Page 70 of The Wedding Pact
She pressed play again and saw Flynn, who stood with two other boys, deliver a line about going to class, in which he stole a peep at the camera at both the beginning and the end. She laughed.
‘I had a little problem with the “don’t look into the lens” instruction,’ Flynn explained with a chuckle. ‘I was never pencilled in to be a recurring character beyond three episodes anyway, but even so, it wasn’t surprising I never got called back.’
With one more‘See ya,’from little Flynn, he was gone from the screen, and August asked, ‘Do you have access to any more clips of you?’
‘There is one more of my episodes on YouTube,’ he reached across and typed in a new search. ‘Get ready for some great egg beating in a home ec class.’
August watched, mesmerised by his younger self on screen. ‘How old were you here?’
‘Eleven, I think? Maybe twelve? I was playing a Year Seven, so around that age.’
‘Did you do any other acting?’
‘No, it was a passing phase for me. I think my next big obsession after this was playing the guitar.’
‘You play the guitar?’
‘Nope,’ he admitted. Flynn stopped the video after his ‘big scene’ and said, ‘See, I have no moral message to relay to you, but if it made you smile for a minute then that’s the desired result.’
‘It did, thank you, Flynn. Maybe I, like you, should give up on this career and turn instead to the guitar. Or law. How hard can international law be anyway, right?’ she joked.
‘Because of one bad audition? You’re kidding, right?’
‘I’m just so …humiliated, Flynn. I almost wish I’d only found out about the whole audition the day before, but over these past weeks I’ve let the idea of getting the part rise and rise to the point I really believed it was mine. I could see myself on that stage. I’d imagined the conversation with my boss about handing in my notice. Not just taking a break, because the leading role in a professional play would have opened the door to this whole other side of my career, and it … it would have meant I could do it. I was good enough. I’d imagined telling my mum, my friends, I’d imagined coming home today and telling you.’
‘I know,’ he sympathised. ‘I was hoping you were going to come back with good news too. But again, it’s one bad audition.’
‘I am a big stupid failure and I’m chasing after the wrong career and Hilary Swank wouldn’t even deem to use her Oscar to beat me out of the way.’
Flynn had no idea why poor Hilary Swank was being brought into this, but August, usually so gung-ho and confident, was steering back towards meltdown city. And he didn’t have any moreGrange Hillto show her.
‘But you can act, August, you know you can, because it’s what you already do – you’ve had loads of success in voice work and you’ll be getting calls for more really soon, now your booth is set up. Youcando this. But maybe being a stage actress takes some different skills, which you could work on.’ He paused, putting a hand on her back while she gave a big sigh. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself. Maybe having talent in one area doesn’t automatically give you talent in the other. I know I couldn’t just walk in to court as a barrister because I’m currently a solicitor, it would take time and training.’
August gasped. ‘What if it’s karma? What if because I short-cutted one dream, living here by lying about who I am, what if that’s it for me and now—’
Flynn began to laugh at this, causing August to see the funny side too. ‘You know, I’m shocked you didn’t get this part because you can be dramatic as hell.’
‘You’redramatic as hell,’ she retorted. But then she turned around and wrapped her arms around Flynn, giving him a huge squeeze. He heard her whisper into his shoulder, ‘You’re a good guy. This new girl of yours better know how lucky she is.’
Chapter 48
August
She was in bed that night when she finally checked her phone. She looked at it with one eye, fearing the official message telling her she hadn’t landed the role – although she already knew that, of course. But August’s face lit up like the screen in front of her when she saw a text from Abe.
Hello, it’s Abe. Just wanted to check in on how your audition went. Nice to see you this morning.
Formal, to the point, sweet. August replied, downplaying the audition – and her disappointment – but thanking him for asking.
Are you back in London now?She added.
His response came quickly, and she wondered if he too was lying in his bed, two lonely hearts across the other side of the country but under the same night sky.
Yep, back in the Big Smoke.See you, and Flynn, next weekend?
Smiling, August responded:Sounds great. Goodnight, Abe.
Goodnight, August.
