Chapter 27
Jasmine and Robin walked down the maternity ward corridor with mixed emotions. Glimpsing the baby photos on the corridor walls, they made their way into a small scanning room. It was a pivotal moment for the new parents, full of bright anticipation, mingled with the inevitable tinge of worry. Would everything be fine? Would the ultrasound scan reveal a healthy baby, all as it should be?
The nurse gave a wide smile and directed Jasmine to lay on the bed, whilst Robin sat at the side. After the nurse smeared Jasmine’s bare abdomen with gel, she ran the scanner smoothly over it. Robin and Jasmine held hands tightly, waiting with relish to see the first sight of their baby. Immediately a small head appeared on the grey blurry screen.
‘And here we are,’ said the nurse, staring at the image. ‘Baby’s head and spine.’ She pointed to the minute row of bones. The nurse then used the scanner to take measurements and recorded them.
‘Is everything OK?’ asked Robin, eyes like saucers as they fixed on the screen. Jasmine too was transfixed on the tiny life growing inside her. There was a slight pause, which alerted both of them. They sharply turned to face the nurse, who seemed to be hesitating.
‘Y-es, I just need to…’ She ran the scanner further downwards on Jasmine’s abdomen and gave a tinkle of laughter. ‘Ah-ha, that explains it,’ she concluded. Realising both parents were looking at her intently, she pointed back to the image on the screen. ‘Look.’
Jasmine and Robin inhaled dramatically. There, on the screen, before their very own eyes, was another baby.
‘Oh, my God, it’s twins!’ yelped Jasmine.
‘It certainly is,’ replied the nurse warmly.
Jasmine tore her eyes away from the screen to look at Robin, who had turned a whiter shade of pale by now. He couldn’t speak. Instead, he was mesmerised by the two tiny mirages before him. Except they weren’t mirages, they were real, very real, moving with life. His children – plural, they were having babies , not a baby. Jasmine couldn’t help but giggle at him.
‘Robin?’
Eventually his eyes slid to rest on hers and he gulped.
‘Didn’t see that coming.’ He blinked and looked back at the screen. He tightened his grip, making Jasmine wince.
‘Oi.’
‘Sorry.’ He quickly released her hand. ‘Jasmine, we’re having twins,’ he said, as if she didn’t have a clue.
‘Yes, I know,’ she laughed.
‘Let me just take the measurements of baby two,’ said the nurse.
Baby two, thought Jasmine, already wanting to name them, which prompted her to ask the next question.
‘Can you tell what sex they are?’
‘Do we want to know?’ Robin cut in quickly.
The nurse looked from one to the other before replying.
‘You can’t always tell from the first scan, especially when the baby is so small. Being twins, your babies are especially small, which is why I looked further. I suspected there was more than one baby.’
‘I see,’ said Jasmine, turning back to admire in wonder at her tiny babies. She understood why Robin might not want to know the sex of them, but, ever practical, Jasmine thought otherwise. The pragmatic side of her kicked in. Knowing the gender of their babies, whether girls or boys, would prove extremely useful in preparing for them. Then another thought swiftly followed. They could be having both, a girl and a boy. Nothing had primed her for this, or Robin for that matter. She stole another glance at him. He’d at least got a bit of colour back now, the shock having sunk in. A loving warmth swamped her. Robin would make a wonderful dad – is going to make a wonderful dad. She suddenly became tearful.
‘Hey, you all right?’ Robin stroked her arm in comfort.
‘Yes,’ she choked.
‘All done here. I think you both deserve a good cup of tea,’ said the nurse, wiping the gel off Jasmine.
‘We do,’ nodded Robin, helping Jasmine to get up off the bed.
They drove home in a companiable silence, each lost in their own thoughts. There was such a lot to consider. Both their worlds had turned upside down, but already Jasmine and Robin were full of love for the new lives they’d created. Robin was thinking of work and how having two newborn babies was going to affect it. Would having an extra baby mean more time off? Then there was the expense. Did it really matter in the grand scale of things anyway? He felt as though his brain was being torn between pure joy and celebration and trying to figure out all the boring practicalities.
