The Boy I Love

by Lynda Bellingham

  ‘Sorry,’ said Jeremy. ‘I didn’t mean any offence. It is just I find it so frustrating that everyone in this business wants to know about one’s sex-life. What business is it of anyone’s? What difference does it make? I want to be judged on my talent, not my sexual orientation.’

  Robert clapped his hands slowly. ‘Bravo. Well done, young man.’

  Jeremy was not awfully sure if the other man was being sarcastic or not. So he changed the subject. ‘Would you like another drink?’ he asked, rising from his seat.

  ‘Thank you, but no. I must get off to my next appointment. It has been a most enlightening sojourn, dear Jeremy. You are, indeed, a very serious young man and I wish you well in your search for integrity in this fickle profession.’

  Robert stood up and leaned across and kissed Jeremy on both cheeks.

  ‘Never say never,’ he whispered in Jeremy’s ear and was gone.

  Jeremy sat down and finished his pint. Bloody poofs! Why did they all assume he was gay? He just wasn’t interested in relationships; he was completely content in himself, and with his own company. Falling in love seemed fraught with danger and best left alone. Let others fall in love with him – and preferably onstage. He would stay out of all the messy emotional stuff.

  But then he met the love of his life – and everything changed.

  Chapter 14

  The cast quickly learned that they had to pace themselves very carefully in order to survive the schedule. Struggling in on Monday morning after having only a few hours on Sunday to recover from Saturday night’s hangover, and trying to do washing and weekly chores, plus prepare their heads for the next play was no easy task. It was a shock to the system, and all the newcomers to the game acknowledged the fact in the pub Monday lunchtime.

  ‘Bloody hell,’ announced Simon, taking a swig of his pint. ‘I don’t know what day it is now, let alone in two months’ time. I can’t believe I have got to learn another play, and we have only done one night of Oh, What a Lovely War! My brain is fried.’

  ‘We will have to curb our drinking,’ said Pete. ‘Either that or increase it.’ He laughed. ‘Come on, Si, don’t be such a wimp. We can do it. Now let’s get the pies in.’

  Sally was certainly struggling to get through the day. Like everyone else she had over-indulged on Saturday night, and spent most of Sunday trying to get rid of her hangover. Jeremy had appeared in the afternoon wondering if she would read through the script with him.

  ‘Oh my God, Jeremy, I haven’t given it a thought!’ she wailed.

  ‘Well, don’t worry. It is just I worked with Robert this morning, and it really helped me to go through the words with someone,’ he said, feeling a bit of a swot now when confronted by his friend’s agonized face.

  ‘No, you are right. Come on, let’s do it. But can I make a cup of tea, please?’ Sally went and put the kettle on and then they settled down in her room to read the play.

  The rest of Sunday was gone in a flash and Monday loomed. The cast had a read-through of the play and various discussions with Costume and Design and suchlike, and then Giles started to block the play. Sally was running round organizing fittings and set-design meetings and making tea for all and sundry. By five o’clock, when they broke for supper, she was exhausted but she still had to prepare all the props for the evening show and sort out her own costumes.

  Heather could see that she was having problems. ‘Don’t worry, pet, you will soon get into a routine and forget how tired you are,’ she said kindly. ‘It is tough, but you will need to learn to take little naps when you can. Have you finished checking the props?’ Sally nodded. ‘Then go and get something to eat and try to close your eyes for ten minutes. It will really help you,’ she advised.

  Sally thought it highly unlikely she would be able to sleep just like that but she was starving so she went next door to Mrs Wong’s and got some lunch, then went back to her dressing room. Sarah was there reading the play so there was a pleasant silence. Before she knew it, Sally was asleep and only woke when Sarah shook her awake.

  ‘Sally, wake up! It is nearly the half and you will feel awful if you don’t get yourself together.’

  ‘Oh, thank you so much. Gosh, I can’t believe I fell asleep so easily,’ Sally said drowsily. ‘I’d better have a shower to wake me up.’

  She was soon back up to speed and dressed in her opening costume, standing in the wings waiting to raise the curtain.

