‘I don’t mean as a mate.’
‘Well, I was beginning to wonder.’
‘Why?’ Sam frowned. ‘I thought I was pretty obvious.’
Sive shrugged. ‘You’ve never asked me out.’
‘Right back at you.’
‘But why didn’t you?’
‘You were with Ben.’
‘I’m not with him now.’
‘It’s been all of five minutes. I mean, give a guy a chance.’
‘So is that the only reason? You thought it was too soon?’
He sighed. ‘Maybe there was a part of me that was also afraid of screwing it up,’ he said. ‘I am famous for it, after all.’
‘No, you’re not,’ Sive protested, frowning.
‘Hah! You never heard my dad on the subject.’
Sive remembered Aoife saying something about Sam’s father being very hard on him growing up. Apparently nothing Sam ever did was good enough.
‘We’re friends,’ Sam continued, ‘and I don’t want to risk losing that.’ He sighed. ‘But just to be clear, I dolikelike you.’
Sive smiled. ‘Same here,’ she said softly. And just like that, they were having a moment.
‘Good. I’m glad that’s settled. So you’ll say yes if I ask you out on a date?’
‘Yes.’
‘And I promise not to mess it up,’ he said earnestly, slipping his hand into hers as they went inside.
8
‘How many timeshave you seen this show?’ Sive asked Sam the following evening as they settled into their seats at Halfpenny Lane for the final performance ofPrivate Lives.
‘Pretty much every night since it opened until rehearsals started and my replacement took over. Though not often the whole way through,’ he added quickly to Sive’s look of horror. ‘Anyway, I’d happily watch it every night of the week.’
‘And twice on Saturdays,’ Sive said with a smile.
‘Exactly. Besides, I never got to sit in a seat, like a real punter – or to sit beside you. This is a real treat.’
Sive looked around the auditorium. She’d missed this while she was filming. She was so proud of what she and her sisters had created here at Halfpenny Lane and it was good to be back. It was a full house, as it had been every night since the show opened, largely thanks to Rocco’s star power. His fans had flocked from all over the world to see their heartthrob treading the boards in the flesh. It was very gratifying, even if most of them were only here to ogle Rocco.
The show was as sparkling and fresh as it had been on opening night. Mimi and Rocco were brilliant, and the audiencecouldn’t have been more enthusiastic, howling with laughter at the antics onstage, and applauding enthusiastically at the end. But she found herself glancing at Sam constantly, watching him almost as much as the action onstage. He was enjoying himself enormously and she loved how engaged he was. Even though he’d seen the show countless times, he roared with laughter at the funniest lines as if he was hearing them for the first time and at the end he leapt to his feet, clapping and whooping.
The performance went down a storm, the audience surging to their feet as the cast took their bows, their whistles and roars reaching a deafening crescendo whenever Rocco appeared. It was a given that as the principals, Rocco and Mimi would get the loudest cheers, but Sive was relieved that Mitch and Andrea got their fare share of appreciation too. They’d both been brilliant in their parts and it was well deserved. She knew Mimi had found Andrea difficult to work with, but she’d always given her full credit for her acting. Sive joined the standing ovation, along with the rest of the audience, tears pricking her eyes as Mimi and Rocco performed a final dramatic stage kiss that brought the house down.
Jonathan and Aoife came to pick them up for the party, and they met them in the lobby.
‘I’ll wait here for you,’ Jonathan said. ‘Text me when you’re ready and I’ll bring the car round.’
The rest of them went backstage. Sam headed for the wings to chat to Cara and the crew, while Sive and Aoife went to the dressing room that Mimi shared with Andrea and Orla, the other female members of the cast.
