What Lies Beneath the Mask Page 5

  “Erm Belle this is for you.” She handed me the envelope.

  “Where did it come from?” I’d never had anything delivered to me here before.

  “Merry gave it to me.” Susan said nervously, as if she’d get into trouble for delivering it. I smiled at reassuringly, or at least I hope that was how it came across.

  “Thank you.” I tore into the envelope and found a typed note inside. I read it once, and then again; Who knew that my Belle was so talented? Keep up the good work. I was now more confused than ever. It clearly wasn’t from Jack, who would never have referred to me as “my Belle”, in fact most of the time Jack called me Annabelle, so definitely not him. Nor was it from John. He wasn’t really the type to compliment people, nor would he do it by note. A sharp intake of breath from Hayley told me that she’d moved to stand behind me to read the note.

  “Who gave it to Merry?” Hayley asked sharply.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Dammit Susan, we really need to know.” I was lost for words while Hayley tried find out about the strange note.

  “I can ask.” She stammered out, intimidated by Hayley; as any sane person would be right now.

  “It’s alright Susan,” I found my voice again. “Thank you for delivering it.” She squeaked and exited the room quickly, probably hoping to avoid another grilling from Hayley.

  “Who do you think sent it?” She asked me, worry replacing the earlier excitement on her face.

  “I’m not sure. But give me a sec.” I started rummaging through one of my draws looking for the note I’d found when my desk was overturned. I wasn’t sure what had made me keep it, but I was suddenly glad I had. I pulled it out from where it was hidden beneath a pile of old sketches and looked at the familiar handwriting on the front. I flipped it over but there was nothing on the back. Silently I handed it to Hayley.

  “Where did you get this?” She asked.

  “I found it when my desk was overturned.”

  “Do you recognise the writing?”

  “It’s Toby’s.” I said it quietly, not really wanting to admit it.

  “Oh,” she flipped it over like I’d done. “Why would he start sending you notes?”

  “No idea,” I shrugged. But then a horrifying thought crossed my mind. What if he hadn’t known where I was up until now, but with our production being part of The Show Must Go On, I was now more visible than I’d been before. Hayley put her arm around my shoulders and gave me a half hug.

  “It’ll be fine.”

  “I know.” A text pinged on my phone and I picked it up on reflex to read it and sighed. “Sorry Hayls, John wants me in the theatre.”

  “It’s okay, we’ll figure this out later.” I gave her a wan smile. I wasn’t convinced that we would, but if it reassured her then I’d let her think we could.

  Chapter 17

  “Henry you’re the Phantom, not some French dandy; act like everyone’s beneath you.” John bellowed from beside me. Henry puffed out his chest and I let out a sigh. Placing Henry in this scene was proving tricky, especially as the audience would be able to hear, and potentially even see him, but he wasn’t in the same room as all the other characters.

  “John, why don’t we try him on the gallery we used for Buquet?” I asked quietly, I’d found that it was best not to let others hear ideas before John approved them. He nodded once and directed Henry into position. “Look down on the other characters Henry.” I added. Almost instantly he slipped into character, watching over everybody from above. Everyone moved through their paces but, like normal, Merry was trying to steal the show and kept coming on stage early. To make matters worse the camera crew were here shooting footage for the first couple of shows, though come to think of it that could be why she was so desperate to be on stage.

  “Merry you’re early again.” Jack’s voice came from the stage. He’d said it quietly, but because they were testing the microphones today, we all heard it.

  “Merry if you get this scene right we can move on to the graveyard. Which IS a scene all about you.” Everybody turned and stared at me and my hand flew to my mouth. I was normally quiet and polite to everyone, even Merry, so the undercurrent of bitchiness coming through took everyone by surprise. On stage Jack tried to smother a smile and tipped me a wink, while Merry huffed but didn’t storm off. The camera crews seemed to have even more sway than I thought they did.