  The show was definitely a little subdued on the second night and Giles was less than pleased. Before starting rehearsals the next morning he gave the company a lecture on the danger of second nights, and never letting the standards drop.

  ‘You have to try extra hard the second night,’ he pronounced. ‘The audience have paid their money just the same as the first-night audience: why should they get second-best just because you lot had too much beer and not enough sleep? I will come down hard on you all if I see any more signs of slacking. Understood?’

  There were murmurs of ‘Yes, sir’ and the cast all sat up straighter. It was going to be a tough nine months!

  That afternoon, Sally rang home to check on everyone, and Dora came on to inform her that she would be arriving next week.

  ‘Oh my goodness! I haven’t even given you a thought,’ said Sally.

  ‘Well, that is charming I must say,’ replied Dora. ‘Aren’t you moving into our flat this weekend?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Sally, dismayed that all this information was coming at her. ‘What date did we agree? Honestly, I am so sorry, Dora, but you have no idea what it has been like, the last few weeks. I just have not had a minute to do anything else except come to work and sleep. But yes, I guess you are right – we were going to move in the second week of October, weren’t we?’

  ‘Yes, exactly, dummy. So is that still the plan?’ asked Dora.

  Sally tried to think what the schedule was going to be like for this weekend. In fact, if they were going to move it would have to be this weekend, because the following one was the Get-in when they worked all hours.

  ‘Dora, listen. Let me ring the landlady Miss Morris and see what she had in mind. It might not be possible now until the beginning of next month because I am not sure I have the time. I am really sorry to mess you about,’ she added, knowing her sister would not be pleased.

  ‘You are hopeless,’ came the expected reproach. ‘Why do I bother to try and support you? You are so selfish, Sally.’

  Sally sighed and waited for a pause in the tirade.

  ‘Look, I have told you, I will ring the landlady right now and do my best to sort it. I am really sorry, Dora, but I can only do my best, so just give it a rest. Can you put Mum on the phone now, please?’

  Sally heard a loud snort the other end of the line as the phone was banged down and Dora shouted to their mother to come to the phone.

  ‘Hello, darling, how’s it going?’ The sound of Patricia’s voice made Sally feel desperately homesick.

  ‘Oh Mum, it is so good to hear your voice,’ she said, trying not to burst into tears. ‘I am so sorry about Dora, but honestly you have no idea how hard I have been working. It is a nightmare.’

  ‘Don’t worry, my darling. Dora will calm down. She has just got so over-excited about coming to live with you. It is all she talks about. I am worried about you though, Sally. Are you eating properly? Do you get enough sleep?’ she fretted.

  ‘The answer is no, and no – but honestly, Mum, it is fine really. It is just a shock to the system after not doing very much, and it is certainly nothing like drama school. God, we didn’t know how lucky we were just playing at acting. But it is great fun, and when I am actually performing, it is completely magical!’

  ‘Well, please look after yourself, dear. Is there anything you need?’ asked her mother. ‘We can send supplies with Dora. But don’t worry about arranging the flat right now if you are so busy. Dora will have to be patient.’

  ‘No, I understand how she feels,’ said Sally. ‘It is just that
I have had so much on my mind it was a shock when she launched into the plan. I will ring her later, tell her, when I have spoken to the landlady. Now I had better get on. Give my love to Dad and of course to you.’

  ‘All right, my dear. Lots of love to you – and ring any time won’t you? Bye.’ Her mother hung up.

  Sally took a deep breath and went to find the number for the landlady of the flat.

  As it turned out, Dora was quite right and Miss Morris, the landlady, was expecting them the coming weekend. Sally agreed she would pick up the keys during the week from the agent’s office, which was only down the road from the theatre, and move in on Sunday.

  Sally went to find Janie and break the news of her imminent departure.

  ‘Oh no – I will miss you so much. It is going to be just me and the boys all the time. Promise you will come round sometimes and give me some female support,’ Janie pleaded.

  ‘Of course I will. And you can come to me to get away from them all. Honestly though, I am not sure I am ready for this at all. I haven’t given it a thought since I came up in the summer. I just hope it is all going to be OK – with Dora and everything, I mean. I need to talk to Gwendoline as well, about letting my sister work in Wardrobe. Will she pay her, do you think?’

