Acting Up by Melissa Nathan Read Free Book Online Page A

at the head.
    As they ate the gazpacho soup, Sara could wait no longer.
    'The last time we were all in the same room, Mr Noble, we were all desperate for your approval,' she said, with pretence at a coy smile. She had insisted on calling Harry Mr Noble ever since he'd won the Oscar. He had never expressed displeasure at it, so she had kept it up whenever she was trying to be more intimate with him.
    'Oh yes,' said Maxine, affecting surprise at the subject. 'Can you put us out of our misery and tell us if any of us made the grade?'
    She and Sara laughed in amazement at the idea and Jack joined in willingly. Charles was now preoccupied with his soup. The food had taken away what nerves he had felt at the thought of meeting Harry Noble. Harry Noble was just a man but soup was soup. Even if it was cold.
    'Oh, you can assure yourselves I approved heartily of you all,' said Harry, and continued to eat.
    Sara tried again.
    'Did any of us spring to mind when you cast the part of . . . say . . . Elizabeth Bennet?'
    Harry kept on drinking his soup.
    'Perhaps that girl – now what was her name?' Sara laughed gently, 'You called her the Ugly Sis––'
    Harry interrupted. 'Jasmin Field.'
    'Yes, that's right – I think she's Georgia Field's sister,' said Maxine.
    Jack looked up.
    'Oh yes,' pretended Sara. 'She was petrified, poor thing, I felt mortified for her. Mind you, she made a sterling effort, I thought, didn't you?'
    Harry put his spoon down and wiped his mouth with his well-pressed serviette.
    'Yes, sterling,' he said, placing his serviette on the table. 'So sterling that she is our Elizabeth Bennet.'
    There was a stunned silence.
    'Marvellous!' said Jack genuinely.
    ' Elizabeth Bennet ?' gasped Sara. ' Lizzy ?' she tried, hoping that she might have misheard.
    'Yes,' said Harry simply. 'Delicious soup, by the way.'
    Sara struggled to keep her voice composed. 'I must say I am most surprised,' she managed. 'After all, when you first saw her you called her an Ugly Sister. Aren't you at all concerned that that's what the audience will think too?'
    'No.'
    'Surely you can't have a short, busty, ugly Lizzy Bennet? It will spoil everything.'
    'When I first saw her,' corrected Harry, 'she was standing in the shadow. I couldn't see her face properly from there. Especially her eyes.'
    'Her eyes? What have they got to do with anything?' demanded Sara, her own eyes shrinking in anger.
    'You didn't notice them?' asked Harry.
    'No, I did not,' shot back Sara. 'But I did see that she is far less attractive than her sister, Georgia.'
    'Mmm, I agree,' conceded Harry. 'Convincing the audience that she is a real beauty will definitely be the biggest challenge I've ever had. But I've given the part of Jane Bennet to her real sister, Georgia Field, which should add authenticity.'
    'Excellent!' said Jack, even more genuinely.
    ' What? ' cried Sara.
    'Well, as you just said,' explained Harry calmly, 'Georgia Field is more instantly attractive than her sister and as you recall, Jane Bennet was the reputed beauty of the family.'
    'They were all reputed beauties.'
    'Well I can assure you that all of Jane's sisters are very pretty girls, and when we tog them up in their dresses, they'll all look just the job.'
    Sara controlled her anger but she seethed into her soup.
    Harry didn't feel it necessary to add that Jasmin Field's acting had a raw vitality and depth that he couldn't wait to work on.
    Sara stood up, took his plate before the waitress had time to do so, and walked out of the room.
    Maxine wondered if it would be tactless to ask if she'd got a part. Charles belched loudly. Jack looked round the room and beamed happily at them all.
    Meanwhile in the kitchen, Sara stood leaning on the marble-topped counter. She ignored the cook when asked whether she wanted the crêpe suzettes cooked on the mobile stove in the dining room or the kitchen. She was too busy hatching a plot.

5
    Jazz hopped off the bus in East Finchley and walked briskly along the road