Chapter 4
4
A week later, Vi found herself having a drink in an Irish pub with Jack Montgomery. Feeling as if she was dreaming, or in some kind of parallel universe, she wandered into the dim, crowded pub dressed in a navy suit with a short skirt, high heels and her hair in a messy bun with tendrils around her face. It looked natural, but the style and the ‘natural’ makeup had taken her over an hour to achieve. She scanned the room, but didn’t see Jack, so she sat down at a small round table in an alcove to wait for him. A waiter appeared asking what she wanted, but she told him she was waiting for someone, so he nodded and disappeared. Then after a few tense moments, when she thought he wouldn’t show up, there was a sudden murmur through the pub and there he was, pushing through the crowd, looking unperturbed by the eyes on him.
He looked around for a moment and when he spotted Vi, walked swiftly to her table and sat down. ‘Hey,’ he said, smiling. ‘You chose the best spot in the place. Clever of you. Nice to see you again… eh… Vera?’
‘Violet,’ she corrected.
‘Oh, of course. I knew that. Hi there, Violet.’
‘Hi, Jack,’ she said. ‘How are you?’
‘Great.’ He looked at her for a moment. ‘You look cute. What did you do to your hair?’
Vi touched the back of her head. ‘Oh, I just put it up out of the way.’
He nodded. ‘Nice. What do you want to drink?’
‘I’d love a pint of Guinness,’ she said without thinking.
‘A whole pint?’ He raised one eyebrow, his mouth quivering. ‘You’re that thirsty?’
Vi shrugged. ‘Sure. Why not? This is an Irish pub, after all. Nothing like draught Guinness on a Friday night.’ She suddenly felt reckless and wanted to show him she didn’t care what he thought. Did he think she was going to sit here and be prim and proper and mind her ps and qs just to impress him? Be yourself , she said to herself. Don’t try to be something you’re not.
‘It’s Thursday,’ he said.
‘I know, but I’ve just finished filming. It feels like Friday night to me.’
‘Oh, I see.’ He waved at a waiter. ‘A pint of Guinness for the lady and a Jameson’s for me. Best whiskey in the world,’ he said to Vi when the waiter had left. ‘You Irish do make the best drinks.’
‘We do,’ Vi agreed. ‘Except for wine. The French do that better than us.’
‘Yes, of course. If you’re into wine.’ He smiled. ‘So you just finished filming?’
Vi nodded. ‘Yes, my character, Jane, has just been killed in an accident under suspicious circumstances. Such a relief. Didn’t really enjoy the part I was playing. The dialogue was terrible and the whole plot was deadly.’ She giggled. ‘Well, it would be, being a murder mystery.’
He smiled. ‘I’m sure you let them know how deadly it was.’
Vi nodded. ‘Yeah, I’m afraid I did, so they killed me off. It wasn’t really in the script but they changed it when I started to complain. So glad to have finished that one. And now I can prepare for my role as Kathleen.’
‘You’ll be perfect,’ he said, looking at her with amused eyes. ‘It’ll be interesting to see what you do with the role.’
‘I’m going to try to get to know her properly. You’ll be terrific playing her husband,’ Vi said.
‘I’ll do my best.’
‘I can’t believe I’m going to work with you,’ she continued, feeling her cheeks turn pink. ‘I’ve seen a lot of your movies and always thought you were one of the best actors ever.’
‘Thank you,’ he said with an odd little smile. ‘That’s very flattering. I think we’ll have a great time working together.’
‘I’m looking forward to it,’ Vi said. ‘As far as I know, Kathleen was engaged twice but Don, the man she finally married, was the love of her life, even though they had quite a stormy relationship.’
‘She was no pushover,’ Jack remarked. ‘But a very skilled actress.’
Vi nodded. ‘I think she was. I’ve only seen two of her movies, but I’ve downloaded all the other ones and I’ll be watching them when I get to Kerry. Haven’t had a chance to do that yet, but now that I have some time off, I’ll get started.’
‘Good idea. That’ll help you study her voice and body language. But it won’t tell you much about her private life or her relationship with Don. She was a little wild before she met him but he calmed her down and made her happy at last.’
