Rory cocked an eyebrow. ‘Is this the part where they make me look stunning? I’m going to have the perfect brows and a pout?’ he joked, pressing his lips together and sticking them out.
‘Don’t ever do that again,’ said Allie, standing up and laughing. ‘You look ridiculous.’
‘To be honest, mate’ – Rory looked towards Zach – ‘I’m not sure I’m up for this make-up lark, the lads will rip it out of me down the pub.’
‘I think that’s non-negotiable,’ said Allie, looking pointedly at Rory, who looked at Zach.
‘Honestly, you just get used to it, there’s nothing to worry about.’
The director gestured for Rory and Allie to hurry towards the makeshift tent set up in the back garden. Inside was Kirsten, the make-up artist, holding a blusher brush and a pot of powder.
‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to make anyone look like a clown, even though I’ve been tempted with this one numerous times.’ She winked at Zach and pulled out a chair for him to sit down. Allie and Rory sat in chairs alongside him and stared at their reflection in the mirrors.
‘All I’m going to do is take the shine off your face and enhance your features,’ said Kirsten, getting to work on Zach. ‘There’s nothing to worry about.’
She spent as little as five minutes on him before turning to Rory, but as soon as she started to dab the powder on to his face, he let out an almighty sneeze.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ he muttered.
‘Bless you,’ said Allie, suppressing a smile, knowing how uncomfortable Rory felt. And he looked it, as Kirsten set to work, but within ten minutes they were all fit for purpose and ushered back towards the set. Then Allie noticed his chatter had stopped. He’d suddenly gone quiet and his face had taken on a kind of puce colour. Allie wasn’t sure if that was down to the blusher. There was no escaping the fact that Rory looked petrified again.
Overcome with nerves, he blew out a breath and undid the top button of his shirt. He cleared his throat, shook his hands and looked towards Allie.
‘I feel sick,’ he said.
‘Take deep breaths. Once you start and get into it, you’ll be fine,’ she reassured him. ‘Now loosen those shoulders – you look kind of wooden.’
Allie couldn’t help smiling as Rory took a huge breath then exhaled. It reminded her of a woman trying to control her breathing whilst in labour.
‘Where’s Rory?’ shouted the director. ‘We need him in here.’
‘Here we go,’ said Zach, patting him on his back.
‘Lights … camera … action,’ said Allie, feeling excited and pressing a swift kiss to Rory’s cheek. Even though she could feel him shaking she was enormously proud of him. This was it, Rory’s big break. ‘Relax and enjoy it, you’ll be great,’ she reassured him, gently pushing him towards the surgery door. ‘You can do this!’
Rory hesitated for a millisecond outside the surgery, took yet another deep breath then disappeared inside.
Chapter 12
Allie sat down behind the desk, where a sound man was hovering beside her with a huge fluffy-looking microphone hanging over her head. He chatted away with the director before turning towards Allie. She was the first one to be filmed and her role was simple: she would welcome the client, take the pet’s name and tap away on the computer for a few seconds before picking up the phone and pretending to speak to Rory.
After delivering her line, ‘Rory will see you now,’ Rory would come out and greet the client before taking them through to the surgery.
Allie could hear the commotion outside as the first selection of TV hopefuls were selected along with their pets. Each one would be filmed walking through the surgery door with their pet. They would be greeted by Allie before being taken through to Rory, who would introduce himself, and then they would explain to Rory what the problem was. All so very simple.
Allie watched, intrigued, as the first five people were brought into the waiting room. All mobile phones were switched off and they sat on the blue plastic chairs looking like they had won the lottery.
Up first were a mum and daughter holding a cat carrier with a couple of guinea pigs inside. The mum was Sophia and the daughter confidently introduced herself as Paige.
‘And the names of your guinea pigs?’ asked Allie, smiling sweetly at the little girl.
‘Belle and Daisy.’
‘Belle and Daisy,’ repeated Allie, tapping away on the computer, which of course wasn’t switched on. The cameras didn’t bother her at all, she didn’t trip over her words or feel nervous in the slightest; she was taking it all in her stride and enjoying every minute of it. Once she had pretended to log the details, she asked the clients to take a seat then picked up the phone and rang through to the surgery.
