Olivia's Curtain Call Read Online Free Page A

up a place to study ballet at the Imperial, she was desperate to be in a West End show.
    “You’ll have to talk to Gran and see what she says,” said Olivia. “But I reckon she’ll think that both you and Emmy deserve to try out.”
    Eel high-fived Olivia and then skipped down the corridor with Emmy, both of them singing “When I Grow Up” at the tops of their voices. Olivia watched Eel go. She was so confident. If Gran put her forward for Matilda, Eel wouldn’t mind the auditions at all. In fact, she would relish them, and even if she didn’t get picked, she would just bounce back. Oliviacould almost hear Eel saying it was their loss, and she knew that rejection would only make Eel work twice as hard at her singing, dancing and acting so she could prove to them what they were missing.
    Olivia climbed the steep stairs to the little rehearsal room at the top of the building where she was meeting Tom for a high-wire rehearsal. She was just starting to set up when her mobile phone rang. It was Jack.
    “Hi, Dad,” said Olivia. “How’re things? Is the show going to be good?”
    “I’m pretty pleased, Liv,” replied her father. “We’ve got an amazing Wheel of Death act. Even my heart is in my mouth when I watch it. What about you, chick? What’s happening? How was the movie premiere?”
    Olivia told him all about the movie, about how good Abbie and Theo had been and about the disco that snowed when people danced.
    “And have you and Tom been practising a lot?” Jack asked. “I need you both to be really sharp when I get back so the three of us can start to work up this high-wire act together.”
    “Don’t worry, Dad, we’ve been practising every day. You’ll be hard-pressed to keep upwith us now you’re getting so old and decrepit.”
    Jack laughed. “Hey! Less of the old, young lady! Anyway, we’ve got plenty of time to work on it and get it right, and then we can see if there are any takers.”
    “So,” said Olivia slowly, “it hasn’t been signed up by anyone yet?”
    “You’d be the first to know if it was, Liv. But I’ve mentioned it to a few people and there’s a lot of interest. We might even manage a couple of gigs over the summer. But there’s no hurry. We can take our time, wait until we are really ready.”
    “Dad,” said Olivia quietly. “There’s an outside chance I might be doing something else over the summer.”
    “Well, I expect we could work any gigs round it,” said Jack cheerfully. “What is it?”
    “I’m going to audition to play Juliet in
Romeo and Juliet
.” There was a tiny silence at the end of the line. Olivia knew that her dad was thinking about her mum.
    “You wouldn’t mind?” asked Olivia softly.
    “Of course not, Liv,” said Jack. “I’ll talk to Alicia, and if it turns out that it interferes with any of our gigs, I’m sure I can persuade her toshift the dates of the production…”
    “Actually, Dad, it’s not a Swan production,” said Olivia. Her throat felt dry. “It’s in the West End. A proper run. Jon James is directing and Kasha is playing Romeo.” This time the silence lasted for a very long time.
    “Dad?” whispered Olivia. “Are you still there?”
    “Yes, Liv,” said Jack eventually. “I’m just a bit surprised. I know Eel is headed for the stage rather than the Big Top, but I didn’t really think you were serious about this acting business. At least, not enough to put yourself through the whole audition thing. And you’re so young, and if you do get the part, it could interfere with your circus training…”
    “Look, Dad, let’s worry about all that if I do get it. I probably won’t. They want a name. I probably won’t even get past the first audition. It might  never happen.”
    “Well, you know I’ll support you in whatever you do, Liv,” said Jack, before adding, “but you’re right, it will probably never happen.”
    Olivia thought she detected a tiny note of relief in his voice. It suddenly made