Take a Bow (A Rivervue Community Theatre Romance, #3)
Page 17
‘Lexi …’
She looked pointedly at her watch. ‘Now is not the time. I need to get downstairs and be with my crew. Go.’
Her strangled instruction tore at his heart. He’d been prepared to argue it with her, but she sounded like she was only just holding it together. Not what you wanted less than an hour out from the matinee. ‘I wasn’t responsible for this review. I don’t think the mayor was either.’ But he’d definitely be checking. ‘I’ll try to catch you between performances,’ he said as he pivoted to leave.
He was almost out the door when he heard Lexi whisper, ‘Please, don’t.’
It took superhuman strength to ignore the pain in that whispered plea. But he did. He needed to make sure Forsdyke hadn’t done this so he kept walking.
Chapter Nineteen
Just when Lexi thought the Rivervue team had nothing more they could offer, they surprised her all over again. Saturday’s matinee performance had improved on opening night, and just before the Saturday-night show the box office rang her. Positive reviews and media attention about Draven were starting to flood in now, and their phones were ringing off the hook with people trying to book tickets.
Excitement zinged through her veins. She stopped to catch her breath and gave herself a tiny pat on the back.
It was probably ninety per cent due to Draven.
But the other ten per cent was down to her. She’d kept the essence of the play and added her own touch, and her team had delivered. Victory tasted sweet. Not only had it almost guaranteed her that role in Queensland she’d applied for, but it gave her the second wind she needed to get through that night’s performance.
Should she try to extend the run?
She’d successfully eluded Mark, but now she needed his advice. Awkward.
She took the coward’s way out and texted: Unprecedented demand for tickets. Consider extending duration of run??? LS
Her phone rang seconds later. Lexi didn’t waste any time. She answered and got straight to the point. ‘Hi Mark. We’re sold out tonight and tomorrow then we are supposed to close. Ticket office has close to four hundred people on the waitlist, and it’s growing by the hour. What do you think about extending the run?’
Mark didn’t hesitate. ‘It’s a Draven. In my mind there is no question as to extending. How, is the question.’
Lexi bit down on her lip. She’d been so excited by the prospect she hadn’t even considered how she might do it. This was the one contingency she hadn’t scoped. ‘Well, the team are holding up okay, but none of them signed on for an extended run. Most of them have school or work on Monday morning.’ Her stomach started to churn. ‘I don’t think we could manage a performance on Monday.’
‘Agree. Let me check my calendar. I’m going to put you on speaker. Hang on.’ There was a bit of background noise. ‘Okay, so there are markets next weekend, but no Council-run activities, and nothing the weekend after. We planned a downtime after the Bicentennial Festival. What do you think about four performances, same scheduling as this weekend, on the next two weekends. Total of eight performances all up. Then we reassess.’
A three-week run. Amazing.
But not so great for that opportunity in Queensland. Oh well, there’d be others. ‘That’s doable. I’ll check, but I think that would work with our cast and crew.’
‘This team should be able to manage it. But if it goes longer again, you might need to look at your understudies, or run two entirely separate production teams, doing alternating shows.’
A long run? Surely not.
‘Okay,’ she agreed. ‘Can you clear it at your end? I’ll lock in times and dates and get promo and ticketing onto it.’
‘Will do. By the way, the mayor says he wasn’t responsible for that review.’ Mark was all business.
‘Really? I wonder what the reviewer would say if you asked him.’
‘I can do that.’ He paused. ‘Great work, Lex. You deserve success, given how hard you’ve worked.’
‘Thanks,’ she croaked past the sudden lump in her throat. She loved that he was giving her praise, but it wasn’t praise that she wanted from him. It wasn’t what she wanted to love about him.
Lexi’s lips twisted into a bittersweet smile. Fat chance what she wanted with Mark would ever happen.
That second wind she’d ridden the high of deserted her as soon as she hung up. These next few weeks were going to test everything she had.
***
Lexi was still at the theatre long after midnight. She’d floated the extended run with the team straight after their second show of the day and even with the cast and crew spent from their performance, not one of them had said no.
The magic of the Draven had captured them, and none of them wanted to escape back to reality. It had captured her too.