Within seconds, Rory stood in the surgery doorway,
‘Sophia and Paige, would you like to bring Belle and Daisy through?’
They followed Rory promptly and the first words Allie heard were Sophia’s ‘Oh Zach, we are huge fans of yours.’
Allie rolled her eyes; she had a feeling every client was going to go through the same routine.
Rory took the initiative and pulled the conversation back on track. Allie asked one of the production team if she could watch from the doorway, and they agreed as long as she promised not to make any sudden movements or join in the conversation.
Allie was dying to watch Rory in action and leaning against the door frame she smiled. For a split second Rory glanced over but fortunately he was professional and didn’t let her presence throw him off track, though she knew he was anxious because his neck was blotchy. His hands were slightly shaking as he opened the cat carrier to pull out the first guinea pig, a plump-looking ginger one with a white furry Mohican, and place it gently on the table in front of him.
‘That’s Belle,’ said Paige proudly.
‘Welcome, Belle,’ said Rory, like an animated cartoon character and Allie had to do everything in her power not to burst out laughing, as Rory’s voice had risen an octave.
Next, he pulled out a shorthaired brown guinea pig. ‘And this must be Daisy?’
Paige nodded enthusiastically.
Rory set Daisy down in front of Zach who cupped his hands around the small furry creature. ‘What seems to be the problem?’ asked Rory, looking towards Sophia.
‘She’s fat.’
Rory was taken back by her words. ‘Most guinea pigs are a little plump.’
Sophia continued, ‘These guinea pigs have always been Paige’s responsibility. You know what kids are like – they mither and mither for some sort of pet and the second they have to clean out the hutch or wash out the water bottle they can’t be seen for dust, but not this one.’ Sophia placed her arm around her daughter’s shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. ‘Every morning without fail, Paige puts them out into the run. For the past couple of months she kept telling me Belle was putting on weight but I just put it down to the lush green grass and overeating. Then yesterday Paige was having a sleepover at her friend’s so I got them in from the run, and Paige is right, she has huge lumps – tumours – all over her body. I can feel them.’
Paige burst into floods of tears and began to wail, taking Rory and Zach completely by surprise. They looked at each other in horror before Zach reached for the box of tissues on the shelf behind him and Rory leant forward. ‘You’ve brought her to the best place,’ he said in a soft calming tone, trying to keep some sort of order.
‘It’s cancer, isn’t it? Mum said. ‘It can only be cancer. Please save her.’ Paige’s tears were still coming thick and fast as she blew out a bubble of snot from her nose.
Allie, watching from the sidelines, was gripped: she’d forgotten the TV crew were present. She couldn’t wait to see how Rory and Zach handled the situation.
‘When you hear the word “cancer”, Paige, it frightens you and you will always think the worst. But let me assure you, we treat lots of animals within this surgery and this guinea pig won’t die on my watch,’ Rory promised,
running his hands all over Belle’s body.
What the hell was Rory saying to Paige? Allie was shaking her head – you couldn’t promise a little girl that her guinea pig wasn’t going to die, especially if it was riddled with tumours. The cost of an operation would be way more than the cost of fifty guinea pigs, though Allie knew that wasn’t the point. Paige wouldn’t want another fifty guinea pigs; all she wanted was for Belle to live for ever.
There was no denying this was making excellent dramatic TV. Allie’s heart went out to the little girl and she fought to stop herself stepping into the surgery and hugging Paige, who obviously loved her pets unconditionally.
‘And why is Daisy here? Do you feel any lumps and bumps on her too?’
Paige shook her head. ‘No, she’s here for moral support. They go everywhere together.’
‘It’s good to have a best friend, isn’t it? Do you have a best friend?’ asked Rory, trying to calm Paige down. She looked up at Rory with her big teary eyes and nodded.
