‘Jem!’ Simi called from the living room. ‘Where’s your printer paper?’

‘In the cupboard by the TV,’ replied Jemima, one hand poised to close her laptop.

She listened to Simi clutter around before cautiously returning to her search for a new life.

‘And where’s your printer?’ called Simi.

Jemima sighed. She shut her laptop and headed next door. Perhaps helping Simi prepare for her audition was the distraction they both needed. Given that the casting was in the morning and Simi was only now printing the script, this was probably an all-hands-on-deck situation.

Chapter 10

Simi

Simi sat in the narrow, white corridor outside the audition room. As she muttered through her lines a bead of sweat trickled down her back. Even though Jemima had rehearsed with her for hours, she was still terrified. Simi loved acting but hated every aspect of auditioning. The pressure, the camera that silently judged you and the oh so ‘casual’ chat at the beginning. Every actor knew it wasn’t a real conversation. It was the casting director’s way of finding out if you were a handsy weirdo who might grope their principal cast. Were it any other audition, Simi would have passed but once the possibility of working with BAFTA-winning producers was dangled, she had been helpless to resist – heartbroken or not. So, here she was, waiting to perform four pages of dialogue as a ‘kind doxy’ in the hallowed offices of Antonia De Silva. Simi didn’t even know what a doxy was. In her last-minute haste she hadn’t bothered to check. All she knew was the show was medieval, involved unicorns and was called something like Crashing Clowns – which didn’t sound very BAFTA-winning to her.

Just then, the main door swung open and Sandra Scott strode in, her luscious, black locks bouncing around her shoulders. Everyone knew Sandra Scott. She was that one actor who instantly sucked hope out of the room because she was that actor who always got the job. Simi had even seen some girls leave audition waiting rooms the moment she walked in.

Sandra commandeered a group of seats and dabbed powder on her perfectly made-up face before throwing a warm, toothy smile Simi’s way. Up yours, you perfect goddess, Simi bristled before reaching into her bag for her love-emitting rose quartz crystal. Meagan and Jemima always dismissed her new-age trappings but for Simi they were as vital as water. She carried her rose quartz everywhere, running her fingers over its smooth surface anytime she wanted to drive out negative thought and usher in something more… kind. She smiled back at Sandra sweetly.

As Simi’s loving zen returned, the audition-room door sprung open and the previous girl was shown out by Gabe, Antonia’s wiry assistant. He glanced up and down the row of waiting actresses, his thin face revealing nothing until his gaze reached the last seat.

‘Sandy, come through!’ He beamed before hugging Sandra and gesturing for her to go right on in and follow her dreams.