Annie opened the dressing room door; it was too cold to take her coat off. She walked over to the sink and filled the kettle up and lit the gas under it. She was early but had got used to the silence and liked being in the theatre before everyone else arrived. Annie tugged at the fingers of her gloves one at a time and pulled them off. She removed her woollen hat and fluffed up her hair with her fingers. Having finally removed her coat, Annie sat at Kitty’s dressing table and stared at herself in the mirror. She thought about Kitty and the make-up she wore every day and yet here she was without a scrap of it on her face. Annie glanced down at the many tubs, jars and lipsticks that cluttered the table; opening a jar she bent her head to smell it before moving on to another. ‘Wonder what all these jars of creams do?’ Annie picked up a lipstick and rolled it up; it was bright red. She peered over her shoulder before looking back at the mirror and tentatively applying it all over her lips and rolling them together like she had seen Kitty do. Swirls of steam started to escape through the kettle’s spout. Annie put the lid back on the lipstick before pushing the chair back and getting up to turn it off.
‘Well, now that’s very nice. Very nice indeed.’
Startled, Annie knew that voice anywhere. She spun round and Matthew was standing in the doorway. ‘Kitty’s not here yet, and won’t be for a couple of hours.’
Matthew walked in the room and shut the door behind him. ‘Well, that’s lucky for us, isn’t it?’
Panic began to spread through Annie’s veins, her chest tightened as her fear took hold. She attempted to clear her throat and licked her dry lips. ‘Would you like a cup of tea or coffee? It’s good timing because, as you probably saw, the kettle has just boiled?’
‘You’re not flirting with me, are you?’
Annie could feel the colour draining from her face. ‘What?’
Matthew was suddenly standing in front of her, his hands rested on the worktop, one each side of her. ‘Running your tongue over your lips like that, it sends a shiver down my spine.’
Annie looked one way then the other but knew she was trapped.
Matthew lifted his hand and gently ran it through her dark brown hair. ‘There’s no escape. You know that, don’t you?’
‘Please Matthew, I wasn’t flirting, my lips were just dry.’ She blinked rapidly in a bid to stop the tears from forming. ‘If you feel I’ve led you on then I’m truly sorry because that was never my intention.’
Matthew stared at her before running his thumb over her lips, smudging the lipstick onto the side of her mouth. ‘All you young girls are the same. You all give us men the eye and then don’t want to deliver when the pied piper comes calling.’
‘But… but I haven’t given you the eye.’
Matthew gave a humourless laugh. ‘That’s what the last one said.’
Annie’s tongue felt like it was stuck to the roof of her mouth and she fought the urge to lick her dry lips. ‘I’m sorry, Matthew, there’s clearly been a misunderstanding.’
‘I don’t think so. When I offered you singing lessons, I told you we would work out how you’re going to pay for them later. Well, I’m sick of being patient, so later has arrived.’ He lowered his head.
Annie leant back further against the wooden worktop. ‘Please don’t do this Matthew, please. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.’
‘You don’t think I believe that, do you? You’re not the first, you know. I had to get rid of the last dresser because she refused to deliver the goods and threatened to tell everyone, but trust me when I say no one will take the word of a dresser over mine. Mind you taking the compact out of Kitty’s drawer made it a whole lot easier; it was genius on my part because Kitty doesn’t trust anyone. Now enough talking, it’s time to pay the piper.’ He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head back.
Annie tried to control the scream that was bubbling up inside her. His lips came down hard on hers, adding to the bruising his thumb had left there. His tongue tried to force open her mouth but she kept it clamped shut. He bit her bottom lip and pulled tighter at her hair, her lips parting as the pain hit her. She could taste blood in her mouth. His tongue forced its way in. She bit down hard. For a moment his blood mingled with hers.
Matthew jerked back and held his mouth with his hand.
Annie pushed him away but he grabbed her arm and swung her back against the worktop, knocking the air from her body. He pulled back his hand and struck her hard against the face. Her face stung, tears rolled down her face. ‘I don’t understand how I’ve wronged you but please stop, I’m sorry.’ Her hand went up to her face, the heat of where his hand had landed seeped into her palm. ‘Please…’
The door swung open. ‘What’s going on?’ Kitty’s anger was undeniable. ‘Matthew, get out of my room before I call security.’
‘Hah, Bert won’t be able to do anything.’
Kitty walked over to her dressing table and picked up a letter opener that had been placed there for show and hardly used. ‘Don’t test me, Matthew, because you will regret it. I’m not going to stand by and let you ruin someone else’s life.’
Matthew eyed Kitty. ‘Hark at you. Don’t you know you’re a nobody here? Without me there wouldn’t be a show. You’re a laughing stock with your bottles of brandy.’
