What Lies Beneath the Mask Page 7

  “But you and Hayley are friends now?” It was my turn to nod. “How did that happen?” I sighed. This could be tricky. I’d reached out to Hayley after the accident happened, but I wasn’t ready to talk about that yet.

  “Once I left Toby I found her again.” I said instead, “she took me into her home and we gained back what we’d lost.” I could see from the expression on Jack’s face that he didn’t quite believe I’d told him the whole story, and I felt a little guilty about that. I almost started to speak and tell him the full truth when he gently put a finger to my lips.

  “Not yet. You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.”

  “Thank you.” I whispered.

  “You’re welcome Annabelle. I’ll wait as long as you need me to.” His voice was steady and he pulled me back into his comforting embrace. “Now let’s get you home to that protective best friend of yours.”

  Chapter 25

  “I told him.” Hayley and I were lounging about the next morning, neither of us wanting to go anywhere despite the fact we had a lot to get done. My laptop was propped on my knee with a brief from an indie author open; they wanted a book cover designing but were being really unhelpful about what they wanted and my motivation for dealing with it was inexistent.

  “About the notes?” I pulled a face as she munched through marmite on toast. It was true what they said about marmite; it’s either love or hate and I was definitely in the hate camp.

  “No,” I looked at my screen wishing I didn’t have to say the next bit, “about Toby.” Hayley almost dropped her toast in shock, and despite the seriousness of what I was trying to tell her, I let a small giggle escape.

  “What about Toby?”

  “That he didn’t let me be friends with you.”

  “Oh,” I could see the look of hurt on Hayley’s face and I worried that I’d said something wrong. “You never actually said that’s what happened.” I looked up from where I was staring at my screen.

  “I’m sorry,” That was fast becoming my favourite phrase. Hayley just shook her head.

  “What are you sorry for? It’s not you that tried to control another person.” She had her determined look on her face; the one she normally got when she was attempting to do any of her written assignments from college.

  “He didn’t try Hayley. He did.” I admitted softly, telling Jack last night had changed the way I looked at it. While I was still affected by my past I definitely felt calmer thinking about it now.

  “For over a year I thought you hated me.” The sad look on her face sent guilt rushing through me; with everything going on I hadn’t once considered how my silence could have been affecting Hayley as much as it had me.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Stop saying that.” She banged her fist gently on our kitchen side for emphasis. “It is not your fault. But the moment I got that phone call from the hospital, I was so relieved. Not that you were hurt, obviously, but because you wanted me. I missed you so much Belle.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and they started pooling in my eyes in response.

  “I missed you too.” I croaked. “I tried to find you more than once. But without your number I just couldn’t.” Toby had banned me from Facebook too, going as far as taking the router from our flat with him when he went out.

  “I swear I hate him more and more each day.” Hayley said through her tears and I smiled bitterly.

  “He’s not worth your hate Hayls.”

  “I know. But he stole 18 months of you from my life.” It struck me that this was the first time we’d ever actually talked about what happened properly. There had been brief statements and vague hints, but we’d avoided talking about the affect it had had on our friendship. I put my laptop on the coffee table before moving quickly over to Hayley, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her hard. I knew better than anyone that while men could come and go, a best friend was forever.

  “Well he’s not going to steal anymore.” Laughing and sniffing at the same time caused her to make a weird noise that started me laughing too.

  “So how was last night? Other than the confessions.” She pulled away and went back to her toast. The past decade had taught me never to get between Hayley and food, not unless there was a really good reason. Of course, she was one of the lucky ones who could seem to eat anything and still stay tiny.

  “Other than confessions, it was wonderful. The show was good, and once we got back here we went for a walk.” Smiling to myself and thinking about Jack meant that my mood instantly lifted.

  “A walk?”

  “Yes, a walk. Along the river.”

  “I can’t decide if that’s romantic or cheesy.” I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed, “definitely cheesy.” She decided.

  “What did you and David do?” After her moment of doubt, Hayley had been all up for seeing David again and I’d known about their date last night before I’d known about my own.

  “He came over.” My mouth fell open as I stared at her, only Hayley could go from being unsure about someone to inviting them over in such a short time.

  “You didn’t?” I asked in mock horror.

  “No!” She exclaimed loudly. “We ordered a pizza and watched a film.” I raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed.

  “So what did you do?” I didn’t for a minute believe they’d just eaten and watched a film, she must think I’d never heard of Netflix and chill.

  “We kissed. Is all.”

  “Pinky swear?” I knew that if she agreed to that then she was telling me the truth.

  “Pinky swear.” She hooked her little finger around mine and tugged. “But I wanted to.” I laughed.

  “He put a stop to it?” I asked jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood again.

  “Yep.” She avoided eye contact as I continued to stare at her.

  “Why?” I was completely and utterly confused as to why any guy would turn her down.

  “He said he wanted to make it special for me.” She grumbled.

  “Well I think that’s sweet,” I reassured her.

