‘That depends. Are you any good?’ she asked, more quietly. Olive could feel a rage burning in the pit of her stomach as she glanced over at the girls who were tapping furiously on theirphones.That picture has probably already been seen by hundreds of people, she thought.
‘Well… yeah. I should hope so at least.’ He gave her the briefest of smiles.
‘Then that’s why you were hired. The fact you’ve also got a pre-existing audience is a bonus for the producers.’
‘A big bonus!’ He laughed.
‘But a bonus nevertheless! You’re a good actor, Oscar, and so youget hired. People with far smaller audiences, if any audience at all, still get hired in lead roles. Their careers don’t rely on having a fanbase. Why does yours?’
‘Because I have one?’ he shrugged.
‘But doesn’t that show you that it’s all a delusion? The only thing you owe your fans is a good performance on the night they’ve booked a ticket.’ Oscar looked at her but no words came.‘Without your fans, granted, it may have taken you a little longer to work your way up the ladder but you’d still be doing this, Oscar Bright. And rightly so.’ She put a full stop to her point with a final nod, but she hugged her bag to her chest despite feeling hot and sticky in her thick cardigan. Oscar couldn’t help himself. With a gentle hand, he turned her face towards him and kissed her fullon the mouth with a tenderness that made her whole body fill with heat. A million thoughts raced through her head.
Are those girls watching? Is everyone watching? Does he care? Do I?
She pulled away gently but kept the tip of her nose against his. She opened her eyes but his were still closed and she felt him take a slow and deep breath.
‘Everything okay?’ she asked.
‘Of course,’ he nodded. ‘Thank you.’
‘For?’
‘Being so nice.’ He took one of her hands and looked down at it as he fiddled with her fingers.
‘I didn’t realise I was.’ She smiled, but an odd feeling crept over her. ‘Are those girls watching us?’ she whispered. Oscar glanced over her shoulder and sure enough, the girls were red-faced and staring.
‘Yeah, and their subtletyis astounding.’
‘Oh, dear.’
‘It’ll be fine. They’re just kids. We’re getting off at the next stop anyway.’
‘You sure?’
‘Stop looking so worried! What are they going to do? Come on.’ Oscar stood and hauled her up by her elbow, but her legs still felt like jelly after such an unexpected kiss. She tried to smile reassuringly at Oscar, but she couldn’t help but notice thetwo teenage girls furiously tapping away at their phones as they stepped off the train.
Oscar’s place was only a short walk from the station and was not what Olive had expected at all. His ground floor flat was only slightly bigger than hers and certainly just as messy.
‘Cleaner doesn’t come until Monday,’ he lied, rushing ahead of her through the front door and picking up variousitems of clothing and empty cans of Diet Coke.
‘I hope you pay her well!’ Olive said, retrieving an empty can from the plant pot by the front door which Oscar took, sheepishly.
‘Living room’s through there. Make yourself comfy and please… excuse all the mess. I’ll be just a minute,’ he said. She guessed he was heading to quickly tidy his bedroom.
‘Wow, you really weren’texpecting company, were you?’ Olive laughed as she moved a pizza box from the sofa to the coffee table which had several mugs of coffee on it, some still half full. She slipped off her bag and cardigan and sank into the grey sofa. Within moments, a wave of fatigue hit her like a ton of bricks, every blink feeling heavier than the last.
‘Yeah, that sofa’s a little bit special, isn’t it?’She hadn’t even heard Oscar come in.
‘I feel like I’m being hugged by a cloud.’
‘Do you want a drink? Tea, coffee, a Ginny Weasley?’ he asked.
‘A what?’ She laughed.
‘A Ginny Weasley!’ He smiled. ‘A gin and tonic.’
‘Lovethat. And no. I’m good, thank you.’