Kitty shrugged. ‘Maybe I am, but why do you suppose that is Matthew, eh, why? I can tell you why, it’s because of men like you. You think it’s all right to just take what you want because you’ve promised a part in a play that turns out to be a walk on part. You’re right, it is too late for me but it isn’t for Annie, and I’m not going to stand by and let this happen, not again.’
Matthew snarled at her. ‘You’re no different to me, Kitty, you’ve clawed your way to the top. It’s too late to get a conscience now.’
Kitty shook her head. ‘It’s never too late and the fact I’m standing here threatening you with a letter opener should be telling you I’m different to you. Now get out and don’t ever step in this room again or I’ll ruin your career.’
Matthew glared at her. ‘I’ll take you down with me if that’s the case.’
Kitty shrugged. ‘You do your worst but I will survive, unlike your good self. Now get out of here.’
Matthew glared at her. ‘None of you are worth it, you’d be nothing without me.’
Kitty smiled. ‘No? But the lipstick on your lips tells me you don’t actually believe that.’
Matthew rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth before turning to Annie, his lips curling in distaste. ‘And any thoughts you had at going on the stage are now lost forever.’ He marched over to the door, looked back at them before walking out and slamming it shut.
Kitty began to tremble as the realisation of what she had just done hit home. Did she really threaten to harm, or even kill, Matthew with a letter opener that he had given her? She fought the urge to laugh hysterically; her armour of protection had reached a whole new level. Shaking her head, she wondered when her affection for Annie had begun. When did she start to see her as family?
Annie dropped to her knees sobbing. The tears rolled down her face and rested on her lips, leaving their salty taste.
Kitty looked hesitantly, unsure what to do, but she took a small step forward. Taking a deep breath, she bent down and put her arms around her and let her sob. It dawned on her no words were necessary. Kitty rubbed Annie’s back as her own memories of needing comfort jumped into her mind. The last time she had cried in someone’s arms was when her parents died; she was just a child then. Memories of when she had been treated in the same way as Annie flooded her mind, but no one had been there to save her back then. Kitty shook her head; she remembered being told it was just the way it was. That’s when she realised she only had herself to rely on; no one else cared about her. She couldn’t recall ever giving comfort to someone, but then, she told herself, no one had given her any either.
Annie sniffed and gasped for breath, her sobbing showing no sign of subsiding.
Kitty could feel her eyes welling up. ‘It’s all right; it’s over now. Come on, let’s sit on the sofa.’ She pulled Annie up with her and led her to the chaise longue. ‘It’s over now, he won’t bother you again, I’m going to speak to Stan about this.’ She lowered Annie down on to the seat. ‘Let me just take my coat off.’ Kitty quickly undid the buttons and removed her thick black winter coat. She felt inside the coat pocket and found the clean lace handkerchief; she passed it to Annie before sitting down next to her. ‘This won’t help much. I don’t know why I carry fancy ones, it must be all part of the show.’
Annie’s chin wobbled as she tried to speak. ‘I… I was so frightened.’
Kitty’s lips tightened as she looked at Annie, her face red and blotchy, and the tears just kept coming. Matthew had broken her; his hand had left its mark on her face. Kitty just hoped she would survive it.
Annie screwed the handkerchief into a ball. She wiped away her eyes with her hands. ‘I never encouraged him, honestly, he said I did but I never.’
Kitty shook her head. ‘Don’t think about it. Men like Matthew don’t need any encouragement.’
Annie looked up at Kitty. ‘I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come in.’
‘I did, so that’s all that matters right now.’ Kitty stood up. ‘I’ll make you a cup of tea, with plenty of sugar for shock.’ She walked over and filled the kettle up. ‘You might have to tell me where everything is though.’
Annie gave a watery smile. ‘It’s meant to be me looking after you.’
Kitty laughed. ‘Well, it’s about time I returned the favour.’
Annie watched her spoon tea leaves into a pot and hunt out cups for them both. ‘I’ve just realised you weren’t meant to come in for another couple of hours, so what are you doing here? Not that I’m complaining.’
Kitty turned round to face Annie. ‘I don’t know, something told me I had to get here but I have to say it did catch me by surprise when I walked in. It took a minute for it to sink in.’
Annie nodded. ‘I still can’t believe it, but I’m so grateful you did come in early and for the courage you showed in standing up for me.’ She shook her head. ‘I know you didn’t have to and I hope it doesn’t affect your job. Matthew is a powerful man.’
Kitty frowned as she watched the despair crushing her. ‘Stop worrying, I’ve been around the block a few times.’ She tried to give Annie a reassuring smile but wasn’t sure that she had. ‘I’m a survivor, and you will be too.’ She turned back and poured the tea into the cups and carried them over to the sofa.
