A woman walked past them and glanced at Nick and then she smiled at Lily as though she had done well for herself.
She sighed and gestured around her. ‘This is the real reason I’m here though: to help Gran. Not deal with rubbish in the village hall twice a week for June and July and then a week of shows in the last week of August.’
‘I know but it will be better and it’s a great chance to keep your voice in check and sing for your gran,’ he pleaded.
They kept walking as Lily put some cleaning supplies into the trolley.
‘Okay,’ she finally said. ‘But I’m not taking any rubbish from Jess and you need to work it out with her, because her behaviour is not that of someone who is okay with the break-up. She’s acting like the spurned ex-wife.’
‘I’ll get it sorted, I promise,’ Nick said, and she saw a look of worry cross his face. For a moment she nearly felt sorry for him, but if he couldn’t stand up to Jessica and their relationship hadn’t been serious, then that was his problem.
15
Inside the village hall, the familiar scents and sounds of the theatre group welcomed her. The quiet buzz of performers chatting as they waited for rehearsals to start, Jasper’s loud voice calling for Sheila to change the set up for the rehearsals on the small stage, the clatter of items being moved.
There was the familiar cinnamon cake scent and some coffee, which made Lily’s stomach rumble, and she looked around to try and see Nick. She saw Jess speaking with another cast member at the far end of the room, her back straight, arms folded. Jess’s eyes darted to Lily, then narrowed momentarily before she turned aside to carry on talking. Lily straightened her shoulders, not allowing the icy reaction to stop her. Today’s rehearsal was about the show, not about Jess.
Nick finally entered, still in his nursing top and pants, and waved at Lily. She had put on a pretty sun dress this time, white with yellow roses on it and a matching yellow cardigan. It was perhaps a little formal for the rehearsal but it made her feel pretty and she needed the little dose of confidence around Jess, who was in all black and looking like a panther.
‘How are you?’ Nick asked as he came to her side.
‘Nervous,’ she admitted.
‘Righto, let’s go. We’re blocking Act One, Scene One,’ called Jasper.
‘I need Mrs Eynsford-Hill, Freddy, Eliza, Colonel Pickering and Higgins on stage please.’
Sheila walked on stage with Nick and the others following.
‘You’re playing Mrs Eynsford-Hill?’ Lily asked Sheila. ‘I didn’t realise, how lovely.’
‘I was to be Mrs Higgins but since you are now Eliza that threw everything out of whack.’
Lily stared at Sheila for a moment, summoning up her grandmother’s courage.
‘I can leave and you can have the role back if you like. It’s no skin off my nose.’ She smiled as she spoke and saw Sheila’s mouth drop.
‘I mean…’ Sheila tried to reverse her comment but it was too late; Lily was on a roll.
‘I know you wanted Jess as Eliza but Jasper chose me, because I can sing the role and because Jess is very beautiful but doesn’t have the voice. It’s that simple and it’s not personal, but for some reason you and Jess seem to have made it personal. I don’t care either way, but if you’re going to act like Jess and be passive aggressive and rude for the rest of my time here, then I will leave and I will tell Jasper exactly why.’
Sheila clasped her script to her chest. ‘No, we don’t want you to leave and I agree, you do have the better voice. So I’m sorry I spoke that way to you and it won’t happen again.’
Lily saw Nick’s head bouncing between them as though he were in a tennis match.
‘Great, so we’ll move on and pretend this never happened,’ Lily said with a sweet smile.
‘Everything all right?’ asked Jasper from the floor as Bernadette the dog toddled off to her velvet pillow to sit on and review the work.
‘Absolutely – just discussing character,’ said Sheila with a forced smile.
Jasper started to block the actors while the rest of the cast looked on as they worked through the opening scene.
Jasper’s direction was sensible and straightforward, and Lily was glad she didn’t have to do anything too fancy. It was very clear Jasper had this well in hand.
Lily threw herself into it with fresh enthusiasm as Higgins sang the first song: ‘Why can’t the English?’
Gosh she had forgotten how much fun it was and David, the local school principal, was an excellent Higgins, she thought.
