AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Rory, dude. Good to see you,’ said Jack, not giving anything away if it had.
Rory clocked me and looked confused. My insecurity kicked in and I immediately decided it must be because I didn’t look like the type of person Jack would usually hang out with. I imagined those girls to be exceptionally beautiful, probably blonde, somewhat privileged and massively full of themselves. The sort of girls who could wear a pair of boyfriend jeans and a white vest and look amazing.
‘Rory, this is my neighbour, Rebecca,’ said Jack. ‘Rory and I were at drama school together,’ Jack explained to me.
‘Oh right,’ I said. ‘Nice to meet you, Rory.’
Rory pumped my hand several times. ‘Fraternising with the neighbours, eh? That’s what I like to see.’
Jack and I looked at each other. It did sound weird when you put it like that; I couldn’t imagine myself going out for the evening with anyone else from Marlowe Court, not even Clive, as lovely as he was.
‘Oh here’s Nathalie,’ announced Jack with a flourish, gesturing towards a door that presumably led up from backstage.
The cast were piling out, looking all pumped up and pleased with themselves as though they were high on adrenaline. Practically everyone in the bar turned to look at them and I thought it must be impossible not to have a huge ego with all that day in day out. They looked completely different off-stage – the way they were dressed, their hair loose, their skin free of make-up. I had to admit there was something thrilling about the fact they were heading in my direction. Although of course, it was really Jack and Rory’s direction.
Nathalie hugged them both and there was more exaggerated laughter and congratulations, and although she didn’t get her back slapped, she might as well have done. She was doing a good job of being humble about it, in that quietly confident, semi-fake way you might have cultivated if you were used to being brilliant on stage and to everyone raving about your performance afterwards.
‘Nathalie, this is Rebecca,’ said Jack as Rory headed off to the bar.
Nathalie did a sort of arsey double-take once she finally noticed I was there.
I put out my hand. ‘Nice to meet you,’ I said. ‘And congratulations on your performance.’
She took my hand and shook it limply, giving me a subtle sweeping look up and down.
‘And how do you two know each other again…?’ asked Nathalie, looking from one of us to the other, her head swinging like a pendulum.
‘We live opposite each other,’ explained Jack.
‘Oh right,’ said Nathalie, snatching a glass of Prosecco from Rory, who had just arrived back from the bar. ‘You’re in Tom’s old place?’
‘Yep,’ said Jack. ‘Apparently he’s doing pretty well out in New York.’
Nathalie tutted. ‘This is coming from him, though, right?’
I looked at Jack, who shrugged non-committally. Was this what it was like with them, all trying to get one up on each other? Couldn’t they actually be happy when one of their friends got a job? Although Jack had seemed genuinely pleased for Nathalie and proud of her performance, so maybe it was just Nathalie with the envy issues.
‘And what do you do, Rebecca?’ asked Nathalie, in the style of someone who couldn’t be less interested in the answer.
‘I work in marketing,’ I said.
That usually killed the conversation.
Sure enough, Nathalie turned to Jack. ‘What have you been up to since I saw you last? Tell me all,’ she said, touching his arm lightly.
I only half listened as Jack rattled off the things he’d been doing over the last few months. I wondered whether this was something actors had to do, recite a list of their most impressive credits at every opportunity.
As Jack, Rory and Nathalie proceeded to talk over each other about which casting directors loved them and whether their agent was getting them seen for the new Line of Duty season, I let my eyes wander around the bar, taking in the groups of cool, arty-looking people talking about the ‘themes’ of the play in too-loud, half-drunk voices. I hoped nobody was going to ask me for my thoughts on the play. What kind of insightful, intelligent stuff could I say about it if they did? I didn’t think it was great would cut it.
When Jack checked I was OK a few minutes later, it was the perfect opportunity to make my excuses and leave.
‘I think I’ll make a move, actually,’ I said.
As much as I’d enjoyed spending time with Jack, and the play itself, this clearly wasn’t my world and I didn’t have enough energy to pretend it was.
I saw a flash of disappointment on his face. ‘Oh, really? I was about to get us another drink.’
I smiled politely. ‘It’s just that I’ve got a few things I need to do before work tomorrow.’
