Take Two (A psychological thriller)

‘But, seriously,’ said Carolyn, lowering her voice and speaking slowly and clearly. ‘There are two people I have to thank from the bottom of my heart, two people without whom I would never have had the success that I have been so fortunate to enjoy.’ She waited a couple of beats until she had everyone in the room hanging on her words. ‘My mum and dad, God bless them. I know they would be so proud if they were here today but, sadly, that’s not to be.’ She swallowed, and smiled bravely as she held the statuette up towards the ceiling. ‘This is for you mum and dad. I love you and miss you so much.’ Right on cue a single tear rolled down her cheek. She moved her head slightly, knowing it would glisten under the lights.  The audience erupted with applause and one by one they got to their feet and stood clapping and cheering for a full minute.  They were still clapping as she left the stage and went back to her table, stopping to exchange air kisses with half a dozen well-wishers on the way.

Carolyn waved the statuette in the air for a final time as she went to sit down next to Harrington. He leaned over and whispered in her ear.  ‘How do you do that?’

‘Do what?’

‘Cry on command.’

She grinned and waggled the statuette at him. ‘A lifetime of experience, darling,’ she said.

Paul Day poured more red wine in her glass. ‘That was one hell of a performance, Carolyn,’ he said.

‘Don’t tell me, you want me to do it again for my close-up,’ she said. She picked up her glass and clinked it against his.

‘Seriously, you had them in the palm of your hand,’ said Harrington. ‘Have you done any theatre work?’

‘Panto,’ interrupted Day. ‘She’s plays a mean wicked stepmother.’

‘Oh, no, I don’t!’ said Carolyn.

‘Oh, yes, you do!’ chorused Day and Harrington. All three burst into laughter. Day waved at a passing waiter and pointed at the bottle of red wine. ‘One more,’ he mouthed and the waiter hurried off.

‘I’m not just saying this, Carolyn, but you really do have a stage presence. I know how good you work a camera, but that’s the first time I’ve seen you up on a stage and, really, there’s magic there. Every single person here was totally focused on you.’

Carolyn smiled and stroked his cheek. ‘I bet you say that to all the girls,’ she said.

‘Trust me, I don’t. You should talk to your agent, get him to get you some stage work.’

Carolyn shook her head. ‘The theatre doesn’t pay, you know that. Not unless you’re in a West End hit and even then it’s got to be Shrek or Les Mis.’

‘You could play Shrek, darling,’ said Day.

‘And you’d make a great donkey,’ said Carolyn.

The MC was bringing the show to a close, thanking the sponsors one by one. Once he’d finished, there was more applause, then the doors behind them were opened. Carolyn felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look up at Martin Waites. Waites was in his late twenties but looked as if he was barely out of his teens, with gelled blonde hair and a girl’s cheekbones. He was wearing a black Armani suit and a grey shirt, buttoned up and tie-less. ‘You were fantastic, Carolyn,’ he said. ‘And never was an honour more well-deserved.’ He flashed her a beaming smile and she caught his eyes flicking down to her cleavage and back to her face.

‘Why thank you, kind sir,’ she said.

‘And I can tell you that everyone at our table was chuffed to bits that you mentioned us all by name. That was a nice touch.’

‘I meant what I said.  The show would be nothing without the network.’

‘I wish everyone on the show felt the same,’ said Waites. He smiled at Day. ‘There are those who think we’re the enemy.’

‘We have different expectations of what a show should be,’ said Day, rising to the bait. ‘We want to make the best show we can, you want to sell as much advertising as you can with the minimum up-front expenditure.’

‘Paul, you know full well your budget is way above that of EastEnders, Corrie, even Holby. They look at your location budget and salivate.’

‘And the money we spend shows on the screen,’ said Day. ‘That’s why we get the viewers. Because we have a quality product.’

‘And the best stars,’ said Waites. He’d moved to stand behind Carolyn and he reached down and began massaging Carolyn’s shoulders.  ‘We wiped the floor tonight. That demonstrated how much the fans love the show.’ He patted Carolyn’s arms. ‘Now a Bafta or two, that would be nice.’

Carolyn looked up at him. She wanted to ask him to stop touching her shoulders but she didn’t want to sound over-sensitive.  He looked down at her and winked. She smiled tightly.

Day waved at an empty seat. ‘Sit yourself down, Martin.  You need to spend some time with the troops.’

Waites laughed and sat down between Andrea’s boyfriend and Phillippa. Carolyn smiled at Day and he winked at her. She realised he’d noticed her discomfort and done something about it. She raised her glass and mouthed ‘thank you’.

CHAPTER 11