Chapter 32
GINNY
Ginny had just sent Stevie the third text since the show ended.
Hey lovely, just checking in. Buzz me when you can.
She just wanted to make sure her friend was okay. There had been no reply to her other texts, so as soon as this reception wrapped tonight, she planned to head straight back to Stevie’s flat.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?’ Moira called the room to order, and Ginny grabbed a Prosecco from a tray being passed around by a woman she didn’t recognise.
‘Thank you,’ she said, and as the waitress smiled back, Ginny realised that she bore an unmistakable resemblance to Netta’s son, Blair, who also appeared to be doubling as a waiter right now.
So was this Netta’s daughter? Ginny’s gaze followed her, and yep…
Netta and Blair were now standing over at the counter with Kiki and Ava, and the Prosecco waitress had just joined them.
Ginny turned back to Moira, and saw that Ollie and Calvin were now standing with her at the front of the room.
The canteen had never seen this many people at the same time.
There were the students that Moira had asked to stay behind, and their families – and how lovely was Ava’s mum, Kiki?
No wonder that girl had turned out so great.
There was the rest of the Academy staff – Sandra from the office was finally off duty and currently sharing a bottle of plonk with Jean, Senga and Jessie, and someone must have said something amusing because they were all wiping away tears of laughter.
Beside them, Georgie was sipping water while happily rubbing her straining belly.
Then there were all the press people, influencers and social media bloggers – and, of course, Caden was over there with them, rubbing shoulders once again with the Tik Tok star, Bryony Browne.
And there was the documentary team, filming everything.
Every eye in the room was now on Moira, who took a deep breath and began to speak.
‘Thank you all so much again for coming here tonight and supporting the Academy. I’m not going to give a big rambling speech of thanks, because my boy did that earlier…
’ She winked at Ollie and everyone in the room laughed as she went on.
‘But I can’t tell you how much your support means to us all and we’re so grateful for the funds you raise…
’ That went to the actors and actresses who pitched up to star in their big shows.
‘For the publicity you bring our way…’ That was for the press pack.
‘And for the incredible students and their families, who are the reason this Academy exists in the first place.’
That earned a cheer and a few whoops from the students.
‘But I just have a couple of announcements that I want to make while we’re all together.
As most of you will know, the students have spent the last few months rehearsing and auditioning for our Christmas production.
We’ve now chosen our cast and I’m delighted to say that Liam Harden, Amelia Jones, Jack Coulter, Aila Smith and Ahmed Singh have all been selected for main roles. ’
Ginny’s gaze shot to Ava, who was biting her bottom lip again, eyes downcast, staring at the floor. Until…
‘And it’ll be no surprise to anyone who watched the show tonight that we’re thrilled to say Ava Strang will take the lead role.’
Ginny watched as Ava’s head bolted up, her mouth wide with shock and delight, as she threw her arms around her mum, who promptly burst into ecstatic tears.
Ginny wanted to pause this moment right now and go and celebrate with them, but Moira wasn’t finished yet.
‘Now, this is a bit of an impromptu one, but there’s one other announcement about the Christmas show. As you know, all the coaches take part, but, unfortunately, I won’t be in the role I’d planned to take…’
Ginny frowned. Hang on, what was happening here? Why didn’t she know this? Only this morning, she’d been discussing the cast with Moira and she was definitely still in then. Was something wrong? Was she ill?
‘And that’s because I’ve decided to award that role to someone who deserves it more than I can say. Netta McGonigle, you are the heart of this academy. And you also sing like… like… well, like Celine Dion is your maw.’
The whole room erupted in cheers and hollers and everyone turned to see a very pink Netta, hand over her mouth, blushing to the core of her being.
‘Netta, we’d be truly honoured if you would accept.’
After a stunned second, Ginny saw Netta glance quickly at her beaming son and the wine waitress, then back to Moira as she nodded.
More cheers, more applause, and Ginny punched the air. ‘Yassssss, Netta!!!!’
Netta responded by blowing her a kiss and Ginny had to blink back tears of pure joy for her friend.
She’d miss this. She’d miss them all. Her world was about to completely change, and the emotion of the day suddenly became all too much.
As she heard Moira wrap it all up and say her goodbyes, Ginny took a step backwards and then discreetly ducked out of the door, seeking refuge in the corridor.
Caden must have spotted her make her escape though, because only a few seconds later, he found her there. ‘Hey… I just got a text from Carl Boddins to say that you got the role. Congratulations. I knew you’d do it.’
‘You did?’
‘Yeah, of course. I mean, they know we’re together. They wouldn’t dare piss me off by knocking you back.’
Ginny closed her eyes. There was so much she could say – the first being the obvious point that they couldn’t care too much about pissing him off because they were in fact going to reject her until they saw the show tonight and changed their minds. But what was the point?
Because even with her eyes shut, even if she were wearing a mask, even if she was in a blacked out room, with a blanket over her head, even if all those things were true, for the first time in a long time she felt like she could see something absolutely clearly.
‘I’m not accepting the role.’
He laughed. ‘Yeah right, babe. Of course you’re not. Good joke.’ The scoff in his voice made her even more resolute.
‘I’m serious, Caden, I’m not taking it.’
