Cut to the Chase Read Online Free PDF Page A

air around them smelled of anxious career-climbing and scoop-grabbing. Their mouths usually crooked up in covetousness, as if they were going to suck the soul right out of her and pawn it for a buck or two.
    Paige’s face didn’t show any of that. Her eyes were bright, not with greed but with thoughtfulness. She seemed void of the nastiness of entertainment reporting.
    This might be more enjoyable than Avalon had imagined.
    Paige stepped over and offered her hand. She took it. “So you’re going to follow me around and write about…what?”
    Paige opened the satchel she was carrying and handed her a rather large book. “Here’s a copy of my last one. It’ll give you an idea of what I do.”
    “ The End , a study of movie endings.” She flipped through the coffee-table-size tome, immediately impressed with the photographs. Some were in color and others in black and white, but they all looked remarkable in their composition. Avalon didn’t know a lot about photography, but she’d picked up enough working with cinematographers.
    One once told her that the subject matter, meaning the actors, weren’t always the most important thing. He looked at each scene as an arrangement of light and dark and of colors and shapes.
    Paige understood what he was saying. Her use of bold, broad elements and strong lines was exactly what made her images so powerful.
    Avalon flipped through the candid images and prepared setups, and the subjects, most of whom Avalon knew, seemed so real and alive they appeared to jump off the page.
    The motor-home door opened and the second assistant director stepped in. “ Entertainment Tonight is here, Avalon. They said they have an interview with you.”
    She read the text that accompanied a shot of a costar she’d worked with, captivated by the way Paige had described the scene and analyzed the significance of its simple directness.
    “Avalon?”
    She held her hand up as she finished reading the text.
    Looking at Paige she said, “This is really good.”
    Helen came in and stood behind the second assistant director. “Avalon, Charles Herrera called again about the clothing line he’s designing. He wants to have dinner with you.”
    “And this is your second book?”
    Paige nodded. “It is. The one I’m working on now is called Cut to the Chase .”
    “Action scenes.”
    “Yes.”
    The second assistant director and Helen said simultaneously, “Avalon?”
    She sighed before turning away from Paige. “Tell Entertainment Tonight that I’ll get to them when I can. And schedule Charles for sometime next month. Or later.” As they left, she said to Paige, “Well, I’m a newbie at this action genre, but I’ll do my best.”
    Avalon turned back to face the mirror and Tawnya began to touch up her mascara. “Avalon’s already got the whole crew on their toes.”
    “I’m sorry.” Avalon held out her hand, palm up. “This is Tawnya.”
    “Nice to meet you,” Paige said. “Would it be possible to interview you as well?”
    Tawnya laughed. “You do know how dangerous that is, don’t you?”
    Avalon could see from the reflection in the mirror that Paige’s raised eyebrows revealed that she didn’t.
    “You mean because you’re my personal hair and makeup person,” Avalon said, “or because you’re my best friend?”
    “Either.” Tawnya picked up some blush and began to apply it under Avalon’s cheeks. “I don’t get paid to do hair and makeup. I get paid to shut up.”
    “That’s not true.” She slapped Tawnya’s arm before turning to Paige. “She can say anything she wants. My life is an open book. For your book.”
    Tawnya rolled her eyes. “Witty.”
    “Am I done, Tawnya? I’ve got an interview to do.” She looked at Paige and was suddenly taken with the prettiest wide-mouthed smile she’d ever seen. If there was a picture to go with the term winning smile , it was Paige’s.
     
    *
     
    Paige walked with Avalon to the set of The Last Stand , which, today, was