Olivia's Curtain Call (5 page)

“Well, I’ve done some research. Olivia Marvell may not be a household name, but she’s really interesting. She grew up in a travelling circus and has an amazing family. Her gran’s the legendary Alicia Swan who runs the Swan stage school. Her mum was Toni Swan, probably the greatest Juliet ever, who died tragically young. That’s a story in itself. Daughter steps into her dead mother’s shoes. The media would be queuing up for that one, even the red tops.

“Her dad is Jack Marvell, otherwise known as the Great Marvello, and he’s a famous
high-wire
walker who has done some extraordinary stunts. And Olivia’s no slouch in that department herself. Apparently she’s also a hugely talented tightrope-walker and trapeze artist who has already attracted some press attention in the past for some of her escapades. I reckon if she played Juliet, I’d be fighting the media off, not begging them to give us column inches.”

“A tightrope-walker?” said Howard
Franks, frowning. “How bizarre. You don’t expect to find Shakespeare and classical acting blossoming in the sawdust ring of a circus.”

Everyone ignored him.

“You’ve got to admit,” said Jon, “not only was Livy good, but it’s the first time we’ve seen real chemistry between Kasha and one of the Juliets.”

Everyone nodded and Liz looked thoughtful.

“So, are we ready to make a decision?” asked Jon impatiently.

“I’ll go for her,” said a couple of voices. But Howard Franks, who seemed to carry some authority, said, “Let’s see her again in a few days, just in case somebody else comes up.”

Jon buried his head in his hands. “Just remember, rehearsals are supposed to begin very soon, and for my money Livy is as good as it gets.”

“But it’s not your money, is it, Jon?” said Howard Franks, gathering his papers and getting ready to leave. “It’s mine.”

Chapter Seven

Aeysha wandered along the corridor at the Swan. She felt a bit lonely. She had just eaten lunch with Kylie and Connor, but it wasn’t the same as being with her closest friends, and they were all busy. Olivia was still at her audition. Tom was helping Pablo with a lunchtime
high-wire
class, and Georgia and Katie were so taken up with the prospect of their next audition for “Project X” that Aeysha had felt as if she was playing gooseberry. Huff had told them they were trying out for a movie about an ordinary British family that was mostly to be improvised by the cast, and the two girls were really excited about it. They were spending a lot of time together, and Aeysha noticed that not only did they look more and more alike – they had even
started doing their hair in the same way – but they even behaved like sisters. They had little in-jokes that made Aeysha feel excluded.

She and Georgia had been so close for the last couple of years, and now things were changing fast. In her heart she knew that the relationship with Katie was a good thing for Georgia, who had been heartbroken when Aeysha announced that she would be leaving the Swan in the summer, but Aeysha still found it difficult when Georgia and Katie talked about the future and made plans for classes that they would take together when she wouldn’t be at the Swan any more.

Aeysha was really looking forward to going to her new school and the chance to study a wider range of subjects than the Swan could provide, but it didn’t make leaving her old school and friends any less hard. She hoped it was true what she had told Georgia at the after-premiere party – that the two of them would remain friends long into the future. But it wouldn’t ever be the same as being at the Swan together. She was beginning to wonder if she had been
overhasty
in deciding to leave the Swan.

Aeysha peered through the glass door of
one of the dance studios and saw Eel and Emmy sitting on the floor together, writing something on a piece of paper. She popped her head round the door. “Can I come in?” she asked.

The two girls nodded. They both adored Aeysha.

“You can help us,” said Eel.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re making a list of suitable wives for Dad,” said Eel solemnly.

Aeysha had to stop herself from bursting out laughing. “Does Jack know about this list?” she asked.

Eel shook her head.

“Don’t you think you should tell him?”

Eel shook her head again.

“Did you tell Livy about this?”

“Yes,” said Eel gloomily. “She thought it was a terrible idea.”

“Livy may be right,” said Aeysha.

“But he’s lonely, Aeysha,” said Eel passionately. “Livy said it herself. He’s all on his own. He needs somebody special. Livy can’t bear the idea of somebody replacing Mum. But I barely remember her, and anyway lots of people love more than one person.”

“That’s true,” said Emmy very seriously. “People are not like swans. Swans mate for life. But Sisi Holman’s mum has had three husbands!”

“So who’s on this list?” asked Aeysha curiously.

“It’s very short,” said Eel despondently. “All the really nice people are already taken.” She handed Aeysha the piece of paper.