  ‘Well, we could certainly do with some help, and if she is willing to do some laundry et cetera as well as the sewing, I am sure Gwendoline will find the money from somewhere.’

  Sally went to Wardrobe as soon as she got to the theatre that night for the show. As usual Gwendoline was surrounded by washing. Crossing her fingers, Sally reminded her about Dora.

  ‘Yes, I remember Susan mentioning your sister,’ Gwendoline said. ‘I think she could be just what we need. When would she want to start?’

  ‘Well, we are moving into the new flat on Sunday so she could start Monday if you wanted. We have got a washing machine as well so she could always do stuff for you at our place,’ suggested Sally.

  Gwendoline laughed. ‘Perfect. Not sure your sister will thank you for volunteering that information, but still, it sounds good to me.’

  ‘Thank you so much, Gwendoline. It is very kind of you. I will go and ring her now and tell her she is hired.’ Sally went down to the stage door to use the phone.

  Gladys was sat in front of her ever-glowing electric fire and greeted her warmly. ‘All right, dearie? You coping with it all? I know it is hard the first few weeks adjusting to the long hours. Bless yer heart, you look worn out already. When’s that sister of yours turning up then?’

  ‘You must be psychic, Gladys. I am just about to ring her and arrange for her to arrive on Sunday when we move into our new flat.’ Sally pressed the button to the tinkle of coins dropping in the box. ‘Mum? Can I speak to Dora please? Yes, it is all arranged. No, I’ll manage, don’t worry.’ Sally smiled at Gladys who was pretending to look busy with her knitting, while eavesdropping on Sally’s phone call.

  ‘Sally? What’s happened? Is it OK for me to come on Sunday?’ Dora hardly drew breath.

  ‘Yes, it is all sorted. Miss Morris is expecting us to move in then. Good job you are on the ball, Dora. Listen – are you coming by train or is Dad bringing you?’

  ‘Dad has offered to drive me and I think Mum would like to come as well and see where we are going to be living. Is that OK?’ Dora sounded unsure.

  ‘I suppose so, but the trouble is, it will be quite a rush if they want to stay for lunch because we have to move everything and unpack and I only have Sunday, plus I will have to work on my lines. It is all a bit overwhelming really,’ sighed Sally.

  ‘Don’t get your knickers in a twist, sis. Mum and Dad will understand and you will be in need of a free lunch by then. We can go to that place we went to before and have a Sunday roast, then Ma and Pa will go and we’ll have all afternoon to sort ourselves out. Then I can make the supper while you do your lines. How’s that sound?’

  Sally could not help but think it sounded great. ‘Perfect,’ she replied. ‘You are a star, baby sister. I can’t wait to see you. So you will be arriving mid-morning, do you reckon?’

  ‘Absolutely. See you then, sis.’ And Dora was gone.

  Sally had a sneaky feeling her life had been taken over, but at the moment it didn’t seem such a bad thing.

  The rest of the week was full on, as on Wednesday they had a matinée and an evening show. Thursday, Giles finalized the cast for the next production, the musical version of Lysistrata, a Classic Greek comedy about women withholding their sexual favours from their husbands until the latter agree to stop going to war. Charmaine was to take the lead of Lysistrata, and Sally was to understudy and also play one of the other neighbours, plus she had a great solo. Fortunately it was all set on an empty stage, with few props, so that was something less to concern her. However, the thought of Greek women and sexual favours was a lo-o-o-ng way from Sir Thomas More and his troubles. One thing at a time, please!

  Chapter 15

  Dora let out a scream of delight and hugged her sister.

  ‘We are here! Isn’t this great? Dad is unpacking as we speak. Oh sorry, Mother, here you go. Big hugs all round.’ Dora moved aside so Patricia could take her place in Sally’s arms.

  ‘Oh darling, you look exhausted. Come on, let’s bring everything in and then we can sit and talk. Douglas, don’t unpack anything yet, please. We need a plan.’

  Sally looked at her family standing there in the road beside a car loaded with stuff. Where to start?

