‘OK, what if I said to you that it wouldn’t be the same as before, because now, whether you get it or not, it can’t make or break you.’
‘You think I should do it, Phil?’
She braced herself for an evasive answer, but after a long pause he replied, ‘What I’m hearing is that you’d love to go for it but you’re afraid. And whatIthink is that it’s come to you, you’ve earned it, so don’t turn away from it. Sure, make the tape, send it off .?.?. and let it go. Isn’t that what Ecclesiastes says: cast your bread upon the waters?’
‘I thought that referred to doing good without expecting a definite reward, sort of thing?’
‘Let’s just say, your talent is a gift to the world, so if you’re asked to share it, don’t question too closely, just do it.’
There was something about his words that reached beyond the surface. She felt a wave of peace.
‘Thanks, Phil, that really helps.’
* * *
She trailed in the door of her apartment that evening, hauling a big bag of art materials to make props. Ramona was scrolling on her laptop with an unusual intensity.
‘What’re you doing?’
‘Booking flights to my new life.’
Cassie’s heart jolted. ‘What? You’re leaving?’
‘No, I’m starting a new business. It’s going to be a clothing and accessory line based on my online presence, and it’s going to be aimed at women twenty-five and upwards who aren’t afraid to dress for their fantasies.’
‘Wow!’ Cassie privately thought that sounded a little risky, given that people’s fantasies were inclined to vary; however, what Ramona actually meant was that she’d define the fantasies, and her customers would buy the outfits. Well, it’d worked so far with her influencer career, so she was perfectly poised to launch the clothing line. In fact, it was a bloody great idea.
‘Yah, I’ve been on to Grandma and she’s all over the idea. So, I’m going to China to source a pattern cutter who’ll prepare my designs and then, of course, I’ll need a factory for manufacture and distribution .?.?.’
‘Jeepers, you decided all of this since .?.?. what, ten o’clock this morning?’
She was clearly out of her funk.
‘When I go, I go.’ Ramona glanced over the top of the screen. ‘You look chipper, what’s up?’ After swearing her to secrecy, Cassie explained about the BBC soap that she wasn’t allowed to name, and how she was going to need help videoing herself and sending it off.
‘And you think present company might help you with that?’
‘Please?’
‘Are you kidding me? Wotcher, me old China plate,’ she began, in an excruciating cockney accent.
* * *
That evening, when she was supposed to be crafting an electric guitar out of cardboard and twine, she started learning the three scenes she had to record. The accent required was her own, so she decided there was no point in over-stressing about it. Instead, she focused on learning the lines so thoroughly that she could forget about them, which generally took more time than she had. Miraculously, Ramona came up with the solution.
‘All you gotta do is record the scenes on your iPhone, then you tap share, then you select “Loop Playback” and then you can play them on repeat all night at low volume as you catch your Zs,’ announced Ramona. ‘It’s how they teach dudes foreign languages for the military, scientifically proven. You’re welcome.’
The following afternoon she and Ramona set up the phone camera. Cassie was dressed in a hoodie and ripped jeans, and had rubbed a bit of Vaseline into her hair to look downbeat. She’d almost forgotten the excitement of creating a character. Ramona assembled the impressive collection of lights she kept for her posts and created a professional-looking corner where she’d be well-lit.
‘Boy, you look like shit, it’s perfect,’ Ramona commented.
‘OK, you have to read the in-between lines to give me the cues. And not in that atrocious accent you put on, for feck’s sake.’
‘Aw, please? Can’t I just throw in, “Cor blimey, she’s been banged up in the Rusty Nail!”’
‘No!Now stop messing.’
There was something about Ramona’s cockiness and irreverence that leeched the stress out of the situation. It turned out her tip about the sleep had been spot on and the lines felt securely in Cassie’s head so that she could just play the scenes as spontaneously as possible. After two takes, they had it.
