The Mystery of Four by Sam Blake

Author:Sam Blake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atlantic Books

Chapter 38

‘LADIES AND GENTLEMEN of the company – this is your Act One beginners’ call. Act One beginners, please.’

As Tess let the main doors to the ballroom fall gently closed behind her, Aidan was sitting on an old wooden chair in the middle of the ballroom, facing the stage, a stopwatch in one hand and a pencil in the other, the tip hovering over the heavily marked prompt script. He glanced up and nodded before turning back to the stage. The curtains weren’t up yet, or the scenery in place, but Gen’s jardinière and a few key props, chairs and a table, were in situ. Aidan was going through everything as if it was the first night.

Perhaps she was putting it off again, but she’d needed to see that everything was running OK up here before she followed Jerry Lynch over to Fury Hill. Mark had said he’d come with her, and had nipped to the pub first to check his staff were managing the lunch trade.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, at this point on the night we will be awaiting front of house clearance. Please stand by.’ Aidan’s voice filled the empty room, bouncing off the boards and the raw brick walls.

Tess hung back, leaning against the door frame, her phone balancing on her clipboard, a scribbled checklist on the top of ‘her notes for today. She’d turned her phone off when Lynch had arrived, not wanting to be interrupted, and realised now that she still hadn’t turned it on. But it could stay off for the moment; she could do with a few minutes’ more headspace today.

‘LX, please stand by. House lights to half and house lights, out.’ Aidan’s voice broke into her thoughts as he spoke in what sounded like code.

‘LXQs one to three and visual follow-on. Sound, please stand by. Sound Qs one to four. Flies, please stand by. House tabs out. Thank you.’ He glanced across at her again before looking back at the stage. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we now have front of house clearance. Stand by, please, cast, stage management and technical crew.’

From the moment he’d pulled the cast together, Tess had been impressed with how professionally he’d approached the whole production. Now he was in his element.

‘House lights to half, go. House lights out, Q one, go.’ She didn’t understand a word of it, but evidently those behind the scenes did. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, the curtain is now up on Act One.’

His rich voice sounded almost Shakespearean, in complete control. He was like a conductor commanding an orchestra.

Tess imagined the curtains swishing open to reveal the set – what would be the influencer’s bedroom, a peculiar mix of antique and modern. The extremely ugly jardinière was at the front of the stage – Clarissa had been right about that.

Thank God for Aidan.

This was the one area of the whole proceedings where she didn’t have to worry. He was professional to the core, and one of those people who seemed to cope with issues. Watching the opening scene unfold, familiar now with the lines, Tess felt a surge of relief.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.