  ‘OK, guys, first things first – let’s go to the new flat. Is there room for me in there as well, or shall I walk?’ She already had her coat on.

  ‘You can sit on Dora’s lap,’ suggested Douglas. ‘It’s only up the road, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, come on, Sally. We can squeeze in the front and Mum has a little spot in the back between the pillows and the laundry basket.’

  They all piled in and set off up the hill. Sally produced the keys to their new home, opened the front door, and she and Dora jockeyed for position. Both girls managed to reach the inner door at the top of the stairs together. Breathless and flushed with excitement, Sally finally managed to open the door and they practically fell into the hallway. Thank goodness the sun was shining and the flat looked bright and welcoming. As the girls went from room to room, it was clear that someone had taken the time to clean the place very thoroughly.

  ‘Oh, it is fantastic,’ said Dora. ‘Much nicer than I remember.’

  ‘You are right, sis,’ replied Sally. She made her way to the kitchen and found a potted plant and a note. ‘Hey, come in here, Dora. Look – the last tenants left us a note and a plant.’ Sally read it aloud.

  ‘Dear new tenants,

  Hope you will be as happy as we were in the flat. See other note for instructions for hot water, etc.

  Miss Morris likes to collect the rent herself and have a poke around. But she is no trouble!

  Good luck.

  Jean and Trevor

  ‘Oh, that is so sweet of them,’ remarked Patricia, making an entrance through the door with a laundry basket full of groceries. ‘Now come on, girls, get this unpacked asap, then we can go and have lunch.’

  They all got down to work, making beds and unpacking food. The flat very soon looked like a home, especially with the added touches of big cushions made by Patricia, and a secondhand rug or two. The pièce de résistance was finally brought up from the car by Douglas and given pride of place in the lounge.

  ‘Oh Dad, you are a star!’ Sally rushed to give him a hug as her father set down the TV.

  ‘Well, I am glad you are appreciative, my girl. But it will be useful for you both on a cold Sunday afternoon.’ He fiddled and faffed with the tuning until it all worked perfectly. ‘Good job there is an aerial. How did you find out?’ he asked.

  ‘I rang Miss Morris, of course. She is such a lovely lady and quite understood the need for a TV. “I wouldn’t be without mine,” she told me. Listen, everyone, are we nearly finished? Only it is already
one thirty and I have got work to do this afternoon. I am sorry to be so boring.’

  ‘No, darling, don’t worry,’ said her mother, coming into the room with a bowl of pot pourri. Everyone looked at her. ‘What? Why not? It might have been awful when we got here and this would just help things smell a bit more pleasant.’ She plonked it slap bang in the middle of the rather scratched coffee table and the rest of the family burst into laughter.

  ‘Only you, Patricia,’ chuckled Douglas. ‘Now come on, get your coats and let’s get going.’

  Fifteen minutes later the family were sat round a table in the pub, ordering the infamous Yorkshire puddings.

  ‘You wait till you see the size of these suckers, Mum,’ announced Dora, already tucking into a packet of pork scratchings.

  The meal was a big success and Sally relished the food and the company of her family. She realized how much she had missed them. Still, at least now she had Dora with her which would give her so much support.

  ‘It is lovely to see you, Mum,’ she whispered as Douglas was paying the bill. ‘I do love you.’

  ‘I know, darling, and we love you. Try not to get too tired and make sure you eat properly. We will come and visit you whenever you want. Which show would you like us to see?’ asked Patricia.

  ‘Blimey, Mum, I haven’t given it a thought, to be honest,’ replied Sally. ‘Let me get through the next couple of weeks and then I will have a better idea. I don’t know if I am going to get a really good part yet. Hamlet should be marvellous, but I am only playing the Queen in the Dumb Show. But I am directing that, by the way, which will be very interesting.’

  Her mother gave her arm a squeeze. ‘I know you will do your best at whatever is put before you,’ she murmured. ‘We are so proud of you, Sally. We just want you to be happy.’ Then Patricia leaned over and kissed her daughter. Douglas had paid the bill and farewells were exchanged in the pub, and then Sally and Dora were dropped off at their new front door.