Olivia's Curtain Call

by Lyn Gardner

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Abbie walked past Covent Garden Tube station and down Long Acre, swinging the posh carrier bag containing her new dress. It had taken her ages to find it, but she loved it and was really looking forward to wearing it later. It was a beautiful green, her dad’s favourite colour. He always said she reminded him of her mother when she wore green.

  She sighed as she thought of her father. How she would have loved to take him to the premiere, introduce him to her handsome boyfriend, have him be happy for her! She felt a sudden stab of fury at the stupidity of the family feud, and she made a snap decision. She’d find Tyler straightaway and tell him everything – that she was in love with Kasha and there was nothing he could do about it. She’d insist he make things up with Hamo, and everything would be fine. Imagine how happy it would make Kasha when she told him what she’d done after the show!

  Abbie looked at her watch. If she got a move on she could get to the office, find Tyler and still have time to get back to the theatre and change for the premiere. She reached into her bag for her phone. She wanted to check Tyler was working at the office before she headed over there. She fumbled around in her bag for a bit, before remembering that she’d put her phone down on Kasha’s dressing-room table earlier. She must’ve left it there. How annoying! Oh well, if Tyler was as dedicated to the business as her father said he was, he was bound to be at the office. Abbie turned on her heel and headed back to the Tube station, feeling sure that the end was in sight.

  Olivia and Kasha were running through lines together in Kasha’s dressing room. Wardrobe were bustling around them, bringing freshly pressed costumes in and out. Jon turned up several times, checking that everything was OK, and even Howard Franks had been in to see them. Everyone seemed to have pre-show jitters, unable to keep still as the time ticked away before the curtain rose. It was a bit like trying to run lines in the middle of Piccadilly Circus.

  But both of them knew they must keep persevering. However well you thought you knew the lines, the possibility of them flying straight out of your head as soon as you walked on stage was a very real one. It would be horrible to dry in front of all those staring faces.

  Both of them were really keyed up and Olivia was feeling rather sick. She was both longing for the performance but also longing for it to be over. She felt sure that after she had done it for the first time in front of an audience she would feel calmer. She knew Kasha felt nervous too; he’d just started to rearrange the things on his dressing-room table for the umpteenth time.

  She watched as he moved a load of clutter from one side of the table to the other and unearthed a tiny silver mobile. “Oh no!” he said. “Abbie’s left her phone here. She’s going to be really annoyed when she realises.” He picked it up and then added crossly, “Oh great, she’s left her insulin pen behind too, and I can’t even ring to tell her.”

  “When does she next need it?” asked Olivia.

  “Not till later. Around ten pm, I think. But it worries me that she hasn’t got it on her.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be fine, Kasha,” said Olivia soothingly. “And you can give it to her before the show starts.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Abbie ran lightly up the steps to her father’s office. She knocked on the door. “Tyler?” she called. “Are you in there?” There was no reply, so Abbie unlocked the door and stepped into the room. Empty! Annoyed, she turned to go back down the staircase when her eye fell on the door to the little cubbyhole that she used to play in as a child. There was usually a filing cabinet in front of it these days, but someone had moved that and the door stood slightly ajar. It was so inviting! She’d just have a quick look, see if any of her old stuff was still in there, and then she’d head off to the theatre. She didn’t want to be late.

  She pulled the little door fully open, and put her arm inside. She felt some material and pulled it out. Smiling, she realised it was an old Paddington Bear dressing gown that she sometimes used to wear. She reached back in and felt around until she felt a box. Curious, she pulled it out, hoping it was full of her old drawings and things. The office was cold, so she put the dressing gown around her shoulders and sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor to open the box. But if she’d hoped to come face to face with the nine-year-old Abbie, she was in for a disappointment. The box was just full of old accounts. Her dad must have put them there for storage. She glanced idly at them before realising that they weren’t old accounts after all. They were computer printouts, page after page of them, and related to the current financial year.

  Abbie frowned. Why would Tyler be storing all this information about the business’s finances in a cubbyhole? She started to riffle through the papers, looking carefully at the figures. Then she got up and went to the files that Jon’s accountant had looked at, the ones that Tyler said proved everything was fine with the company. She carefully laid both sets of accounts out on the floor side by side. Two sets of accounts, but each showing very different figures. They were for the same company, but they each told a very different story.

  Abbie was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t hear the door to the office opening. When she looked up, Tyler was standing there and he didn’t seem pleased to see her.

  “Well, well, well,” he said. “Little Miss Movie Star seems to have discovered my secret. Now, what are we going to do about that?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  It was nearing curtain up and Kasha was pacing back and forth.

  “Why isn’t Abbie here yet?” he cried. “She must realise she left her phone and her insulin pen at the theatre. Where is she? Maybe I should ring her dad?”

  “Kasha, calm down,” said Olivia as they both made their way down the stairs towards the stage. “You’ll only worry Pete if you ring now. And I’m sure she’ll be here soon – she’s probably just running late and she can’t call you to let you know. Just keep your eye on seat D21. I bet you when that curtain rises, Abbie will be sitting in it, watching the best Romeo there’s ever been.”