  “You would,” came her instant reply. “I mean, you need someone to wait for you, like Jack’s doing. But I’m not you.” She softened her words.

  “Even I don’t want to wait forever Hayls.” She looked up sharply, surprised to hear me say that. “Oh come on. It’s not like you don’t know about Henry.” I added.

  “Henry doesn’t count.”

  “How’d you work that one out?” I asked, genuinely confused.

  “Things were never going to get serious with you and Henry. You were just using him to see if you could do the no strings thing.” I made a non-committal noise. “And you discovered that you couldn’t.” Well that much was true. Henry wasn’t really my type, I found him attractive sure, but there was more to wanting someone than that.

  “I guess.” I said reluctantly.

  “I know.” Hayley replied firmly.

  Chapter 26

  It was a true joy watching one of my set designs come to life, and today was no different. All around me the various volunteers who built the sets were working, and I could barely hear myself think over the noise. But there was no doubt in my mind that it was worth it to see the graveyard come to life. Other than building the individual graves, this was actually one of the simplest sets; it didn’t need to double up as anything, nor did it need to do anything but be on stage. My plan was to dim the lights and use a shed load of dry ice to create a misty atmosphere, each of the graves would be freestanding and could be moved about until I was happy with the scene, especially during the confrontation between Raoul and the Phantom over Christine.

  Standing in the doorway, my gaze fixed on one particular piece; a tall angel that would be the centre piece, and the man that was carving it. I was pretty sure that Jack had no idea I was there and I took full advantage of the opportunity to watch him work. While I knew he was an apprentice carpenter, seeing it was something completely different, especially as he carved with such ski
ll and attention to detail. Watching him filled me with wonder and his love and passion for what he was doing was evident in each movement.

  “It looks amazing.” It was impossible to stay silent any longer and Jack instantly looked over his shoulder, smiling at the sound of my voice.

  “Well I have a good design to work from.” He waved to one of my drawings pinned to a board behind his sculpture and I was amazed at just how well he’d caught the intricacies of my drawing in the wood.

  “Jack…it’s perfect.” I lifted my fingers up to touch the sculpture but he grabbed my hand away before I could.

  “You’re not wearing any gloves. I haven’t finished and I don’t want you getting splinters.” He explained gently.

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  “No need to be sorry Belle. I can understand the need to touch beautiful things.” Somehow I didn’t think that he was just talking about pieces of art with that statement. Jack turned away and rummaged through the work station next to his sculpture. “Here I have something for you,” he passed me something small wrapped in a swath of scrap fabric. Puzzled I took it from him gently and slowly unwrapped it; inside was a rose carved entirely from wood with a black ribbon wrapped around the stem. I swallowed audibly.

  “Did you make this?” He nodded. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” For some reason, he looked a little embarrassed.

  “Seriously Jack. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” I traced my fingers over the smooth wood and felt along each groove where he’d carved each individual petal to make up the rose.

  “Well they say you should give the girl you like flowers. Though I think they normally mean real ones.” I glanced around anxiously hoping that no one had heard him confirm the rumours Merry had started to spread, though luckily there didn’t seem to be anyone near and there was enough noise in here that they probably couldn’t hear either.

  “This is better than real flowers Jack.” Confident that no one was watching, I went up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “Why are you not at rehearsal t?” It had only just hit me that he was down here and not on stage with everyone else.

  “John wanted to work with the understudies, and Merry had a costume fitting, so I figured I should make myself useful.” He turned back to look at his sculpture and I already missed his gaze on me. “I started working on this last week after I asked Sanjit if there was any woodwork I could help with.”

  “I’m glad he said yes.” Looking at me sideways smiled.

  “Me too.”

  Chapter 27

  Everyone who had ever worked with John knew not to ignore a summons when he gave one, which is how I found myself knocking on his door one Wednesday afternoon with about 3 months left until show day.

  “Come in Belle,” I made my way over to the chair he kept for other people in his office and plopped down without a hint of grace. John kept typing away on his computer, not even looking at me as I sat down.

  “You wanted to see me.”

  “Yes,” he finally stopped typing to look at me. “I need you to go over to Radio L.I.V.E this afternoon to be interviewed.” His tone brooked no argument even if there was a large part of me wanting to give one anyway.

  “Isn’t there anyone else that can go?” I asked despite myself. He shook his head. “Please John.”

  “Why?” Damn, I hadn’t thought this through well enough.

  “You know I don’t like being in the spotlight.” I settled on the only reason that I thought could work, but John just looked exasperated.

  “There is no one else. Hayley is at college, Jack and Henry are working and Merry…well all Merry would talk about is herself and not the show. Anyone else is too minor to the represent us.” He listed off.

  “What about Sanjit?” I was hopeful until I ended up on the receiving end of one of John’s don’t-mess-with-me looks.

  “Sanjit is great at what he does but that’s all he knows about the show. It has to be you Belle.”

