‘Yes, we will come,’ she said to him and he wandered to the tea table where he took a piece of cake and fed it to Bernadette, and then went to the group sitting in the chairs.
Nick looked around and she wondered if he was nervous about Jessica’s arrival. ‘Come on, we need to get a seat and wait our turn to audition,’ Nick said to her.
The room hummed with obvious excitement, as any audition space did, and she tried to push the memory of her failed audition out of her head.
There is no pressure here,she reminded herself.There is no need to worry, just sing the song and enjoy yourself,she thought. She wouldn’t let herself get carried away; she couldn’t. This was a test for herself, not a real audition.
‘We sing in front of each other?’ She looked around.
‘Of course.’ He smiled and she wondered how a man this good-looking could be single.
Lily nodded and inhaled once more, trailing Nick as they went to the chairs.
‘Everyone, this is Lily. She’s from London. She’s a West End singer, and she’s here to practise and audition,’ he said to the group. She nudged him.
‘Shhh, don’t,’ she hissed but he ignored her.
‘West End? How marvellous. Why are you here, dear? Will be you in the show?’
The questions tumbled from the people around her and Lily didn’t know which one to answer first, when the door opened and everyone turned.
‘Jessica,’ said Sheila and she rushed up to a young woman who looked uncannily like a very tall Audrey Hepburn and who glanced at Nick and then at Lily and raised an eyebrow. She wore a black cape over a white dress and had her hair in a perfect French roll. She wore black heels with stockings and carried an elegant clutch purse. The only colour was a perfect red lipstick and the red on the soles of her heels that Lily captured a glimpse of as she stalked into the hall.
Sheila turned to the group who were all sitting on the chairs.
‘Everyone can relax, our leading lady is here,’ she said, her eyes holding Lily’s for a moment too long.
Jessica came to the group and looked at everyone and then leaned down and kissed Nick on the cheek. ‘Hello, darling,’ she said to him.
‘Hi,’ he said, seeming a little awkward, ‘Jess, this is Lily. She’s new in the village.’
Jessica stared at her for a longer than usual moment and then a slow smile spread over her face and she laughed.
‘Hello, Lily, how nice to see you again,’ she said. ‘You’re helping your grandmother. How sweet, like little red riding hood. Be careful of the wolf,’ she said with a coquettish bat of her eyelashes.
Nice to see you? She couldn’t remember ever meeting her before.
But before Lily could ask anything of Jessica, Sheila clapped her hands.
‘Okay, everyone, time to get ready. We are casting for all roles,’ said Sheila and she gave Jessica a wink.
Jessica preened and it annoyed Lily more than was reasonable. There were other younger women in the group who might be right for the role of Eliza. Why did Jessica assume it was hers? Was Sheila making the casting decisions and not Jasper?
‘Listen, I might not audition,’ she whispered to Nick. ‘It’s a silly idea. I’ll wait for you to sing and just watch.’
‘No, you have to sing. This is just to see how your voice is, okay? Look at me the whole time and just focus on the singing and nothing else,’ he whispered back.
There was a calmness to him that soothed her but still, she thought, it wouldn’t be right to waste everyone’s time.
‘Lily Baxter?’ She heard her name and looked up to see Sheila standing with the call-out sheet.
‘Um, yes,’ she said. Sometimes she hated having a name that started so early in the alphabet.
‘Just sing and see what happens,’ Nick whispered and she looked at him and made a face. ‘Go,’ he said and pushed a little with his hand on her elbow.
Lily walked to the piano and realised she hadn’t brought any sheet music.
‘I forgot my music,’ she said to the portly accompanist.