“Pippa Middleton!” This time Aeysha couldn’t stop herself laughing.

“What’s so funny?” asked Eel indignantly. “I read that she’s very athletic and Dad would like that. I thought maybe he could teach her the high-wire.”

“Jessica Ennis!”

“Same thinking,” said Emmy, “and very pretty.”

“Darcey Bussell! But, Eel, Emmy, you don’t actually know any of these people, and I think some of them are already married,” said Aeysha, scanning the list of female celebrities.

“I know,” said Eel gloomily. “But the list of people we do know is even shorter.” She handed it to Aeysha.

“Cassie Usher. Lovely, I agree, but she’s
just got engaged.”

Eel put a thick blue line through the name.

“Katie’s mum, Lily. Lovely too, but don’t you think that she and Jack would have got together by now, given that they’ve had plenty of opportunity?” Aeysha looked at the list again. “Chloe Bonar? I didn’t think you and Livy liked her very much.”

“We don’t. She’s very vain. Always primping her hair. But she likes Dad; she was forever making eyes at him during rehearsals for
Peter Pan
. Mind you, he didn’t seem to notice, and anyway I think she might have
wicked-stepmother
tendencies so maybe I’d better cross her off the list to be on the safe side.”

“Probably a wise course of action,” said Aeysha, her mouth twitching  again. “You and Livy don’t want to risk being abandoned in a forest miles from anywhere like Hansel and Gretel.”

“Yes, you do have to consider the stepmother side of things very carefully,” said Eel thoughtfully. “I asked Mrs Gibbs in Reception because she’s always so nice to me, but she said that while she was enormously flattered and very fond of Dad, she was very happily married
to Mr Gibbs, who would have something to say if she mentioned divorce. So you see, the whole thing is quite hopeless.”

“Well, maybe you should just wait and see if Cupid strikes,” said Aeysha.

“I think we’re going to have to give Cupid a nudge,” said Eel, “because he’s being very lazy.”

In the car park near the rehearsal rooms Kasha steered Olivia towards a bright-red Mini parked in one of the bays.

“Meet Celestine. My pride and joy,” he said. “I was even able to buy her out of my own earnings, which felt amazing.”

“Are you rich, Kasha?” asked Olivia.

“Not
millionaire
rich. But I’m very lucky. I’m certainly earning more money than I ever imagined, and a great deal more money than most people ever see.”

“You should tell that to your brother, Hamo,” said Olivia. “I bet the money your gran invested in your education at the Swan has got a greater return than any of his business ventures.”

“I’m steering clear of Hamo at the moment
after what happened between him and Abbie’s cousin at the party. It was lucky it didn’t turn into a fully fledged fight. Then it would have been all over the papers.”

Kasha unlocked the car and had just got in when Olivia noticed something tucked underneath the windscreen wiper. She reached over, thinking it was probably an advertisement, and had started to read it when Kasha shouted, “No!” But it was too late. Olivia had already seen the angry words written in red capitals: “
STAY AWAY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED FOR THE LAST TIME
.”

“It’s some kind of a joke, isn’t it?” said Olivia uncertainly as she got in the car next to Kasha. But she saw from his sombre face that he didn’t think so. “Have you had them before?”

Kasha nodded. “The tyres have been slashed too.”

“Who’s it from, and what do they mean?” asked Olivia.

“I am pretty certain it’s from Tyler. He’s deeply unpleasant. Abbie says he’s been stirring things up between Hamo and her dad. Spoiling for a fight. He was in big trouble when he was a teenager. Abbie’s dad, Pete, took him into
the family business to try and keep him on the straight and narrow. Now Tyler thinks he can call the shots. Thinks it’s all a question of family loyalty and that Abbie and I should stop being friends.”

Olivia swallowed. She knew that Kasha and Abbie’s relationship had moved beyond friendship. “You should go to the police, Kasha. You’re being threatened.”

“Easier said than done, Livy. Neither Abbie nor I can risk anything like this getting into the media. Particularly Abbie, at this stage of her career. She’d become tabloid fodder and wouldn’t be taken seriously as an actress. Casting people might think she comes with trouble attached. Her dad understands that, but Hamo and Tyler are far more hot-headed and they’ve got this silly old-fashioned idea that some kind of family honour is at stake and neither of them should be the one to back down. It makes it really difficult for Abbie and me to be friends.”

