Chapter 2
A stiff breeze chilled the air the following afternoon as Sive walked to Halfpenny Lane.
Leaves fluttered from the trees, turning the pavement beneath them into a carpet of russets, oranges and golden yellows.
She resisted the instinctive urge to pick up and pocket the shiny brown conkers that lay beneath the horse chestnuts along their road.
She loved this time of year. The sharp, earthy scent of the cool air and the crunch of crisp leaves underfoot conjured powerful childhood memories, triggering a back-to-school sense of anticipation and the promise of new beginnings.
As a child, autumn was a time of excitement and magic.
It was the squeaky shine of new shoes, the smell of books and freshly sharpened pencils.
It was kicking through piles of leaves on the way to school, collecting the smooth, brown chestnuts scattered among them.
Best of all, it was the thrill of roaming the streets with your friends on a dark Halloween night, importuning the neighbours for chocolate and sweets.
Now the season brought the more grown-up joys of pumpkin spice lattes and the Dublin Theatre Festival, though she and her sisters still celebrated Halloween as enthusiastically as ever, decorating the house with pumpkin lanterns and autumn wreaths, and donning witches’ hats to answer the door to trick-or-treaters.
She reached the cobbled streets of Temple Bar and waved to Chloe in the bakery at the corner as she turned into Halfpenny Lane.
Chloe paused in loading pastries into the counter display case to give Sive a cheery wave in return.
The tantalising aroma of warm dough wafted through the door as she walked by.
She rarely passed Chloe’s place without going in to buy something, but she’d spent the morning baking brownies to take into the theatre – largely as a means of distracting herself.
She was more nervous about this audition than she even wanted to acknowledge to herself, and she’d always found baking a calming, soothing activity.
She was far too early for her audition, but it didn’t matter.
She was always happy to hang around the theatre, and it would give her a chance to catch up with Sam.
She pulled open the stage door and climbed the stairs to the backstage area.
She found Sam sweeping the floor outside the green room, where the auditions were being held, and her heart gave a little leap.
He was such a sweetheart. How had it taken her sisters – and especially Mimi – so long to warm to him?
‘Sive!’ He greeted her with a cheery grin.
‘Hi. Long time no see. How’s it going?’
‘Great. Living the dream!’ He stopped sweeping and spread his arms wide.
Sive giggled, though she knew he wasn’t being sarcastic – he actually meant it. ‘You need to dream bigger, my friend.’ She dug in the tote bag on her shoulder and pulled out a large plastic container.
‘What’s this?’ Sam folded his arms on top of the brush and rested his chin on them.
‘Just some brownies I made.’
‘Trying to butter up Alan?’ He jerked his head in the direction of the green room, though Sive assumed Alan, the director, wouldn’t be back from lunch yet.
She shrugged. ‘Can’t hurt, can it?’
‘Can I try one?’
‘Of course.’ She peeled back the lid of the plastic container, the rich smell of chocolate rising into the air.
Sam took one and ate it in two bites. ‘Oh my god, they’re amazing!’
‘It’s a family recipe,’ Sive said as Sam took another one. ‘I thought I’d just leave them here for anyone who wants them.’
‘I’ll take care of it. We can’t have the talent doing the catering.’ Sam took the tub from her and set it down on the small table serving as a coffee station.
‘Well, you’re the talent now and you’re sweeping floors.’
Sam gave an affable shrug. ‘I like to keep busy. Anyway, I wear many hats – a multitude of hats. Today I’m just a lowly assistant stage manager running the auditions.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘You’re very early.’
‘I know.’ Sive’s audition was the first of the afternoon, so there was no one waiting on the small row of chairs outside the green room door.
‘Well, Alan’s ready for you, if you want to go in.’
‘Really?’
Sam nodded. ‘He was back early from lunch and he’s rearing to go. He said I could send you in whenever you’re ready – no need to keep you waiting until your allotted time.’
‘It would be nice to get it over with.’ Sive didn’t mind auditions – she quite enjoyed them, in fact – but she hated the waiting.
‘You’ll be making my job easier too. It’d help to get started early and have a bit of extra time in case there are any delays later on. I’d like to avoid an actress pile-up in the waiting area if I can.’
Sive laughed.
‘Come on and I’ll announce you.’
‘Thanks.’ Sive knew Alan Wells a little.
She’d never worked with him, but the world of Dublin theatre was relatively small and their paths had crossed occasionally at festival events and workshops.
A friendly, avuncular man in his mid-fifties, he had a reputation as not only a wonderful director, but an absolute sweetheart to work with.
‘Knock his socks off,’ Sam whispered to her before opening the door.
When she emerged from the green room twenty minutes later there were two actresses waiting on the chairs outside.
Sam motioned for her to wait while he showed the first one into her audition.
When he’d closed the door, he led Sive away a little from the chairs where the remaining young woman fidgeted in silence.
‘How did it go?’ he asked her, keeping his voice low.
‘Well, I think.’ She’d enjoyed it, which was always a good sign.
She’d done a short reading, but it had mostly been an informal chat with Alan about the play and what she felt she could bring to the role.
He’d been attentive and interested, and she was confident she’d done a good enough audition to get the part.
