Dramatic Affairs

by Fredrica Alleyn

  ‘I’m really sorry,’ apologised Esther. ‘I wasn’t thinking like Kay, was I?’

  ‘Exactly,’ said Christopher, far more cheerfully. ‘And that’s at the root of the whole problem. Now then, answer the question again, but as Kay.’

  ‘I can’t think of anything,’ confessed Esther. ‘I mean, what sort of food did they eat in 1919?’

  ‘Roast beef?’ Rosie suggested.

  ‘Probably,’ said Damon. ‘I don’t suppose they’d heard of mad cow disease in those days.’ Again everyone giggled, with the exception of Christopher.

  ‘I can’t say roast beef, can I?’ Esther remarked crossly. ‘Even if that was Kay’s favourite food it isn’t my idea, it’s Rosie’s.’

  ‘She was only trying to be helpful,’ drawled Damon, giving her a tight-lipped smile.

  Esther wished that she wasn’t so attracted to him. He was horribly sarcastic and plainly thought her acting diabolical, but there was still something about him that fascinated her.

  ‘For goodness sake, Esther,’ continued Christopher. ‘Let’s try you on another question and do concentrate. Think Kay. Think Time and the Conways. Think anything but bloody Esther for God’s sake!’

  There was a sense of awkwardness in the room now. For the first time a slight wave of sympathy engulfed Esther. No actor or actress ever liked being bawled out in front of other people and it was considered rather bad form on Christopher’s part. He seemed to realise this because he quickly softened his tone. ‘Sorry, it’s just that I don’t think you’re really trying.’

  ‘I am,’ Esther assured him, ‘but I’ll try harder.’

  ‘What’s your favourite colour?’ asked Rosie helpfully.

  ‘Pale blue,’ Esther said at once. She could imagine Kay wearing long elegant pale-blue dresses, or a pale-blue twinset and a tight-fitting pencil skirt in the middle act.

  ‘What’s your favourite animal?’ asked Nicholas.

  ‘A cat,’ replied Esther. Somehow she knew for certain that Kay would like cats; cats were aloof and independent. It would be Hazel who liked dogs. For at least twenty minutes the question and answer session continued and, by the end of it, Esther realised that she could have told an audience almost anything they wanted to ask her about Kay except how she should be acted. She didn’t feel that this was really the point of the exercise.

  ‘OK, let’s run through that scene again,’ said Christopher. ‘Hopefully the hot-seating will have helped considerably.’

  ‘I’m really sorry about this, Noel,’ muttered Esther as the pair of them took up their places again.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Noel said reassuringly. ‘I love being the centre of attention; it’s every actor’s dream.’

  ‘Well I could do without it at the moment,’ confessed Esther. ‘It’s only nice if you know you’re doing well.’

  ‘You’ll get it in the end,’ he promised her. ‘I’m sure Christopher’s telling the truth. After all, why would he have cast you in a role that he didn’t think you could do?’

  ‘To make him look better,’ Esther suggested in a quiet voice.

  ‘No, I don’t think he’d do that,’ Noel replied. ‘Kay’s such a pivotal character that it would ruin the whole play no matter how good Christopher was himself. Come on, really go for it this time.’

  Esther did really go for it and she thought that she’d done better but when it was over there was still silence in the hall. When it became apparent that Christopher wasn’t going to make any comment the group all started talking to each other, breaking up into the sub-sections that were beginning to divide them. It was only then that Christopher came across to Esther.

  ‘That was better, darling,’ he murmured. ‘On the surface you were certainly more like Kay, but I didn’t feel that you were Kay, if you get my drift.’

  Esther did get his drift. He meant that she was using tricks and gestures to convey the character and not feeling the part. The problem was, he was right. ‘I think it’s coming,’ she answered.

  Christopher put a hand on her arm and stared intently into her eyes. ‘I’m sure you’re going to be really great,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Why don’t we go into the kitchen at the back there and I’ll help you run through some of the lines. Noel’s fine, no question about it, but I think that perhaps if I read Alan I could get a better response from you. After all, I got a very good response from you when you were playing Ophelia opposite my Hamlet, didn’t I?’

