Foxtrot Five: that was the call sign Jim had given her. It was in reference to her birthday, February fifth, but it had taken on a different significance for Jasmine. It made her think of Fox Force Five, the cancelled TV pilot mentioned by Uma Thurman’s character Mia in Pulp Fiction. It had been aspiring actress Mia’s one and only role: the big break that came to nothing.

The reality of finding work had nagged at the back of her mind at college, as it did everybody, but it was always a worry for the future, something she couldn’t afford to dwell upon, otherwise what was the point of training?

Dropping out of the course hadn’t done much to help her chances. Nonetheless, failing to finish a drama degree wasn’t like dropping out of medical school: if somebody liked her audition, they weren’t going to ask to see any certificates. The problem was, by dropping out of college she had also dropped off the radar, losing touch and losing contacts. People had heard what happened – yes, poor girl – but they didn’t just think she had quit her course: they seemed to regard her as having dropped out of existence, given up for good.

It was slow going to even get auditions. You had to be animated beyond the point of pushy in your networking in order to know where the openings might be. So far she had notched up four callbacks but no jobs.

The only glimmer of light was a director called Charlotte Queen and her company, Fire Curtain. Jasmine had got a callback from Charlotte after auditioning for Fire Curtain’s touring production of Top Girls. She didn’t get the part, but Charlotte said she might be right for Miranda in the production of The Tempest that they were planning for the Edinburgh Fringe in a year’s time. Okay, it would probably be in a converted garage in Newington, but it was more true of acting than any other job that it was easier to get work when you were in work. If she got the part, then as well as a pay packet, it was four weeks of exposure, increasing the chance that someone might see her and think she’d be right for another role.