  “Right, places everyone we’re doing it again!” John shouted, but I could see the hint of a smile. Unsurprisingly, Merry got everything perfect this time, and didn’t even attempt to steal the limelight. I felt a little smug that I’d managed to put her in her place so well. What didn’t work so well was Jack not being able to keep a straight face despite the fact that Raoul was supposed to be comforting a terrified Christine in this scene. I sighed. If he wasn’t careful everyone was going to know we were together, and even if it had been a couple of amazing weeks, I wasn’t ready for anyone to know yet. John sighed next to me before stalking up to talk to Merry and Jack. Things clearly hadn’t gone the way he wanted them to.

  “Excuse me, Miss Phillips?” One of the camera men asked me.

  “Yes?”

  “Do you mind if we go to your studio to see Miss McCarthy’s costumes?” He was nervous and I wondered why, though considering what he’d just witnessed me saying to one of our lead stars maybe that wasn’t so surprising.

  “Of course, do you know the way?” He shook his head.

  “Okay, I’ll show you.” I looked back at the stage and noticed that everyone seemed to be milling around aimlessly, time to do something about that, “places for Prima Donna everyone! Steve you’re Jack’s understudy, you can use this time to practice.” Merry and Jack must have disappeared with John, probably to be on the receiving end of a rant; not that I envied them. Prima Donna was the one of the scenes that needed the most work, and without much of Raoul or Christine in it, now was the perfect time to practice. I motioned to the camera man to follow me and started to walk back towards our studio.

  “Is everything going according to plan Miss Phillips?” The camera man asked, and I wondered whether he was just curious or if his camera was recording. I thought for a moment, considering my answer just in case.

  “We’re on schedule. Things still need polishing and some of the sets and costumes are yet to be created, but things are looking good. All our lead actors have fantastic voices and their understudies are looking just as promising.” There, hopefully that should undo any damage I’d done by shouting at Merry earlier.

  “Even Miss Ryman?” Ah, maybe not.

  “Merry is what anyone wants in a leading lady, beautiful and talented.”

  “Is Miss Ryman easy to work with?” Wow I could not catch a break today.

  “Miss Ryman and I have a successful working relationship.” I crossed my fingers hoping that the camera man fell for my blatant lie. Merry hated me, and I wasn’t exactly her biggest fan, though I had no idea why; we definitely weren’t after any of the same things.

  “Do the cast and crew socialise outside the theatre?”

  “Of course. We’re an amateur troupe, a lot of the cast and crew are good friends.” I answered, grateful to be off the subject of Meredith Ryman.

  “What about you?”

  “Yes I’m good friends with several members of the cast and crew.” I breathed out slowly in an attempt to prevent the potential panic attack I could feel looming. Luckily we reached the studio door before he could ask me anymore questions. “Hayls, the camera wants to see your beauties!” I called out.

  “Come in!” I pushed the door open and motioned to the camera man to follow. It was apparent to me that Hayley had been expecting this as she’d pushed both of our desks against the wall and borrowed some mannequins from somewhere. She owned a couple that I knew about, but nowhere near the amount that filled the room, the affect was kind of creepy. “Hi, I’m Hayley McCarthy!”

  “David Smythe.” The camera man introduced himself. “
Do you mind if I set up my camera over there?” He pointed to the spare corner. She nodded and the moment he turned his back she started fanning herself in exaggerated movements, her way of telling me she thought he was hot; I studied David while he was setting up and she was right, he was kind of attractive; He was tall and broad, he clearly worked out, with dark hair and maybe a couple of years older than us. All in all, he was Hayley’s type from top to bottom.

  “I’m going to head back down to the theatre.” I said loudly.

  “Thank you.” Hayley mouthed at me.

  “You’re welcome.” I mouthed back. “Good luck.” She winked and I waved as I left the room, leaving her to her seduction.

  Chapter 18

  Raised voices sounded from John’s office as I wandered past, and while I knew that I shouldn’t sneak and listen at doors, there was a part of me that really wanted to know what was going on. Plus, Jack would probably gloss over the worst bits if I asked him about it later.

