‘Eh?’ he said, finishingunbuttoning his shirt.
‘Is this some kind of weird ploy to get me to come into your dressing room? Because if it is…’
‘I don’t have your clothes, you crazy naked lady!’ Oscar said, as he opened the door to his dressing room and took a step inside.
‘Oh but…’ she started.Being angry at him is really…really, hard, she thought. ‘… the least you can do is help me look for them.Someone’s obviously being a dick and I don’t really want to wander from room to room in a towel looking for them on my own.’
‘You don’t have a dressing gown?’
‘Wait there.’ Olive’s door closed, and she re-emerged twenty seconds later in a long dressing gown. ‘There we go. At least if we don’t have any luck I can pass this off as some kind of weird, trendy dress that’s all the ragein Paris.’
‘All right, weirdo, if you say so.’ They walked down the corridor together and Oscar went to drape his arm around her shoulders, but then let it fall by his side before she noticed.
‘We’re starting with Doug. He loves a prank and knows I hate them. My money’s on him.’ In her bare feet, Olive’s pace was quick.
‘And if it’s not him?’ Oscar asked, pulling his shirtaround him as they stepped out into the stone stairwell.
‘Well, my dress for tonight hasn’t just vanished!’ Olive pitter-pattered down the stairs, sometimes taking more than two at a time and disappearing around corners before Oscar had only just turned the last.
‘You could always wear what you wore here today?’ he called after her, struggling to keep up.
‘No, it’s all gone.I left them all in a pile on the radiator and the whole lot is missing. Not on the radiator. Not in my room. Gone.’ They got to stage level and Oscar suddenly realised he had never actually seen the male ensemble dressing room.
‘This way!’ Olive opened a door and a new metal spiral staircase was revealed which she nimbly descended. It was so narrow, Oscar began to feel a little claustrophobic,but it was only around ten steps before they were met with another dressing room door.
‘Where on earth is this place?’
‘Narnia.’
‘Ha ha.’ He rolled his eyes, but her expression didn’t change.
‘No, I mean… we call it Narnia. It’s so out of the way from all the other rooms. And that over there,’ Olive pointed to the dark space behind them, ‘is costume storage.’
‘So they’re in the dressing room behind all the old coats…’
‘Narnia!’ She smiled.
‘Oh… okay. Well, check with Doug and —’
‘DOUG!’ BANG BANG BANG. Olive’s subtlety seemed to have disappeared along with her clothes.
‘Jesus H Christ, Green.’ The door opened to reveal the three ensemble boys in varying states of undress. Doug hopped over a pair of shoes lying in the middleof the floor and came to the door. ‘Nice gown.’
‘Well, it’s all I’ve got, thanks to you!’ Olive hopped from foot to foot on the cold stone floor.
‘What are you on about?’ Doug was topless and only now did Oscar realise just how much the other man clearly worked out. Suddenly Oscar was holding his previously opened shirt closed.
‘My clothes?’
‘Your clothes?’ Doug saidin a high-pitched voice with his face all screwed up.
‘Doug!’ She slipped her arm through the gap in the door and poked him in the ribs. ‘As much as I love my birthday suit, I paid a lot of money for that dress and I’d quite like to wear it tonight!’
‘Babe…’ he said and Oscar felt a strange twinge in his chest upon hearing the affection in Doug’s voice, ‘I don’t have your clothes.They aren’t in D14. But Jane said something about her pearl necklace going missing too.’
‘D14?’ Oscar asked and they both pointed at the gold numbers on Doug’s dressing room door. ‘Ah. Gotcha.’
‘Keep up, TV!’ said Doug as he closed the door. ‘SEE YOU AT THE PARTY!’ he yelled.
