‘I completely understand,’ Alan said solemnly. ‘Of course you mustn’t let your friend down.’
‘Huh! Lacks ambition,’ Andrea whispered to Sive with a shake of her head, glancing down at Irene in the auditorium so it was clear she was including her in the criticism. ‘He won’t last long in this business with that attitude.’ She pursed her lips in disapproval.
‘I think it’s admirable,’ Sive said, smiling because she knew it would annoy Andrea more than giving vent to the outrage she felt. ‘It’s very mature of James to have his priorities sorted at such a young age.’
‘Hm.’ Andrea sniffed. ‘I don’t think I’d call putting laser tag first as having your priorities right.’
‘But not ditching your friend on his birthday? I think it says a lot about James’s character that he’s putting his friend first. There’ll be other parts, other opportunities to be seen.’
‘Chances like this don’t come around often,’ Andrea argued.
‘Maybe not, but good friends aren’t so easy to come by either. And you need a good support system behind you in this business to get you through the lean times and deal with all the rejection. Besides, ambition will only take you so far and in my experience, loyalty and being a team player count for a lot more in the long run.’
‘So that just leaves you two to fight it out,’ Alan was saying to Jack and Alex.
‘You can do it,’ Jack said affably to Alex. ‘I don’t mind.’
‘Oh, for goodness sake!’ Andrea huffed in Sive’s ear. ‘I thought Jack was smarter than that.’
However, Andrea seemed to be the only person unhappy with this turn of events. Maria was clearly touched by Jack’s gesture, her hand on her heart as she smiled at Ciara, whose eyes shone with pride, and the three boys were laughing together, Jack and James congratulating Alex on his ‘win’ as the rehearsal got underway.
Sive was surprised to find Sam’s movements stiff and jerky as they danced together in the party scene, and he didn’t seem to throw himself into it with his usual exuberance.
‘Is everything okay?’ she asked him when they’d retreated to the wings. Onstage Scrooge was trying to reason with the Ghost of Christmas Past.
He shook his head. ‘I’m just not sure I can do this.’
‘What do you mean? Of course you can. I get that it’s daunting thinking of performing it in front of a live audience, but you’ve done it oodles of times in rehearsals and it’s been fine – more than fine. You’re totally ready.’
He sighed. ‘I guess being here … on the stage with the set and the costumes and everything … it’s different. And it’s brought home to me that I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.’
‘Yes, you do.’
‘I mean, I’m not a proper actor like the rest of you. I don’t know all this stagecraft that comes so naturally to all of you.’
‘It doesn’t come naturally. We’ve learned it.’
‘Exactly. And I haven’t.’
‘You’re not letting what bloody Andrea said get to you, are you?’
Sam shrugged. ‘She was kind of right, though, wasn’t she? I’m not trained for this. I don’t belong here.’
‘Of course you do. And no, she wasn’t right!’ Sive said crossly. She could cheerfully strangle Andrea for putting these doubts inSam’s head. He came across as almost over-confident, but Sive knew now that his self-belief was surprisingly fragile.
‘I screwed up my lines.’
‘One line. It happens to everyone. And you got back into it quickly enough.’
‘But what if that happens when there are paying punters out there?’
‘It won’t. Everything will be all right on the night.’
‘Really?’ Sam asked uncertainly.
‘Absolutely – trust me.’ She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. ‘Now, go and get changed for Act Two.’
The dress rehearsal wasn’t an unmitigated disaster, but there were enough glitches to satisfy even the most superstitious actor. Sam forgot one of his lines, the chorus bumped into each other as they weaved around the stage singing carols, props went missing and Bob Cratchit’s desk fell over with a crash when Scrooge slammed their office door too hard.
