Free Finding Colin Firth: A Novel by Mia March Page A

a brief article about the movie crew that had recently set up some equipment in Boothbay Harbor, near Frog Marsh, to film scenes of a new Colin Firth dramedy. Below the article was a call for extras.
    Major motion picture seeks locals as extras. Apply on location at Frog Marsh between 4 and 6 Monday and Tuesday only. Bring a résumé and two photographs paper-clipped together, full-body and headshot, with name, phone, height, weight, and clothing size written in permanent marker on back.
    So it was true. Colin Firth was coming to Boothbay Harbor—and could very well have been in Harbor View Coffee yesterday, despite the barista swearing on a stack of Bibles that Colin Firth had not been in the place. Perhaps he’d ducked out the back once word had gotten out that he was in there. The man had probably just wanted an iced coffee and a scone, for heaven’s sake, not screaming fans bombarding him. Such as herself.
    “Come by my house tonight and I’ll take a bunch of pictures of you,” Shelley said, ripping out the front page, folding it up and tucking it into the pocket of Veronica’s apron.
    “Pictures of me? For what?”
    “So you can apply to be an extra!”
    Veronica laughed. “Me? I work here. I bake a thousand pies a week. How could I possibly drop everything to work on a film set? I once read that extras are on call all day for as long as it takes to film the scenes on location. They sit around in a tent and read or chat until the director calls them to walk by wordlessly in the background or whatever.” But still, just the thought of being an extra in a Colin Firth movie started an excitement inside her that Veronica hadn’t felt in decades.
    “Oh, you’re applying,” Shelley said, well aware of Veronica’s love of Colin Firth. At least three times a month, Veronicainvited Shelley over to watch a Colin Firth film, complete with fun drinks and appetizers and pie and discussion afterward about the film and why she adored Colin Firth so darn much. Didn’t we just see Love Actually a couple of months ago? Shelley had asked when Veronica had told her she was planning to watch it, if Shelley wanted to join her. As if you could see Love Actually one too many times. “You’ve got money, Veronica. Your pie business will allow you to take off a few weeks, even a couple of months. You’re going to miss the chance to be an extra in a Colin Firth movie in your own hometown?”
    No, I’m not, Veronica thought, the image of Mr. Darcy walking soaking wet out of that pond coming to mind. There was no way she was missing this. She unfolded the newspaper page and stared at the photo of her heartthrob, then at the ad. She was smiling like an idiot.
    Major motion picture seeks locals as extras . Good Lord, Veronica could be in the same airspace as Colin Firth. She could be an extra—why not? And Shelley was right; her pie business had been doing so well that she could easily take some time off from the diner.
    Veronica in same room as Colin Firth. She could look Mr. Darcy in the eye!
    She’d be first in line to apply.
    Which meant coming up with a résumé for the first time in her life, she realized, as she eyed the kitchen window counter and saw two of her orders were up. She headed over and filled her tray. Veronica had been a waitress at busy diners since she was sixteen and left Maine for Florida. All you needed for that job was to say you had experience and then show it on the floor and you were hired. Was she supposed to list every diner she’dworked from Florida to New Mexico to Maine for the past twenty-two years? She’d think it over later as she fulfilled her pie orders. If the movie people wanted locals, they wanted real people with local jobs, everyday people, not necessarily a résumé full of accomplishments. She’d tell the truth, go to Shelley’s tonight and have her picture taken, and then she’d apply with fingers crossed.
    She’d make herself a Hope Pie too. Salted caramel cheesecake. Just for