‘Come on and I’ll announce you.’
‘Thanks.’ Sive knew Alan Wells a little. She’d never worked with him, but the world of Dublin theatre was relatively small and their paths had crossed occasionally at festival events and workshops. A friendly, avuncular man in his mid-fifties, he had a reputation as not only a wonderful director, but an absolute sweetheart to work with.
‘Knock his socks off,’ Sam whispered to her before opening the door.
When she emerged from the green room twenty minutes later there were two actresses waiting on the chairs outside. Sam motioned for her to wait while he showed the first one into her audition. When he’d closed the door, he led Sive away a little from the chairs where the remaining young woman fidgeted in silence.
‘How did it go?’ he asked her, keeping his voice low.
‘Well, I think.’ She’d enjoyed it, which was always a good sign. She’d done a short reading, but it had mostly been an informal chat with Alan about the play and what she felt she could bring to the role. He’d been attentive and interested, and she was confident she’d done a good enough audition to get the part. But she couldn’t count out one of the other hopefuls doing a better one. Maybe one of them would turn out to be the next Meryl Streep and Alan would have no choice but to cast her. ‘But who knows?’ she said to Sam. ‘How many more has he got to see?’
‘There’s just two more after them,’ he said, nodding to the waiting area.
‘I guess I’ll find out tomorrow, then.’ The auditions would take up the rest of the afternoon, so she was unlikely to hear anything before then. She wrinkled her nose. ‘I hate the waiting. It’s the worst part of this job. Well, apart from the constant rejection, of course.’
‘I can’t see you having to worry much about rejection,’ Sam said. Then his face fell and he blushed. ‘I mean—’
‘It’s fine. I know what you meant.’ Sive smiled reassuringly. ‘I guess you heard about me and Ben, then.’
‘Yeah.’ Sam gave her a sympathetic look. ‘Sorry.’
‘Thanks.’ She wonderedwashe sorry or was he trying to hide the fact that he was secretly glad? But she dismissed the idea. Sam was so sweet, even if he did want to make a move on her himself, his sympathy would still be genuine.
‘What happened?’ he asked, then checked himself. ‘Sorry.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘None of my business. You probably don’t want to talk about it.’
‘No, it’s fine. I don’t mind. He met someone while he was away. He’s living with her now in Lisbon.’
Sam’s eyes widened. ‘God, sorry. That’s brutal.’ He shook his head. ‘Well, he obviously didn’t deserve you.’
‘Anyway,’ Sive said, keen to get the conversation back to less personal topics, ‘even if I’m not cast as Belle, I’ll still be in the play, if only as one of the crowd. That’s the beauty of doing such a big ensemble piece. There are lots of other parts.’
‘But none that get to dance with me,’ Sam said with a cheeky smile.
‘Hmm, that’s true.’ Sive smiled back at him. She was glad Sam was running the auditions today. She’d missed him for the past month, and chatting with him was really lifting her spirits. ‘I know Mimi put you up for the part of young Scrooge, but I’m surprised you didn’t try out for Freddie as well. It’s a bigger partand you’d be perfect for it. I’m sure you’d have got it.’ She could easily see Sam as the amiable, cheerful Freddie.
‘Ah, but then I wouldn’t have any scenes with you, would I?’
Sive smiled, heat warming her face.
‘And I’m playing Topper too, don’t forget. So it’s two chances to show off for the price of one. That’s basically my wheelhouse.’ He glanced away as another young woman appeared at the top of the stairs. ‘Hang on a sec,’ he said to Sive and darted across to greet her.
Sive watched as he showed her to a seat and told her to help herself to drinks or snacks from the coffee station. The girl was clearly nervous and Sam was doing his best to put her at ease.
‘These brownies are awesome, by the way,’ he said, carrying the tub with him when he rejoined Sive. ‘Do you want one before they’re all gone?’
Sive peered into the container, surprised to see there were only a couple left.
‘Gosh, they’re nearly gone already? They were popular.’
‘Um … yeah.’ Sam looked sheepish. ‘With me, anyway. Big fan!’
‘Oh.’ She laughed at his guilty expression. ‘You ate them all?’
‘What can I say?’ he said with a cheeky grin. ‘I’m a growing boy. Anyway, that lot are too nervous to eat. Sorry, but I didn’t want all that sweetness wasted on the desert air.’
‘It’s fine. You deserve them. You’re doing a great job running these auditions.’
‘It’s hardly rocket science,’ he said with a wry smile.
