Page 50 of Andalusia Dogs
“Bull’s balls it isn’t! Look, the poor bloke’s dead. Let others mourn him. We, my friend, have a show to rehearse and less time than ever to make it shine.”
“You aren’t serious? And what do you meanwe?”
“Alex,” Jago took both his hands and clasped them tight. “I commend you not wanting to be the arsehole here, so I’ll do it for you. Nobody comes out to see independent theatre produced by—forgive me—some nobody from the provinces in February. You would have been playing to an empty theatre and Joanna’s extraordinary talents would be all for nought.”
“Look, evenifMaria changes her mind, she’s right about one thing. We don’t have any sales. We can’t turn that around in—”
“Let me worry about Maria and your sales. We’ll paper the damn place for opening night if we have to. You’re a solid talent, Alex, but Joanna? Joannamustbe seen.”
Alex heard the chimes of the front door go, but instead of Victoria, the woman of the hour strode in, prompting his jaw to drop. “Joanna? You’re… you’re here?”
“Yes?” She removed a large red sun hat and beamed at them.
“You never come to see me here, and where’s Vicente?”
“Vicente, darling, is sleeping off a late night and a rude awakening. It’s lucky for you, I’m a deep sleeper.”
“About that? It’s not like you to be around in daylight.”
“Careful. A lady could take offence at that remark. Fortunately, I’m nobody’s lady. Jago!” She took him in a warm hug and kissed both his cheeks. “Thank you again for saving us last night. It would have been a wretched bore without you.”
Ahem, thought Alex. Now who had reason to take offence?
“Thank you for sharing what you’ve created with us. I know you said it needs work, and I’ll let you and Alex be the judge of that, but from where I sat?” Jago kissed his fingertips beforesplaying them like a chef in rapture. “Meanwhile, Alex has some good news.”
Alex’s eyes widened again.
“Good for us, at least. Tell her.”
“I… He’s dead.”
“What?”
“Si-Man’s dead. They found him in the pond around Templo de Debod last night.”
Joanna stared at him, eyes as wide as Alex’s had been moments before. Then, she punched him in the arm. “Don’t scare me like that. I thought you meant someone we knew or cared about.”
“Joanna!”
“And how does one drown in the pond around the Templo de Debod? It might be the most unique and extraordinary talent he ever demonstrated. So, what then? We’re…” She gripped his shoulders, the annoyance on her face giving way to excitement. “Does Maria know? Are we back on?”
“Okay, I give you both props for artistic commitment, but a man is dead”
“And there’s not a damn thing we can do about that, Alex,” Jago reminded him. “If you want to honour his memory, put on a show people like him will want to emulate for years. Hell, dedicate your opening night to him if that makes you feel better, but do it. Joanna’s ready.”
“I am, and so is Vis. Alex, this is fate. Horrible, cruel fate perhaps, but for us? We’re doing this.”
“Actually, dedicating the opening night to him will probably help fill seats,” Jago said, stroking his throat, thoughtfully. “Though I don’t suppose you had any friends in common who could help get the word out?”
“Okay, fine. Fine. Just… let me talk to Maria.”
“We can go talk to her now.” Joanna replaced her hat, beaming at Jago as he eased his weight off the counter. “Don’t worry, darling. We’ll take care of everything.”
“There’s nowe, Joanna. Not with him.” The pair’s hurt expressions almost made him feel guilty. “It’s not personal, Jago, but this is our project. I’ll comp you to opening night, but—”
“Oh, you’ll comp me, will you? Lovely.” Jago rolled his eyes. “Sorry, that was flippant, but really, Alex?”
“It’s just that after last night…” he trailed off, not sure where to begin. He could hardly recount the details of the show they’d seen to Joanna. Hell, even with Jago, he hadn’t gotten to the bit about finding himself alone in the waters of the Morningstar fountain, and he’d no idea how to explain that little act of teleportation, even to a witch. On that note, Joanna didn’t need to know Jago was a witch, did she?
