Page 25 of Second Act at Appleton Green
Lily did as she was told and got Gran a mug for her tea and settled her in her chair at the little table.
‘So how was it? Did your voice come back?’ Gran asked, always straight to the point.
While holding the hot mug in her hands, Lily slid into the chair across from her. She said slowly, thinking before she spoke. ‘It was… unexpected.’ Her lips curved into a smile. ‘I sang, Gran,’ she said. ‘My voice sounded better than ever.’
With a wide grin that emphasised her fine lines, Gran’s face softened. ‘I’m so pleased, Lil. Now tell me everything. Was the horrendous Sheila Trotter there?’
‘Gran, you can’t call her horrendous.’
‘I can call her horrendous and I just did,’ Gran said firmly as she sipped her tea. Her hand had a slight tremor, Lily noticed, and she thought she should mention it to Nick. ‘I’ve known her for years, jumped-up wannabe politician with her ridiculous red hair. You know it’s dyed. She tried to run for council for the area, wanted to bring a McDonald’s into the region. Not bloody likely.’
‘I never knew this,’ Lily said. ‘Good gossip though. Jasper’s dog, Bernadette, everyone described it as Cujo – the evillest dog in the world – but it liked me. Gave me a little lick. It hates Sheila, apparently bit her and gave her a floppy thumb,’ she said as Mr Mistoffelees came and rubbed up against her legs.
‘I won’t even ask what that means, you and your slang.’ Violet shook her head. ‘So tell me all – what happened at the audition? Are you the new Eliza?’
From Nick’s encouragement to the tsunami of applause that she had experienced, Lily told Gran everything that happened the night before and then she got to Jessica.
‘Who is Jessica?’
‘Sheila’s niece, who used to date Nick. She came swanning in. She’s very beautiful. She auditioned. Sheila seemed to think she was their Eliza. She was weird with me, as though she knew me but I’ve never met her. She was kind of fixated on Nick and me throughout the auditions but there’s nothing happening there. I don’t know what she’s so paranoid about.’
Gran gave a dismissive sniff. ‘She can sense the chemistry.’
‘Gran, there is no chemistry.’
‘And I’m about to turn twenty-five. Go on,’ Gran said.
‘The looming issue is… Jess, she’s… well, she’s not making it easy. She has some sort of weird vibe about her. I think she would make this really awkward for me if I do it, which I probably won’t,’ she said.
Gran let out a laugh. ‘That brings back memories. Have I ever mentioned Beatrice Hawthorne to you?’
Lily shook her head.
‘When I was first in the am dram society, before I was even engaged, Beatrice was the star of our local theatre group.’
She paused and raised an eyebrow at Lily. ‘Well, she was talented and so beautiful, stunning in fact, and she was well aware of it. I was no great beauty but I did have stage presence and was helpful and kind and had a lot of energy. Beatrice seemed to suck the energy out of a room. She made every scene about herself, and would always try and pull focus when she was on stage, even if it wasn’t her line.’
Lily made a face. She had seen her fair share of that before.
Granny’s eyes gleamed. ‘So that summer we were doingA Midsummer Night’s Dreamand Beatrice was irate because I was cast as Hermia. She was determined to play the part. She tried everything to get rid of me, cajoling the director, bad-mouthing me to everyone.’
‘So what did you do?’ Lily leaned forward and asked.
‘She was cast as Titania, which was perfect for her. She was so beautiful but she wasn’t happy. She wanted a lead. So at first, I did my best to make her happy. I tried to befriend her and make things right, like offer to run lines and give her compliments and applaud her performance as Titania in rehearsals, but it didn’t work. She was mad and she was making my rehearsals so awful that I began to get stressed and anxious before they even began.’
Lily nodded as Gran went on.
‘Then the dress rehearsal came and Beatrice “accidentally”,’ she said using quotation marks with her hands, ‘tripped me up backstage and I badly wrenched my ankle.’
‘Oh my God, that’s terrible.’ Lily gasped. ‘What did you do?’
‘I did the show, with a walking stick,’ she said and she glanced at the walking frame, ‘although I could have used that also.’ She laughed. ‘And I incorporated it into the character and everyone gave me a standing ovation and Beatrice was so furious, she left the society and joined a new one over in Stoketon.’
Lily laughed uproariously at the outcome.
‘So I have to wait for Jessica to maim me or hope she goes away in a huff for her to leave me alone?’
‘My point is, don’t give up because she doesn’t like you or want to even get to know you. Stand your ground,’ Gran said. ‘Now tell me more about Nick. Did he have a good voice?’