Olivia felt awful because she knew more than she was letting on. “It must be really dreadful for you both.”

“It is,” said Kasha bitterly. “We can barely
risk seeing each other. And she’ll be off soon to make
Joan of Arc
so we won’t see each other for months. I can’t bear it, Livy!”

Kasha looked as if he might cry. Olivia put an arm around him. She knew she couldn’t pretend any more. “Are you going out together, Kasha?”

He stared at her. “Is it so obvious?”

Olivia nodded. “It’s pretty obvious from the way you talk that you’re crazy about her. But if you want the truth, I spotted the two of you together in the forest at the party.”

Kasha put his head in his hands. “Oh, no. We thought we were being so discreet. But if
you
saw us, maybe other people did as well. If Tyler realises that Abbie and I are more than old school friends, things could turn really nasty.”

“I don’t think you need worry. I’m pretty certain I’m the only one who saw anything. I was just exploring when I stumbled across you both, and I didn’t see anyone else. But I don’t understand, Kasha. You and Abbie are both seventeen. You’re practically grown-ups. Surely you can do what you like? This isn’t
seventeenth-century
Verona.”

“I know. But we both come from very tight
families. It’s hard to go against them. Hamo even holds Tyler responsible for my dad’s heart attack, and Tyler is just the kind of guy who does anything he can to stir trouble. He’s even refusing to show Hamo the company accounts, which is driving Hamo mad.

“But I think there’s more. Abbie says he resents my success. Says I’m just a spoiled little pretty boy who has had it all handed to me on a plate. Apparently, he was in a band once. He even got a record deal, but it all went
pear-shaped
for him and he’s never really got over it. Then he got into trouble with the police.”

Olivia raised her eyebrows. “He sounds really nasty, Kasha. Do you know what you’re doing?”

Kasha shrugged. “Abbie and I are just hoping that if we keep our heads down, it’ll all blow over. If only she could have been Juliet, then we would have had the perfect reason to see each other every day. But I know that if Hamo thought I was seeing Abbie, he’d feel I was letting the family down. And Tyler is clearly unhinged. He must be spying on me. Abbie and I met up last night at a little restaurant in Soho because I can’t risk her coming to my flat. We
just talked. Didn’t even dare hold hands. It’s mad.”

“Oh, Kasha, this is horrible,” Olivia cried. “If I can help in any way, you know I will.”

Kasha leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. “Livy, you’re such a good friend to me. I always know I can rely on you.” He turned on the engine. “You never know, maybe Abbie and I will elope to Scotland and get married secretly like Romeo and Juliet.”

“That might not be one of your better ideas, Kasha,” said Olivia lightly. “If I remember correctly, it all ends rather badly for those two.”

Chapter Eight

Alicia’s sitting room was filled with people. Theo was standing in the corner drinking a glass of red wine and chatting to Huff and Huff’s girlfriend, Ceri. Jack was with Tom and Pablo, and Jon was talking to a gaggle of pretty actresses. He’d given Olivia a hug when he had first arrived but he hadn’t said anything about Juliet. That was professional business and this was a private occasion – a small party arranged by Eel to celebrate Jack’s homecoming.

Olivia had been for another audition that morning. She’d had to learn the famous “Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds” speech, and this time Cassie Usher had been there to play the nurse, and the actor and actress playing Capulet and Lady Capulet had been called in too. The
four of them had read the scene after Tybalt’s death when Juliet is told by her parents that she must marry Paris.

Olivia thought it had gone well, but while she had sensed real enthusiasm from certain sections of the room she was convinced that the man with the moustache still thought she was too much of a risk. She couldn’t bear her fate being in other people’s hands. Waiting to be chosen, or not, was horrible.

She knew from Kasha that in the gap between her auditions three more Juliets had been seen and dismissed out of hand, and that Cory Niven had had a call back. But even Howard Franks had agreed this time that, however many Twitter followers she had, it wasn’t worth casting a Juliet who sounded as if she had a permanent cold.

“They’ve got to go for you, Livy!” Kasha had said afterwards. “It’s so right it’s like it’s meant to be. It’s your destiny to play Juliet. I’m sure of it!”

Olivia glanced across the crowded room and saw Kasha and Abbie talking to each other in the corner. After a short while, Kasha left the room and Abbie went over to talk to Theo
and the crowd of adoring fans who were surrounding him. A few minutes later, she slipped out of the room too. Olivia smiled to herself. She guessed that Kasha and Abbie were going to snatch a few precious minutes together in one of the rehearsal rooms. It had been her idea to invite them both to the party. She’d arranged for Kasha to leave his car behind and take a circuitous route to the Swan, then she’d let him in at the River entrance at the back just in case he was being followed by Tyler. Abbie had come in by the front door like all the other guests.

