Chapter 2
2
Getting out of the lift on the eighth floor of the building, Vi looked around a deserted lobby and then spotted a door with a sign that said, CONFERENCE ROOM. She knocked on the door and as there was no reply, opened it slowly to find a large room that smelled faintly of paint. The white walls were covered in posters advertising movies the company had produced and Vi saw a huge photo of Kathleen O’Sullivan on the far wall. Five people – three men and two women – sat behind a long table chatting and drinking coffee. Then there was silence as they noticed Vi. She shot them a nervous smile.
‘Hello,’ she said. ‘I’m Violet Fleury.’
‘Hi, Violet,’ one of the women said. ‘Please sit down.’ She had short dark hair and pale blue eyes behind black-rimmed glasses. ‘I’m Laura, the casting director.’
‘Hi, Laura,’ Vi said, relieved to sit down as her knees wobbled. She looked at the people behind the table and noticed a man studying her. It was Jack Montgomery, who with his tall, lean frame, shaggy brown hair and brown velvet eyes was even more handsome in the flesh than on the screen.
He studied her for a moment. ‘Thanks for coming in at such short notice.’
‘You’re welcome,’ Vi mumbled, twisting her hands in her lap under his critical gaze.
‘This is Dave, the director,’ Jack Montgomery said, gesturing at the man beside him. ‘And then we have Liz Wall, the producer and finally Leo, our stylist, who will be doing hair and makeup.’
‘Hi, everyone,’ Vi said and waved. She felt all eyes on her as she sat there and tried her best to look unperturbed.
‘She is quite like Kathleen, even more so in the flesh,’ Liz the producer said to Jack. She had long blonde hair and brown eyes below thick black eyebrows which made her look faintly sinister.
‘She will be the spit of her when I’ve finished,’ Leo the makeup artist said. He had sandy hair, very blue eyes and was dressed in a navy sweatshirt. He looked at Vi with a friendly smile. ‘How do you feel about perming your hair and maybe putting on a little weight? Would you be prepared to do that?’
‘I’ve done worse things for a role,’ Vi replied, smiling. ‘Like dyeing my hair all kinds of weird colours, cutting it all off, blackening my teeth and other things that made me look terrible. A perm is a minor detail compared to all of that. Not sure I can put on weight, though. I eat like a horse but I’ve never managed to gain much weight.’
‘Ugh, a naturally skinny girl,’ Liz said. ‘I already hate you. But you’re perfect in every other way. Isn’t she, Laura?’
The casting director nodded. ‘Oh yeah, I couldn’t agree more. The hair, the eyes, that voice… We can certainly turn her into Kathleen.’
Liz smiled. ‘That’s what I thought.’ She looked at Vi. ‘So you’re familiar with Kathleen O’Sullivan?’
‘Of course,’ Vi said. ‘She’s my role model in many ways.’
‘Why?’ Liz asked.
‘I mean the way she stood up to the movie moguls of the day and got them to pay her a decent wage,’ Vi replied. ‘And how she managed to change some of the scripts that were derogatory to women, making them into little housewives with no brains. She wanted to portray independent women with a will of their own and she managed to do that.’ Vi drew breath, wondering if that was the right answer.
‘Well, yeah, but sometimes that was not great for her career,’ Liz remarked, staring at Vi. ‘This is going to be a movie with a romantic theme. The love story between her and Don Williams, who she married after a lot of drama.’
‘I don’t remember the drama,’ Vi started. She wondered if this was what Kathleen would want her story to be about. ‘I’m sure you’d agree that it’s important to portray Kathleen the way she truly was. It would be awful if what she did was not recognised or skimmed over by some romantic story.’
Liz glanced at Jack. Vi wondered if it would have been better to keep quiet, knowing she risked losing the part if she spoke her mind. This had happened twice before when she argued with casting directors. Hugh had been very annoyed and told Vi she had to be more flexible. But she couldn’t be dishonest, it wasn’t in her nature.
‘If I’m to play Kathleen O’Sullivan, then I’d want to show who she truly was,’ Vi went on.
‘I see,’ Liz said. ‘Interesting.’ She shot another conspiratorial look at Jack Montgomery. ‘So… what do you say to that, Jack?’
‘Well…’ Jack, who had not yet voiced an opinion, looked at Vi for a moment while she squirmed on her seat, feeling she had blown it. ‘You have an interesting attitude.’ She sat awkwardly waiting for the verdict when he suddenly smiled. ‘Well, you got the part.’
‘Really?’ Vi exclaimed, breathless with excitement. ‘Are you sure?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, if you agree to the terms of the contract. We’ll send it over to Hugh and he can go through it. We start shooting in early March next year.’ He paused, looking amused. ‘I assume you’re free then?’
‘Oh yes,’ Vi replied, forgetting all about being aloof and standing her ground. ‘Very free. I’m about to be killed off in The Dockland Mysteries , the TV series I’m in at the moment, and there was nothing else on the horizon, so that’s absolutely terrific. I’m ready and willing to play the part of one of our biggest stars. So proud to be Irish right now – and from Kerry, especially.’ She knew she was gushing but she couldn’t stop herself. It was as if all her dreams had come true at last and she couldn’t hide her delight.
