"Me?" Hailey's voice jumped an octave. "But there are lines in this scene!"
"They are not going to show your face," Donald explained patiently. "They will cut away to the infirmary scene afterward where Victoria magically reappears."
"That's... actually pretty clever," Hailey admitted.
Meanwhile, Miles's voice was escalating.
"I know we have a stand-in," he was saying to Joy, his hands clenched. "But she's for the dangerous stuff! This scene needs Victoria's face!"
"Maybe we could use CGI?" Joy suggested weakly.
"CGI?" Miles stared at her. "Do you think we're Marvel? This is a romantic drama, not Avengers!"
Joy looked like she wanted to disappear into her tablet.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Miles continued. "This is the most important moment! The emotional climax!"
When Joy didn't respond, Miles marched directly to Victoria.
"Victoria! Victoria, are you listening to me?"
Victoria looked up with tired eyes that somehow still managed to look perfectly made up.
"This is the first scene where your character saves the male lead's life," Miles explained, his voice strained. "It's crucial for their relationship development."
"I understand," Victoria said weakly. "But I'm just so..."
"So what?" Miles asked impatiently.
"So... fragile today," Victoria finished with a delicate sigh.
Someone in the background snorted. "Fragile like a brick."
"No matter what," Miles continued. "I need your face in this scene. The emotional impact depends on it!"
Victoria stood up slowly from her chair, the white bathrobe flowing dramatically around her.
She moved like she was made of glass.
"Alright," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'll do the scene."
Miles's face lit up with relief. "Thank you, Victoria. I knew you were a professional—"
"But," Victoria interrupted, holding up one perfectly manicured hand. "If my condition gets worse during filming, I may need to rest for a week or two."
The set went dead quiet.
Miles's jaw twitched as he processed the threat. A week or two of delay would cost a fortune.
"Or," Victoria continued sweetly. "We could just use Hailey for this one scene."
Miles looked at Victoria, then at the pool, then at the crew watching expectantly.
Finally, he sighed in defeat.
"Fine," he said, turning toward Hailey. "Hailey! Get changed. You're our hero today."
"Lucky me," Hailey muttered, but she felt a thrill of excitement mixed with nerves.
As she headed toward the changing area, she could hear the crew scrambling to adapt.
"Adjust camera two!" someone called out.
"We need different angles!"
"Move that light! We can't show her face!"
Miles clapped his hands together, trying to regain control.
"Alright, everyone! Listen up!"
The crew gathered around him like students around a teacher.
"Milan," Miles said, pointing to the villain actor. "You're going to grab Samuel's head by the pool edge."
Milan nodded. He was tall and sharp-featured, dressed in a black suit that made him look appropriately menacing.
"Do I actually grab his head, or just pretend to?" Milan asked.
"Actually grab it," Miles said. "But gently. We don't want a lawsuit."
"Got it," Milan replied. "Gentle head-grabbing."
"Then you'll push him into the pool," Miles continued. "Samuel can't swim in the scene, so he needs to look like he's drowning."
Samuel, the male lead, was standing nearby looking increasingly pale.
He was young, with the kind of fresh face that screamed "leading man."
"Hailey," Miles said, turning to her. "You'll jump in and rescue our drowning prince here."
"No pressure," Hailey said with a nervous laugh.
"Let's move, people!" Miles clapped again. "It's already 10:30 and we haven't shot anything yet!"
As he turned around, he spotted Samuel standing alone near the pool edge.
The young actor looked pale and anxious, his hands clasped in front of him. He looked like he was about to face a firing squad.
"Samuel!" Miles called out, walking over to him.
"Good morning, sir," Samuel replied, his voice respectful but nervous.
"We're going to need you to work a bit harder today," Miles said, his tone gentler than it had been with Victoria. "You'll need to fall in and really sell the drowning."
"Define 'really sell,'" Samuel said weakly.
"Flail around, look panicked, maybe gargle some water," Miles explained.
Samuel's eyes widened. "Gargle water?"
"Don't actually drink it," Miles clarified quickly. "Just make it look realistic."
"Right," Samuel nodded, though he still looked terrified.
"Don't worry," Miles continued. "We had the pool checked this morning. I even went in myself."
"You tested it?" Samuel asked hopefully.
"Well, I dipped my foot in," Miles admitted. "But it felt fine."
"Your foot," Samuel repeated flatly.
"Very thorough," Miles said defensively. "It's not that deep anyway."
While Donald was doing her makeup, Hailey found herself watching Samuel.
He was standing alone by the pool, staring at the water like it might bite him.
"I feel sorry for him," Donald said, following her gaze. "Poor kid looks like he's about to faint."
"He does look pretty miserable," Hailey agreed, applying lipstick carefully.
"It's his first movie, and now the female lead has abandoned him," Donald continued.
"That's harsh," Hailey said, studying Samuel's dejected posture. "Look at his face. He looks like someone told him Christmas is cancelled."
Donald nodded sympathetically. "I heard he's a big Victoria fan too."
"Really?" Hailey asked, glancing toward Victoria, who was now examining her nails with intense concentration.
"Oh yeah," Donald confirmed. "He was so excited to work with her. Had all her movies memorized and everything."
"And now she won't even get in the pool with him," Hailey observed.
"Exactly," Donald said. "Plus, Miles might make him do this scene over and over until it's perfect."
"What do you mean?"
"Miles is a perfectionist," Donald explained. "I've seen him make actors do the same scene fifteen times."
Hailey's heart sank. "Fifteen times? In the pool?"
"Yep. Samuel is going to be a prune by the end of this."
"That's awful," Hailey said, watching Samuel practice his drowning motions on dry land. "I really feel sorry for him."
Miles was calling for Samuel to get into position.
"Samuel! Over here by the pool! Milan, you too!"
The director started working out the choreography with Milan while Samuel stood there looking abandoned.
Hailey made a decision. She finished her makeup quickly and walked over to where Samuel was waiting.
"Hi," she said, offering him her brightest smile. "I'm Hailey."
Samuel looked up, surprise replacing some of the anxiety in his face.
"Oh, hello," he said uncertainly. "I'm Samuel."
"I figured," Hailey grinned. "You're kind of famous around here. The drowning prince."
Samuel managed a weak laugh. "Is that what they're calling me?"
"I made that up," Hailey admitted. "But it has a nice ring to it."
"I'll be playing the pool scene instead of Victoria," she explained.
Samuel's face fell slightly. "Right. Where did Victoria go?"
"She's feeling a little under the weather," Hailey said diplomatically.
Samuel glanced toward Victoria, who was now having an animated conversation with her assistant about nail polish colors.
"She looks pretty healthy to me," he observed.