Vi smiled, trying not to be affected by the flirty look in his brown eyes, or the lock of dark hair falling across his forehead. ‘You were going to say he tamed her, weren’t you? But that would have sounded too domineering. Or even abusive.’
‘These days, yes,’ he said, sitting up. ‘But we’re going back to the nineteen fifties. Things were different then.’
‘Hmm, yes, they were. Is that going to be a problem?’ Vi asked. ‘I mean, audiences will be looking at it from the point of view of today.’
‘Not a problem if it’s done with subtlety. I think it will be. I haven’t read the screenplay yet. Have you?’
‘Not yet. Hugh is sending over the script before I go to Ireland,’ Vi replied. ‘But it will just be a first draft. I’m supposed to do some research on Kathleen and then the script will be adjusted if we find anything interesting to add to her story.’
‘Well, there isn’t much in her official bio,’ Jack remarked. ‘Born in that little place in Kerry in 1929, went to the local school and so on, and then she went to study drama and dance in Dublin and was spotted by a talent scout from Hollywood when she was only nineteen. Then a list of all her movies, which are all well known. Her personal life doesn’t feature much and all we know is that she was engaged twice, both times briefly before she met the man she married.’
‘I’m sure I can find out more than that,’ Vi said.
Their drinks arrived and Vi took a swig of her pint before she continued. ‘So what do you know about Don Williams? He was American, wasn’t he? From Texas, I think. Can you do the accent?’
Jack nodded and cleared his throat. ‘Sure, darlin’. I’ll be so in character you’ll wonder where I parked my horse,’ he said in a nearly perfect Texas accent.
‘I think you need to dial that down a bit,’ Vi said, laughing. ‘You wouldn’t want to turn into some kind of caricature.’
‘Of course.’ Jack sipped from his glass. ‘I was just doing it to make you laugh. I’ve listened to a clip on YouTube with the two of them talking to a journalist. Don Williams was educated at Harvard, so his accent was barely noticeable. Not easy to imitate, I have to say. But I’m working on it with a voice coach.’ He smiled. ‘You won’t have any problems, though. Your accent is spot on. You just have to lower your voice a little. Kathleen had quite a throaty thing going. Very sexy, I have to say. She could buy a pint of milk and make it sound suggestive.’
‘I never noticed that,’ Vi said, wondering if he was joking. ‘Her voice was rich and deep, yes, but…’
‘Oh, never mind,’ he said, laughing. ‘I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Kathleen’s voice was lovely. Yours isn’t bad, but you’ll need to work on the intonation and the timbre.’
‘Ah, well, I’ll have to watch her movies and listen carefully,’ Vi replied. ‘We did impersonations in drama school, so I’m sure I’ll manage.’
He nodded and took another sip of whiskey. Then he leaned forward again, gently touching her hand. ‘You’ll be fine. And I think we’ll be good together. We just have to get used to each other. Get the chemistry going and all that.’
‘I know,’ Vi said. The slight touch of his fingers and his eyes on her made her feel a little dizzy. He was so attractive, but that wasn’t what made her feel drawn to him. His eyes were kind and his voice gentle as he spoke to her, as if he was trying to put her at ease. She knew there would be no problem ‘getting the chemistry going’, as he had put it.
‘So you’re going to Kerry soon?’ he asked.
‘Yes. In about a week. I’m going to spend the rest of the year at Magnolia Manor. That’s the place where the movie is going to be shot.’
‘Tell me about the family there.’
‘Oh, nothing much to tell,’ she said casually. ‘My grandmother lives at Magnolia Manor with her fiancé. But he spends the winters in the South of France. Can’t stand the wind and rain, apparently.’
Jack nodded. ‘Understandable. Who else lives there?’
‘No family. Most of the manor has been turned into apartments for seniors, except for some of the rooms downstairs. But I have two sisters who live nearby. Lily and her husband have two children and Rose and Noel had their first baby a little over a year ago.’
