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‘It would probably be a complete flop,’ she said, dropping down into the hard chair nearest to her.
‘How do you know before you even try?’
‘Because everything I do is a flop.’
‘That’s not what I hear from the school; they think you’re the best thing that’s arrived in Ballycove since yellow bananas.’ He smiled at her and she couldn’t help smiling back. ‘Tell me a little about this drama school?’ He walked over and sat in the row before her.
‘There’s nothing much to tell,’ she said, but then she looked beyond him to the empty stage. ‘I just came in here one afternoon, stood on the stage and, I don’t know… I felt something.’ Now she felt a bit silly, but at the same time, there was a knot in her stomach and she wasn’t sure if it was induced by the idea of her own drama school or being sat here with Aiden.
‘So far, that sounds a bit like my conversion on the road to Damascus.’ His smile was bloody infectious and Nola had that sensation that she hadn’t felt since she was a small child that she could soon be laughing and crying all at once.
‘Yes, but you didn’t have to return to London soon.’
‘I had a job, a good job, a flat and a girlfriend in Dublin. None of which was going to wait for me indefinitely,’ he said and his voice was hoarse.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Oh, don’t be sorry, I have no regrets. Moving back here was the best decision I’ve ever made. I mean, I’m probably not making as much money as I did before, but I have a quality of life that far outweighs the corporate ladder and there’s no beating the feeling that my future is completely in my own hands.’
‘Yes, I can imagine that’s something all right.’ For a moment, Nola remembered those long harrowing calls to her agent, knowing before she even rang to badger her that the answer was going to be the same again. There was no work; no-one was battering down her door to give her so much as a drop-by, never mind an audition and far less likely an actual role.
‘Do youhaveto go back straight away?’
‘My life is there. It’s where I belong,’ she said too quickly, so even she knew it sounded as if she’d just taken it for granted and not considered a possibility beyond what she’d believed to be the case since she was a youngster.
‘Well, that’s just a pity for Ballycove, I suppose,’ he said, but he was still smiling. He studied the floor between them for a moment. ‘Just so you know, I think it could be a great success. It’s exactly what the mothers of Ballycove are crying out for, somewhere to send their kids that could build them up and let them have some fun learning how to perform on a stage. And you know, with the buzz you’ve created down at the school, I’d say word would travel so fast, you could open up a club in some of the other villages also. I suppose, all I’m saying is, you don’t have to stick with what you’ve got, you can change your mind and choose a different life.’ He smiled at her once more and got up from his seat. Only his footsteps echoed around the hall and then the door at the end closed with a whining creak behind him.
Nola sat there for ages thinking about what he said, but the fact was that he really didn’t know what he was talking about. If Nola made up her mind to move back here, she wouldn’t be walking out mid-career; the fact was her career had screeched to a halt. She had convinced herself that returning to London after this hiatus would be the start of her second career. She had gone to bed each night for her first couple of months here and nodded off to sleep with dreams of her reinvention. At this point, she’d practically brainwashed herself into the inevitability of her success. Yes, she wasalmostconvinced of it.
But the reality was, without her share in the Delahaye legacy, she didn’t have enough money to put a down payment on a parking space, never mind a flat. A drama summer club needn’t be a long-term commitment. She could earn enough to get by until September. Hopefully, Georgie and Iris wouldn’t object to her staying on in the house for a few more weeks and in the autumn, with a fat bank balance, she could go back to her real life in London.
That was it. She took a deep breath and looked up at the empty stage. The decision was made: she was going to set up the Delahaye Drama School. It was terrifying and exciting in equal measure, but her feet did a little happy dance, maybe because she loved the idea even more than she’d admitted to herself or Aiden.