Jasmine was thinking of names. She had plenty to choose from with both sexes to consider and two babies to name. Then her mind turned to more rational matters, thankful her home was three-bedroomed. In a way she was pleased to be having two babies together. Although she shared a loving relationship with her brother, she’d often envied the closeness of twins; that special bond between two embryos, growing jointly from day one. She pictured her babies, each a foetus now with its own arms, hands, fingers, feet and toes. All the time they were growing, being formed together, side by side, or top to tail in her case. They were lying across each other, which was why ‘baby two’ hadn’t been spotted straight away. The wonders of nature, thought Jasmine in awe. How magical. Once more she looked sideways at Robin driving. He was staring out, gripping the steering wheel so rigidly the whites of his knuckles showed. She cleared her throat.
‘How do you feel about all this?’
He gave a slow smile.
‘Now that I’m over the initial shock, I feel…’ He paused in contemplation.
‘What?’ asked Jasmine, closely assessing his face.
‘Bloody brilliant,’ he beamed.
That had pretty much been the reaction from everyone.
‘Oh, my God, twins!’ exclaimed Jasmine’s mum.
Robin laughed. ‘That’s exactly what Jasmine said.’
‘Like mother, like daughter,’ replied Jasmine’s dad.
‘Do you know what they are? Girls or boys?’ asked her mum.
‘Or both?’ chipped in dad.
Jasmine shook her head at all the questions and the excitement oozing from her parents.
‘No, we don’t know,’ Robin told them in a composed tone, hoping it would take effect.
‘Come on, let’s all have a sit down and a cup of tea,’ said Jasmine’s dad, wisely detecting the need for calmness.
‘And that’s exactly what the nurse said.’ Jasmine chuckled.
Later in the early evening, after they’d visited Robin’s parents with the good news, Jasmine called next door. Out of all their friends, Jasmine wanted Bunty to be the first to know about the twins.
‘Oh darling, that’s wonderful news!’ she cried. ‘No wonder you’ve been suffering, with double the amount going on in there.’ She pointed towards Jasmine’s stomach.
‘Hmm, one thing’s for sure, I’m going to be huge come your wedding.’
Bunty threw her head back and chortled.
‘You’ll look positively glowing, darling.’
‘Not sure I’ll be dancing barefoot in the sand, under the stars for too long though,’ replied Jasmine.
Felix was on the train to London. He didn’t have a meeting, but did
intend to see Jennifer at some point and, more importantly, act on her
advice. He was making a special trip to confront Mel Nichols. Felix
needed to know if it was him who had leaked information and he wanted to
see for himself the man’s reaction when challenged. More than anything,
Felix wanted closure. Once he ascertained that Mel was undoubtedly the
culprit, he knew never to work with the likes of him again, if he wanted
to keep his private life private.
Not that he envisaged any further scandal in his personal life. Quite the opposite, in fact. Living with Emma was the complete antithesis to life with Anika. Emma was supportive and happy in her own skin, she didn’t see Felix as competition like Anika had, always comparing herself to him and his success. If Felix was getting plenty of media attention, Anika sulked, which was ironic, considering the amount she’d created for him. Another startling contrast was Emma’s total trust in him. She never showed any signs of insecurity or jealousy. He remembered how Anika used to watch his films and plague him for days about his women co-stars. The love scenes particularly brought out the worst in her. No, with Emma, he unquestionably had found his soul mate.
Felix’s mother had been thrilled to hear of his relationship with Emma, having already predicted it. She, like Jennifer, had told him to ‘oust the rat’ when learning about Mel’s betrayal too.
So, here he was, about to disembark the train at Euston station. After jostling through the crowds to the taxi rank, he was soon climbing into the back of one and gave directions to the studios. He knew Mel was about to start auditions for another drama so would be there. Arriving, Felix walked up the steps into the brick building. Mel’s office was on the ground floor and he strode with determination to the door marked ‘Melvin Nichols – Casting Director’ and knocked loudly.
‘Enter!’ called a voice.
Felix inhaled deeply and marched in. Mel was sat behind a large desk and looked surprised to see him.
‘Felix, what brings you here?’
‘I’m going to ask you something, Mel, and I want the honest truth,’ said Felix, eyes blazing.
Mel shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
‘Did you, or did you not, give information about me to Selina McKenna?’