  Olivia knew she sounded far calmer than she felt. In fact, she thought she might be sick. As they got towards the bottom of the stairs, the buzz of the audience coming over the tannoys seemed to get louder and louder. In under half an hour she was going to be out on stage. She had to put everything else out of her mind, even though it wasn’t going to be easy.

  Aeysha, Georgia and Katie had come round very briefly to see her. But she’d been a bit distracted, and she was disappointed to find that Tom wasn’t with them. She’d felt sure he would come and see her before she went on, but she hadn’t heard from him since before lunch when he’d texted to say how much he was looking forward to the show. She missed him.

  Just then the house manager rushed past, calling over his shoulder to Olivia that Jack, Eel, Alicia and Fran were in the theatre. The four of them had come straight from the hospital in a massive wheelchair-adapted taxi that would be taking them straight back afterwards. The doctors didn’t want Eel out of their sight any longer than necessary but had agreed that the jaunt would probably be a good thing, especially as Fran was with her.

  Eel was in high spirits, which rose even higher when Georgia, Aeysha and Katie took the seats next to her, leaving a seat for Tom on her other side. Jack and the others were in the row behind.

  “Where’s Tom?” Eel asked.

  “He’s not here yet,” said Aeysha. “He must be on his way though. It’ll be starting soon.”

  Tom raced up the theatre steps, joining the last stragglers going through the doors. He’d wanted to pick something up for Liv on his way and it’d taken longer than he’d thought it would. He was clutching his ticket so hard it was difficult for the usher to see which seat he was supposed to be in, but eventually Tom got inside, rushing into his seat just as the house lights were starting to go down. Eel rolled her eyes at him and laughed.

  The audience leaned forward as the first scene began to unfold at an unexpectedly speedy pace. Every seat in th
e dark theatre was filled. Every seat, that is, except D21.

  Olivia stood in the wings, waiting for her entrance. She felt a sense of rising panic, the utter certainty that she had no idea what the first line was that she should say. She was sure that she would dry. She realised that she was almost on tiptoe. The moment came. She ran on to the stage, into a light so bright that it hurt her eyes and made her blink.

  “How now! Who calls?” she cried, and immediately the roaring in her head faded and she felt as if she were the still, quiet centre of a raging storm. Aeysha, Katie and Georgia glanced at each other. It was obvious that Livy was going to be fantastic.

  Georgia nudged Aeysha and they looked at Tom. He was staring at the stage, his mouth slightly open, almost as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

  “It was so simple,” said Tyler. “Your dad’s so gullible. So concerned about helping his wayward nephew stick to the straight and narrow, so eager to play the Good Samaritan, that he was completely blind to the fact that I’ve been taking him for ride. He was such a good teacher; he just didn’t realise that he was teaching me how to rip him off.”

  “Tyler,” said Abbie urgently, “it’s not too late. You could pay the money back. We could forget all about it. Dad would want you to have a second chance. I know he would.”

  Tyler smirked and gave her a mock bow. “How gracious of you. Don’t be a silly little baby. Why would I want to graft away for years for a pittance, when I can get rich this way?”

  “Because that’s what Dad did!” said Abbie indignantly. “He worked and worked when I was little to build this company up, to provide for his family, especially after Mum died. He made something that he was hugely proud of out of nothing at all. Then he couldn’t have been more pleased when you came along and were so interested in the business. The idea that the company might stay in the family and live on after him made him so happy.”

  “Well, you can’t say I haven’t worked hard,” said Tyler. “I’ve certainly put in the hours. It’s not easy, running two sets of accounts. Then there’s been the added hassle of keeping you away from that talentless loser Kasha Kasparian. That hasn’t helped.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Abbie. “Why does it matter so much about me and Kasha being friends?”

  “Because Kasha might be a waste of space but that Hamo is smart. He suspected something shifty was going on. So I decided it was better for me if the two families cut all ties. Hamo played into my hands by turning the whole thing into some kind of family feud and stopping Pete from going to his dad’s funeral. Then, just to make sure it stayed that way, I put the frighteners on Kasha. But you almost mucked everything up by getting cast in that stupid play!”

  There was something wild about Tyler’s eyes that frightened Abbie. She had to get away from him.

  “Tyler, I’ve got to go,” she said.

  “Tyler, I’ve got to go,” he mimicked, in a silly babyish voice.

  Abbie ignored him. She picked up her bag and took a step towards the door. Tyler barred her way. “You still don’t get it, do you? You know too much. You’re not going anywhere.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The curtain had come down triumphantly on the first half and the interval was underway. The auditorium was alive with chatter; the audience alert and excited. They knew they were watching a genuinely amazing piece of theatre, and many people were busy on their phones, tweeting about how good it was and how lucky they were to be among the first to see such a ground-breaking production.

  Having checked Eel was OK, Jack, Fran and Alicia had gone to get drinks at the bar. The others were talking excitedly about the show, and how proud they were of their friend.

