by Lyn Gardner
“Here, drink this, Jon, and cheer up,” said Tish. “It’s not that bad.”
“But it’s not that good either, is it?” replied Jon.
Tish and Jon had worked together on numerous productions over the last fifteen years, and they were good friends who trusted each other’s judgement. Jon often said that without Tish as stage manager all of his productions would have fallen apart. They were always totally honest with each other.
“No, not really,” said Tish now. “It’s a bit disappointing.”
“I don’t understand it,” said Jon. “It should be dream casting. Kasha and Abbie are both young, gorgeous, talented and they obviously get on really well. They’re always slipping off for intense little conversations together. Anyone would think there was something going on between them, although I’ve never noticed the slightest sign. Individually, they’re both excellent, but there just isn’t a spark between them on stage. I don’t get it. When I watch them act together, it’s as if they are deliberately holding something back. Like they’re both trying to hide something.”
Outside on the bench, Kasha froze. It was horrible to hear your failings as an actor talked about so openly. But he knew that Jon was right. Trying to disguise their love for each other wasn’t doing anything for his and Abbie’s performances as Romeo and Juliet. He’d found it far easier to act opposite Olivia, meeting her openness and vulnerability like with like. Olivia made him a better actor; it was like playing tennis against a more skilled opponent and having to raise your game a level. He and Abbie were coasting, falling back on technique, scared to expose themselves in case the world guessed their secret. They were terrified that their relationship would become known among the cast and then somehow make its way into the press. How would their families react? Tyler was a loose cannon and Kasha was convinced he could be dangerous. The slashed tyres proved it. He didn’t want to take any risks for Abbie’s sake.
Tish was speaking again. “Kasha and Abbie are not so bad. In fact, they’re good. They’ll get respectful reviews. They’re just not good enough for you. Maybe you have to accept them for what they are and stop hankering after something you can’t have?”
“You mean, Livy playing Juliet?”
“Of course.”
“Well, wouldn’t you hanker after that? She and Kasha were amazing together. Even in an audition situation she made me hold my breath. Howard Franks and the others were nuts not to see it right from the start. So busy protecting their pennies, they couldn’t see the gold staring them in the face.”
“I saw Livy’s mother as Juliet and she was sublime,” said Tish. “But, you know, I think there was every chance that Livy might have been even better. Maybe even perfection.”
“Well, we’ll never know now,” said Jon. “Why did she deliberately throw it away like that? It was such a consummate piece of acting. The sudden breakdown, the look of an overwhelmed, scared child. It fooled everybody except you and me. But it was just a performance. She knew exactly what she was doing and she knew that I knew afterwards. Why would she hand the part to Abbie on a plate like that?”
Kasha froze. He was suddenly as alert as a cat.
“It’s a mystery to me,” said Tish. “It’s as if something happened between her doing the ‘gallop apace’ speech and the balcony scene. When she came back from the break, she seemed different somehow.”
Despite the warm sunshine, Kasha suddenly felt very cold. He knew what had happened to Olivia: he had spoken to her about longing to be with Abbie. He felt terrible. He had meant to reassure her that he would act his best with her in the audition, and instead he had pushed her into making a momentous decision. She had sacrificed her own opportunity to play Juliet for him and Abbie. He thought it was probably the most generous thing that anyone had ever done for him. It made him want to weep.
Tish was speaking again. “Olivia will have other chances, Jon. She’s clearly a rare talent.”
Jon sighed loudly. “On a purely selfish basis that doesn’t help me and my production. And anyway I’m not convinced you’re right about other chances. I spoke to Alicia about it all. Of course, I didn’t tell her that her granddaughter had deliberately squandered her chance to play Juliet. I just told her we decided that Olivia was too young and too much of a risk. But I think she knew that there was something more. Of course, I said all the guff about other chances in the future, and she went very quiet and said that she wasn’t sure that there would be other chances. She didn’t think it would be easy to persuade Olivia to act again; she thought that it was Juliet or nothing.”
