the door, "Aren't you afraid I'll tell the whole world about your secret?"
Emmaline made use of every acting class she attended and looked bored.
"What do you want?" She sighed.
"I want the role you took from me," Priscilla hissed.
"Number one, I didn't take it from you," Emmaline held up one finger and then a second finger, "Number two, do you think telling everyone my secret will make me give it up to you?"
Priscilla's eyes narrowed, "You don't believe it'll happen?"
She stepped up the curb and cocked her hip, staring down at Emmaline.
"When everyone realises that you didn't get the role on your own thanks to a certain Wright heir, it's over for you," She grinned.
This time, Emmaline felt real panic lace through her.
She knew about Ashton and it didn't matter if Ashton didn't buy her the role, Priscilla would tell every news source that it was exactly like that.
Emmaline was going to have to fake it till she made it.
Standing up from the bench she had been on, Emmaline got on eye level with Priscilla and smiled sweetly.
"You'll never be able to prove it and guess what? It's already over. By the time you leak it to everyone, they'll already know I deserve the role thanks to my good acting, and no one will care about some random nobody. Don't you know? He changes partners like he changes clothes," Emmaline tried to cover all the bases, making this as low payoff as possible in Priscilla's eyes.
"So go ahead," Emmaline challenged Priscilla, her tone steely and her grey eyes bright, "Maybe they'll even thank him for getting me into this role because I'm doing such a great job!"
With a scream of frustration, Priscilla fled back to her car and it sped off.
Emmaline 1, Priscilla 0.
Emmaline sank back onto the bench with shaky legs.
That only worked because she had behaved with so much confidence that Priscilla doubted her own blackmail.
And it would only continue to work if Emmaline did a good job on set.
If she slipped up, Priscilla would take it as the perfect opportunity to 'expose' her and try to kick her out.
She sighed and looked through the latest script that an intern had delivered earlier that day.
It wasn't unusual for the script to undergo revisions based on the test audience response. But this was a little drastic, the scene they would shoot next week had changed almost completely.
Emmaline had already memorized the original script and was rehearsing it already, but she would have to do it all over again with the revised version.
Now that she had more at stake, she had to work even harder.
***
"Ready for action," Producer Penhas called.
He was always discussing with Director Slater and the two seemed close, but Emmaline could see why he was so highly sought after.
He was perceptive and gave good suggestions that really improved the production value or the style that they were aiming for.
Emmaline drew a breath and sank into her character.
She had worked hard to learn the lines for the new version and made sure that she was fully prepared.
However, when the scene began, Emmaline noticed something was very wrong.
"I won't be able to go to the party with you," Ethan said his line and looked expectantly at Emmaline.
But she was scrambling for the line on the inside.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Priscilla smirking in the corner and Emmaline immediately knew that the revised script was meant to trip her up.
"Cut!" Director Slater yelled, "Spelt, that was your cue."
Emmaline winced.
So far, she hadn't messed up too badly, but Director Slater had never sounded so annoyed with her before.
She couldn't afford to make a blunder now.
"You okay?" Ethan was looking at her with concern and Emmaline nodded, frantically trying to remember the old lines.
The scene they were doing was the original!
Everything she had rehearsed and prepared for was wrong!
"I'm sorry, I wasn't focusing," Emmaline turned to the crew and apologised sincerely, "I'm ready to go now."
"You sure you don't need a break, Em?" Priscilla called out with fake worry, "You look a little lost to me."
Anger boiled in Emmaline's veins.
What was the first line from the original script? She just needed that as a starting point…
She shook her head and faced the director with determination burning in her eyes, "I can do it."
Producer Penhas whispered something to Director Slater and he assessed Emmaline for a moment before settling back into his chair.
"Lights, camera, action!"