Page 109 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
‘Yeah, but…’ Vi paused, thinking Hugh might be right. She should raise her profile a bit and go out there in the world of social media. But it seemed scary and not at all her thing. ‘What about all the negative publicity?’ she asked. ‘I’ve heard so much about trolls.’
‘Just ignore them,’ Hugh said, sounding a little fed up with her hesitation. ‘Don’t think you have to expose all the details of your private life or your family. You can be outgoing and still retain your privacy. Just talk about your job as an actress and hold back on the personal stuff. That’s what the big stars do, so why can’t you?’
Vi sighed. ‘Okay. I’ll do my best. It won’t be much in the beginning, but I’ll try to get more followers. Maybe I can find someone to help me out with it? So is that all you wanted?’
‘Yes, and to see how you’re getting on,’ Hugh said. ‘Rehearsals start in London on the fifth of January. You’ll have to go through the script and learn your lines over the holidays.’
‘That’s no problem,’ Vi said. ‘I’m already doing that. Jack and I have been in touch and read some new material together.’
‘Good. I’m looking forward to seeing your Instagram posts. Maybe you could do TikTok as well? Post a video or two, perhaps.’
‘Maybe,’ Vi said. ‘Anyway, Hugh, I have to go. Have a very happy Christmas. I’ll be in touch before I get back to London. Cheers.’ Vi hung up before Hugh told her to do anything else. She wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of raising her social media profile, but if that was part of being a mainstream actress, that’s what she would do.
But the problems with the script were more important. The more Vi read Kathleen’s letters, the more she felt that the whole story should be changed. How could she possibly make that happen? She knew Jack was positive to the idea of rewriting a few scenes, but the whole script? That might be impossible. Vi began to wonder if she could play the part the way it was written now. Or… should she quit rather than portray a false image? Kathleen’s story deserved to be told truthfully. Or not at all.
19
‘It’s such a huge pain,’ Vi said later to Sylvia as they were having afternoon tea together in her granny’s cosy living room. The curtains were drawn against the wet and windy afternoon and a turf fire glowed in the lovely old fireplace. The lamps dotted around the room cast a warm glow on the beautiful antique furniture and the multicoloured oriental rug. Vi pulled her legs under her and cradled her mug of tea, taking small bites of a freshly baked scone with blackberry jam. ‘I mean, going out on social media. I hate that stuff and I’m terrible at it.’
‘I enjoy it,’ Sylvia said. ‘I love posting photos on Instagram and then getting comments from all kinds of people. If you use the right hashtags, I mean.’
Vi sat up and stared at Sylvia. ‘You’re on Instagram?’
Sylvia nodded and spread jam on her scone. ‘Yes. I thought you knew.’
‘I had no idea.’ Vi kept looking incredulously at her grandmother. ‘And hashtags? I kind of know what they are but I don’t know how to use them properly. It’s so tedious to fill all of them in. So I don’t use them.’
Sylvia shook her head. ‘And I thought you were really social media savvy.’
‘I’m not. But you obviously are,’ Vi remarked. ‘Amazing.’
‘Why?’ Sylvia asked coolly. ‘Just because I’m old, you mean? But I have been on Facebook since it started and then on Twitter, but now that it’s become X, it’s a different story over there. So I do Facebook and Insta and have a lot of fun with it. Better than jigsaw puzzles and that boring Sudoku us old folks are supposed to do to stop our brains rotting.’
Vi burst out laughing. ‘You’re a gas woman, Granny. Hey, do you want a job? You could be my virtual assistant and do my Insta posts. What do you say?’
Sylvia smiled. ‘I say that it would be a blast, pet. I was looking for something to while away the hours in the winter now that Rose is back at work and I’m not needed much at the office any more. So, yes, that would suit me very well. And it would help raise our profile too. I mean the Magnolia profile, of course.’
‘I like that idea. But I want to see your Insta stuff first before I decide,’ Vi said and picked up her phone. ‘What name do you use?’
‘@Sylviamagnolia. I thought you followed me already.’
‘No, I don’t think so. I didn’t even know about it.’ Vi logged into Instagram and searched for Sylvia’s profile. ‘Oh wow, I see it now,’ she said, staring at the screen. ‘You have three hundred followers too. Who are they?’
‘Lots of locals,’ Sylvia replied. ‘And then potential tenants for the apartments and also people who love Kerry and might come and visit the Regency garden, the nursery and the café. I use hashtags to target different people and advertise events like Lily’s Christmas tea party. That’s #magnoliaxmasteaparty, by the way.’
‘The photos are great,’ Vi said, scrolling through lovely pictures of Dingle town and its surroundings.
‘All taken with my iPhone,’ Sylvia said. ‘But Henri took some of them, too, like the surfing and beach shots.’
Vi put her phone on the coffee table and turned to Sylvia. ‘Granny, you’re officially hired.’
‘We haven’t discussed my fee,’ Sylvia said. ‘You might not be able to afford me.’
‘So what is your fee?’
‘A hundred a month and free tickets to all your movies, plus an invitation to any premieres either in Dublin or in London,’ Sylvia stated.
‘No problem,’ Vi said, smiling. ‘We have a deal.’