“Oh, Jon, what a terrible waste that would be,” sighed Tish. “Come on, forget the tea, a glass of wine is what you need.”
Kasha lay on the bench long after they had left. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t think there was anything he could do. It was too late. He couldn’t even tell Abbie, who would be devastated if she knew that she hadn’t won Juliet fair and square. And he was certain that Olivia didn’t want him to know what she had done for them. But he knew he owed her a debt he could never repay, no matter how many bunches of flowers he bought her.
Chapter Fifteen
Olivia, Jack and Tom were sitting at the table in the flat. They had Jack’s laptop open and were poring over a spreadsheet of dates and countries.
Jack tipped back on his chair. “What do you think?” he asked Olivia and Tom.
“It looks great to me,” said Tom. He grinned at Olivia, thrilled at the thought of spending five weeks together travelling across Europe. They would be stopping off to perform at various festivals and circuses along the way, but there would be lots of free time too. Jack said that it would be as much a holiday as a tour and that as long as they covered their costs they could have plenty of fun as well. Jack knew a number of people they could stay with across Europe, and they would take camping equipment as well.
“We’ve got enough of it,” he had said wryly, thinking about their adventure at the Edinburgh Festival the previous year.
“If it’s a success, we can get some more dates for the autumn and into next year, as long as it doesn’t interfere with school. I’ve been surprised at the amount of interest there’s been since I sent out the DVD.” He turned to Tom. “And you’re sure your parents are happy about it?”
Tom nodded. The thought of spending so much time with Olivia made him want to punch the air with joy. Maybe during the summer she would start to see him in a different way?
“It’s brilliant, Dad,” said Olivia. “When are you going to confirm all the bookings?”
“I’m just going to hold off for a few days,” said Jack, “until we know whether Eel and Emmy have got Matilda. If they both do, Em’s mum has offered to have Eel for a couple of weeks over the summer when they’ll be rehearsing. If not, I thought maybe the pair of them could join us for a week or so. But it might mean doing fewer dates. Either way, I don’t want to agree to anything until I’m absolutely sure we can do it.”
Olivia gave a little squeak and jumped to her feet. “That’s just reminded me – Tom and I said we’d collect Eel and Emmy from their audition and take them for ice cream. We’ve got to go!”
“OK, kids, see you later,” said Jack.
Olivia thought how happy he looked. She felt so pleased they would be spending the summer together. She and Tom would make sure that he didn’t have time to be lonely.
“How did it go?” asked Tom.
Eel peered at him over the top of the biggest chocolate fudge brownie ice-cream sundae that Olivia had ever seen. Olivia thought Eel might burst if she ate it all, but her little sister was steadily chomping her way through it as if she hadn’t eaten all year. Olivia speculated that maybe Eel was up for the wrong role in Matilda. Perhaps she should have auditioned for Bruce Bogtrotter? She would have no difficulty at all eating an entire chocolate cake.
“We were both exceptional,” said Eel, trying to wipe the chocolate off her mouth with her hand and only succeeding in smearing it across both che
eks. “Wouldn’t you agree, Emmy?”
Emmy nodded, but there was more hesitancy in her manner. “We did our best,” she said solemnly.
“Yes,” agreed Eel very seriously, “and our best was pretty good. As soon as Gran took Emmy and me to see Matilda, we knew we were fated to play the lead.”
“Well, I hope for your sakes that the director and producers agree,” laughed Olivia, marvelling at their confidence.
“So do I,” said Eel. “I’m going to be furious with myself if I don’t get it. But I told them that if they didn’t cast Em and me we’d just keep on going back until they did.”
Olivia and Tom looked at each other with amusement. “With an appalling threat like that hanging over them, they’ll definitely give it to you,” said Tom.
“Yes,” said Eel. “I think they will.”
Later, as they all wandered down St Martin’s Lane, Tom said to Olivia, “Your sister has the most amazing confidence.”