‘I know you said about talking to Stan, Mr Tyler, about Matthew but I really don’t want anyone to know about all of this.’
Kitty frowned. ‘I won’t speak out if you don’t want me to but you do know none of this is your fault, you have nothing to be ashamed of.’
Annie sniffed and took a deep breath. ‘It feels like I do, he said I encouraged him with my glances.’
Kitty put down her cup and took Annie’s hand in hers. ‘Look, he’s relying on you feeling guilty in some way, and worrying what others might think, therefore keeping quiet about it all. That’s how they get away with it.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I should have spoken out years ago when it happened to me, but I didn’t. My desire to be a star of the stage was too important to me. The man involved threatened to ruin it for me.’
Annie gasped. ‘That’s awful, and you had no one. You are such a strong person.’
Kitty shook her head. ‘As I said, I’m a survivor, but it won’t stop unless we speak out about it.’
Annie nodded. ‘Maybe, but give me a few days to think about it. I feel so ashamed.’
‘That’s what they rely on.’ Kitty picked up her cup and sipped the hot brown liquid. ‘Don’t let your tea go cold.’
Annie did as she was told. ‘That’s a lovely cuppa, you can always make me another.’
Kitty smiled. ‘Don’t get too used to it, it’s a one-off.’
‘Kitty, there’s something I need to tell you, although you may not want to hear it.’
‘Don’t look so worried, just spit it out.’
Annie took a deep breath. ‘Matthew told me he had taken the compact so you would think your last dresser had stolen it and get rid of her.’
Kitty sat in silence.
‘She was also someone he had tried it on with.’ Annie watched Kitty’s face carefully, but it didn’t give anything away. ‘Anyway, apparently, she threatened to tell on him so he wanted her out of the way.’
Kitty shook her head. ‘And I helped him.’
Annie put her hand over Kitty’s. ‘You weren’t to know.’
Kitty made a humourless sound before shaking her head. ‘I’m as bad as him.’
‘No, I’m not having that. You just saved me from him, so how does that make you as bad as him?’
‘If I’d stopped to think about it, I probably could have worked out he was behind it all.’ Kitty hung her head. ‘To think he probably tried it on with her, got nowhere, and she lost her job because of it.’
‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t telling you to make you feel bad, I was just trying to clear her name.’
Kitty took a deep breath and squeezed Annie’s hand. ‘You were right to tell me, thank you.’ She took another sip of her tea. ‘Are you going to tell Rose what happened this morning?’
Annie shook her head. ‘I don’t think so because she’ll go after him and she loves her job here. I don’t want to be worrying about what she might do on top of everything else.’
Kitty nodded. ‘I can understand that, but let me tell you he’s not going to keep getting away with it.’
*
Annie watched Kitty screwing up her face up as she looked in the mirror in her dressing room; neither of them had mentioned Matthew again. ‘I don’t think I’m going to be able to play a schoolgirl for much longer.’ She sighed and leant back in her chair. ‘All I can say is it’s a good job the audience don’t get too close to me.’
Annie smiled. ‘You worry too much. I think you play Elphin Haye very well, and your American accent sounds really good to me.’
Kitty laughed. ‘Annie, I will say this, you are very good to me but tell me, how many American accents have you heard?’
Annie blushed. ‘None that I know of.’
Kitty laughed. ‘I rest my case. As I said, you are very good to me.’
‘And, you are to me too.’ Annie began putting Kitty’s costume on the hanging rail in the order she was going to need them later that evening. She pulled out a dress and noticed a tear in the skirt. ‘I need to give this to Miss Hetherington to get it repaired.’ She carried it over to show Kitty. ‘I could give it straight to Rose or Dot but then I get them in trouble.’
‘It’s such nonsense, you’d better tell her I need it for tonight.’
Annie examined it further. ‘I will but this could be a little tricky to repair. I don’t know how I missed it last night.’ She paused. ‘I’ll take it along to the sewing room now and while I’m there I’ll check if there’s another suitable frock that could be used instead.’
Kitty frowned. ‘They don’t have spare costumes in the sewing room.’
‘No, but I hung some up in a cupboard along the corridor.’ Annie draped the dress over her arm. ‘There may not be anything suitable but I’d rather have something on standby just in case.’ She opened the door. ‘I won’t be long.’
Annie strode purposefully along the corridor, nodding at several people as she walked by. Rose’s voice greeted her before she reached the door to the sewing room.
‘In a way I miss the village and my brothers teasing me but one day I might go back. I’m enjoying what I do though and the independence that being away from home gives you.’ Rose’s laughter rang out. ‘Not that we do anything here that we didn’t do at home. Annie and I are pretty boring, we’re hardly living the high life.’