‘Zach, can you hold Belle steady for me?’ he asked, placing his stethoscope around his neck. ‘I’m going to listen to her heartbeat through this. It’s every vet’s magical instrument.’ Then he began to smile and gave a little chuckle. Allie noticed Zach cocked an eyebrow at Rory’s reaction. Then Rory tapped Paige lightly on the nose and said, ‘Belle doesn’t have cancer.’
‘Really?’ Paige’s eyes were wide as she held on to her mum’s hand.
‘My guess is—’
‘My guess is Daisy is a boar,’ announced Stuart, flouncing past Allie straight into the surgery like he owned the place – which obviously he did – and grabbing a diary from the top shelf.
‘Dad!’ exclaimed Rory, ‘you can’t just come storming in.’ Rory looked like he was dying on the spot. What was Stuart doing?
‘Sorry,’ he muttered, ‘I need this.’ He waved the book in the air.
‘My Daisy is not boring, she’s lots of fun,’ fought back Paige.
Allie was impressed that Paige was standing up for herself. What a feisty little girl! She reminded Allie of herself when she was a small child.
Stuart looked down his nose and through his spectacles and thrust the book at Zach, who took it immediately. Stuart leant forward and picked up Daisy.
‘Daisy is not Daisy. Daisy would be better off being called Dave.’ Stuart flipped over the guinea pig to reveal the biggest pair of testicles that Allie had ever seen on such a small animal. She witnessed the exasperated look on Rory’s face. For the first time, Allie had observed Stuart completely taking over a situation when Rory had it all under control. She was beginning to realise why Rory was so frustrated at working with Stuart, if he took over every situation in this way.
‘Dad, will you leave the room, please?’ Rory asked, but Stuart wasn’t listening.
‘Daisy’s a boy?’ Paige looked horrified.
‘And this one, judging by the look of it, has a matter of hours before she gives birth. Those aren’t tumours, they are babies.’ Stuart ran his hands over the guinea pig and stared up at the ceiling, ‘Yes … mmm … my guess is four babies.’
‘So she isn’t going to die?’ asked Paige, looking up at her mum, whose colour had instantly drained from her cheeks. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ‘She’s not going to die, she’s going to have babies!’
‘I suggest you separate them immediately and make Belle comfortable in a separate cage. And you should call one of those babies Stuart; it’s such a good name.’ With that Stuart took the book from Zach’s hands and disappeared out of the surgery without another word.
‘Dad is indeed correct, Daisy isn’t a girl,’ confirmed Rory, trying to be as professional as he could, despite his dad’s interruption.
‘But I like her name and she will always be a Daisy to me. Can I still call her Daisy?’ Paige’s eyes were wide.
Emma the producer was stuffing the sleeve of her cardigan in her mouth trying not to laugh.
‘I don’t think at this late stage Daisy will get confused if you carry on calling her – I mean him – Daisy. All I ask is that once the babies are born, please do bring them in to me between two to three weeks later so I can tell you whether they are boys or girls, as we don’t want any further mishaps.’
Paige’s face had broken out into a huge beam. ‘Thank you, Mr Rory, thank you, Mr Zach,’ she said, leaning across the table and shaking both their hands. ‘Mum, we are going to have babies.’
‘We are indeed and thank you … I think,’ said Sophia, taking the carrier from Rory.
Rory and Zach said their goodbyes and as soon as they were shown out of the building the whole production team fell into bursts of hysterics.
‘Don’t they say, never work with animals or children?’ chuckled Emma, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.
‘Can I add my dad to that list too?’
‘Don’t,’ said Zach, who was holding his sides. ‘Your dad is so dry. It’s like he knew what was wrong with that guinea pig without even looking at it.’
‘That’ll be his sixth sense or years of experience. And why, oh why, would you not think to check whether Daisy had testicles?’ said Rory, still shaking his head in disbelief.
Allie walked into the surgery. ‘You were brilliant!’
‘Despite my dad stealing my thunder,’ said Rory, rolling his eyes at Allie.
‘Comedy gold at its best,’ commented Emma.
‘Is this what your everyday life is like?’ asked Zach, looking at Rory.
‘Not usually as entertaining, believe me. I can’t wait to see what we’ve got up next. Can someone keep my dad under control?’ Even though everyone thought Rory was joking, Allie recognised he meant every word.
