Chapter 44
CHAPTER 44
JESSY
I ’m so nervous for many reasons, but the main one is because Luke will be there and I’m not sure how he’ll react because I walked out on him.
My heart is racing as I walk to the manor house with Angie, who is babbling with excitement as she goes over her lines.
“What if we’re scouted? We might end up in Hollywood.” She says with an eager grin.
“I doubt it.” I shrug, although stranger things have happened.
I hate to bring her down because she is buzzing right now and she nods. “We will be an overnight sensation like the calendar girls. They will need us to go to Hollywood to discuss the feature film. Probably casting some top actress to play me.”
“Only the best.” I add and she nods, her eyes shining.
“I can imagine us at the premiere now. Or even better, attending the unveiling of our stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
“Walk of shame, more like.” I raise my eyes and she drops her gaze and mumbles, “It was only one night and well, we have been out on a few dates already.”
Last night, Angie didn’t come home and asked me to cover for her. When she left the carol service, she was picked up by a guy from work and they went clubbing in Weymouth. Luckily for her, Margery and Terry are late risers and she managed to sneak in before they discovered she never came back. I am now seriously concerned for my friend because Stefan is due to head back to Sweden in the New Year when his visa is up and Angie is seriously thinking of throwing in her training and heading there with him.
It’s as if change is swirling around me like a virus, promising to infect everything and everyone that means something to me. Luke and Morgana will undoubtedly head back to Manchester and it seems that Angie will be heading off for a new life in Sweden, of all places. Meanwhile, I am so busy ignoring opportunity, I will be the one left behind to pick up the broken pieces of a village that never really made it to the century we live in now.
The conversation with my mum is haunting me, as I wonder if I made the wrong decision last night. It’s not as if Luke asked me to marry him or anything. I completely overreacted. He only said he was interested. That interest could last an hour, a day, or a week, possibly months, even years and, who knows, possibly a lifetime.
I will never find out. I am the stupid one who was so scared she fled like Cinderella when the clock struck twelve. Now I must kiss the prince despite everything, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Once again, we head into the manor house and witness a transformation that causes my breath to hitch.
“Wow!” Angie gasps and rightly so, as the place has been catapulted back in time and is the image of what it must have been like back then.
It’s giving off period drama vibes and I stare in amazement at the grand tapestries and art on the walls, with swags of holly and berries and burning candles in arches on the mantlepiece. The huge tree in the hallway glitters like the brightest jewel and the chandelier that sparkles from the ceiling is surely a work of art.
The grand staircase is dressed with foliage and red ribbons, and the fire is roaring in the grate, dancing seductively in front of my eyes.
“This is fantastic.” Angie gasps as Jasper prowls our way wearing a headset.
“Head to make-up and wardrobe in the green room upstairs, ladies. We don’t have a minute to waste.”
We do as he says with open mouths, taking in every detail of the transformation.
“How have they pulled this off?” Angie whispers but I can’t answer her and gasp, “It’s a miracle.”
“It’s called prop warehouse, actually.”
A woman walks past us with another headset on. “We had it shipped down from London and it must all be back within a week or we pay more.”
‘She scurries past and I note even the paintings on the landing wall are fake masterpieces and I whisper in awe, “It’s as if we have stepped back in time. This pantomime will never be beaten. I can’t believe they have gone to so much trouble.”
“But where is the mistletoe?” Angie appears horrified as she says in a worried voice, “It’s the main theme of the show. Lady Townsend loved it and had huge bunches of it in every swag, every wreath, and every arrangement. I can’t see any.”
“It probably didn’t get here in time.”
I share her worry though because without mistletoe, the show has no meaning.
Another production member overhears us and adds, “Don’t worry, we’ll superimpose it afterwards. The end result will show it everywhere. It’s the power of the digital age.”
“That’s, um, good.” Angie smiles and when they leave, she raises her eyes. “They may as well superimpose all of us, too. I wouldn’t put it past them.”
It makes me giggle and as we head into the green bedroom, I am caught up immediately in costumes and make-up and there is no time to think about anything else.
I am so nervous and not because of the pantomime. I catch sight of Luke across the room as we have our briefing, and he appears deep in thought. He hasn’t looked at me once and my heart thumps inside me as I devour his gorgeous face, committing every inch of it to memory because I’m positive he will be leaving us soon.
Then he looks up and our eyes connect and I’m caught staring, causing a heated blush to stain my skin.
His soft smile puts me at ease and I return it, wishing like crazy I could rewind the clock back to when we were sitting on the bench. My answer would be very different now to what it was then because the moment I saw him, it hit me hard.
I don’t want to lose the chance to know him.
To discover what we can be and to become friends more than anything else.
He raises his eyes and nods toward Jasper, pulling a face as he reels off instructions that nobody is listening to.
Then Morgana takes over and I tear my eyes from Luke’s and gaze at the woman many of us only dream about being as glamorous.
“Guys, just forget about the crew, where you are and what’s happening around you. Just concentrate on your words and act your parts as if you are alone in the room. It always works for me and even now when I do this for a living, I am that young girl in her bedroom with a hairbrush as a microphone pretending to be grown up. It never leaves you. Nothing ever really changes, just the venue and the people who are visiting your room. So, most of all, enjoy the experience and remember the day you were famous for a while and tell it to your kids and grandkids and know that you will make them proud.”
Her eyes find mine and she flashes me a brilliant smile. “Jessy, you will make an amazing Lady Townsend. I have every faith in you and Luke–” She swings her gaze to his and whispers, “I have every faith in you, baby. I will always be your number one fan.”
I catch my breath as the cameras follow every move we make and Morgana raises her clip board in the air and yells, “Now break a leg everyone and let’s make this the best pantomime Granthaven has ever presented.”