“I know,” replied Olivia. “If talent doesn’t get her there, I reckon she’ll simply bludgeon her way to success. She’ll have casting directors begging for mercy.”
“But won’t she be devastated if she doesn’t get Matilda?”
“For about five minutes. She’ll bounce back. She’s like a rubber ball,” said Olivia. “And besides, you can only ever do your best, and I don’t believe that Eel would ever give anything less.”
There was something about the way Olivia said it that made Tom look at her quizzically. He wondered if she was thinking about her Juliet audition. But he just couldn’t imagine any circumstance where Olivia would ever give anything less than her best either.
At that moment they heard shouting and someone calling for the police. The children could see two men on the ground just up the street from them, fighting with each other, and it wasn’t long before they heard the sound of a siren.
“Let’s cross the road,” said Olivia, herding Eel and Emmy away from the fracas and the gathering crowd. She didn’t want them to get caught up in whatever was going on. Two police cars screeched to a halt, and the policemen waded in and pulled the men apart. As the crowd parted slightly, Olivia caught a glimpse of one of the men’s scared, bruised face. Olivia took a sharp breath. It was Hamo. She was suddenly certain that the other man would be Abbie’s cousin, Tyler. It was. One of the bystanders pointed at him and told the police, “He’s the one who started it.”
Several other people nodded in agreement. Olivia just hoped that the violence didn’t mean that Kasha and Abbie had been found out. She began quickly tapping at her phone.
“Who are you texting?” asked Eel.
“Nobody,” said Olivia, looking furtive. But Tom was standing shoulder to shoulder with her and he saw who the message was for when she pressed “send”. Kasha. He suddenly felt unexpectedly depressed.
Chapter Sixteen
Katie and Georgia were both more than a little confused. They were at another audition for the improvised movie, Family Life. There were two pairs of girls left in the running, and each had been split up. Now Georgia was paired with Ava, and Katie with Carly. Meeting the other girls had been a little difficult, full of awkward pauses and bland pleasantries. After all, both pairs knew they were competing for the same roles. It was most disconcerting.
After so much time working together, both Katie and Georgia were bereft to find themselves apart and trying to pretend to be someone else’s sister. When Lara had proposed that they try it, Carly and Ava had been surprisingly enthusiastic, but both Katie and Georgia felt puzzled and off-kilter. They had spent ages trying to feel their way into behaving like sisters, and to be separated at this stage felt plain wrong. It made Katie think of what Olivia had said about how she felt about Eel, as if her sister was a physical part of her.
Georgia tried to smile at Lara, to show that she was a professional and because she couldn’t bear to let Katie down, but her eyes glistened with tears. She knew that she didn’t want to play one of the sisters in the movie if the other girl wasn’t Katie. She glanced at Katie, who still looked as cool as ever. She wondered if Katie felt the same as she did, or if for Katie the chance to be in a movie would override all her loyalty towards her.
For a moment Georgia remembered the moment at the Newbies concert when a blindly ambitious Katie had pushed her off the stage and taken the starring role away from her. Then Georgia blushed because she remember how she had almost torpedoed Aeysha’s chance of getting the role they were both up for by not telling her about a call back. If anyone had asked, she would have said that Aeysha felt like a sister to her, but when push came to shove she had still let ambition rule her heart. Just as Katie had. Maybe, in showbusiness, ambition would always win out over everything else. She glanced again at Katie, who still wasn’t giving anything away.
The afternoon passed slowly and uncomfortably as she pretended to be Ava’s sister. But it just wasn’t right. She didn’t feel like Ava’s sister. She was just acting being Ava’s sister and acting badly. She knew that she was blowing it for both herself and Katie by being so awful and that made her feel even more miserable. After today she was certain Lara would decide that Ava and Carly were the only possible pairing. Unless, of course, Katie and Carly had that mysterious thing called chemistry. Georgia wished she could watch them, but Lara had put the pairs into different rooms and was flitting between the two with her assistant and various other members of the movie team. After a couple of hours Lara asked them to wait alone in different rooms; then she called them in to see her one by one…
Lara watched Georgia leave the room. Georgia’s shoulders were drooping. She looked defeated. There was only one person in the quartet left to see: Katie. There was a lot riding on this. The results of the afternoon so far had been very interesting indeed. Lara thought it was as much a test of her improvisational method of creating a movie as it was of the girls themselves. She looked up as Katie came into the room, and smiled. Katie’s pretty cat-like eyes were cautious.