Jack lifted one eyebrow when she had finished. ‘Great delivery. Are you going to sing as well?’
Vi felt her cheeks go red. ‘No. Sorry. Didn’t mean to blather. It was just that I’m so excited to get the part.’
‘I see.’ Jack’s smile broadened. ‘That’s terrific. Welcome aboard, Violet.’
‘Thank you, Mr Montgomery,’ Vi whispered. ‘It’ll be an honour to work with you.’
‘It’ll be a blast to shoot this thing in Ireland,’ Liz declared, her eyebrows dancing. ‘Won’t it, Dave?’ she said to the director, who until now had just sat there looking at Vi without uttering a word.
David, a tall man with receding blond hair and gold-rimmed glasses, kept looking at Vi. ‘As long as she knows how to take direction, we’ll get on fine. At least she has a bit of acting experience, unlike some of the other candidates.’ He shot Vi a polite smile. ‘You come highly recommended. I hope you’ll live up to it.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ Vi said demurely.
‘Of course you will.’ Liz looked suddenly more friendly. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘Let’s all go to the pub next door and celebrate.’
‘Great idea,’ Leo said and got up. ‘We’ll have a chance to get to know Violet and start making plans.’
‘The shooting doesn’t start for another few months,’ Jack said. ‘So there’s plenty of time to make plans.’
‘And to do research,’ Liz filled in. ‘We do know a lot about Kathleen already but we don’t have all the facts about her early life, before she came to Hollywood. So…’ she paused and looked at Vi, ‘as you’re from Kerry, would it be possible for you to go there and do some research? Get under Kathleen’s skin, so to speak. As you’re playing Kathleen, you need to be her in this movie. And you can only do that if you know as much about her early life as possible.’
‘Yes, I could do that,’ Vi agreed. ‘And I do actually have a connection to the manor you’re intending to film at. Magnolia Manor is, or was, my ancestral home. It’s my grandmother Sylvia you will have been negotiating with.’
‘Oh, that’s incredible,’ Liz said, looking amazed at this revelation. ‘I had no idea. So the old bird we were dealing with is your grandma?’
‘Yes,’ Vi said, not sure if she liked her grandmother described that way. ‘I’m very fond of her. She’s not as hardnosed as you might think. She’s just a very shrewd businesswoman.’
‘And a very successful one,’ Leo soothed. ‘Liz didn’t mean any disrespect.’
‘Of course not,’ Liz said, looking contrite. ‘I actually liked her. A very classy woman. I’m sure you’re very proud of her.’
‘Yes, I am,’ Vi said. ‘Very proud.’ She conjured up the image of her grandmother in her mind and wondered if she was proud of Vi. But they had parted on bad terms and now Vi didn’t know how she could go back to Magnolia Manor before she had yet again apologised for what had happened the last time she had been there. Oh my darling granny , she thought, how can I make you understand that I’m truly sorry? And how can I get close to my sisters again after what I said to them? I don’t blame them for being upset. But I was in a bad place then and felt so lost…
‘So, we’re all agreed?’ Jack Montgomery asked and gathered up his notes. ‘And we’re all going to the pub, then?’
‘I can’t,’ Vi said and got up. ‘Sorry, but I have to get to the set. So nice to meet you all. I’m really looking forward to working with you.’
‘You sure you can’t join us?’ Leo asked.
‘Not possible, I’m afraid,’ Vi replied. ‘We’re shooting a scene in the Docklands area this evening.’ She checked her watch. ‘I’m already running a little late.’
‘We’ll see you soon, though,’ Jack cut in. ‘We’ll meet sometime in the near future to discuss the schedules and so on. We need to take some publicity shots too. We’ll be in touch with your agent to set it up.’
Vi nodded. ‘That’ll be great.’
‘Let us know when you’ll be in Ireland,’ Leo said. ‘I’m going there myself for Christmas. I have family in Cork. Not a million miles from Kerry.’
‘That’s true. It would be nice to meet up somewhere halfway between Cork and Kerry.’ Vi smiled and prepared to leave. ‘Well, goodbye for now. See you all soon.’
‘Lovely to meet you,’ Laura the casting director said. ‘I’m really happy we found you. Nobody could be more perfect for the role than you.’
‘Thank you,’ Vi said with a happy smile. ‘I’m thrilled to play Kathleen.’ Then she walked out of the room while the others gathered up their bags and coats and prepared to go to the pub.
Vi was sorry she couldn’t join them but perhaps it was a good thing in a way. She needed to digest what had just happened. It seemed as if all her wishes had come true at once: playing the main character in a Hollywood produced movie and acting with Jack Montgomery, the man who had appeared in her dreams many times. The perfect man, handsome, suave, clever and chivalrous.
If only the setting was different, everything would be perfect. That was the one thing she found hard to deal with. Going back to Magnolia Manor and facing her family.