  “Okay.” I agreed reluctantly. It seemed I really wouldn’t be able to avoid Toby for that long. I pushed the chair back. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Bye Belle. Do us proud.”

  “Whatever is best for the show.” I muttered darkly as I left the room.

  Chapter 28

  I swore that my heart was trying to beat out of my chest as I pulled up outside the Radio L.I.V.E Studios. I didn’t want to go through with this, and yet I knew that I had to; for the show and even in part for me. If I could face Toby, then I knew that I’d feel better after it, or at least I hoped that would be the case. After signing in at reception and being offered a cup of tea by the receptionist, I was directed to a sitting area next to studio 3 and told they’d be ready for me in 5 minutes or so. Time seemed to both fly and crawl by before I was being ushered in to sit opposite Toby while one of the biggest hits of the previous summer was playing.

  “Hello Belle. Fancy seeing you here.” Anyone watching would think that he was being all charm, but I could see the slight sneer on his lips and the look in his eye that said differently.

  “Hello Toby.” I took a deep, steadying breath, reminding myself that I had to be polite.

  “Just to check your role in the production is…”

  “Assistant Director.” I replied curtly.

  “Your answers are going to have to be better on air. Speaking of which…” He counted down from three to one on his fingers before telling his listeners the name and artist of the song. “And now we have a very special guest, Annabelle Phillips, Assistant Director of the local production of The Phantom of the Opera, which is being featured on the reality show; The Show Must Go On. Welcome Belle!”

  “Thank you for having me Toby.” I forced the words out as his sneer deepened.

  “So Belle tell me; which is your favourite song from the production?”

  “All I Ask of You.” I wasn’t sure what made me go for Jack’s favourite and not my own; maybe it was an attempt to make myself feel close to him while I was feeling so uncomfortable. “The harmonies really promote how well Christine and Raoul work together as a couple and it makes the song beautiful.”

  “But I hear there are problems with the on-stage chemistry between your lead actors…Jack Fenton and Meredith Ryman, right?” I hated the sound of Jack’s name coming from my ex-boyfriend.

  “Jack is new to the troupe this year, he’s never worked with Merry before so it is taking them a little bit of time to get used to each other, but that’s to be expected.”

  “It’s rumoured that it’s a secret relationship that’s damaging the chemistry between them.” Horror filled me as I realised what I’d done, rather than answering about the two of them, I’d defended Jack, revealing to Toby, if not his listeners, that I cared more for him than I did for Merry.

  “I very much doubt that Merry and Jack are in a secret relationship.” My laugh was nervous and I hoped that this was enough to distract Toby from what I’d said. The look in his ice blue eyes said differently.

  “What if his secret relationship isn’t with Meredith?” His sneer was back and I gulped.

  “I haven’t heard any rumours I’m afraid.” I crossed my fingers under the desk, hoping he’d move on and leave Jack’s secret relationships well behind.

  “So are there any secret relationships between anyone?” Toby had picked up on how uncomfortable the conversation was making me and was using that to his advantage. Just like he’d done during our relationship.

  “Not that I know about Toby. But I’m sure there are some.” I lied and attempted to smile to cover it up.

  “How disappointing,” clearly he didn’t believe me, but there wasn’t anything I could say to change his mind. “I hear you’ve done a lot of the designs for the sets?”

  “Yes.” I replied softly.

  “Do you have a favourite?”

  “The graveyard for Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, it’s simple but has really taken shape. We have some really talented pe
ople working on set building.”

  “Like Jack Fenton?” The sneer was back. I’m not sure what Toby thought he knew, or even how he thought he knew it but he seemed fixated on Jack. Even with the briefing that had no doubt been sent to him, he seemed to know a lot of insider information about the show. Then again, we lived in a small city, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was friends with someone on the show.

  “Yes like Jack. But all of Sanjit’s team are talented beyond belief and my ideas couldn’t be anywhere near as extravagant without them.”

  “There seem to be a lot of artistic types on your production team,” I laughed uneasily.

  “Of course there are, this is the theatre! It attracts artistic types. But myself and John are very lucky to have such a talented team behind us.”

  “Who else have you got working with you?”

  “You know Hayley McCarthy, right?” His look of shook sent a strange feeling of satisfaction through me, maybe two could play this game. “She’s a fashion student at the local college and works in the costume department.”

  “Well I look forward to seeing what your team has to say next week Belle, but I’m afraid that’s all we have time for before my next guest.” I sat back feeling satisfied that I’d seemingly managed to rattle him. “But first let’s have a song from up and coming star, Betsy Fisher.” The music started to play and I pushed my chair back.

  “Thank you for your time Toby.”

  “I’m not done with you yet.” He shot back.

  “Goodbye Toby.” And I walked out of his studio before he could say anything else, feeling stronger than I had before.

  Chapter 29

  Pushing the flat door open, I stopped dead in surprise; David was sitting on the sofa looking uncomfortable while Jack and Hayley squared off each other across the living room. Of the three of them, David was the only one who even seemed to have noticed I’d walked in.