Olivia's Curtain Call (16 page)

Chapter Thirty-One

Olivia looked around the kitchen table at her friends, and a strange feeling of happiness mixed with sadness washed over her. Today was the last day of the Swan school term and Aeysha was leaving. Of course, they would all be together again for the first night of
Romeo and Juliet
and the after-show party, and they would meet up again many times in the future, but this was the last occasion that they would all be together as Swans.

Since
Romeo and Juliet
had been in preview, she’d been back at school. It had meant long days, but she didn’t want to miss a moment, particularly of Aeysha’s last day. Alicia had arranged for them all to have takeaway pizza and salad in the flat after the final bell of term
had sounded, provided Olivia promised that she would have a nap afterwards. Olivia felt too keyed up to even think about sleeping.

There had already been some tears as they gave Aeysha her goodbye presents, but also lots of laughter too. Aeysha was so certain that she was doing the right thing that it was hard for any of the others to feel upset.

As Aeysha had told them all, “I want you to feel glad for me, not sad. As Miss Swan said, I’m writing my own life.”

“Me too,” said Eel, who was sitting next to Aeysha, her crutches leaning up against her chair.

“What’s happening with you and
Matilda
?” asked Katie.

“They said that providing I can prove I’m up to it, I can do it next year,” said Eel. Then she added, “I knew they would. And I will prove I’m up to it. No question.”

“Big head,” said Olivia, affectionately flicking an olive from her pizza at her sister.

“Oi,” said Eel. “You have to treat me carefully. My head’s very delicate. It almost broke.”

“And you two start the movie next week?”

asked Tom, turning to Georgia and Katie.

They nodded. “Six weeks’ filming,” said Georgia excitedly, “and then we’re both going on a week’s holiday with Aeysha in Cornwall before school starts again.”

“Provided of course that Georgia and I don’t hate the sight of each other by then,” said Katie.

“We won’t,” said Georgia confidently.

“Don’t be so sure,” laughed Olivia. “There are plenty of times in my life when I’ve wished I could divorce Eel.”

Eel knew that her sister was joking and gave her a mock glare. Olivia felt a rush of love for her.

“Actually,” said Georgia, turning to Tom, “we wondered if you might like to come too. There’s room. We’re camping, so one more makes no difference.”

“That’s really nice of you, Georgie, but I’m busy.” He looked at Olivia.

She nodded. “Go on, tell them; Jack said we could.”

“Are you doing something together?” asked Aeysha excitedly.

“We’re going to be rehearsing our high-wire
act,” said Tom delightedly. “A big New York circus producer somehow got hold of one of the DVDs that Jack had been sending out. Booked us on the spot for a run at Christmas in a show in the heart of the city.”

“So you’ll be rehearsing the high-wire by day and performing in
Romeo and Juliet
by night,” said Aeysha to Olivia.

“Yes,” said Olivia happily. “It couldn’t be more perfect, could it? I’ll be doing the two things I love most in the world.” What she didn’t add was that she’d be doing it with two of the people she loved most in the world.

After lunch, the others already gone, Olivia walked with Aeysha down to the front door. Alicia was waiting for them. She put her gnarled hands on Aeysha’s shoulders.

“Good luck, my dear,” she said. “We shall miss you very much, but you are doing the right thing.” She opened the door. “Off you go, Aeysha; step out into your future.”

Aeysha hugged them both and walked slowly down the steps in the blazing sunshine. At the bottom, she turned and gazed up at the Swan as if trying to lodge every single detail of the building in her memory. Then she gave
them a jaunty little wave and set off confidently down the street, a little skip in her step.

Chapter Thirty-Two

It was the first night of
Romeo and Juliet
. A red carpet had been rolled out across the pavement in front of the theatre, roped off so that the celebrities and first-night guests could stroll up it and into the foyer. There was a crowd outside, some of them autograph hunters, and dozens of photographers too, who were happily snapping away as the great and the good in British theatre walked up the carpet and into the building. There were more theatrical dames and knights than at any West End first night for years, and many were saying that there hadn’t been a more glamorous press night in living memory.
Romeo and Juliet
had such a buzz about it that everyone wanted to be there on opening night. Even Cosima and Cosmo Wood and their famous
actor dad, Jasper, had flown over especially from New York for the occasion and to support Olivia.

