Three Years Ago, Before the Accident
"Oh, come on, stop eating, Hailey," Donald Young said without looking up from his work, his voice carrying the authority of someone who had been doing makeup for Hollywood productions for quite a number of years.
Hailey paused with a granola bar halfway to her mouth, giving him a frustrated look through the mirror surrounded by bright bulbs.
"You're too slow and I'm famished," she replied, taking another bite despite his protest.
The granola bar was her breakfast, grabbed hastily from the craft services table before rushing to the makeup trailer for her early morning call time.
Donald sighed dramatically, setting down his brush to give her his full attention.
"Your face is different from Victoria's face, so the makeup process is going to take some time," he explained patiently, as if he had said this same thing dozens of times before.
"How different can we be?" Hailey asked between bites. "You keep saying we look alike."
"Different enough that I need to contour your cheekbones differently, adjust the shape of your eyebrows, and blend everything so the camera won't catch any differences between you and her."
His hands moved with practiced precision as he spoke.
"You make it sound like plastic surgery," Hailey muttered.
"It's more complicated than that," Donald continued, selecting a smaller brush.
"I need to essentially reshape your features to match Victoria's more angular bone structure. One wrong shadow and the whole illusion falls apart."
"You are really annoying," Hailey muttered, but there was affection in her voice.
She had worked with Donald on several productions over the past year, and his dedication to his craft was something she genuinely respected, even when it meant sitting still for longer than she preferred.
"And you are really impatient," Donald shot back with a grin. "How long have we been working together now?"
Hailey just rolled her eyes in response.
"And in all that time, have I ever made you look bad?"
Hailey considered this. "No, I guess not."
"Exactly. So trust the process and hold still," he instructed, leaning closer to examine his work in the bright light.
"If you keep moving, we'll be here all morning, and Victoria will arrive to find her stunt double looking like she got her makeup done in a rush."
The cramped makeup trailer, filled with the familiar scent of powder and setting spray, fell into comfortable silence.
Outside, Hailey could hear the familiar bustle of a production getting ready for the day's shoot.
Voices called out instructions, trucks rumbled as they moved equipment into position, and the general energy of dozens of people working together toward a common goal filled the air.
"Hand me that concealer," Donald instructed, pointing to a small tube on the counter.
"Which one?" Hailey asked. "There are like twenty tubes here."
"The one that says 'Medium Beige' on it. Right there, next to the brushes."
Hailey reached for it. "Here?"
"That's foundation. The concealer. The smaller tube."
"This one?"
"Yes, thank you." Donald took it and continued his work.
After another twenty minutes of careful work, he finally stepped back to admire his handiwork.
"There," he said with satisfaction, turning the chair slightly so she could see herself better in the mirror.
"Take a look and tell me what you think."
Hailey studied her reflection carefully, turning her head from side to side to examine the transformation.
"Wow."
The woman looking back at her bore a striking resemblance to Victoria Green, the A-list actress, from the shape of her eyebrows to the gentle contouring that made her cheekbones appear more prominent.
Even her lips had been reshaped with liner and gloss to match Victoria's signature look.
"I know, right? Apart from your face," Donald continued, stepping back to get a better view of his work, "you really look like Victoria, especially from behind. The height is perfect, the hair color matches exactly, and your body proportions are nearly identical."
"You're exaggerating," Hailey said with a laugh.
"Am I? Look at yourself. Turn to the side."
Hailey turned. "Okay, I admit the resemblance is pretty good."
"Pretty good?" Donald scoffed. "Honey, when you're in costume and moving, even people who know Victoria personally might do a double-take."
"There can't be such a close resemblance. Victoria is a movie star, and I'm just a stunt double from nowhere."
"Trust me on this one," Donald said, packing up his brushes. "I've been doing this long enough to know."
Before Hailey could respond, the trailer door swung open without warning.
A man stepped inside, moving with the kind of confidence that suggested he was used to walking into places without being announced.
He was tall and lean, dressed in an expensive-looking jacket that suggested he wasn't part of the crew.
His dark hair was styled perfectly despite the early hour, and his eyes held an intensity that immediately commanded attention.
"Victoria!" he called out excitedly, his voice filled with genuine enthusiasm at seeing her.
Without hesitation, he moved toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind in a familiar embrace.
Hailey froze completely, caught off guard by the unexpected contact from a complete stranger. "Uh..."
The gesture was intimate and comfortable, the kind of physical contact that spoke to a close relationship and shared history.
The man's arms were strong around her waist, and she could smell his cologne — something expensive and masculine that seemed to fill the small space of the trailer.
Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the embrace ended.
The man stepped back quickly, his expression changing from joy to confusion as Hailey turned and he got a better look at her face.
His eyes widened with surprise and embarrassment as he realized his mistake.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly, his voice now uncertain and apologetic.
"I thought you were..." He paused, clearly flustered by his error. "Who are you?"
Hailey turned to face him properly, still processing what had just happened.
"I'm Victoria's stand-in," she replied, her voice steady despite the unexpected encounter.
The man's expression shifted from embarrassment to curiosity as he studied her face more carefully.
She could see him taking in the makeup, the styled hair, the overall resemblance that Donald had worked so hard to achieve.
"Where is Victoria?" he asked, glancing around the trailer as if expecting to find her hiding somewhere.
"She hasn't arrived yet," Hailey replied, studying his face and trying to place him.
There was something about his features that seemed familiar, though she was certain they had never met.
"Is there anything urgent? I could pass along a message when she gets here."
The man shook his head, his expression becoming more distant.
"No, nothing urgent," he said quietly, already moving toward the door. "I'll catch up with her later."
As quickly as he had appeared, he was gone, leaving the trailer feeling somehow smaller and quieter than before.
Hailey stared at the closed door for a moment, trying to process the strange encounter.
"Who was that?" she asked, turning back to Donald, who had watched the entire exchange with obvious amusement.
Donald was already packing up his brushes and supplies, a knowing smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"I don't know," Hailey continued, when he didn't immediately answer. "maybe he's a fan of Victoria's?"
Donald laughed softly, shaking his head as he organized his makeup kit.
"That, my dear, was Eric Collins," he said, as if the name should mean something to her.
"Am I supposed to know who that is?"
"A friend of Victoria's. And see? I told you about your resemblance to Victoria. Even someone who knows her intimately was fooled."
His voice carried a note of satisfaction, as if the incident had proven his point about the quality of his work.
"From behind, you two are practically identical."
Hailey considered this information, filing away the name Eric Collins for future reference.
The way the man had embraced her, the familiarity of the gesture, suggested he was more than just a casual friend of Victoria's.
But the disappointment in his voice when he realized his mistake had been genuine, almost painful to witness.