  ‘You certainly did,’ agreed Esther, wondering why the touch of his fingers on her arm seemed to be sending a glow of heat through her clothing.

  ‘I think you’d respond very well to me in any situation,’ Christopher added meaningfully.

  Again Esther began to believe that she might be successful in her desire to seduce him. There was no mistaking his interest now, and as he led her through into the tiny kitchen she sensed that both Rebecca and Theresa were watching the pair of them very carefully.

  Once in the kitchen Christopher made them both a cup of coffee and then, as they stood in the corner of the tiny room, he slid an arm round her waist. She felt his hand gently slide up beneath her long jersey until he was able to lightly stroke the bare skin around the side of her waist. ‘You’re beautiful you know,’ he said. ‘I can’t imagine what Marcus was thinking of. He must be mad to prefer Claudine. I can tell you this, if you were my girlfriend I’d make sure I’d keep you.’

  With a smile Esther moved away from him, pulling her jumper down over her leggings. ‘As I’m not your girlfriend it doesn’t really matter, does it?’ she queried lightly.

  ‘Not at the moment,’ agreed Christopher. ‘I can’t believe that you don’t feel there’s something special between us though.’

  Esther widened her eyes in mock innocence. ‘Professionally?’ she asked.

  ‘Professionally and personally,’ he said quietly.

  ‘I think we ought to concentrate on the professional side at the moment, don’t you?’ Esther retorted briskly. Some instinct told her that this was the right way to keep his interest. By the expression on his face after she’d spoken she knew she was right. If anything, he looked even more interested now than he had a few moments earlier.

  ‘As you like,’ he agreed. ‘We’ll deal with the professional side first and see what develops on the other side later, agreed?’

  Esther gave him the benefit of her most seductive smile. ‘Agreed,’ she said warmly.

  After that Christopher got down to the business of the play and for the next half-hour the pair of them worked tirelessly. By the time they’d finished Esther had to admit that she’d improved. Christopher was good, there was no question about it, and somehow his truthfulness as Alan improved her performance immeasurably. It was rather like playing tennis or dancing, she thought – it was always easier to be good if your partner was good too.

  When they returned to the hall the rest of the company were working on their potted Shakespeare scenes. ‘Glad to see you’ve all kept busy,’ Christopher said. ‘Who organised this?’

  ‘I did,’ said George. ‘I knew you wouldn’t want us to waste time, but on the other hand I didn’t think I should take over directing Time and the Conways.’

  ‘No, no that’s excellent,’ said Christopher. Esther watched as Rebecca walked over to her boyfriend and whispered something in his ear. He glanced back at Esther and then across the room to where Theresa was standing. Theresa’s expression was hard to fathom. She looked fascinated by Christopher and yet slightly awkward and nervous, as though she wasn’t quite certain herself what her feelings were.

  Shortly after that, the company adjourned for the day and Esther found herself swept along with Christopher, Rebecca and Theresa to the nearby pub. Christopher chatted easily to them all but once he was at the bar and the three girls were sitting together Esther felt an uneasiness in the air. Surprisingly, it didn’t come from Rebecca but from Theresa, who looked less than happy at Esther’s presence.

  ‘Here we are then, girl
s,’ said Christopher, putting down their drinks. ‘Now, we can talk about anything but work, agreed?’

  ‘Agreed,’ said Rebecca with obvious relief. She looked at Esther. ‘I suppose you had this problem when you were with Marcus. Presumably he liked to talk about work morning, noon and night?’

  ‘Well, not at night,’ said Esther.

  Rebecca laughed. ‘Oh, I see. Well, I didn’t mean it literally. Naturally Christopher has better things to think about at night than the play. I make sure of that, don’t I, Chris?’

  ‘Don’t call me Chris,’ he said shortly. ‘You know I hate it.’

  ‘How’s Marcus getting on in America?’ asked Theresa.

  Esther looked at her in astonishment. She couldn’t believe that Theresa really thought she’d want to discuss Marcus and America. ‘I’ve no idea,’ she said curtly. ‘He and I haven’t been in contact since he left England.’