  “The two of you need to sort it out.” John said firmly.

  “We’re trying John.” Jack sounded calm meaning it must have been Merry and John whose voices had caught my attention.

  “Clearly not hard enough. There is supposed to be chemistry between you, you’re supposed to be so deeply in love that you want to be together despite everyone being against you. And do you know what I get from the two of you? Do you?” Even though John’s rant wasn’t directed at me I winced; I’d noticed the lack of chemistry between Jack and Merry, but rather than do anything about it I’d been secretly glad. “I get nothing.”

  “We’ll try harder John.” Jack tried to reassure him.

  “Oh sure, cause that’ll work.” Merry cut in sarcastically. “The problem isn’t that we’re not trying.”

  “Then what is the problem?” If I’d been in the room I would have been backtracking by now, John’s voice had taken on his cool angry tone, and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of the next stage.

  “It’s him.” I could picture Jack looking at her with that adorable confused look he got and smiled to myself. “Oh don’t look at me like that Jack; You’re sleeping with Belle and that’s why there’s no chemistry between us.”

  “Meredith.” John’s stern voice cut in. My blood ran cold; we’d been so careful, how did Merry even know about me and Jack? While we weren’t sleeping together, it was a little too close to the truth for comfort.

  “Look at him. He’s not even denying it. They think no one notices the looks they give each other.”

  “Meredith that’s enough.” I wasn’t sure what I wanted Jack to do more; deny that there was anything between us and put the rumour to bed, or to declare undying love, which was slightly confusing given my reluctance to even date him. “Now just to be clear, I don’t care what you do with your social lives; what I care about is how the two of you come across on stage. Sort it out.”

  “But what about Belle and Jack?” Merry asked indignantly. John snorted.

  “What about them? I’ve seen no evidence of them being anything more than friends, and even if I had it isn’t my business.”

  “It is if it’s affecting his performance.”

  “It’s not.” Jack said almost too quietly for me to hear. “The problem is that you want the limelight, Merry. You don’t want to work with someone because that detracts from you.” His directness surprised me, he was always so careful with me, and yet his tone hadn’t sounded like he was being purposefully cruel.

  “He has a point Merry.” John sounded thoughtful. “This show is a production of team work; you can’t shine without the rest of us. But whatever the reason, you need to sort out your chemistry.” Knowing John as well as I did, I recognised his dismissal and hurried away from the door and back towards the theatre.

  Chapter 19

  My phone pinged with a text from Hayley and I smiled as I read it: Girls night in tonight. Bring snacks. We’d both been busy with the show the past couple of weeks, and with me dating Jack, and Hayley’s first date with David, the camera man, over the weekend, we hadn’t had much time just the two of us. I quickly tapped out a reply.

  Me: Hairspray or Grease?

  Hayley: Erm…both! Obviously! I smiled, Hayley loved musicals, it wouldn’t have mattered which ones I suggested.

  Me: Sorry silly me! You want pizza or Chinese?

  Hayley: No Annabelle specials? :-O

  Me: I’ll make you chocolate brownies

  Hayley: <3

  I started packing up my stuff; if I was going t to make my chocoholic best friend brownies, then I was going to have get to the supermarket before I went home. I made awesome brownies, even if I did say so myself, but I needed ground almonds for them and we didn’t have any at home. I’d also need to pick up some frozen fruit and rum to make daiquiris; it was a long-standing tradition of a girl’s night in for us to make cocktails. I made my mental shopping list as I left the theatre and threw everything into my car. Ever since things started to go wrong, I’d been taking things home with me instead of leaving them at the theatre. I was on autopilot and almost missed that there was something stuck under my windscreen; probably some local election that had gone completely over my head. I grabbed it out and took a quick glance before stopping in my tracks; it looked the same as the note Susan had given me a couple of weeks ago, with just keep it up typed on the middle of the page. I put it with the rest of my stuff and made a mental note to tell Hayley when I got home.