She was just about to call it quits for the day when she checked social media. If there were more bad reviews, she wanted to know about it now, before they hit the front page of the paper.
And that’s when she saw it.
DRAVEN UNMASKED
WHAT MAKES THE WORLD’S MOST ELUSIVE PLAYWRIGHT TICK?
It was a teaser for an online interview on a cutting-edge Sydney current affairs podcast website.
She clicked the link, but it didn’t give her much. The content was coming soon and there was a photo with a blurred-out grid of pixels where his face should be. All the better to add to the mystery of Draven.
Lexi zoomed in. Yep, it was unmistakably Dylan. The familiar paw in the corner of the photo confirmed it. Where Dylan travelled, Phantom followed.
Larrikin came up again in her mentions. The next hit was from one of Melbourne’s foremost art critics, who had driven ten hours to make the Saturday-night show.
Enchanting. Raw. Honest.
Rivervue Theatre Company punching above their weight, with production values that would be at home on Broadway or London’s West End.
Lexi dropped her phone. Her hands were shaking when she bent to pick it up, and she rose to her feet, desperate to share her elation. And desperate to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
But as she left the office and flew downstairs, she realised the theatre was in darkness.
Silent, dark and echoey. Deserted.
There was no-one to tell.
She turned a full circle and breathed in the essence of this place she loved, then started a slow climb back up the stairs.
Lexi went back into her office, sat at her desk and picked up her paperweight, running her fingertips over the smooth resin.
She’d share all the glowing reviews with her team, and they’d be happy. Heck, they’d be ecstatic. Though part of her couldn’t shake that feeling creeping in once again, that it wasn’t enough. She wanted to share such highs with someone special in her life too, who’d known the effort she’d put in, and the pride that review had generated.
Someone like Mark. Mark who clearly wasn’t interested in her, or the success of the theatre.
She couldn’t sit still so she wandered the deserted theatre until exhaustion claimed her. Lexi checked the time. Nearly 3 am. She needed to get home.
Her car was the only one left in the car park. She scanned the deserted riverbank, almost expecting to see Dylan with Phantom, but she was alone. Guess he was sleeping at Kenzie’s these days.
She checked her phone one last time before she put it aside to drive home and after reading her notifications, she forgot all about the drive home. Another great review, this time from a reviewer based on the Gold Coast.
More fabulous news to share tomorrow, and together with her friends, she’d celebrate.
She should have been on top of the world seeing those reviews. But the success she’d dreamed of for so long meant nothing without anyone to share it with.
Tonight, she was on her own.
Chapter Twenty
If the pace in Council seemed brisk, the pace in the theatre world was brutal by comparison.
Mark had another full-on morning planned
. First up, his non-negotiable appointment with a green-haired, multi-pierced tattoo artist called Jade. Then, between the request to extend and the reviews that were lighting up his news feed, and all of the calls and texts they generated, he had no time for breakfast. He dropped Emma at her breakfast date in town, then headed over to the archives at Council.
He needed to pull the paperwork on the transfer of ownership of the theatre from Ron to the Council. That is, if he could find it.
Many dusty archive boxes later, he found what he was looking for. The original paperwork for the transfer. He opened the envelope, skimmed the document and could have punched the air. He grabbed his phone and rang Lexi.
‘Hey Lexi.’ He was just about to launch into his news when Lexi butted in.
‘Mark, did you see the review? The second one. And the third. Did you?’ Her voice bubbled down the phone line. ‘And the Draven interview? It’s going live tonight. I’m so excited. I don’t think I slept a wink.’
Finally, he managed to get a word in. ‘There’s a lot going on.’ He paused. ‘Any chance you can meet me later. For coffee?’
‘Yep. I’m about to head back into town now.’
‘I’m tied up right now. Let’s meet at Milk’n’Honey after lunch. I’ve got something here I think might interest you.’
***
Main Street was buzzing with the late lunch crowd as Mark headed into town, his document wallet clutched to his chest.
Lexi texted him as he parked. Scored a table out the back. See you soon?
He didn’t reply, just hastened his steps.
The queue for coffee was out the door, so he was relieved that Lexi had already ordered.
‘Right. This will need to be quick.’
Lexi winced at his tone and gestured to the mug sitting opposite her. ‘Here you go.’