  ‘It must have been an awful shock for you,’ continued Theresa, smoothing her tight top down over her extraordinarily large breasts and thereby drawing all eyes in the pub to them.

  ‘I’d like to suggest that there are two things we don’t talk about,’ said Esther. ‘That’s the play and Marcus.’

  ‘Sounds a good idea to me,’ agreed Christopher. ‘I must say Marcus was never my favourite topic of conversation.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you were his either,’ Rebecca remarked idly.

  Esther hoped they weren’t going to ask her for confirmation of this and to her great relief they didn’t.

  The four of them continued to gossip for a while, the usual showbusiness gossip about who was going out with whom, performances that had hit the headlines recently or – more interestingly – scandals known only within the profession itself. Esther was enjoying herself immensely; she’d missed this kind of conversation since Marcus had left and realised that she was probably spending far too much time alone. However, Rebecca suddenly glanced at her watch and then tapped Christopher lightly on the arm.

  ‘I think we’d better be going,’ she said. ‘You did promise Theresa some extra tuition, remember?’

  Christopher looked slightly taken aback and his eyes caught Esther’s for a fleeting moment before he turned to face the now silent Theresa. ‘Of course,’ he said charmingly, ‘I hadn’t forgotten, Theresa. I suppose this is one of the problems of both acting and directing. As an actor I always enjoy the winding-down period when rehearsals end, but there’s no rest for the director – or the wicked!’

  ‘You should certainly know about that,’ murmured Rebecca, and Esther felt a strange tension creep into the air. It was plain that Christopher no longer wanted to linger in the pub and within a few minutes the girls were collecting their coats. While they were gone he leant towards Esther.

  ‘I meant what I said earlier, back in the rehearsal room,’ he said earnestly. ‘I really do think there’s a very special rapport between us, and I’m sure you know it too. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, you’ve only to let me know. I’m sure I don’t need to spell out what I mean, do I?’

  Esther shook her head. Her mouth felt slightly dry because although she knew that Christopher was now pursuing her, which was what she’d wanted all along, she also felt that there was something strange going on between him, Rebecca and Theresa. She didn’t believe that Theresa was his lover; she was far too unsure of herself in his presence for that to be true, but there was certainly something brewing and it crossed her mind that perhaps Rebecca was bisexual. If so, then possibly Christopher watched them, although somehow she didn’t believe that he was the sexually passive type.

  ‘We’re ready,’ Rebecca said sharply, standing just behind Christopher’s chair and putting her hands on his shoulders as though to affirm that he was her possession. Esther would have expected Christopher to object to this but instead he glanced up and she saw a look of pure sexual excitement pass between the pair of them. All at once she couldn’t wait for them to be gone.

  When she was finally alone she decided that after she’d finished her drink she’d go back to the flat and carry on working on the play. She knew that it was silly – Lydia would always be happy to see her, but somehow Time and the Conways, Christopher, and the whole company were becoming more important to her than anything else. Before she could leave she was suddenly joined at her table by Damon Dowden.

  ‘Drinking alone?’ he remarked. ‘One of the signs of alcoholism, I believe.’

  ‘I wasn’t alone,’ Esther said acidly. ‘The others have just left.’

  ‘And who were they, or shouldn’t I ask?’ enquired Damon.

  ‘Christopher, Rebecca and Theresa,’ Esther told him. ‘Why on earth should I want to keep that secret?’

  ‘You tell me,’ said Damon.

  Esther felt that she should say something more agree able, something to improve the relationship between them. Not that she’d ever done anything to be difficult, but she sensed that Damon didn’t like her, and quite apart from the fact that she fancied him like mad she felt it would be better for the whole company if the pair of them were on good terms.

  ‘I really liked your reading of Ernest Beevers,’ she said. ‘It’s not the kind of part I’d have expected you to be so good at.’

  ‘Really?’ Damon raised his eyebrows. ‘What sort of roles did you have in mind for me then?’

  Esther felt slightly uncomfortable. ‘Well, stronger roles I suppose, although it’s true that Ernest Beevers becomes very strong in the middle act. It’s just that after your Iago and—’

  ‘Did you see it?’ Damon enquired.