  “It still surprises me what a convincing woman John Travolta makes.” Hayley said, sipping her pink cocktail and munching on a chocolate brownie, her third of the night.

  “You say that every time we watch Hairspray!” I laughed, and it was true, though I did agree with her.

  “Do you think Jack would pull it off if we did Hairspray next?” She asked in mock seriousness. I pushed her arm and snorted.

  “Nope. He’d be Corny. Now Henry…he’d make a good Edna!” Hayley joined me in fits of laughter as we imagined the ever image conscious Henry dressed in drag and a fat suit.

  “What and leave George or Dave to be Link?” She asked through laughing.

  “Maybe we’d get David involved just for that.” She had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Things not go well?” I asked, nervous that I’d over stepped a mark.

  “No it went great.” She said quickly.

  “But…”

  “But nothing. I’m just not sure I’m ready for something serious.”

  “You’ve been on one date Hayls, who said anything about serious!” I found it slightly ironic that our normal roles had been reversed.

  “He just seemed to be the kind of guy you’d take home to meet the folks.” She sighed and grabbed another brownie.

  “That’s not necessarily a bad thing.” The look on her face told me it was probably best to change the subject, “I got another note.”

  “What?!” She sat bolt upright, almost spilling her drink. “When?”

  “Today. I found it on my windscreen.”

  “Have you reported it?”

  “Of course not! What would I say? Someone is anonymously leaving me notes that seem to be encouraging me?” It wasn’t like we could prove that the notes were as sinister as we thought they were.

  “No I guess not.” Her expression barely changed; so much for me trying to change the subject and get everything back to fun.

  “Another drink?” She nodded, wordlessly handing me her glass. I topped up both of our drinks from the blender in the kitchen, it was our fourth, the other three having met their demises while we were having one of our girl’s nights…apparently, there is such a thing as too much frozen fruit and rum.

  Chapter 20

  John gathered the entire cast and crew in the main theatre after lunch, and as it was a Saturday, most people were here and not at their day jobs or college. Me, Hayley and Jack had claimed a row near the back, where we normally sat for John’s announcements, however unlike normal, I had no clue what John was going to
say.

  “Attention everyone,” his voice boomed out, “I’m pleased to announce that Radio L.I.V.E is going to interview us about the show. I know they’re only local radio, but the exposure for us is great!” John announced triumphantly and a ball of worry curled in my stomach; I had nothing against our local radio station, but I knew my luck and it would probably end up being Toby that interviewed us. If that was the case, then there’d be almost no way for me to be able to get out of talking to him. From her spot to my right, Hayley slipped her hand into mine and squeezed. I squeezed back almost instantly, thankful that I had a friend like Hayley.

  “Who’s going to be interviewing us?” Merry asked excitedly from her place on the front row, her blonde head bobbing up and down; This was probably her dream come true after all. John looked down at the scrunched-up piece of paper in his hands.

  “A Mr. Toby Withers.” He read and my heart sank. The room lost focus around me and I felt the blood drain from my face. In a vain attempt to stave off a panic attack I began counting my breathing and drawing a square on my leg with my left hand. It was vital that I got back in control; Jack was never going to want to stick around if I kept freaking out like this.

  “Annabelle are you okay? You look pale.” Jack twisted in his seat to look at me properly with a concerned look on his face. Guilt gnawed away at me while he was being so attentive as I freaked out over my ex-boyfriend’s name.

  “Sorry I forgot to have breakfast this morning.” I offered with a wan smile. Hayley looked at me oddly and I glanced away quickly. There was no doubt that she’d caught my lie, she’d been surprised to see me eat the last yoghurt in the fridge this morning; it was cherry and she’d asked if I was pregnant as I normally wouldn’t have touched anything cherry flavoured with a barge pole. We’d both burst into fits of giggles, especially since we both knew that the only guy I’d even kissed in the past year was Jack, and that my trust issues had meant we hadn’t gone any further than that. The memory made me smile and I relief filled Jack’s eyes as he watched me.