Ella Campion, who owned Campion’s Palace of Varieties, and her faithful Arthur Tuttons walked slowly up the red carpet. Ella was a living theatrical legend. She waved her hand graciously at the photographers.

Behind them came the Wood family, whose presence created a big stir, followed by a famous Hollywood actress and her film director husband. Then Theo, with Abbie on his arm, stepped on to the carpet and the photographers went crazy. Theo had just been confirmed as the next James Bond, and the story of Abbie and Kasha’s love affair and Tyler’s arrest had been emblazoned all across the papers. Rather than damaging Abbie’s currency it had raised it. The offers were flooding in. But she wasn’t going to rush into committing to anything. After she had made
Joan of Arc
, and Kasha had done his US tour, the two of them wanted to spend some time together and really test how they felt. They had all their lives ahead of them. She and Theo walked into the foyer. Abbie smiled at her dad and Hamo, both in dinner jackets, standing in
the corner talking to each other animatedly and in a very friendly fashion.

Inside the theatre the audience was beginning to settle. One row was entirely taken up with all of Olivia’s class from the Swan. In the row in front of them sat Aeysha, Katie, Georgia and Tom. Then came Pablo, who had just come back from visiting his mother in Spain. Next to them were Ella and Arthur, and then Evie and Tati from Edinburgh, who had come down from Scotland with Jack’s brother, the screenwriter Michael Marvell, and his son, Alfie. Fran was talking to Alfie, telling him about her tap-dancing lessons, as Alfie calmly took an egg from behind her ear.

Fran looked amazed. “Do you think you could teach me how to do that? My patients would love it,” she said. “They already like having a tap-dancing nurse. One who could do magic would be even better.”

Alfie nodded.

At the end of the row sat Alicia, Jack and then Eel, who needed an end seat because her leg was still in plaster. Jack could sense that Alicia was very nervous. She was unusually fidgety and she kept twisting her hands together. “Don’t
worry, Alicia. She’s going to be wonderful,” he whispered. “As wonderful as she was in the preview.”

“You can’t be certain,” said Alicia. “First-night nerves … the pressure … the critics…”

“I can be certain,” said Jack softly, “because she’s my daughter, but most of all because she is Toni’s daughter.”

Alicia smiled.

Up in her dressing room, Olivia had her arms raised above her head as the dresser slipped the simple white embroidered shift she would wear for the first scene over her head. She would go barefoot initially. The beautiful aquamarine dress that she would wear during the party scene was still on its hanger, ready for later. Olivia slowly brushed her hair and looked at her pale, serious reflection in the glass.

There was a knock and Jon put his head round the door. “Ready?”

Olivia nodded gravely and stood up. He came in and took both her hands. “You are going to be extraordinary, Livy.” Olivia swallowed. “I have complete faith in you.”

“I’ll try not to disappoint you or anyone else,” she whispered.

“You won’t,” said Jon. Then he added lightly, “I think tonight was written in the stars.” He squeezed her hand. “See you on the other side.”

After he had gone, Olivia sank on to the seat in front of the mirror again. She heard the words “Beginners, please” over the tannoy. She picked up the photograph of her mother on her dressing-room table and kissed it tenderly.

“This is for you, Mum,” she whispered. Then she stood up and walked towards the stage, and her destiny.

It was well after the interval. A hush had fallen over the theatre. It was as if every single person in the theatre had leaned forward a little in their seats because they wanted to drink in every word and ensure that they remembered everything that happened on stage for the rest of their lives. The story was hurtling inexorably towards its tragic climax. Already some people were dabbing their eyes with tissues. Even Bert, the stage-door keeper, had crept into the back of the theatre to watch. He knew that tonight theatrical history was being made and he wanted to be there to see it.

Jack glanced at Alicia. The tears were streaming down her face but she was smiling. He took her hand in his and at the same time he felt Eel’s fingers close around his other hand and squeeze so tightly it hurt.

“She’s good,” he whispered.

Eel’s eyes were shining brightly. “The bestest,” she whispered.

The sound of sobbing in the auditorium was getting louder as Kasha’s Romeo killed himself believing his Juliet was dead. The Swans were all holding each other’s hands. Tom’s eyes and those of a thousand other people were fixed on Olivia as she awoke from the effects of the sleeping potion and discovered Romeo dead but still warm beside her in the tomb. Her dazed panic and welling despair became their panic and despair as they watched too.

