‘We have to keep our feet on the ground, Keera,’ she used to say, when they were just thirteen, sneaking into each other’s hotel rooms during filming weeks. ‘One day, the show will tank, the money will stop and we’ll be off the radar. Gotta face it. It’ll be OK, I think. My pops says nobody can do this for ever, right?’
Cat had been the nearest thing to a sister Keera had ever had. It was years since she’d tried to talk to her.
The thought makes Keera ashamed.
Just because Mom believes people will try to use Keera, doesn’t mean that everyone is a user.
Her mom’s narrative doesn’t have to be hers. It makes her think of all the normal things she’s lost out on because of her career. Like ordinary friendships.
It’s a lightbulb moment – the blog she’s reading for her journal work talks about lightbulb moments.
The lightbulb moment has another angle: Mom isn’t always right.
They reach the studio front door and Keera knows it’s time to turn on her magic.
Dr Theatre, as an actress once said to her.
‘You hit the stage andDr Theatreappears inside you magically.’
‘You look fabulous, honey,’ says her mom, patting her cheek affectionately. ‘Stay off the snacks if they offer them, OK?’
Keera looks at her mother. Sometimes things feel really good and then Mom says something to smash her self-esteem into pieces. At these moments, Keera hates her.
Chapter Eighteen
Everyone on the terrace is quiet as Keera finishes her story.
Rose says nothing for a while.
She’s helped many famous people in her time and Keera’s tale is not unusual. Her mother sounds tricky and Rose doesn’t want to pin a label on her too soon. People are complex after all. But Rose has seen momagers in action before.
They can’t understand when their child doesn’t want to be a piece of merchandise any more.
Rose wonders what sort of mother Dr Bobbi is: a dynamic force of nature or someone who wants to use her daughter for her own gains?
Time will tell.
‘Is there anyone in your life other than your mother whom you feel you can trust?’ Rose asks suddenly. ‘What you’ve told us says that you have friends in the business but that they work for you or with you. If they get too close, like Taniqua or your friend Cat, they affect the family dynamic, perhaps?’
Rose lets the statement drift off into the air.
It’s a comment designed to probe.
Keera looks thoughtful, like a student in class concentrating on a knotty problem.
‘I’m thinking of who I trust and, for sure, Taniqua’s top of the list but …’
She pauses: the thoughtful student is back.
‘… there’s also Connie, she’s a marketing lady from Xochi, my record label,’ she says. ‘It’s not spelled like it sounds: Xochiquetzal is the most important Aztec goddess, you say it Show-chee-set-zal.’
‘I know,’ says Dan, leaning forward, ‘she’s a fertility goddess, the most—’
Rose cuts him off at the pass with a gentle raising of her hand to show that Keera has the floor right now.
‘Connie and I spent a lot of time together two years ago when Mom had pneumonia and I had a three-week tour in Canada.’
‘I love Canada,’ says Grazia approvingly. ‘Nice people.’