  Georgia clasped her hands together. “Livy is just brilliant! And Kasha too. You’d almost think they were really in love, they’re so convincing.”

  Tom coughed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Don’t be daft, Georgie,” he said, trying and failing to not sound a bit annoyed at the suggestion.

  Eel suddenly clapped her hands together and her eyes sparkled. “Ooh!” she said excitedly. “I’ve just remembered something Livy said when I was in my coma. She told me that Kasha and Abbie were madly in love with each other, and they have been for ages!”

  The others gasped. Tom relaxed in his seat again.

  Now Eel was the one looking uncomfortable. “Actually,” she said. “I think it’s supposed to be a secret. I forgot that bit.”

  “Well, it doesn’t surprise me,” said Aeysha. “In fact, come to think of it, I saw the two of them slipping off together when we had that party at the Swan.”

  “Where is Abbie, by the way?” said Eel. “I haven’t seen her.” Just then she saw Jack, Alicia and Fran walking towards them carrying lots of little tubs of ice cream, and all thoughts of Abbie and Kasha left her head.

  *

  “For never was a story of more woe

  Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

  The final lines had been spoken. There was an electric pause and then the theatre erupted. The clapping sounded like rolling thunder.

  Olivia and the other actors were taking their bows on stage, all smiling delightedly. Olivia’s friends were on their feet, cheering and clapping madly; Eel was making up for the fact that she couldn’t stand by hollering her head off. Only Tom was still sat in his chair, mute with wonder.

  Behind him, Jack was staring at his daughter as if he’d never seen her before. And perhaps he hadn’t. He knew now that she’d been right to take the role, that she had a huge talent that couldn’t be allowed to go unfulfilled. He thought of Toni, and swallowed; then he felt someone take his hand and squeeze it. He looked into Fran’s smiling face, and smiled back with all his heart.

  Everyone turned to look at Alicia. Olivia’s grandmother said nothing but there were tears pouring down her face. She rose slowly to her feet and began to clap her granddaughter with such feeling that the others wondered if she would ever stop.

  Eel nodded at Tom and the others, and Tom took the handles of Eel’s wheelchair and pushed her out of the auditorium just as the curtain swished down for the final time. Alicia started to protest that Eel had to go straight back to hospital, but she, Jack and Fran were stuck in the middle of a row and couldn’t get out. The children raced round to the stage door.

  “Eel,” said Bert, the stage-door keeper. He was an old friend of Eel’s and delighted to see her again.

  “Hello, Bert,” said Eel. “Please let us in. We simply must see Livy.”

  “Straight on up,” said Bert with a smile.

  They all looked at the stairs, and then at the wheelchair.

  “We’ll carry you!” they chorused to Eel.

  Kasha had rushed straight into Olivia’s dressing room after he came off stage.

  “Something’s happened to Abbie!” he cried, distraught. “She’s not here. I checked with front of house. D21 was the only empty seat in the theatre. When I couldn’t see her during the interval, I assumed she’d just gone to get a drink. And she’s not at home because I’ve just checked with her dad. But there’s no way she’d have stayed away unless something awful had happened. And she hasn’t got her insulin. I don’t know what to do.”

  “I’m going to talk to my dad,” said Olivia, picking up her phone. “He’ll know what to do.”

  Just then there was a knock on the door and Eel and the others barged into the room.

  “Eel!” cried Olivia, thrilled to see her sister. “Shouldn’t you be on your way back to hospital?”

  “How could I do that without telling my big sis how completely fantastically amazing she is?” replied Eel. “You were brilliant, Livy, really brilliant. Mum would have been so proud.”

  Olivia’s eyes filled with tears, and she kissed her sister on the cheek. “Where’s Dad?” she asked.

  “On his way, I think,” said Tom. “You were unbelievable, Liv. Really.” He seemed unable to say anything else.

  Olivia looked at his face and smiled. “Well, K
asha made it very easy. Didn’t you, Kasha?”

  But Kasha was too agitated to reply.

  “Is something wrong?” Eel asked.

  “It’s Abbie,” said Kasha. “She wasn’t here tonight and we don’t know where she is. She forgot her phone so I can’t call her, and she doesn’t have her insulin pen either. We’ve got to find her,” he added desperately.

  “Think, Kasha, think,” said Olivia. “If she’s not at her dad’s, where might she have gone?”

  Kasha shook his head hopelessly. “I don’t know. She could be anywhere. She could be…” He suddenly paused and his face lit up. “It’s an outside chance but she could be at her dad’s office!”

  “It’s worth a try,” said Olivia.

  “Come on,” said Eel. “I’ve got a taxi waiting outside.”

  “We’ll be with you in one second,” said Olivia. “Wardrobe will go insane if we run around London in our costumes. I’ve got to change. Find Dad and tell him what’s happening.”

  Abbie was sat in a chair, her wrists and ankles bound and tied, watching Tyler. Her cousin had been bustling about the office for what felt like hours, sorting papers and packing cardboard boxes, which he then took downstairs. The twine around her limbs was digging in painfully.