Chapters (42)
- Cover
- Half-title Page
- Dedication
- Also by Celia Imrie
- Title Page
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Part Two
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Part Three
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Part Four
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Part Five
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Part Six
- Twenty-seven
- Postscript
- Acknowledgements
- Also available by Celia Imrie
- Nice Work (If You Can Get It)
Sally turned towards the sea, pulled her phone from her handbag and hastily tried Eggy’s number once more. Voicemail. After leaving another desperate message she went to turn the phone off again but it rang in her hand. She picked up.
‘Hi, Mum. I thought you’d be at work.’
‘Marianne?’ Sally stooped over the phone. ‘I am at work. What do you want?’
‘Oh, charming. Well, I was phoning to tell you there’s been a change of plan. I’m sitting in the bar of the Hotel Astra, and, well, the bloke who I’ve been after, you know, Roger . . . well, his wife’s turned up.’
‘So leave him alone, then.’
‘But they’re divorced . . .’
‘What has it to do with me? Do what you want.’
‘I wondered if you had any tips. How I can keep hold of him.’
‘Oh, for God’s sake, Marianne. I’m at work. Go and get a copy of Barbara Cartland’s Guide to Dating or something. But don’t disturb me again.’
She hung up and slipped the phone into her prop handbag.
One of the runners, dressed in Eggy’s evening suit, sidled up to her. ‘Hi. I’m Mike. I know I’ll be dubbed, but do you want to go through the lines with me? I really have never acted before and . . .’
Jeez! This was all Sally needed. But obviously it would be better for her if she was given her cues in the correct order. So, for a minute or two, they bantered the lines back and forth.
Sally’s phone rang again. ‘Mum. Your friend Theresa was here! And some hubbub with that actor bloke you were with at the Negresco. They were naked in a room or something . . .’
‘What?’
‘Now Theresa’s gone off with Roger and his wife.’
‘I’ve got no time for this. Sorry.’ She swiped to end the call and dropped the phone back into her bag.
While the runner muttered Eggy’s lines, Sally tried to make sense of what Marianne had said. Theresa had been naked in a room with Eggy at the Hotel Astra. Marianne was obviously bonkers; either that or desperately trying anything to get her attention. Well, fine, she would phone her back later, when work was over and she was in the make-up wagon getting her slap off.
They tried to go through the lines again, but the First Assistant came running down to the water’s edge and interrupted them. ‘Sally! Urgent.’ He was holding out a phone. ‘It’s Marianne. Hotel Astra?’
Sally couldn’t believe her ears.
‘What?’
‘She needs to talk to you right now. It’s very important.’