18
Listen
By the time Walter awoke, the working day for theatre folk was almost upon them. He left Fawn asleep in his bed with a cup of tea and a note on the bedside table, and as he headed towards the theatre later for work than normal, he didn’t rush. Lenny knew that Fawnhad gone through quite an ordeal the night before and was probably pleased that Walter was taking good care of her. However, when Walter arrived at stage door, it wasn’t Lenny sat behind the desk, but Hamish’s right-hand man Randall.
‘Glad you finally decided to show up. There are parcels and letters that need to be delivered across the theatre and seeing as you’re now in charge, you’llneed the key to the key box.’ Randall dangled Lenny’s set of brass keys in front of Walter’s face. They jangled as Randall waggled his hand and the noise made Walter’s insides jangle too.
‘Where’s Lenny?’ Walter asked.
‘He quit, Mr Brown.’
‘No, he wouldn’t do that. He… he loves this job.’
‘Then I don’t know what to tell you, Mr Brown.’
‘Thetruth, Mr Heaves,’Walter said, and as Randall stood up quickly from his desk Walter realised just how tall the other man was. He moved quickly through the doorway and up close, Walter could smell the coffee and cigar smoke on Randall’s breath.
‘I have told you the truth you need to know. Now, you’re already in a very bad position, Mr Brown. It is very rare that I notice something and do not mention it toMr Boatwright; however, your dalliance with Miss Burrows is something I have chosen not to disclose as of yet. Not when the problem can be so easily fixed without upsetting the boss. So, do the job you are paid to do, stop asking questions, stop dallying with the actors andknow that you have been warned.’ Randall pushed the cold hard metal keys into Walter’s palm and left the building with aswift hard push of the door.
Walter looked at Lenny’s set of keys in his hand. He’d seen them a million times before to know they were his, but he also knew that Lenny would never hand them over without a fight. Which made Walter believe there had been one and that Lenny had lost.
Fawn arrived at the theatre at six o’clock looking fresh-faced and more content than Walter thought he had ever seen her. She ticked by her name and leant over through the hatch to plant a kiss on Walter’s cheek.
‘Someone might see!’ he whispered, pushing her gently back through to her side.
‘Let’s run away,’ she whispered back.
‘Excuse me?’ he laughed.
‘I don’t care if that man chases me to the ends of the Earth,’ she yelled.
‘Shush!’ Walter said, now concerned.
‘I don’t care if he hears me now. I have enough money to get us to America. There are a million people on that continent. He’ll never find us. You can find a theatre to work at on Broadway and I can… oh, I don’t know. Write. I’ll write plays. Under a pseudonym.’ Shebeamed at him. ‘We’d be hidden and safe and happy, Walter. We could behappy.’
‘Are you crazy?’ he said, his voice still hushed just in case Randall was skulking somewhere nearby. His words had set Walter on edge, but nothing could make him stay away from the person that made him happier above all else.
‘Absolutely.’ Fawn reached through the hatch and held out her hand which he tookand placed on his cheek.
‘Let’s talk about it after the show then, crazy.’ He kissed her palm.
‘Tell me now, though. Do you want to come away with me? Would you do that?’ Despite the way Hamish had treated her, her eyes were still so full of hope and an innocence that Walter himself hoped would never vanish.
‘I’d follow you anywhere, Fawn.’
‘Then I feel there’s littleto talk about after the show, but I’ll be there anyway.’
‘When the curtain falls,’ he smiled.
‘When the curtain falls. I’ll be there.’ She blew him a kiss and waltzed off into the theatre, her feet barely touching the stairs.
The show ended, and Fawn decided to get changed in her dressing room as quickly as she could before meeting Walter. That way, they could disappear into the night immediately. She was hoping for at least one more night, safely curled around him in his bed where she felt warm and happy. But when a knock came at her dressing room door she had a feeling she already knew whowas waiting on the other side.
‘Just a moment!’ she called, but the door was unlocked and her guest was in her room before she’d been able to entirely cover herself up with her dressing gown.
‘Hamish,’ she greeted him, coldly.
‘Well done tonight, sweetie. One of your best performances yet,’ he said, running his thumb over the silver handle of his cane.
