Page 139 of Christmas off Script
Closing her eyes, she tried to commit the moment to her memory. The soft press of his lips on hers, the sharp and sweet pain in her heart, and the coolness of her tears as they tracked down her cheeks.
If this is the last time, then be grateful for what you’ve had.
‘Coo-ee!’ Arthur called loudly from the wings. ‘Where are you, Princey-poos! Your little Fanny wants to play!’
‘And your Tittie does too!’ Steve added.
Ella broke away from Leo. ‘I have to go,’ she managed, then ran off stage.
25
Hiding behind the flat, Ella wiped her eyes. She was due back on stage in the next few seconds for a scene with Dervla as the fairy godmother, then a series of scenes in the kitchen of Hardup Hall leading up to her transformation into a princess and leaving for the ball. After that, it was the interval and she could talk to Leo. But did she want to? If he was going to tell her something awful about her father, then say he wanted them to just be friends, she’d rather he waited until the end of the panto so there was no need for her to hold it together any longer.
Drawing on all her reserves of energy, she grabbed a bunch of sticks and went back on stage where Dervla was hunched over, a brown shawl over her head.
‘Hello, my dear,’ Dervla called out in a wavering voice. ‘I wonder if you could help me?’
‘Yes, of course!’ Ella replied. ‘How can I be of assistance?’
As the scene continued, Ella tried to keep her focus on what she was meant to be doing, but her awareness was constantly drawn to the sight of Leo standing in the wings, his gaze fixed on her.
What had happened with her dad before the show? How had Leo got away? And what was he feeling about Lila’s return?
The knot of tension in her tummy got tighter and tighter as the pantomime progressed, each word and each scene taking them closer to the halfway point.
Now they were in the kitchen of Hardup Hall again.
Dervla held her magic wand aloft. ‘Cinderella! You shall go to the ball!’
‘But how?’ Ella replied. ‘I don’t have a ticket, any way of getting to the palace, and my only dress is rags!’
‘Minor details, my dear. Do you have Amazon Prime?’
‘Er… no. Is that a problem?’
Dervla shook her head. ‘We can use my account.’ She waved the wand in the air. ‘I’ve got Optimus Prime. Delivery by drone within sixty seconds of your order being placed. Your VIP ticket should be with you in five, four, three, two—’
An envelope whizzed through the air. Ella caught it and read the front. ‘Princess Incognito?’
‘Well, you can’t be announced as yourself with your ugly sisters there, can you?’
‘But won’t they recognise me?’
‘Not with my magic. It’s more powerful than a social media beauty filter. Now all I need is a pumpkin, two frogs, and four white mice. Got any lying around?’
‘I’ll see what I can find in the garden,’ she replied, then dashed through the kitchen door where Willow was waiting with her transformation dress. Ella shimmied out of her costume and Willow helped her into the ballgown then lifted the top skirt up and over her head as a shawl to disguise it.
‘Where’s the fake pumpkin and the cages with the stuffed animals?’ Ella asked, glancing at the empty table behind the scenes.
‘We don’t know,’ Willow muttered. ‘Libby and Leo have gone to try and find them. They were there ten minutes ago.’
Ella listened to Dervla’s dialogue on the other side of the flat. ‘She’s going to finish in a few seconds.’
‘I know. Can you stall for time?’
Ella nodded, then poked her head through the door onto the stage. ‘The mice are missing and the frogs have hopped off,’ she said to Dervla. ‘Just trying to chase them down.’
‘And the pumpkin? It’s not like that’s got legs.’
