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I thought I was getting a new job, but it turned out to be a whole new life

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Chapter 33   A debt repaid

I sat down on a kitchen chair as Phoebe requested. My first thought was that she was going to tell me she was pregnant, but the real reason for her excitement was quite different.

“Do you remember me telling you that they sent my character Jesse in 'Wensleydale' off to Australia? Well apparently the ratings have tanked since I left. I had a call from my agent just after I got back to the flat. They've sacked the guy who decided to write me out of the show, and now they are begging me to return.”

I smiled at her. “Well that's great, you'll have something to go to once Hamlet is finished.”

“You don't understand,” she replied, a bit impatient at my denseness I think. “They want me back like now!”

“But what about Ophelia?” I said and my heart started to pound.

“Oh that's the easy part,” she replied. “They'll ask you to take over. You should have been playing the part from the start. In fact I don't know why they chose me and not you in the first place. Oh I'm not a bad actor for things like tv soaps but I'm not the person for Shakespeare, whereas you were born to play his roles.”

I'm sure I sat there with my mouth open trying to take it all in.

“But you're contracted to play the part,” I said at last, weakly.

“Well Terry, my agent will be ringing the producers in the morning and arranging to buy out my contract.” She seemed very sure he would be successful.

“I know what you're thinking,” she said. “But he'll be offering serious money, and since they've got you waiting in the wings I can't see them saying 'no'.”

“But what about here, the flat?” I asked. “You'll have to move to Leeds won't you?”

“Hmmm. Yes I hadn't thought of that, but I won't leave you in the lurch. I'll keep paying my half of the rent until you find someone else to share with. Terry says they have offered me a substantial increase in pay.”

She seemed to have an answer for everything, completely forgetting that my finding a suitable person to share with might not be that easy.

“Have you told Tony?” I asked.

“Not yet, I thought I'd tell you first.”

“Well I think you should, and the sooner the better. He's bound to ask me how long I've known about it, but I wouldn't go behind your back to tell him.”

“Perhaps you're right,” she replied and went into her bedroom to call the director.

When she came back a few minutes later, she looked a bit pale as she held out the phone to me. “He wants to talk to you,” she whispered.

“Harriet, how long have you known about this?” he didn't sound too happy.

“About fifteen minutes, Tony. Phoebe just told me,” I replied.

“Hmmm. Well you'll have to take over of course,” I couldn't tell from his voice if he was pleased about that or not.

“Yes Tony,” I replied. What else could I say?

“I'll see you in the morning; oh, and get your agent to call our production company office, we'll have to renegotiate your contract,” he concluded before putting down the phone. He was obviously not a happy man.

I walked back into the lounge where Phoebe was sitting down, still looking rather shaken.

“He wants me to get my agent to call the production company,” I said. “The thing is, I don't have an agent.”

Phoebe managed a smile. “My dear sweet innocent Harriet. Sometimes you are so naïve I really worry about you. Has no-one ever told you that you need an agent?”

“Well, yes,” I admitted. “I just hadn't got around to it and I just accepted what they offered me. So how do I go about getting one?”

“Well I could recommend my agent but it might not look good. Why don't you ring Dame Emily and ask her advice? You seem to be good friends.”

“I don't like to bother her,” I replied.

“Harriet! Ring her!” she ordered, so I did.

Dame Emily answered right away, and I explained what had happened.

“I see,” she said. She didn't sound surprised. “Leave it with me, I'll get someone to call you.”

Five minutes later the phone rang. “Miss Stow? I'm Richard Green, Dame Emily Good's agent. She asked me to ring you. How can I help?”

I explained the situation to him as briefly as I could.

“Well, I'll be happy to act for you if you want me to. I charge the standard 10% commission and we can go into the details later when we meet up, as I'll be in Stratford next week. How much are they paying you now?”

I told him, and his response was “I see. Well I think we can negotiate a bit better than that for you, now you are going to be part of the regular cast. I'll ring you tomorrow evening.”

-

The next morning, I was up early, having only slept fitfully during the night. I had just about finished my breakfast when Phoebe appeared.

“I don't think I'll go to the theatre today,” she said. “There's not much point and I don't really want to face Tony. Can you say goodbye to the cast for me?”

“Alright,” I said. “When do you think you'll be going to Leeds?”

“I'm waiting for a call,” she said. “It might even be tomorrow.”

I arrived at the theatre early. It sounds silly but I hadn't told Mum and Reggie because I still thought that Tony might change his mind and audition for a new Ophelia. News had already gone around about Phoebe's departure. Everyone was congratulating me and saying they were sure I'd do a great job in the role. Perhaps it was just as well that Phoebe wasn't there.