Annie was chuckling to herself as she pushed open the door. ‘You speak for yourself.’
Rose peered up from her sewing. ‘I thought you didn’t listen at doors.’
Annie blushed. ‘I wasn’t, I could hear your voice down the corridor.’
‘What, over that piano being played?’ Dot laughed at the young girls. ‘You are both lucky to have the best years ahead of you, I wasted those years.’ She paused as sadness trampled over her. ‘Well, it’s wrong to say I wasted them because at one point, life was very good to me. The one thing I did learn was not to keep running away from your problems because it doesn’t solve anything; as hard as it is you are better off to face them head on.’
Rose frowned. ‘I don’t think we’ve run away from our problems.’
Dot raised her eyebrows. ‘Haven’t you?’
Annie fidgeted from one foot to the other. ‘I don’t think so. If you don’t mind me asking what problems have you hidden away from?’
Dot gave a humourless laugh. ‘There are so many. Where to begin?’ Her eyes filled with water and she blinked rapidly to stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks. ‘My son died when he was seven. He had diphtheria. Sadly, my husband and I never got over it, and it became impossible for us to live together so I left.’
The girls stared at their new friend, each trying to hold back the tears.
Annie dropped the dress onto a chair and rushed around the table towards Dot. ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.’ She wrapped her arms around her and held her tight.
Rose stood up to walk over to Dot. ‘I’m so sorry, it must be so hard dealing with the loss of a child. I wouldn’t know where to begin, but it does explain why sometimes you sit in the corner and are so quiet.’
Annie stepped back and Rose took her place, and they hugged for a moment.
Dot pulled back. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t say it to make a fuss. In fact, no one else here knows.’ She took a breath and gained her composure again. ‘I’d appreciate it if you could keep it to yourself. I’m not being rude, I just don’t want to keep talking about it.’
The girls nodded.
Rose stepped back. ‘Your secret is safe with us but maybe you should talk to someone you trust. It might help you in some way.’
Dot gave them a watery smile. ‘Anyway, we weren’t talking about me, we were talking about running away from things.’
Annie shook her head. ‘I don’t like to think I’ve run away from my family. I prefer to believe I’m chasing my dream.’
Rose laughed. ‘And I’m just keeping her company.’
Dot chuckled and sat back down. She picked up her sewing needle and a black button before looking at them both. ‘Just remember, in my experience, nothing comes for free. You just don’t always see the cost until much later in life and then it can be too late to put things right.’
Annie studied Dot for a moment. ‘I do believe it’s never too late to put things right; it might be tougher and therefore harder work, but it’s never too late.’ She turned to pick up the dress she carried into the room. ‘On that note, I almost forgot I came in here for a reason, other than to talk to you wonderful ladies, of course.’ She unfolded the dress. ‘There’s a tear in this skirt, and I’m not sure how easy it’s going to be to mend but Kitty needs it for tonight.’
Dot stepped forward and examined the frayed edges of the rip. ‘I don’t think it’s going to be easy but I’ll try and get it done.’
Annie nodded. ‘Thank you, you can only do your best. I am going to check the store cupboard to see if there’s another dress in there that will fit Kitty that she can make do with tonight and hopefully take some of the urgency away for now.’
Dot nodded. ‘I’ll start it straightaway but let me know if you find something else.’
Annie smiled. ‘I will. I’m going there now, I won’t be long.’ She turned and walked out of the room. Only a few steps along the corridor was the large walk-in cupboard. Once she reached it, she turned the handle and pulled at the door. It was stiff to open but after a final tug it gave way. Annie stretched her arm out and put on the light before stepping into it. At one side boxes were stacked high next to rows of shelving that had numerous props sitting on them. The other side had a hanging rail, which was crammed with clothing of various colours and styles.
Annie walked over to the rail and began moving hangers from side to side. She jerked round as the door to the cupboard suddenly slammed shut. ‘Don’t panic, just look for the dress and then you can get out of here.’ She moved a couple more items of clothing trying to find a dress. Shaking her head, she began looking at the bottom of the rail. Annie heard a noise and turned to look at the door and listened. Someone was walking past. Perhaps she should open it. Panic surged through her as she thought they might lock up and not realise she was in there. She stepped towards the door and gripped the handle. She turned it and pushed the door but it didn’t move. Annie tried again pushing her shoulder into it but again it didn’t move. Beads of perspiration gathered on her forehead as her fear became a reality. She clenched her fist and banged hard on the door, yelling at the same time. ‘Help! Help! I’m stuck in the cupboard. Can someone let me out? Help!’
No one came.
She kept banging, hoping someone would wonder what the commotion was but no one came.