Chapter 21
Nick and Lily slipped into a routine with him coming over once a week to see Gran for dinner and rehearsing and ignoring Jessica’s glares and snide asides. They went on little drives or did the grocery shopping together and mostly Nick was at Pippin Cottage.
‘You’re so kind to be here so much. I just can’t leave Gran for long periods,’ she said to Nick as they sat outside one day after he had visited Gran, and they drank tea in the garden together while Gran napped in her chair.
‘It’s fine, but I will admit I should have discharged her two weeks ago,’ Nick said. ‘I just come and check on her and then get to see you.’
Lily made a face. ‘Oh no, I hope you don’t get into trouble.’
‘She’s ninety-seven; she needs someone to check on her anyway. I just wrote in my notes that the granddaughter is very unreliable and skittish and Mrs Baxter needs a regular welfare visitor.’
Lily flicked a tea towel at him as Mr Mistoffelees jumped onto his lap, looking for attention.
‘Oh finally he’s decided to like me,’ said Nick as he scratched behind the cat’s ears.
Lily watched him, with his mug of tea and the cat, and wondered why she ever thought this life seemed so terrible.
Later that night, when she was talking to Nigel on one of their FaceTime calls, she told him about spending her days with Nick.
It was so wholesome she wondered if she wasn’t living a fantasy, she told Nigel.
‘He sounds perfect. Shame he’s not in London.’
‘I know. I have kind of hedged around it but he’s not interested. He loves the country; in fact, I think this cottage and the way Gran lives is his secret fantasy life,’ she half joked.
‘Is it yours?’ Nigel asked. She was about to laugh until she realised he was serious.
‘Maybe when I was small,’ she said. ‘Life is very easy here, but it could get boring. Sometimes I love it and sometimes, it’s just routine, looking after Gran.’
‘But if you could have both? Doing shows and living in the country?’
Lily was silent. ‘What’s going on, Nigel? Why are you so encouraging for me to be here?’
Nigel sighed. ‘I’m taking the extension on the tour. It’s going to North America. I’ve signed on for another two years.’
‘Wow, okay, wow,’ Lily said. ‘Gosh, that’s a long time.’
‘I know, but I’ve met someone,’ he said.
‘Oh, Nigel, that’s lovely. Who is he?’ Lily asked, feeling happy and sad at the same time.
‘His name is Marcus and he’s in makeup and I adore him and he me. He makes me laugh and I just want to be with him for the rest of my life. Corny?’
Lily shook her head. ‘No, it’s not. It’s lovely and I’m so happy for you,’ she said and she felt a tear fall. ‘But I will be sad you’re not here and I guess you’ll move out? I’ll have to rent your room out?’
Nigel nodded. ‘Yes, I know. I can get my sister and brother-in-law to come over and get everything when the sublet finishes.’
‘Okay,’ said Lily. ‘The end of an era – we have lived together for so long.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘But you can come and see me, come and have a holiday.’
Lily smiled. ‘I will need to get a job first. The restaurant is closing and the call centre hasn’t even offered me a shift.’
‘You need to teach again. I heard how good some of those students got at the flat.’
Lily shrugged. ‘Maybe, but it feels like failing.’
‘Oh screw those stupid lecturers; that was their bitterness, not ours. The irony of being told you’re a failure if you teach from a teacher is next-level nuts. I thought you realised that?’
Lily thought for a moment. ‘You know, I didn’t. I was so convinced I would be a failure, and there was so much pressure…’ She didn’t finish the sentence.
‘You mean Denise?’ Nigel rolled his eyes. ‘You have to tell her to pop back in her box. If she wants to be famous so much she should have gone to college.’
‘I know,’ Lily said. ‘I just don’t know what I want to be honest. This break here has been lovely, even without the show and Nick.’
‘Have you told Denise you’re doing an am dram show?’ he asked.
‘No, and I’m not going to. I won’t hear the end of it,’ she said. ‘As long I’m here she won’t come over, which is good. She’s got too many activities of her own to do; she’s just joined a bonsai club.’ Lily giggled.
‘Not a surprising choice, considering she loves control,’ Nigel said. ‘Sorry, that was mean.’
‘You’re not wrong though,’ said Lily. ‘I need to stand up to her more.’
‘No, you need to decide what you want your life to look like, not how Denise thinks it should look.’
Lily nodded. She knew he was right but she wasn’t even sure what she wanted her life to look like.
‘I have to go. I have rehearsals,’ she said to her best friend. ‘I love you and I’m so happy for you.’
‘Love you too, babe. Speak soon.’
She thought about what Nigel said as she drove to rehearsals, arriving early to run lines with Henry Higgins.
Opening the door, she saw that Nick was already there, assisting Jasper and one of the set builders in the process of setting up the makeshift stage.
When she approached him with a smile, she enquired, ‘Do you require any assistance there? I can’t say I would be very helpful but I’m good at pointing where things should go.’
Nick beamed, and his eyes lit up as he caught sight of her. He was carrying a flat with Jasper. ‘Always,’ he said and they smiled and Lily blushed.
‘Excuse me, lovebirds,’ Jasper yelled out from the opposite side of the hallway. ‘Less flirting, more working! I don’t want to drop this. These flats are expensive.’
As she and Nick exchanged apologetic glances, Lily noticed that her cheeks were beginning to grow even pinker. So much for being discreet, she thought.
‘Righto, we are doing a run-through with the start of the set, so I can see if the blocking is working.’
Jessica had entered the rehearsal at some point. Lily hadn’t seen her come in but she was there, arms crossed, staring at Nick who was standing close to Lily.
Jasper started with a scene without Lily, so she took her script outside to practise lines with a cup of tea.
It was such a lovely afternoon, she thought as she sat under a tree on a little seat. She could hear music coming from the hall and she sipped her tea and sighed with contentment.
And then she heard a scream.
Dropping her script to the ground, she ran inside and saw Jess on the floor, clutching her ankle.
‘Call an ambulance,’ called Jasper but Jess shook her head.
‘I don’t need an ambulance. It needs to be iced, maybe strapped?’ She looked at Nick with sad eyes and Lily looked at him and raised her eyebrows.
‘Have we got any ice?’ he called. ‘I don’t have my work bag on me.’
Sheila shook her head. ‘We don’t, I’m so sorry.’
Jess moaned on the floor, ‘Help me, Nick,’ she said.
Lily watched as Nick and David helped her up and she wrapped her arms around Nick’s neck.
‘You’ll have to carry me,’ she said. ‘Can you take me home?’
Nick looked at Jasper who nodded.
Nick glanced at her, as he swung Jessica into his arms.
‘Lily, I’ll call you later,’ he said loudly.
‘Thanks, I hope your ankle is okay, Jess.’
But Jess ignored her and cuddled in closer to Nick’s neck, as though she hadn’t heard a word from Lily; in fact as though she didn’t even exist.