  ‘No,’ confessed Esther, ‘but I read all the reviews.’

  ‘Don’t tell me that after all your experiences with Marcus you believe what you read in the papers!’ Damon laughed. ‘Have you seen me in anything at all?’

  Esther was beginning to feel more and more awkward. ‘No,’ she admitted. ‘Mind you, there’s lots of good actors I haven’t seen but that doesn’t mean that I don’t know they’re good.’

  ‘Name me one,’ demanded Damon.

  ‘Alex Jennings,’ Esther said firmly. ‘Somehow, probably because of Marcus’s commitments, I’ve never got round to seeing him but I’m sure even you wouldn’t deny he’s one of the best stage actors around at the moment.’

  ‘Agreed,’ conceded Damon. ‘I hadn’t realised how busy you were,’ he continued. ‘I’ve managed to get to see Alex in quite a few things but obviously you’ve been busier than me. Tell me, what’s your favourite stage role so far?’

  ‘I’ve mostly done TV,’ confessed Esther. She was beginning to feel angry now. It was plain that Damon was deliberately needling her and she wondered why she’d bothered to try to be pleasant. The problem was, despite his attitude she was still incredibly attracted to him. Like the other members of the company Damon dressed casually, but somehow on him even casual clothes looked smart. This evening he was wearing a pair of khaki chinos, a burnt-orange shirt, open-necked to reveal a white T-shirt beneath, and casual brown loafers. With his thick dark hair swept back off his high forehead and his dark eyes looking intently at her from beneath even darker brows, he was heart-stoppingly handsome and he had cheekbones that would be the envy of any male model.

  ‘I bet you photograph well,’ said Esther without thinking.

  Damon softened. ‘What on earth makes you say that?’

  ‘Only the fact that you’ve got such good bones.’

  ‘I inherited them from my mother, so it’s luck, not a skill,’ he confessed. He was still smiling and for the first time Esther felt that he was really looking at her. She wished that she was wearing something slightly more figure hugging than the long, ice-cream pink, polo-necked jersey over her usual rehearsal garb of black leggings.

  ‘You ought to get your hair cut,’ he said.

  Marcus had loved her long fair hair flicked up at the shoulders; the thought of cutting it still seemed like sacrilege. ‘That’s a very personal remark,’ she said.

  �
��No more personal than telling me I’ve got good bones,’ he retorted.

  ‘That was a compliment. I wasn’t telling you to go out and have plastic surgery.’

  Again Damon laughed. ‘Sorry, that’s one of my problems. I always say what I mean and in our profession that’s both dangerous and unusual.’

  Esther drained the last of her drink and started to get up but Damon put out a hand to restrain her. ‘Let me get you another. This is the first time I’ve really enjoyed myself all day. What are you drinking?’

  ‘White wine spritzer.’

  Damon went off and returned with drinks for both of them. ‘All I really meant was,’ he said slowly, ‘it would make you look different if you had a more modern hair cut. Something short and sharp. Let’s face it, generally you’re pretty typecast, aren’t you? Something like a change of hairstyle can dramatically alter the way agents look at you.’

  ‘Taken another way,’ pointed out Esther, ‘it can also ruin your chances of getting any work at all. When we were at drama school we were told that if we had a hit playing a certain kind of role and with a certain kind of look the last thing we should do was go out and change it.’

  ‘Oh I agree,’ said Damon. ‘Do tell me, what was your big hit?’

  Esther flushed with annoyance. ‘I’m not saying I’ve had a big hit; I’m just pointing out that there are advantages to a certain look, particularly for a woman of my age.’

  ‘I think we’d better drop the subject,’ Damon suggested. ‘I was sorry to hear about you and Marcus,’ he added, his voice off-hand but his eyes surprisingly kind.

  ‘Why?’ asked Esther rudely. ‘You didn’t know either of us.’

  ‘No, but I know what utter shits people like Marcus Martin and Christopher Wheldon can be, which is why I’m rather surprised that you’re quite as friendly with Christopher as you are. I’d have thought one nasty experience with a massive ego might have warned you off at least for a little while.’

  ‘I’m not particularly friendly with Christopher,’ Esther said defensively.