Page 3 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
‘When’s the interview?’ Vi asked.
‘Three o’clock.’
‘Today?’ Vi asked, beginning to panic. She glanced at her watch. ‘It’s twenty to three already and I haven’t done my makeup or fixed my hair or anything. Where is this interview anyway?’
‘At the movie company’s London office,’ Hugh replied. ‘It’s five minutes’ walk from here.’ He handed her a card. ‘Here’s the address. You’d better get your skates on. Don’t worry abouthair or makeup. They want you to look natural. A blank canvas. Remember how Kathleen would always look so wholesome?’
‘Yes, but…’ Vi got up from the chair. ‘I need to look my best, don’t I?’ She looked down at her navy down jacket that had seen better days and the black leggings and scuffed trainers. ‘I didn’t think I’d need to dress up to see you. I came straight here from the gym and I have to be on the set ofThe Dockland Mysteries, the TV series I’m in, at five.’
‘How’s that going?’ Hugh asked. ‘I know it wasn’t the best part for you but…’
‘Any part is better than nothing,’ Vi said. ‘But it’s been a bit of a struggle. They’re going to kill me off soon, as you know, so then I’ll be off the hook and ready for anything new.’
‘Like this amazing role,’ Hugh cut in. He looked at his watch. ‘It’s a little tight time-wise but you’ll make it if you hurry.’
‘Did you spring this on me on purpose?’ Vi asked suspiciously. ‘So that I’d look “natural” for this interview?’
‘Would I?’ Hugh asked, grinning. ‘But whatever. Go on now and do your best.’
‘I’ll have to sprint if I’m to be there in time,’ Vi remarked, moving to the door. ‘I thought we were just going to chat about my future plans. But now you’ve sprung this on me and I’m a mess too.’
Hugh leaned forward and smiled at her. ‘You always look great, sweetheart. Just be yourself and smile.’
‘Easy for you to say,’ Vi replied. ‘Okay, I’ll go there and try my best to be myself. Smiling might be a little difficult, though.’
‘Break a leg,’ Hugh said. ‘I know they’ll love you. But please try to be polite whatever they say.’
‘I will,’ Vi said with a wry smile. Hugh knew she could be a little hot-headed; it had affected her earlier auditions, when casting directors had been dismissive of her she’d found it hard to stay quiet. ‘Or I’ll try my best. Thanks for this chance, though,Hugh. You’re a brick.’ She blew him a kiss at the door and then walked out of the room, practically running to the ladies’ toilet. ‘Got to go and freshen up,’ she said to Fiona, who was still typing away at her laptop. ‘Important interview in a minute.’
‘Break a leg,’ Fiona shouted after her.
‘That’s what Hugh just said,’ Vi remarked with a nervous laugh. ‘I hope that won’t jinx it.’
‘If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen, my granny used to say,’ Fiona called after Vi as she raced to the ladies’.
‘I hope it is,’ Vi shouted back.
Once inside, Vi walked to the mirror and stared at herself. ‘Jack Montgomery,’ she said. ‘I’m going to work with Jack Montgomery. If I get the part. How am I going to get him to like me?’ She pinched her cheeks and tried a smile, tossing back her red hair that hung like a heavy curtain to the middle of her back. ‘Be myself,’ she said to her image. ‘That’s harder than being Lady Macbeth.’ Her huge green eyes stared back at her with defiance and also a touch of fear.If I don’t get this part, I’m giving up acting, she promised herself as she touched up her lips with bright red lipstick which accentuated her fair complexion and made her freckles stand out. Then she took a step back and nodded to herself. ‘There. Very nineteen fifties. The typical girl from the Emerald Isle, that’s me. Who could do that better? Nobody, that’s who.’
Feeling a lot more positive, Vi walked down the stairs and out of the building, marching up the street with a mixture of determination and fear.
As the traffic rumbled up the street, Vi tried her best to boost her confidence. She desperately wanted this part, but the fact that it was going to be filmed at Magnolia Manor was making her feel nervous. Her sisters, Lily and Rose, might not like to see Vi arrive at the house with a film crew. Not after the bitter row last year.
Why did it have to happen?Vi thought.We were so close – until that awful row which wasn’t really my fault. We must try to make peace with each other. Maybe this is a chance for us to be sisters again like we used to.She longed to have that close connection with them again, which had felt like a solid wall of support, just like in boarding school when her older sisters had defended her if anyone tried to bully her. But now that wall had crumbled and she didn’t know how to build it up again.
Vi couldn’t help but think about all the things she had sacrificed for her career. Her love life, her friendships, a steady income… and recently her family. The long nights and unreliable schedules had got in the way of most of her relationships. And other actors didn’t tend to warm to her.
But she forced herself to shake off her concerns as she arrived at the building where the London office of the film company was housed. This was her last chance. And perhaps it was an opportunity to mend things with her sisters and show them it was all worth it: she was getting somewhere. She pressed the button beside the intercom and said her name when prompted. Then she pushed open the heavy door and entered the building, mentally steeling herself for the ordeal that was to come: facing a bunch of film people and trying to act natural. Especially to Jack Montgomery.
2
Getting out of the lift on the eighth floor of the building, Vi looked around a deserted lobby and then spotted a door with a sign that said, CONFERENCE ROOM. She knocked on the door and as there was no reply, opened it slowly to find a large room that smelled faintly of paint. The white walls were covered in posters advertising movies the company had produced and Vi saw a huge photo of Kathleen O’Sullivan on the far wall. Five people – three men and two women – sat behind a long table chatting and drinking coffee. Then there was silence as they noticed Vi. She shot them a nervous smile.
‘Hello,’ she said. ‘I’m Violet Fleury.’
‘Hi, Violet,’ one of the women said. ‘Please sit down.’ She had short dark hair and pale blue eyes behind black-rimmed glasses. ‘I’m Laura, the casting director.’
‘Hi, Laura,’ Vi said, relieved to sit down as her knees wobbled. She looked at the people behind the table and noticed a man studying her. It was Jack Montgomery, who with his tall, lean frame, shaggy brown hair and brown velvet eyes was even more handsome in the flesh than on the screen.