He stopped laughing and eyed her like she’d lost her mind. ‘Fuck, you’re serious.’
‘I’m serious.’
‘But that doesn’t make any sense. Why?’
‘Because it’s not right for me. Being a touring theatre actress was never my dream.
That’s your path. It’s not mine.’ Even as she was saying it, the knowledge that it was true was descending on her like a calm, clear breath of air.
‘I don’t want to be on the road.’ There was a pause, before her mouth blurted out her next thought, before consulting her brain.
The truth did that sometimes. ‘And I don’t want to be with you. ’
Despite the brutal truth of it, the words felt like another breath of calm, clear air.
Their relationship had worked when it was long distance.
When it was a few nights here and there, with occasional longer spells between productions.
But twenty-four/seven, with no breaks from each other? No. Just no.
Apparently, he wasn’t on the same page of the script.
‘Now I know you’re joking,’ he scoffed again. ‘Don’t be an idiot, Ginny. The two best things that ever happened to you are me and this offer.’
Now she was the one who was laughing, but it came from a place of incredulity that she’d cared for this guy, that she hadn’t seen who he really was until today.
Before now, the excitement of him riding into town for snatched romantic breaks had formed rose coloured glasses on her face and she’d chosen not to take them off.
Her sister had always said that Ginny lived like she was in a perpetual romcom, and now she recognised that Alyssa wasn’t wrong.
‘And that, right there, is what I should have seen a long time ago. Don’t flatter yourself, Caden. I’ll let Carl Dobbins know in the morning that I’m rejecting the job. Consider this your official notification that I’m rejecting you too.’
With that, she turned and began walking away, leaving him behind her. Where she now realised that he should have been left long ago.
‘Ginny, don’t you dare walk away from me.’ It was a low, arrogant growl and it was immediately followed by a very direct and definitive, ‘Don’t you fucking dare speak to her like that.’
Oh shit.
Ginny turned around to see that Ollie had come out of the same door she’d escaped through and was now facing Caden, eyes blazing.
‘Time to leave, pal,’ he added. ‘Pal’ was a much-used and very affectionate word in Scotland, but not when it was being said in the broad Glaswegian tone of warning that Ollie was using now, one that definitely didn’t suggest friendliness.
Ginny watched as Caden took a second to decide if he was going to challenge Ollie or walk away. She already knew the answer.
‘Ah, you can keep her. I couldn’t give a toss,’ Caden spat, as he began walking backwards. Ginny had a sudden wish that there was a bollard in the middle of the corridor behind him, because she’d give anything to see him land on his arse.
Ollie shook his head, a wry smile on his face. ‘You know, Caden, I remember you being a bit of a prick at school. Good to see some things don’t change.’
Caden just turned around and kept on walking, and Ginny felt, in every fibre of her soul, that she was happy to see him go.
Ollie sauntered towards her, shrugged as he got closer. ‘So, I guess we’re both going to be avoiding romcoms for the foreseeable future then?’ he asked, and it was so ridiculous that Ginny burst out laughing.
‘I guess so.’
He slung his arm around her shoulder as they both walked down the corridor towards Moira’s office.
‘Thank you for that, pal.’ This time, it was the good kind of ‘pal’ and she meant every word. ‘But I didn’t need you to fight my battles, you know.’
‘I know,’ he said with a shrug. ‘But, to be honest, it was a pretty good distraction. I’ve never understood what you saw in him.’
‘His abs,’ Ginny said, with perfect, matter-of-fact comic timing. ‘He’s got great abs. Anyway, what did you need a distraction from? Apart from the fact that my good friend dumped you today.’
They were almost at Moira’s door now.
‘Ah, bit of a situation back at the reception. Calvin and Sandra are in there ejecting Bryony Browne. Turns out she’s the one who’s been spreading all the rumours about me having an affair.
I had a hunch it could be her but I wasn’t sure.
She’s been emailing me pretty much every week since she did that class here for the students, suggesting we meet up, so I figured she wanted something else out of it.
I ignored her and it seems like when she didn’t get my attention, she started dropping anonymous hints to the gossip websites that her and I had a thing going on for years.
Just another hustler looking for clicks. ’
‘Shut up!’ Ginny’s eyes widened. ‘But why? I mean, I suppose some people might think you’re a catch. Or so I’ve heard. Not my type though, obviously. I appear to have a penchant for pretentious, arrogant twats.’
That made him laugh. ‘Cheers. But, anyway, it was something to do with manifesting. That’s her thing, isn’t it?
Apparently, she believed that if she put out there that her and I were secretly together, it would happen.
Don’t ask. I don’t get it either. And I don’t think it works – unless she manifested Sandra ejecting her through the fire exit tonight. ’
‘Yeah, well I’m going to manifest a large cocktail, just in case it does work,’ Ginny said as they reached Moira’s office door and opened it. ‘What about you?’
Ollie sighed, ran his hands through his hair as he followed her through the door. ‘I’m going to manifest a taxi to take me over to Stevie’s place. I need to see her, Ginny. I need to try to convince her that…’
His sentence was suddenly interrupted by the voice of the woman sitting on the office sofa.
‘You won’t need that taxi.’