But she couldn’t count out one of the other hopefuls doing a better one.
Maybe one of them would turn out to be the next Meryl Streep and Alan would have no choice but to cast her.
‘But who knows?’ she said to Sam. ‘How many more has he got to see?’
‘There’s just two more after them,’ he said, nodding to the waiting area.
‘I guess I’ll find out tomorrow, then.’ The auditions would take up the rest of the afternoon, so she was unlikely to hear anything before then. She wrinkled her nose. ‘I hate the waiting. It’s the worst part of this job. Well, apart from the constant rejection, of course.’
‘I can’t see you having to worry much about rejection,’ Sam said. Then his face fell and he blushed. ‘I mean—’
‘It’s fine. I know what you meant.’ Sive smiled reassuringly. ‘I guess you heard about me and Ben, then.’
‘Yeah.’ Sam gave her a sympathetic look. ‘Sorry.’
‘Thanks.’ She wondered was he sorry or was he trying to hide the fact that he was secretly glad? But she dismissed the idea. Sam was so sweet, even if he did want to make a move on her himself, his sympathy would still be genuine.
‘What happened?’ he asked, then checked himself. ‘Sorry.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘None of my business. You probably don’t want to talk about it.’
‘No, it’s fine. I don’t mind. He met someone while he was away. He’s living with her now in Lisbon.’
Sam’s eyes widened. ‘God, sorry. That’s brutal.’ He shook his head. ‘Well, he obviously didn’t deserve you.’
‘Anyway,’ Sive said, keen to get the conversation back to less personal topics, ‘even if I’m not cast as Belle, I’ll still be in the play, if only as one of the crowd. That’s the beauty of doing such a big ensemble piece. There are lots of other parts.’
‘But none that get to dance with me,’ Sam said with a cheeky smile.
‘Hmm, that’s true.’ Sive smiled back at him.
She was glad Sam was running the auditions today.
She’d missed him for the past month, and chatting with him was really lifting her spirits.
‘I know Mimi put you up for the part of young Scrooge, but I’m surprised you didn’t try out for Freddie as well.
It’s a bigger part and you’d be perfect for it.
I’m sure you’d have got it.’ She could easily see Sam as the amiable, cheerful Freddie.
‘Ah, but then I wouldn’t have any scenes with you, would I?’
Sive smiled, heat warming her face.
‘And I’m playing Topper too, don’t forget. So it’s two chances to show off for the price of one. That’s basically my wheelhouse.’ He glanced away as another young woman appeared at the top of the stairs. ‘Hang on a sec,’ he said to Sive and darted across to greet her.
Sive watched as he showed her to a seat and told her to help herself to drinks or snacks from the coffee station. The girl was clearly nervous and Sam was doing his best to put her at ease.
‘These brownies are awesome, by the way,’ he said, carrying the tub with him when he rejoined Sive. ‘Do you want one before they’re all gone?’
Sive peered into the container, surprised to see there were only a couple left.
‘Gosh, they’re nearly gone already? They were popular.’
‘Um … yeah.’ Sam looked sheepish. ‘With me, anyway. Big fan!’
‘Oh.’ She laughed at his guilty expression. ‘You ate them all?’
‘What can I say?’ he said with a cheeky grin. ‘I’m a growing boy. Anyway, that lot are too nervous to eat. Sorry, but I didn’t want all that sweetness wasted on the desert air.’
‘It’s fine. You deserve them. You’re doing a great job running these auditions.’
‘It’s hardly rocket science,’ he said with a wry smile.
It may look easy, but there was a definite art to running auditions efficiently, keeping things moving along and making sure the director stuck to the schedule.
Sam had obviously staggered the auditions well so that there weren’t too many actors waiting at any one time.
That was important, especially in a small space like Halfpenny Lane.
‘It’s still possible to make a complete mess of it,’ she said to him.
‘I did it once and it was a nightmare. The director was the most awful flirt and went way over time with all the women. I didn’t have the nerve to cut him short and it got completely out of control.
Bodies were piling up until it was standing room only. I felt so awful for everyone.’
‘Ah, you’re too nice, that’s your problem.’
Sive’s gaze drifted to the green room door as it opened. ‘Anyway, I’d better let you get on.’
‘Okay.’ Sam hesitated for a moment. ‘But are you doing anything on Saturday evening? I’ve been training in my replacement and he’s taking over as assistant stage manager for the evening show. I thought maybe we could do something together.’ He looked at her hopefully.
‘I’m meeting up with some friends from the Gaiety,’ Sive said with a regretful grimace. ‘But I’ll see you on Sunday for dinner?’
‘Yeah, I’ll be there. And maybe you could help me with my lines, if that’s not too cheeky to ask?’
‘Not at all. I’d love to.’
‘Great! I really want to be off book for the table read. We could run through our scenes together.’
‘Well, I’m very happy to help you with your lines. But I haven’t been cast yet, remember.’
‘No, but you will be,’ he said, walking backwards towards the green room. ‘Or my name’s not Ebenezer Scrooge!’
Sive laughed as he turned away, feeling more upbeat than she had for weeks. Even if she wasn’t cast as Belle, they’d be in the play together one way or another and it was going to be a lot of fun.