‘Sorry. Lots on.’ He took a long sip of his latte, then pushed it aside and unzipped the document wallet. ‘Forsdyke will be making an announcement at the end of tonight’s performance.’
Lexi went white. ‘No. Not now. Not after all the good reviews. He can’t. Not tonight.’
Mark kicked himself. ‘Don’t panic. It’s not what you think.’
Lexi put her hand to her chest. ‘Is it … bad?’
‘Depends where you’re sitting, I guess,’ Mark said as he pulled some yellowed documents out of the folder. ‘I reckon I know that play by heart, having seen it rehearsed so many times, but it was Friday’s show that twigged something for me. So, I went searching.’
‘What?’ Lexi’s voice was faint.
‘He never came back to Brachen,’ Mark said triumphantly.
‘No, because of Mary and his guilt and what he did to Eliza and Lucy.’
‘He deserted his family and he never came back to Brachen.’ Mark pulled an official document off the top of the stack.
Lexi’s gaze shifted from the document to his face and back. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘This is the transfer paperwork for the theatre. The often-quoted fifty-year lease.’ He spread it out on the table and pointed to the bottom. ‘Read that.’
Lexi followed his finger. ‘Signed October,’ she squinted, ‘Twelfth? Main Street, Brachen.’ She looked at it again, then said, ‘Sorry, I still don’t get it.’
‘He NEVER came back to Brachen.’
Mark knew the moment Lexi got it. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers and she started to breathe faster.
‘He never came back to Brachen,’ she repeated faintly. ‘So, whose signature is that on the lease?’
‘It’s Lucy Devon/de Vue’s signature.’
‘His daughter?’
Mark nodded. ‘Lucy Russell, now. As far as I can tell, she didn’t want anything to do with her father and signed over the lease to the Council.’
‘How does that help though? The same ruling applies as if Ron signed it. Council still gets control.’ Lexi drooped visibly.
‘Council would.’ Mark confirmed. ‘If Lucy was dead.’
‘No.’ Lexi’s excited shriek turned heads in the crowded cafe. ‘No way. Can we talk to her?’
Mark drew a newer document out of the folder. ‘I already have. I took Emma with me, and Kenzie. And Dylan, who it turns out is now inseparable from Kenzie. Lucy made lemonade scones and invited the family lawyer. You know, she can’t speak highly enough of you and the theatre company. She’s impressed that someone finally had the courage to tell it like it is. That recording at the end, that was pure genius. She’d never met her father, or heard him speak unless it was in the Larrikin’s voice.’
‘No way.’ Lexi’s heart was pounding.
‘Phone calls weren’t really a thing in Brachen when Lucy was little. Most people didn’t have a phone. Her mother wouldn’t leave the family farm, and Ron wouldn’t come home.’
‘Oh.’
Ron left everything to Lucy since her mother didn’t want a bar of him or his money. But Lucy didn’t either. So she had his estate do all kinds of creative things with the funds including building Rivervue and “bequeathing” it to the town. Fifty years must have seemed like forever back then.’ He held her eyes. ‘Thing is, Lexi, some bright lawyer did the paperwork by the book. Including a renewal clause.’
‘Re …’ Lexi seemed to be having trouble speaking.
‘Yep.’ He waved the whiter, thicker document at her. ‘This is a ninety-nine year lease for the theatre, conditional on Rivervue Theatre Company remaining as sole tenants in the building. Drafted this morning with Lucy.’
Lexi’s mouth opened and closed. ‘No revitalisation?’
‘No Rivervue Revitalisation.’ Mark smiled. ‘Lucy’s asked for tickets to tonight’s performance. She cannot wait to meet the mayor. I believe she wants to hand this over, onstage, in front of the entire theatre.’
‘No revitalisation.’ Lexi’s eyes shimmered with tears.
‘It’s over?’ ‘It’s over,’ Mark confirmed.
Lexi closed her eyes and tilted her head skyward. ‘Thank you,’ she mouthed. Then, without warning she launched out of her chair and wrapped him in a huge hug. ‘Thank you, Mark.’
He tried to brace, but couldn’t hide his wince as she wrapped her arms around him. ‘Oh, are you okay?’
