Love Me Till Wednesday (Sapphire Stars #1)

11

11

Even though the house lights were off, Lisa felt conspicuous in her aisle seat. She’d asked the woman in the booking office for a ticket at the back, but when she walked in she realised when Nick had said it was a small venue, he’d meant it.

There was a thrust stage about the size of her parents’ living room with just five rows of chairs arranged around it. Fortunately, most of the seats were taken. At least Nick wasn't going to be performing in an empty theatre.

Lisa had bought a programme on the way in. He was on page four, looking serious in his black-and-white portrait. He was playing a teenage drug user. She read his bio, which matched what he’d told her about himself the other night.

The auditorium lights dimmed, and the audience stopped chatting. Lisa felt butterflies in her stomach.

A spotlight came on, and a scruffy-looking, middle-aged woman shuffled slowly on stage into its beam. She looked vaguely familiar. She must be Catriona Bailey. Her monologue lasted five minutes, but it felt a lot longer. Lisa was struggling to concentrate. This was going to be tedious.

Suddenly Nick appeared behind Catriona. His voice sounded different - much more northern - not quite Manchester but at least 30 miles north of Spaghetti Junction. Catriona was trying to seduce him. Lisa was surprised at how jealous she felt seeing the actress’s fingers delicately stroke Nick’s face. She could see where this was heading. Please don’t let the nudity involve Nick.

Catriona started helping him to slowly remove his trousers. God, this was uncomfortable now. How was this helping the plot? But Nick seemed unphased as he shed more clothes. As Catriona dramatically removed his boxers, Lisa could feel her cheeks reddening. She’d fantasised about seeing him naked but not with an audience. Though she had to admit the view was good.

Now, it was Nick’s turn to share his character’s innermost thoughts from the edge of the stage. At least he did it with a bedsheet wrapped around him. Lisa admired the way he held the audience’s attention. He confidently looked out into the auditorium, walking slowly around the stage as he spoke, his voice filling the space. He had a great stage presence. The audience was hanging on his every word, though hopefully not for the same reasons Lisa was.

She held her breath as his gaze fell on her section of the audience, hoping that the bright stage lights would stop him from seeing her. But he looked straight at her, a flicker of recognition in his eyes. She could see him swallow and slowly blink as if to reset his thoughts. He looked away and picked up where he left off. She breathed again.

Half an hour later, the stage went dark again, as Act 1 drew to a close. The audience applauded, and the house lights came up. Lisa jumped. Nick was crouching in the aisle by her seat, still wrapped in a bedsheet.

‘Enjoying it?’ He whispered in his normal accent, but there was no warmth in his voice at all.

‘Yeah, sort of.’ She decided to make light of it. ‘I was wondering what you looked like naked,’ she whispered to him with a smile .

The joke fell flat. No smile, just a challenging stare. Perhaps he was angry with her for distracting him.

‘No boyfriend today?’ he said.

Lisa looked puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean you’ve left Pete at home.’

‘Pete? I’ve left Pete full stop. Why did you think I was still with him?’

‘I saw you leaving the hotel together yesterday.’

Nick’s frosty attitude made sense now. The woman sitting next to her was trying to pretend she wasn’t eavesdropping but not very successfully. Now wasn’t the time for an explanation.

‘Can we talk afterwards? I still owe you a drink.’

Nick hesitated, looking down at the floor. For a second, Lisa thought he was going to say no, but he turned back towards her. ‘There's a pub next door. The Butcher’s Arms. Meet me there after we’ve finished.’ And with that, he stood up and walked off.

Lisa had no idea what the second half of the play was about. After Nick’s character died of an overdose five minutes in, she was too busy overthinking how to win his trust again to pay attention to his fellow cast members. She kept going back over what she could remember of their conversation two nights ago. She'd not mentioned Pete by name - just that she'd recently split up with someone. He must have done some research. How would she feel in his shoes? Probably pretty shitty.

Finally, the stage went dark, and the audience applauded. The lights came up again to allow the cast to take a bow. When it was Nick’s turn to step forward, he looked straight at her again. She smiled encouragingly at him. He nodded slightly. She’d have preferred one of his smiles.

The advantage of the small venue was it didn’t take long for the audience to file out. Lisa lost no time heading over to the pub. He’d been keen to meet her last time. This time, he hadn’t seemed quite as enthusiastic. She didn’t want to risk keeping him waiting again.

The Butcher’s Arms wasn't as fancy as Jack’s Bar - just a typical London drinking pub, all dark wood and yellow nicotine-stained textured wallpaper, the raised patterns softened by decades of coats of paint. The rest of the audience had avoided it. The only thing that was busy about it was the sticky red and green carpet. She ignored the stares of the few locals propping up the bar and headed to a small table in the corner with her half-pint of coke. No alcohol today - she wanted to remember everything this time.

Nick strode in ten minutes later. He spotted Lisa straightaway and pulled up a stool opposite her.

‘Hello.’ He still wasn't smiling, but his expression was less angry than earlier.

‘Sorry if I distracted you.’

He shrugged. ‘Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Tell me about you and Pete.’