Mel’s face grew crimson and he reached for the security buzzer on his desk. Felix’s hand quickly slammed over his to stop him.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ he warned in a low, threatening voice. He stared at Mel for an answer.
‘Well… I… I… might have mentioned one or two things…’ stammered Mel, getting hotter and hotter under the collar.
‘You told her where I lived, knowing full well she’d tell Anika,’ said Felix, still in the same menacing tone.
‘She… could have asked.’
‘Yes, and you bloody told her!’ shouted Felix, making Mel jump. ‘You told Selina McKenna everything she wanted to know, didn’t you?’
‘I’m not sure,’ replied Mel lamely.
‘Oh, I’m sure,’ spat Felix. ‘I’m absolutely sure you were wined, dined and flattered by a young actress who was paying you plenty of attention. And you,’ he pointed at him in disgust, ‘are a pathetic, sad, old man, who lapped it all up. Didn’t you realise you were being used?’
Mel’s mouth opened in protest, then shut. Felix continued the rant.
‘I mean, come on, Mel, why else would Selina McKenna be showing you any interest?’
‘For a role?’ answered Mel icily.
There was a slight pause.
‘Yes, and she nearly got one, didn’t she?’ replied Felix with slit eyes. ‘Is that how you operate, Mel? Dish the parts out to those who show the most willing?’
The suggestion wasn’t lost on Mel. Whilst Selina had indeed sweet-talked and cajoled him, and however much he enjoyed being the centre of her attention (silly, vain man that he was) he hadn’t actually given her a part. However, the rumours surrounding him casting several other leading men’s roles did lead to much speculation.
The simple truth was, Mel Nichols abused his position as casting director. Another truth was he liked men, young men, many who were desperate to become stars. And Mel had the power to make them stars. End of. It wasn’t nice and it wasn’t professional, but so far he’d got away with it, until now. Was Felix Paschal about to blow his career into smithereens?
A charged silence hung in the air. Both men stared each other out. Mel blinked first.
‘I apologise, Felix. I ought to have known better.’
‘You will be sorry, Mel,’ Felix answered and turned on his heel, slamming the door behind him.
Jennifer sat, eyes wide with interest as Felix recounted the whole
incident.
‘The complete and utter snake,’ she said when he’d finished. Then, after a moment’s consideration, added, ‘And to think, if I hadn’t lied about Selina McKenna being ill, she could have got the role of Lady Scarlett.’
‘I know, thank God you thought on your feet,’ replied Felix.
Jennifer frowned. ‘I’m surprised he didn’t know she wasn’t really ill.’
‘I’m not. She’ll have dropped him when he’d served his purpose and never seen him again.’
‘I expect so,’ Jennifer agreed, then shuddered.
‘What is it, Jennifer?’ Felix asked concerned.
‘Just what you said about Mel, using his power like that, with vulnerable, young actors.’
‘I know.’ Felix grimaced in repulsion.
‘Do something about it, Felix.’ She stared at him, eyes pleading.
‘You mean report him?’
‘Yes.’
‘But it’s all hearsay, whispers and rumours. There’s no evidence,’ Felix stated.
‘What about the young actors he’s manipulated? Do you think they’d speak?’ Jennifer leaned forward.
‘Sadly, no, I don’t think they would,’ Felix said with regret. ‘Mel Nichols will still have a big influence over their careers.’
‘He’s not the only casting director in the business,’ replied Jennifer.
‘No, but he’s a big bug at the studio, they definitely wouldn’t want to ruffle his feathers.’
‘But it’s so wrong !’ she retorted.
‘It is.’ Felix could only agree.
‘And look at the trouble he caused you, disclosing your address, allowing Anika to come and—’
‘I know,’ Felix cut in, really not wanting to contemplate what could have happened to Emma. The injustice of it all filled him with rage. Still, he took comfort in the fact Anika had been arrested; and Emma, well, just thinking about her calmed him. ‘I better make tracks, Jennifer,’ he said, glancing at his watch. The sooner he was in Samphire Bay the better.
All the way home Felix kept going over what had happened. Jennifer was right, it was so unethical the way Mel Nichols operated. Surely there must be something he could do?