‘Sore ribs. Long story.’ He waved off her concern. ‘Nothing catastrophic.’
‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t know.’
She eyed him uncertainly. Their new normal had added a level of awkward to every interaction between them. She sank back into her chair, looking beaten. He wanted to strip that away, but it seemed too soon.
First, he would secure the theatre.
Lexi picked up the new lease and dropped back into her seat. She skimmed the document then said, ‘This is so exciting. I’ll need to organise VIP tickets for Lucy and her family? And the mayor? Plus one?’
‘Just the mayor,’ Mark confirmed. ‘And Lucy is coming on her own. I’ve organised a limousine service to pick her up. First time for everything, she tells me.’ He paused. ‘She’s done something extraordinary, so I want her to feel special tonight.’
‘Tonight, and every night,’ Lexi breathed, still staring at the lease. ‘Thank you, Mark.’
‘You’re very welcome.’
Mark watched Lexi reading every clause a second and third time, the biggest smile on her face. For the first time since they’d reconnected, she looked truly happy. A sobering thought, and now that he’d achieved it, he wanted Lexi to be happy forever.
If she would have him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lexi blinked away the tears in her eyes as the stage faded to black and the gut-wrenching audio of Ron speaking to his daughter Lucy echoed through the silent theatre.
The cast celebrated with bow after bow and even when the lights were dimmed a fourth time, the audience still wouldn’t leave. She used this time to move closer to the stage, in preparation for what was to come.
Finally, Mark strode out onto the stage, holding a hand-held microphone. After applaudin
g the cast, he turned to the audience and motioned for quiet.
‘And now, the mayor of Brachen would like to say a few words.’
Lexi pasted her stage smile on as one of the crew moved a lectern with microphone onto the stage and the mayor, all botoxed and shiny suited, stepped out. As agreed, she joined him, with the cast forming a solid line behind her. The crew filed in behind them.
From the other side of the stage, Mark escorted Lucy from the wings toward centre stage. An ornate chair magically appeared and seconds later she was seated as regally as any queen.
‘Thank you everyone for attending our opening run of Larrikin, presented by the fabulous Rivervue Theatre Company. I know you’ll all agree, that tonight’s performance gave us a completely different view and a much greater appreciation for the man that was Ron de Vue. Rivervue Theatre Company is one of Brachen’s treasures, and Council together with the Arts Trust, would like to announce some very special initiatives, in the company of some very special guests.’
Until he said it, she wasn’t sure the mayor was going to live up to the promises Mark had made that morning. Lexi’s palms started to sweat.
‘First, I would like to introduce Lucy Russell, a long-term resident of Brachen. Lucy is Ron and Eliza de Vue’s daughter. I’d like for Kenzie Russell, who starred as Mary, to also join me.’ Kenzie recovered her surprise and stepped forward. ‘The magic we watched tonight when Kenzie took to the stage was real, and I can see that Kenzie has a big future ahead of her in performance. Kenzie is Lucy’s granddaughter, and Ron’s great-granddaughter.’
A murmur swept across the audience and the mayor held his hand up for silence.
‘So, it gives me great pleasure, in the presence of Ron’s descendants, to announce that Council has drafted a ninety-nine year lease with the Arts Trust for Rivervue to remain the sole occupiers of this building.’ The audience erupted, and a photographer leaped onto the stage and started snapping. ‘The revitalisation will however go ahead. The site will be the old Butter Factory, and Council will fund the development of a permanent museum, dedicated to Ron de Vue, on its ground floor. The original manuscript for this show, as penned by Draven, will be held in the museum, as well as artefacts, letters and photographs from the Brachen Historical Society’s de Vue collection and from Lucy herself. Ron’s extensive audio memoirs will be broadcast in a continuous loop, for visitors to hear him speak about his life.’ The audience broke into spontaneous applause. ‘A small performance space will be commissioned at the site, and funding for the ongoing running costs of the complex will come from a Larrikin production residency, managed by Rivervue Theatre Company and commencing after the restoration is complete. This initiative is expected to bring an extra five million dollars in tourist and visitor spending to Brachen.’ The audience erupted. ‘The top two floors will be converted to residential apartments, and sold, to provide funding for this work.’