Tony came up and greeted me. “Well, Harriet, I know that you are comfortable with the script, but you've hardly been through all your scenes with the cast before, so that's what I want us to do today.”

I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Tony hadn't changed his mind.

It was a very hard day of rehearsing. Ophelia isn't a large part, about two hundred and fifty lines in all, but in the mad scenes it is very intense. I have always had a tendency to throw myself body and soul into dramatic parts and that can be very tiring. At the end of the day I felt totally exhausted. Tony could see how I felt and suggested I go back to the flat and get a good night's sleep. I promised I would, but I knew I must wait up for a call from Richard, the agent.

When I arrived back at the flat I found it was empty and there was a note on the kitchen table for me.

”Dear Harriet,

I've been asked to go up to Leeds today. They are very anxious to get started on some new episodes of “Wensleydale”. I tried to phone you at the theatre, but they said you were rehearsing. Best wishes for the show. I'll call you.

Love,

Phoebe

So that was it – I was suddenly on my own and I didn't really like it. I wanted to phone Reggie but I had to wait until I heard from Richard. Fortunately he rang me only thirty minutes later.

“Hello Miss Stow, it's Richard Green, how are you going?”

“Hello Richard, please call me Harriet. I've had an exhausting day rehearsing.”

“Well I think I may be able to put a smile on your face,” he said and told me the new salary he had negotiated for me. I was glad to be sitting down, it was over three times what I had been receiving.

“You're pleased I hope?” he said, possibly taking my silence as disappointment.

“Oh yes, very pleased,” I replied. “A bit shocked to be honest.”

He laughed. “I'm in Stratford next Wednesday, let's meet for lunch or dinner, my treat.”

“I don't get much time for lunch,” I replied. “Rehearsals are really intense at the moment.”

“Dinner it is then,” he replied.

After Richard's call, I rang Mum to tell her the news. She was thrilled of course.

“It's no more than you deserve my dear,” she said.

“I can hardly believe it, when I think of what I was doing last year,” I said.

“True, but think how much happier you are now,” she replied.

Next, I phoned Reggie. “That's wonderful news,” he said. “You'll do a great job, I know you will.”

The following morning I was back at the theatre again and the first person I bumped into was Tony.

“Harriet, I think we were a bit hard on you yesterday. I'll make sure today is a lot easier. We don't want you collapsing, especially as right now you don't have an understudy. I've contacted the local agents to see if they have anyone suitable but they haven't called me back yet.”

It was then that I had a flash of inspiration.

“Tony, I don't want to interfere, but I know someone who might fit the bill. Her name is Mary Webb and she is part of the Apollo Players where I started out. I think she's a good actress. She's in a play that finishes next weekend, with nothing lined up at present. She's about my age, and I remember her telling me she played Ophelia in a school production a few years ago, so she mightn't take too long to refresh her memory on the lines.”

“I see. Well on your recommendation I'm prepared to give her an audition. Why don't you get in touch with her and see if she can get down here next Monday at two o'clock. The audition will be the same lines as you had at yours. No promises mind, and emphasise that she would have to start rehearsing right away if she gets the position. Time is of the essence.”

I wasn't required on stage for thirty minutes, so I went out into the foyer and rang Mary. She answered my call straight away.

“Hi Mary, it's Harriet here, I've got some news for you. Phoebe Wells who was going to play Ophelia has left the show and gone back to “Wensleydale”, so they've asked me to step into her shoes.”

“Wow, Harriet, that's great news, congratulations,” she replied.

“Something that might interest you is that they are now looking for an understudy for me.”

“An understudy? For Ophelia? At Stratford?” her voice rose to a squeak. “Absolutely I'd be interested!”

“I've recommended you to the director Tony Robertson, and he is going to hold auditions next Monday at 2pm. There's no guarantees of course, as he'll probably audition some other girls too, but it's worth a shot, particularly if you tell him you could start straight away.”

“That's wonderful, thank you so much for thinking of me Harriet,” she said. I didn't say so, but I thought that at long last this was a way of repaying the debt I felt I owed her after taking over her role in 'Dear Brutus'.

“I've got a little car now, so I think I'll drive down on Monday morning early,” she went on.

I told Mary what lines to learn from Hamlet, and also suggested that she have another Shakespeare speech in reserve in case Tony asked her for one. Then I had a sudden thought.

“Mary, I was sharing a two bedroom flat with Phoebe and she has already left, so you are welcome to stay overnight if you like. In fact, why don't you bring enough clothes to last the week? That way, if you get the position, you could start straight away and won’t have to go back to Brid for clothes.”