“…and let me die,” cried Olivia, and as she plunged the dagger into her breast a thousand voices gasped as if unable to bear so great a loss.

The play drew swiftly to its conclusion. The final words were being spoken.

There was a blackout.

As the house lights began to be raised, the audience blinked and looked around at each other dazedly, as if awaking from a long dream. They were different people from the chattering crowd who had entered the theatre. They had been touched and transformed by what they had seen and experienced. For what seemed like a century there was silence, then the silence exploded as a thousand people rose to their feet and began to applaud.

The curtain rose and fell and rose and fell again. Still the audience was cheering and clapping and stamping their feet. The curtain rose again. Kasha and Olivia stepped forward to take another bow. A group of photographers ran down the aisles to the front of the stage and began to take photographs. Some of the critics began hurrying towards the doors so that they could file their reviews for the newspapers. The audience continued to shout and cheer. The roar of the audience was so loud that it felt almost physical, like an express train hurtling towards those on stage. Some people ran forward and began to throw bouquets of flowers at Olivia. They cascaded down on to the stage, a blizzard
of red and yellow blooms. Amid the colour there was one posy that caught Olivia’s eye. She bent to pick it up: a small, simple bouquet of lily of the valley. She held it to her face and smiled. She knew who it was from. She breathed in its perfume and raised her hand in an almost imperceptible wave of thanks.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Olivia looked around the room, her eyes bright with excitement. She was standing on her own, half hidden by a small curtain. But she wasn’t lonely in the middle of the crowd any more. She was just taking some time out from the extraordinary excitements of the day and evening, and savouring the moment. Just a couple of months had passed since she and the others had been at the after-premiere party of
The Way Through the Woods
, and here she was now at her own after-show first-night party with all her friends around her.

Waiters were moving around the room with trays of drinks. She saw a waiter go up to Sam and offer him a glass. Olivia smiled at the thought of how much had changed in the last
couple of months. Last time Sam had been doing the serving and she was just a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl dreaming of the high-wire.

She glanced across at the dance floor where Eel was dancing with Emmy, Georgia, Katie, Aeysha and the Wood twins. Eel’s leg was still in plaster and she was using her crutches, but with such physical dexterity it was as if she was dancing with four legs. As usual, she was beginning to draw quite a crowd of admirers. Olivia saw her gran looking worried, obviously concerned that Eel would fall and injure herself, but she saw Fran notice and walk over to soothe Alicia as Evie and Tati joined the others on the dance floor.

Jack, Michael and Pablo were huddled together in the corner, looked relaxed and happy. Kasha and Abbie were wrapped in each other’s arms, talking to Pete and Hamo. Ella Campion was sitting in a chair, holding court with Arthur by her side. Bert was talking to her and the two were sharing memories of post-war British theatre.

There was a sudden shout, and she saw Jon, Howard Franks and some of the cast and production team move towards the table in the
centre of the room. The early editions of the papers were in and some of them would have reviews of
Romeo and Juliet
. She saw Jon open one of the broadsheets and a huge grin spread across his face.

“Five stars,” he shouted, and punched the air in jubilation. There were cheers and shouts of delight, and then another wave of excitement ran around the room as other people rifled through the papers and found more glowing reviews. She heard her name and someone saying, “The greatest Juliet of this or any other generation.” She suddenly thought of her mum whose talent she had inherited. “Thanks, Mum,” she whispered. “Thanks for everything.”

“Liv?” asked a voice. Olivia turned round slowly. Tom was standing behind her. She suddenly realised that she had been waiting for him all evening, waiting for him to find her. He looked so tall and handsome. She smiled shyly. He reached with his hand and gently brushed the tear from her cheek. She blinked as if seeing him for the very first time. She felt like Juliet meeting Romeo amid the hustle and bustle of the party. There was so much noise around them but they seemed locked in their
own bubble of silence.

“You should be happy,” he whispered. “The play’s a triumph, and so are you.”

“I am,” she said. “Very happy.” Olivia looked up into Tom’s eyes and raised her hand up towards him. His hand rose to meet hers and their palms met as if in prayer. For a moment they stared wonderingly at each other, and then Tom bent his head towards her face and their lips touched.