‘Thanks so much for this, Bea,’ Mimi said, hugging Rocco’s mum hello while Sive and Aoife unloaded armfuls of bouquets into the sink.
‘Goodness, what a lot of flowers!’ Bea said, turning to them. ‘I’ll see if I can rustle up some more vases.’
‘Anything I can do to help?’ Sive asked.
‘You could take those glasses through to the living room,’ Bea said, nodding to a tray of champagne flutes on the worktop before leaving the room.
‘Sive! It’s lovely to see you. You can put those here.’ Rocco’s older sister, Francesca, pointed to the end of a long buffet table. Once Sive had set the tray down, Francesca pulled her into a quick hug.
‘You too. It’s been a long time.’ They exchanged wry smiles, silently acknowledging that the reason they’d lost touch was because their respective siblings had split up.
‘So, any idea what this is all about?’ Francesca spread her arms to encompass the room.
‘Um … the party, you mean?’ Sive frowned, confused. ‘It’s closing night?’ Admittedly it was pretty lavish for a closing night party, which tended to be more low key than opening night ones as cast and crew were going their separate ways and moving on to other projects. But Rocco could afford it, and there was no reason he couldn’t splash out on a big celebration if he wanted to.
Francesca nodded. ‘Yes, but why all this fuss? I mean, I don’t get why weallhad to be here.’
‘You didn’t want to come?’
‘No, I did. I was always going to come and Charlie was going to stay home with Marco, but Rocco insisted on the whole family coming, so we ended up having to get a babysitter.’
‘Oh. I don’t know.’ Sive shrugged. ‘I guess maybe he wants to celebrate moving back to Dublin and being back together with Mimi?’
‘Hmm. Maybe.’ Francesca shrugged. ‘Anyway, not that I’m complaining. I enjoy a good party as much as the next person.’
Francesca drifted off as the doorbell rang and the rest of the cast and crew started streaming in. Sive experienced a slight disconnect at seeing Andrea, Mitch and Orla in their own clothes instead of their vintagePrivate Livesattire. Soon the room was filled with the buzz of conversation and the clink of glasses, Rocco’s youngest sister Mia and a couple of her friends circulating with trays of champagne while the guests mingled.
Sive went to join Sam who was chatting to Andrea, thinking he’d probably be in need of rescuing. The woman was very hard work.
‘I’ll just have one,’ Sive said, taking a glass of champagne as a girl proffered a tray. ‘I don’t want to drink too much. We haveto be up early in the morning.’ She took a sip. ‘What time are we meeting up for striking the set?’ she asked Sam.
‘Early,’ Sam said. ‘Around ten?’
‘Cool. I’ll be there.’
‘You don’t have to,’ Sam said. ‘We have plenty of volunteers.’
‘I know, but I want to. Besides, I need to organise the costumes.’
‘You’re striking the set?’ Andrea asked Sive. ‘That’s very democratic of you.’
‘That’s the ethos of Halfpenny Lane,’ Sive said happily.
‘Well, I’m sorry I can’t join you,’ Andrea said, with not an ounce of regret in her voice. ‘But I’ve got a brunch with friends booked. I feel quite guilty now, but I haven’t seen them in months, what with the show and rehearsals.’
‘Don’t worry about it, you’ve earned a break,’ Sive said, determined to play nice. Andrea, Mimi and Mitch had all been working a punishing schedule of daytime rehearsals and evening shows for the last couple of weeks. Still, she couldn’t help wondering why an actress with Andrea’s skill wouldn’t make more of an effort to portray the emotions she claimed to feel.
‘And we’ve got plenty of helpers,’ Sam said.
‘How are you enjoyingA Christmas Carol?’ Andrea turned her attention to Sam. ‘I must say, I was surprised when I saw you were in the cast. I never knew you were an actor. Where did you train?’
‘Oh, I didn’t. Unless you count the drama society at college. I’m self-taught.’
‘Like Aoife and Andrew Scott,’ Sive said, daring Andrea to make an issue of it.
‘Really?’ Andrea raised her eyebrows dramatically. ‘And now you’re playing young Scrooge? Lucky you! Well, they do say this business is all about who you know.’ She glanced across the room at Mimi. Sive had almost forgotten that Sam hadpretended to date Mimi last year. It was just a ruse for Rocco’s benefit, to convince him that Mimi was over him, but Andrea didn’t know that.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ she asked, bristling. ‘Sam’s very good.’