“This sounds better and better! I'm so excited,” she said.

I thought I had better sound a note of caution. “I did say that there's no guarantee you will get the role, Mary, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I'll be at the theatre in the morning so I suggest you come straight there, and we can go to the flat after the auditions and rehearsals finish for the day.”

Reggie was playing cricket again, so I took the train down to London and then the tube out to Southgate. He had now, with Richard's agreement, given me a key to the flat. Richard was away again, so I let myself in and unpacked my suitcase. I checked in the fridge for what Reggie had bought for Saturday tea and found two pieces of steak and some vegetables, also a lemon meringue pie, so when I judged that the time was right, I set about preparing the meal. I just loved doing that. It made me feel like we were a married couple.

I had come down to London wearing trousers, but I changed into a pretty dress, stockings and heels for Reggie because I knew he loved that and I loved it too. I remembered seeing a nineteen fifties issue of 'National Geographic' once with an advertisement showing a pretty wife with perfect makeup and hair, wearing a dress with a flared skirt and an apron over it, and also wearing high heels. She had just taken a roast out of the oven as her husband entered the room after a hard day at the office (you knew that because he was wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase). She looked so glamorous and feminine, and you knew that he would be sweeping her into his arms for a kiss before dinner. It was a total fantasy of course but I've never forgotten it.

Reggie arrived back about six o'clock. His team had lost so he was a bit down in the dumps but he soon cheered up when he saw me, and smelled the tea I had been cooking. We shared a lingering kiss before he went to change out of his cricket gear.

The meal was a great success, and later after washing up, we cuddled up together on the sofa and watched television for a while before going to bed about nine o'clock. Early you say? Well I hardly think that needs a comment!

We slept in late and then had a leisurely breakfast, more of a 'brunch' in fact before Reggie took me to the station to catch the tube and head back to Stratford after another wonderful weekend.

Monday morning I was rehearsing again, and it wasn't until nearly twelve o'clock that I came off stage and found Mary sitting in the stalls with her suitcase.

“You are so good,” she said. “I don't know if I can approach that standard.”

“Nonsense,” I replied. “Anyway, everyone performs a role differently. Would you like to come to a cafe for lunch? You can store your suitcase in my dressing-room.”

At the cafe, we caught up with what had been happening in each other's lives.

“Are you still seeing Reggie?” she asked, and I couldn't help blushing, which made her giggle. “Silly question,” she said.

“That's one thing I forgot to mention. Reggie stays over at the flat sometimes. I hope that's not a problem?”

“Not if my boyfriend Alex staying over isn't,” she replied with a smile.

Soon it was time to go back to the theatre for the auditions. I had heard that there were two other candidates; one was Joanna, the poor girl who had been first on stage at the audition where Phoebe won the role, and had been quite overawed by playing opposite David Lodge. This time David's understudy, Guy Morrison was there, and she did a lot better. The next girl Susan Barber was new to me, and she was quite good. As usual, Tony thanked each person and said he would be in touch. Mary was last and I thought she was easily the best of the three. Not to put her off, I had told her I was leaving the auditorium but of course I sneaked in at the back of the stalls to see and hear how they all went.

When she had concluded the Hamlet scene, Tony asked her if there was another speech from Shakespeare that she could perform and she replied that she had played Viola in a school production of 'Twelfth Night'.

“Fine, please give us something from that,” said Tony, and Mary began.

It was a slightly ironic choice in my view because Viola cross-dresses as a boy and a woman falls in love with her.

'I left no ring with her: what means this lady?
Fortune forbid my outside have not charm'd her!
She made good view of me; indeed, so much,
That sure methought her eyes had lost her tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly....'

I was very impressed, thinking to myself ' Well, if for any reason I can't perform, she'll do a very good job'.

At the conclusion of her speech I slipped away and returned to my dressing room. When Mary arrived there a few minutes later, I looked up from the book I was 'reading' and said “How did it go?”

“Alright, I think,” she replied. “Tony said he'd let me know, but then he said that to the other two girls as well. Oh, he also asked us if we were given the role when we could start, and I was the only one who said 'tomorrow'.”

“Did he ask you for an extra speech?” I asked, and when she said that he did, I replied “Well I think that is a very good sign. My fingers are crossed for you.”

Just then there was a knock of the door and I was asked to return to the stage for another rehearsal. Mary said she'd rather stay in the dressing room until I was finished.

Later, we returned to the flat with some Chinese take-away and midway through eating it Mary's telephone rang and she went into her bedroom to take the call.