‘Lily, Rose and Violet,’ Jack said. ‘That’s quite a bouquet. Are they like you, with red hair and green eyes?’
‘Oh no,’ Vi said, smiling. ‘Lily has dark hair and eyes like my grandmother and Rose is blonde with blue eyes.’
‘Interesting.’ Jack looked at her while he drained his glass. ‘I’m looking forward to meeting them.’
‘I’m sure they’ll be excited to meet you, too,’ Vi said.
‘I suppose you’re very close?’
Vi’s spirits sank at the thought of her sisters. ‘No, not really. Not any more. We had a… disagreement a while back, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh? That’s a pity. But maybe you can sort it out between you?’
Vi sighed, the memory of her rift with her sisters taking the gloss off the moment with the man of her dreams. ‘It doesn’t look possible right now, I’m afraid. But maybe the movie and all the excitement around it will cheer them up.’
‘Could be. We could give them small parts in the movie,’ he suggested.
Vi laughed. ‘Yeah, that might be fun for them.’
‘I’m looking forward to my trip to Ireland,’ he said. ‘Especially Kerry. Never been there before.’
‘Then you’re in for a treat. It’s a wonderful county. Especially around Dingle,’ Vi told him, her heart beating faster at the thought of going back to her hometown. ‘It’s incredibly beautiful. Wild and dramatic, with mountains and beaches and views of the ocean to die for. Dingle town is the cutest little town, too, with houses in all kinds of colours and quaint little shops and pubs where they play trad music and…’ She stopped and laughed. ‘Sorry to be blathering on about it.’
He looked at her with a glint of warmth in his eyes. ‘No need to apologise. I’m looking forward to it even more now.’
‘You’ll love it.’ She finished her pint in one go, dabbing her mouth with a paper napkin to remove any foam.
‘Would you like another pint?’ Jack asked.
Vi shook her head. ‘No thanks. I’m not that thirsty.’
‘Well, I have to leave in a minute anyway,’ he said. ‘A car is picking me up to take me to my hotel and then I’m leaving early tomorrow. Would you like a lift anywhere?’
‘I don’t want to take you out of your way. I live in Croydon, so that would really be a big detour.’
‘Oh.’ He looked suddenly a little awkward. ‘That is rather a hack.’
‘I’ll just take the Tube and then the train,’ Vi said. ‘It’s okay, really. I’m used to the “hack”.’
‘Well, if you’re sure,’ Jack said, looking as if going to Croydon would be like a trip to the Outer Hebrides.
‘Oh yes, absolutely.’ She smiled reassuringly. ‘You might get stuck in traffic anyway and then you’d never get to your hotel.’
‘You’re probably right, even if I feel bad about it.’
‘Oh, please don’t,’ Vi said and got to her feet at the same time as Jack. ‘I’d feel doubly bad about making you go all the way out there.’
‘That’s very nice of you,’ Jack said. He hesitated for a moment, looking at Vi with a warm smile. ‘Well, it was great to have that chat. I know we’ll work well together. See you in Kerry in a few months. I’ll be there a few weeks before shooting. Just to get the local colour and all that.’
Vi nodded. ‘Good idea. Give me a shout when you get there.’
‘Of course. I’ll get your number from Liz.’ He paused. Then he leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek. ‘Bye for now, Violet.’
‘Bye, Jack,’ Vi managed before he turned and swept through the crowd, ignoring the attention from everyone in the place.
Vi stood there for a moment, the kiss burning her cheek, feeling as if she had been hit by a hurricane. He was just being polite , she thought. I hope he couldn’t hear my heart beating like a drum or notice the effect he had on me. How am I going to cope when we’re working together, playing husband and wife? Looking lovingly into those brown eyes won’t be a problem when we’re acting, but off camera, I’ll have to learn to switch off the adoration.
But then, as she travelled home, she felt a tiny dart of disappointment that Jack had not insisted on driving her. Yes, Croydon was a long way to go, but he had a car and driver to take him there and back. He probably thought Vi wasn’t worth the effort. Well, she would be less enthusiastic the next time they met. That would put all her acting skills to the test.