“This is an unexpected gathering,” said Tom. “I wouldn’t really have had Jack down as a candidate for a surprise party.”

Olivia grinned. “I think you’re right.”

“Eel’s doing?”

“Who else?” said Olivia with a wry smile. “Eel throwing this party for Jack is like giving someone else a present that you really want yourself when you know they have to share it with you. I was watching Dad’s face when she told him. I think he had been looking forward to a night in with Eel, Gran and me, and might have considered a fiercely contested game of
Articulate or Cluedo if he really wanted to pile on the excitement. Instead he got this. Look, he’s barricaded himself into that corner with Pablo.”

“How did Eel get Alicia to agree?”

“Her usual low cunning,” replied Olivia.

Tom laughed.

“She chose a moment when Gran was distracted and asked if she could have a few people over. Gran said yes, and was rather surprised a few days later when Huff and Jon and people kept leaving her messages saying how much they were looking forward to Jack’s welcome-home party. It would have been embarrassing to cancel. But you know, I’m not sure I even recognise most of the people here. Certainly not all these women, and there are so many of them. I don’t think Jack can know half of them.” Olivia frowned.

“Well, funnily enough, Eel asked me if I knew any girls I could bring to the party. I said I could bring my mum or little sister but she said she didn’t mean those kinds of girls. She was a bit coy when I tried to question her further. Now I come to think of it, Jon and Huff and Theo all arrived with women in tow. They can’t all be their girlfriends.”

Olivia frowned again. She was certain that Eel was up to something but she couldn’t work out what it was. She watched her sister and Emmy enter the room with a woman behind them. Eel had a clipboard under one arm. Eel took the woman by the hand and led her over towards Jack, who politely stopped talking to Pablo and turned to the woman with a welcoming if slightly surprised smile.

“Who’s that?” Olivia asked Tom, who shrugged as if he had no idea.

But then he gasped and said, “I know who she is! She looks different without her white overall and cap. It’s that nice woman from the chip shop down the road. I know that Eel likes her. She told me that she always gives Jack extra chips when they go in together, which Eel’s decided means she must like Jack. Maybe Eel thought she’d get a load of free chips if she invited her to the party.”

Just then Pablo came over, looking puzzled. “What’s going on, Livy?” he said. “Jack and I are trying to discuss who to approach about the new high-wire act with you and Tom, and Eel keeps interrupting us and introducing all these strange women to Jack. He’s currently having
a conversation with the woman from the chip shop about whether mushy peas or pickled onions are more popular with her customers!”

They all watched as Eel approached a group of young women, the ones Tom had seen arriving with Theo, looked at her clipboard and then beckoned one of them out of the room with her.

“Right,” said Olivia. “Time to find out what’s going on!”

She and Tom followed Eel down the corridor and saw her disappear into the Bursar’s little office. When they reached the door, they saw Eel and Emmy sitting behind the desk and the woman, a flamed-haired beauty, sitting in front of them.

“Are you afraid of heights?” asked Emmy.

The woman shook her head.

“Are you currently single?” asked Eel.

The woman nodded.

“Are you looking for love?”

“Who isn’t?” replied the woman with a little laugh. Olivia and Tom looked at each other. What on earth were Eel and Emmy doing?

At that moment, Aeysha walked past on her way back from the bathroom. “What’s going
on?” she asked, seeing her friends hovering outside the office.

“Look,” said Olivia.

Aeysha peered through the crack in the door. She heard Eel say, “Which would best sum up your feelings about Jack Marvell? A: He’s somebody to be admired. B: He’s very attractive. C: He’s very brave. D: I’ve never heard of him but I’d like to know more. You can choose more than one option, if you like.”

Aeysha stifled a giggle with her hand.

“Do you know what’s going on?” hissed Olivia.

Aeysha pushed her and Tom away from the door. She was shaking her head in amazement. “I can’t believe it!” she said. “I never thought she’d go through with it. I thought it was just a game that she and Emmy were playing.” She put a hand to her head as if realising she had missed something. “I’m such an idiot. I should have guessed when I saw the guest list for the party. There are so many more women than men. I should have realised sooner.”