Three minutes later she came out again and from the look on her face I didn't need to ask her.

“I've got it!” she squealed, and I jumped up and gave her a hug,

“Oh Harriet, I don't know how I can thank you properly. This is so exciting. I must go and ring my Mum.”

When she later returned to her Chinese it was cold, but I don't think she even noticed. I felt great too. That lingering feeling that I owed her because of taking her role in 'Brutus' had finally been laid to rest.

On Wednesday I had a phone call from my new agent Richard Green confirming that we would be having dinner that evening.

“I've booked a table at the 'Oppo' for seven o'clock,” he said. That was nice. 'The Opposition' is one of Stratford's best restaurants, so I thought I had better dress accordingly. I had brought down my fuchsia 'tea-length' dress from Brid and decided that would be ideal. When I was ready and Mary saw how I looked she attempted a wolf whistle.

“I hope Reggie isn't the jealous type,” she said.

“Of course not. Anyway, I've told him about my dinner with Richard. It's just an actress meeting her agent. If he puts a foot out of line, that would be the end of it, and probably his business too.” I had a thought. “Just as a precaution though do you have a ring I could borrow that looks like an engagement ring?”

“Sure,” said Mary, and disappearing into her room, she returned with a beautiful amethyst ring. “This was my grandmother's engagement ring,” she said.

“Mary, it's beautiful but it also looks valuable. I'm afraid I might lose it,” I said.

“Of course you won't. Just leave it on your finger and it will be perfectly safe.”

I slipped it on the fourth finger of my left hand and admired it. “I do hope I get an engagement ring for real one day,” I said.

When I arrived at the restaurant, ten minutes early, Richard was already there, and he stood up to greet me. He was a man in his forties, quite handsome with greying hair, and wearing a wedding ring I was pleased to see.

After greetings and a compliment from Richard on how I looked (which of course is always acceptable when given in the right way), we turned our attention to the menu. Mindful of my figure as every woman must be, I decided on a Prawn Cocktail for a starter and Salmon Fishcake with Spinach, Poached Egg and Hollandaise Sauce as the main course, followed by Fresh Vanilla Crème Brulee. When compared to what I might have ordered in my former life this was indeed restraint exercised! Neither did I drink any wine, choosing mineral water instead, explaining to Richard that I had to rehearse again the next day and doing it with a headache was certainly not the best way.

He asked me how the production was going and I said I thought it was going quite well. We chatted easily and I mentioned that I was being a bridesmaid at my sister's wedding the following Saturday.

“I see you are engaged too,” he said, indicating the ring on my finger.

“Yes, Reggie and I have been engaged for about six months,” the lie came out quite easily and I'm pleased to say without a blush. “He's currently working in London but we see each other most weekends. I did warn him when he asked me to marry him that as an actress I was likely to be moving around the country a lot, but he said he was prepared to live with that.”

Talk then turned to my career. Richard was a little surprised that I was in Stratford with the RSC after what was really quite a short career.

“I've been extraordinarily lucky, and of course knowing Dame Emily helps. She's rather taken me under her wing.”

I went on to describe how I, together with my sister and mother had met Dame Emily on the London Underground, but I didn't mention how I had failed to recognise her!

I thanked him very much for taking me on as a client and also for negotiating a substantial improvement on my contract. Finally at the conclusion of our dinner, for which I also thanked him, he ordered me a taxi to take me back to the flat. Mary was still up when I arrived and I gave her a brief version of the evening's events before going to bed.

That night I was woken up about two o'clock by flashes of lightning and the distant growl of thunder. Then the rain started and the lightning became more frequent as did the volume of the thunder. Suddenly there was a brilliant flash of light and a crash that seemed to come from directly overhead, My bedroom door flew open and Mary stood there shaking.

“Harriet,” she wailed. “I hate storms.”

“Come here,” I replied and pulled the bedclothes back. She didn't need asking twice and immediately got into bed with me and cuddled up. Her body was still shaking with every peal of thunder, but fortunately the storm gradually moved away, and we must both have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, the sun was shining through the window. Mary was still fast asleep, so I slipped out of bed without waking her and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

A little later Mary appeared at the door.

“I'm so sorry about last night,” she said. “I've always hated storms ever since I was a little girl.”

“It's fine,” I replied. “We all have things we fear even if it's irrational. If I ever see a spider in my room it will be me wanting to climb into bed with you.”

When I thought about it afterwards, I realised that girls can do things like that without there being any sexual connotations about their actions.

To be continued

I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Louise Anne in proofreading the text and giving me a great deal of useful advice about modern-day Britain to incorporate in the story.