Lighthouse said before either of us could open our mouths.
At first I sort of wished I had been in a suite at the Waldorf Hotel for some reason other than auditioning for a part in the new film of world-famous movie director Art Dubrovnik. Then I could have enjoyed it even more.
The waiting suite was amazing: the biggest bedroom I have ever seen in my life. In fact, you couldn’t really call it a bedroom, it was more like an apartment, with a huge living room, bathroom and even an upstairs. Of course, Anne-Marie swanked around like she spent her whole life in hotel rooms like this one, and given that her mum and dad were in the top fifty richest people in the country, she probably had. I on the other hand was awestruck and so were my parents, although my mum didn’t look around the room open-mouthed with awe like my dad did, she sat still on the edge of the blue silk sofa and looked afraid to touch anything.
“I’ll be right back,” Lisa said, her eye raking over Anne-Marie and me again. “There’s tea and fresh coffee over there, or take what you like from the minibar as long as it’s legal.” As Sylvia Lighthouse busied herself pouring coffee and tea for my parents, Anne-Marie crossed straight to a part of the wall that I had thought was just white-painted wooden panelling and opened it to reveal a tiny but well-stocked fridge.
She handed me a Coke and took one for herself.
“How did you know that was there?” I asked her, impressed.
“It was obvious,” she said. “Minibars are always in the same place, aren’t they?” I said nothing and went and sat next to my mum and sipped my drink. Sylvia Lighthouse was talking but I wasn’t listening. All I could think about was that it was me who would be going to audition first. I knew that it was going to happen, but I couldn’t quite believe it. Somehow it didn’t seem real. It felt like I was already playing a part in a film.
“OK.” Lisa Wells opened the door. “Ruby, come this way, please.”
I looked at my mum, who smiled at me and nodded, and then at my dad, who pumped his fist in the air in a way that would have ordinarily mortified me if I hadn’t been so nervous, and then finally at Sylvia Lighthouse, who was standing straight-backed against the window.
“Remember everything I’ve taught you and you will excel,” she told me with quiet dignity.
“I will, Ms Lighthouse,” I said solemnly, though to be perfectly honest at that point I couldn’t remember a single word she had ever said about anything ever. I could hardly even remember my name.
“We are working to a schedule here, you know,” Lisa Wells said, rolling her eyes. I stood up and I followed her into the second suite.
Mr Dubrovnik was sitting on a fat, cream sort of half-sofa half-chair, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees as if at any moment he might want to suddenly get up and leave. He watched me as I walked in through the door and pointed at the chair opposite him.
“Hello, Ruby,” he said. His voice was soft and low and quite friendly really.
“Hello,” I said. My voice was high and squeaky and sounded quite a lot like a strangulated mouse.
“Well, I’m glad to see you again,” Mr Dubrovnik said. “I bet you didn’t think you’d be asked back, did you?” I shook my head. It seemed like a better alternative than squeaky-voiced talking. Mr Dubrovnik smiled. He had a very nice fatherly sort of smile that wrinkled his face up around his eyes and made him look about a hundred times less scary.
“And so, Ruby, why do you think I’ve asked you to come to this second audition today?” he asked. I thought about it for a moment and realised that this time I’d have to speak, so I concentrated on making my voice come out as normal as possible.
“Well,” I said, and this time I still sounded like a mouse but not one who had been breathing the helium from party balloons, “I thought you might have got me mixed up with another Ruby.” It was a terrible answer, but the only one I had, and I was rewarded with another one of Mr Dubrovnik’s friendly smiles. He laughed and shook his head.
“So you thought you did pretty badly, right?” he said, twinkling at me. I found myself smiling back at him as I nodded.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” he said. “You did. You were terrible. You let the situation rule you, and an actor can never, never allow that to happen. You have to rule the situation at all times. No matter how difficult it is. You have to own it. You’ll learn that if you ever work in live theatre.” I nodded.
“I have done live theatre,” I said quickly. “School plays.” Mr Dubrovnik laughed again and this time so did I. I had no idea that I was so hilarious. His face settled into a smile again and he leaned even further forward in his chair as if he were about to tell me a secret.
“I’ll tell you why you’re here, Ruby, and I won’t lie,” he told me. “You’ve got something none of the other girls going for this part have got.” I held my breath, hoping he was about to say something like “real talent”, but instead he said, “You’ve got history and years of experience. I’ve seen the show you were in, Kensington Lofts, or whatever.” I nodded. “I asked Sylvia to send me over some tapes after your first audition because I couldn’t believe that the performance you gave was really your best.” I shook my head with emphasis. “Thought not, so I watched about four episodes and—you were really good in it. Really good considering those scripts.” He smiled again; it was a smile that seemed to reach right up to his forehead. “Also, you might like to know that Miss Grant liked your audition. She said she thought you had something about you that might be right for the part.” I thought how nice that this Miss Grant, whoever she might be, liked me, and then I realised who he was talking about! Not just a Miss Grant, but the Miss Grant—Imogene Grant!
“Imogene Grant thought that from seeing the tape of my audition?” I said, sounding incredulous. “Did she see that last bit?” I asked him, mortified. He smiled.
“Afraid so,” he said. I clapped my hands over my eyes and he laughed again.
“Yeah, I know,” Art Dubrovnik said. “But even with the last bit, she wanted me to see you again and I’m not in the habit of saying no to my leading lady. So are you all set?”
I took a deep breath.
“As I’ll ever be,” I said.
Mr Dubrovnik nodded.
“Jeremy!” he called out to another room most politely. “Would you mind coming through now, please?” And my jaw dropped as Britain’s leading thespian and one of the world’s top film actors walked into the room. It was Jeremy Fort.
“Hello,” he said to me, giving me a little bow.
“My mum so loves you,” I said to him without thinking, and then they were both laughing. I felt myself flush red to the roots of my hair, which may have been a blessing in disguise because at least then they couldn’t see the blotches I was coming out in.
“I can see you know who Jeremy is,” Art Dubrovnik said. “He will be playing Polly’s ‘father’—the evil scientist who kidnaps her.” He handed me a script bound in a dark blue cover. “Here’s a short scene for you to learn. I want you to spend a few minutes learning your lines with Jeremy and then I’ll come back into the room and you give me your best shot, OK?”
I couldn’t speak; I was too busy praying my breakfast wouldn’t want to make another cameo appearance.
“Ruby,” Mr Dubrovnik said, gently but firmly, his smile settling in the bottom half of his face only. “If you want to act, you can’t be star-struck. You have to act like you’re just as important as anyone else in this room; you have to own this room, OK?” I nodded, and tried not to think about the fact that I barely had enough pocket money to own a box of complimentary matches, let alone anything else in this room.
“OK, I’ll try,” I managed