“Sit down, Katie,” said Lara. Katie’s heart was speeding like an express train. She wondered where Georgia was. Surely if they had or hadn’t got it, they would be told together? It was all so strange, although perhaps no stranger than the entire audition process had been so far.
“Katie, I have just one question I want to ask,” said Lara. Katie nodded. Her head felt light, as if somebody had drained all the air from the room.
“So,” began Lara, “I was most intrigued by the pairings this afternoon, and as a result of what happened today, the question I want to ask you is this: would you consider doing the movie with Carly as your sister?”
Katie’s eyes opened wide in shock, and before a heartbeat had passed she stood up, knocking her chair over, and shouted angrily, “Of course not! You must be insane. After everything that Georgia and I have been through together to get these roles, I couldn’t do that to her! It would feel like stabbing my sister in the heart. You can stuff your silly movie!” She turned and stormed out of the room.
Lara leaned back on her chair and a big smile crossed her face. Her mind was made up.
Chapter Seventeen
Abbie suddenly broke off from the “gallop apace” speech, looked wildly around the rehearsal room and ran for the door. Kasha raced after her, followed by Tish.
A buzz of astonishment broke out in the room. Jon put his head in his hands. The Romeo and Juliet rehearsals were rapidly turning into a complete fiasco. Maybe his director friends who had said he was mad when he’d told them he was casting teenagers in the lead roles had been right. He was beginning to feel more like a babysitter than a director. Kasha had suddenly become incredibly self-conscious, as if he doubted his own ability to say even the simplest line. Jon could almost date the day the fatal lack of confidence had set in. He remembered discussing Kasha and Abbie with Tish while she cleaned the revolting kitchen. It was almost as if Kasha had heard every word.
But it was Abbie who was the real problem. She was proving unexpectedly fragil
e and was prone to breaking down under the smallest stress. Jon was really worried about her. If she couldn’t cope in rehearsals, how was she going to cope when they actually got in front of an audience? He was beginning to wonder whether he might have to cancel the first few previews. She had bags under her eyes and seemed to be getting thinner with every day that passed. She just wasn’t the same smart, cheerful girl he’d worked with in the past. That Abbie was full of life; this one was sleepwalking through the role. She looked permanently exhausted.
He wondered whether she’d split up with her boyfriend or something. Or maybe she was sick? Perhaps he should quietly suggest that she saw a doctor? He stood up and followed the others into the kitchen. Abbie was slumped in a chair, draining a huge glass of water and asking for another. Kasha had his hands on her shoulders and was rubbing her neck. This gesture struck Jon as odd, and he suddenly realised he never saw Kasha and Abbie touch each other, not even to brush hands, except when they were called upon to be physically close during performance. It was as though they went out of their way to avoid it. That’s when something went ping in Jon’s brain.
“I’m going to be sick,” said Abbie suddenly, and she stood up unsteadily and took a step towards the sink. She quivered, stumbled backwards and started to fall to the floor. Kasha caught her just in time. He said later that it was like catching a feather.
He laid Abbie gently on the floor. She was as white as a sheet. Tish bent down beside her. She’d done a first-aid course and her partner was a paramedic so she was pretty good in an emergency. She frowned and tapped Abbie’s face gently, but there was no response. Tish looked worried. “Call an ambulance,” she said to Jon.
Tish nodded at Kasha. “Help me put her in the recovery position,” she said, feeling for Abbie’s pulse. Jon was speaking urgently into his phone and giving the address of the rehearsal room. Abbie still hadn’t stirred.