‘Let’s get the next one in,’ said Hugo, looking at his watch, ‘and then we’ll take a quick coffee break.’
‘Up next is Suzi and her dog, and just to give you the heads-up, apparently the dog has ticks,’ said Allie, making her way back to the desk.
Today was turning out to be a lot of fun, and her uncertainty about Rory had evaporated from the pit of her stomach. Maybe she hadn’t really appreciated the stress he was under with the hours he worked. Rory was definitely right about the cramped space in the surgery. She knew all those years ago when Stuart started out it would have been perfect for a one-man band in a small village, but since then the surgery’s reputation had grown. Allie was beginning to understand Rory’s frustration.
‘Allie,’ shouted Rory, ‘is there a roll of paper and disinfectant spray in the desk cupboard?’
‘Yes, it’s here,’ she said, hurrying back into the surgery and handing it over to Rory, who sterilised the table ready for the next client.
‘Can you hear shouting?’ he asked. His voice was low, almost a whisper, as he cocked an ear towards the door.
The production team immediately hushed and listened.
Stuart’s voice came thundering down the corridor. ‘The dog has peed up my leg. Allie – Allie – where are you? I need a bucket.’
‘This is the best job I’ve ever worked,’ claimed Zach who was grinning at the chaos around him.
‘I told you to add my dad to that list,’ said Rory, straight-faced.
Once more the production team fell about laughing but Allie could sense that Rory’s patience was wearing thin. She hurried out of the surgery to clean up Stuart.
Chapter 13
The day’s filming had been a success, and everyone was about to enjoy a richly deserved feed in the Grouse and Haggis. Rory, sitting among the crew, smiled up at Allie, who was walking towards them with a tray of drinks. As soon as she placed it on the table he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap and kissed her on the lips.
‘I really enjoyed today,’ said Allie, giving him a quick kiss back.
‘It was fun, wasn’t it?’ replied Rory, taking a quick swig of his well-deserved pint. ‘Except for Dad’s interference.’
Meredith was laying down the cutlery and worki
ng her way around the table, in fits of laughter as Emma recounted the escapades of the day’s filming, including the hilarious story of Suzi and her dog.
‘It peed up Stuart’s leg. I shouldn’t laugh … the humiliation!’ Meredith was creased over, holding her sides. ‘Tell me again what happened … When is this programme being aired?’
They all listened to Emma as she began to retell the story about Suzi and her new Alsatian puppy that had been let loose into the woodlands at the back of Heartcross on the other side of the green.
‘Is that the woodlands where the derelict old manor house is?’ asked Fraser, collecting the empty glasses and listening in on the conversation.
‘That’s the one – Starcross Manor,’ answered Rory. ‘The rumour is it’s going to be renovated into a retirement home.’
Fraser raised his eyebrows. ‘Just in time for me and you then, Meredith, to bag our place. What a place to live out your last years. Spectacular views.’
‘There’s life left in me yet, I’ll have you know – and anyway, Fraser, just listen to this story,’ ordered Meredith, flapping her hand at him and encouraging Emma to continue.
‘And that’s telling me,’ said Fraser, smiling at his wife.
‘It was the puppy’s first time in the woods,’ Emma went on, ‘and the client had let him off the lead, which all was going swimmingly well until she got the puppy home and began to brush her coat.’
‘That’s when she discovered the ticks,’ chipped in Rory, rolling his eyes. ‘I remember her coming into the surgery and purchasing a tick remover from the stand.’
‘But she just couldn’t quite get them with the tweezers,’ carried on Emma, grinning.
‘Then Dad flounces back into the surgery while the dog is lying on her back, Zach is wrestling to keep her still and Rory has the tick remover in his hand …’ Emma looked round the table and in unison they all shouted ‘Nipples!’ Fraser was taken by surprise and looked embarrassed.
‘Shh …’ He looked around at the other drinkers on the tables nearby, who were looking over in their direction.
Clover Cottage: A feel good cosy read perfect for your summer holiday reading (Love Heart Lane Series, Book 3) Page 15