“Realised what?” demanded Olivia.

“That this isn’t really a party, it’s an audition.”

The others looked mystified. “An audition? But what for?” said Tom, bemused.

Aeysha took a deep breath and glanced anxiously at Olivia with the air of someone who has just realised there’s an unexploded hand grenade in the room and she’s the only one who knows about it.

“To be Jack’s wife,” she said quietly. “Eel is using the party to audition likely candidates to be Jack’s wife.”

“She’s doing what?!” screeched Olivia, so loudly that several people put their heads out of the sitting-room door to see what was going on, and Georgia and Katie came running down the corridor to see what all the fuss was.

They arrived just into time to see Olivia burst into the Bursar’s office and yell, “Eel Marvell, I’ve told you before that I’m going to kill you, but this time I’m actually going to do it!”

Georgia and Katie gave each other a knowing look. “Sisters!” they said in unison.

The party was long over and everyone had gone home. Olivia, Eel, Alicia and Jack were sitting among the debris. Eel was unusually bashful.

“I was only trying to help,” she said plaintively. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you being lonely, Dad. I thought a wife was what you needed.”

“I know you meant well, Eel, but it’s not the way to go about things,” said Jack gently. “You can’t force people together.”

“How could you have done such a thing, Eel?” asked Olivia. “After the Imperial debacle I would have thought you’d have learned your lesson. You even said you would never do anything underhand and sneaky again.”

“But this was an emergency! Dad was lonely. I had to help. You said yourself, Livy, that it made you really sad to think of him all alone.”

“Listen, girls,” said Jack. “I’m really happy as I am. I’m not lonely. I’m completely fine and dandy as things are with the three of us and your gran.” He said it just a little too brightly, and Alicia, always alert to nuance and the undertow of emotion behind words, noticed.

“But you did say you were lonely, Dad,” insisted Eel.

“He did,” agreed Olivia, “but it doesn’t mean he wants a wife, Eel. He’s got us. And he still loves Mum. Nobody could replace her.”

“Oh, Livy,” said Alicia, putting her arm around her. “Of course nobody could replace your mum, but Toni has been dead many years. She’ll always be with you and with Eel and your dad too. But Toni is part of this family’s past, and she would want you all to have a future even though she can’t be part of it. She would want you all to live as fully as possible, and that means loving too. Humans are made to love. To deny them the opportunity is cruel.”

“Well, that’s fair enough, but Dad’s just not interested.” She turned to Jack. “Are you?” she demanded.

“Look,” said Jack hurriedly. “Let’s drop it, shall we?”

Olivia thought about what her gran had said. Then she thought of Romeo and Juliet, and of Abbie and Kasha, and how her mum and dad’s great love affair had cost them so much and had estranged them from their families for so many years. Years that were lost to eternity. She glanced at her dad, whose anxious eyes were fixed on her, and she saw the first tiny signs of age around his mouth. Time was racing by. She couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t bear the thought of him remarrying, but she knew her gran was
right and she would be cruel if she refused him the opportunity to find love. It was just so hard to find the words.

Jack looked at his daughter. He knew that the closeness of their relationship would make it difficult for her to accept a woman in his life, but he could see from the struggle taking place in her face that maybe it wasn’t as impossible as he’d always imagined.

He squeezed Olivia’s hand. “Listen, chick. It will probably never happen. Let’s deal with it if it does.”

“You’re right, Dad. It will probably never happen.” There was the tiniest trace of relief in her voice.

Alicia felt the need to break the intense mood. “Tell me something, Eel. How did you get all those women to come to the party? Did they know they were being auditioned for the role of Jack’s wife?”

“Of course not,” said Eel. “I got the idea from that strange audition that Katie and Georgia went to, the one they said didn’t seem like an audition at all. Then I invited Theo, Jon and Huff and asked them to bring lots of women with them. But only really nice ones.”

“Didn’t they think it was odd?” asked Alicia.

“I just told them we had too many men coming and needed to even things out a bit.”

“And how did you get everyone to answer all those questions without making them suspicious?”

“Oh, that was easy,” said Eel. “I told them it was a school project about how people behave. They were practically queuing up. People love that sort of thing. They always want to prove how different and unique they are from everybody else.” She bounced off to get ready for bed.

“I suppose,” said Jack, “we can comfort ourselves with the thought that if showbusiness doesn’t work out for her she’s got an immensely promising future as a con-artist.”