It was at the beginning of the second week of the four-week rehearsal period when Esther realised that she was definitely in trouble. As she’d suspected from the beginning, the role of Kay didn’t really suit her. For a start, she knew that her looks were against her. Kay wasn’t meant to be as pretty as Hazel, and she was meant to be far more intelligent and sensible. Although Rebecca was tackling the part of Hazel with gusto, and giving a more than creditable performance, there was still no disguising the fact that she looked far more like Priestley had intended Kay to look, and her delivery of lines was far more like Esther imagined Kay’s would have been.
At the beginning she’d hoped that it was simply her imagination and lack of confidence, and that the rest of the company wouldn’t be aware that she was struggling. However, when she confided to Rosie that she wasn’t sure she was getting it right Rosie pulled a sympathetic face. ‘I can’t think why he cast you as Kay,’ she said. ‘We can all see it was stupid. I don’t know why he doesn’t change you and Rebecca round even now. It isn’t too late, and we all think you’d both be more comfortable that way.’ After that, Esther realised that she was right. She’d been miscast.
On the Tuesday of the second week, shortly after lunch, they resumed rehearsals at the point where they had finished in the morning. Esther particularly hated the end of Act II. It was at this point in the play that she had to discuss with her brother Alan – played very well by Noel – her thoughts on the terrible changes that had taken place in the time-warp section. She had to look back to the girl she’d been at nineteen, and reflect on the hideous passage of time. She had a line in which she had to say: ‘There’s a great devil in the universe, and we call it Time.’
She knew perfectly well that her delivery of this was quite appalling. She sounded either over-melodramatic or, when she attempted to tone it down, totally disinterested. It was with considerable trepidation that she resumed the scene and, although Noel did his best to help carry her through, when they came to the end – and Esther was left supposedly looking out of the window in reflective mood – there was absolute silence in the rehearsal hall.
‘Right then,’ said Christopher just when it had seemed to Esther that the silence was never going to end, ‘I think this calls for a bit of discussion. Let’s all sit round and have a bit of a chat about what Priestley intended here, shall we?’
‘I’d really rather not,’ said Damon audibly to Ellie. ‘In my opinion if we don’t know what he intended by now then we shouldn’t be in the play at all.’
Esther flushed. She knew perfectly well that the remark was aimed at her, because everyone else seemed to be coping with their roles far better than she was.
‘We can do without that kind of destructive remark, Damon,’ said Christopher. ‘Gather round, everyone.’
Esther could tell that no one was in the least enthusiastic about this, apart from Rosie, who was pretty enthusiastic about everything including – if Esther understood her correctly – Noel and Michael. She wished she had some kind of sexual distraction at the moment. Although at first she’d been too upset to miss the constant supply of sex that Marcus had given her, she was beginning to feel somewhat irritable. Her libido was high and, because she was struggling so hard with the play, she certainly wasn’t making any inroads into Christopher’s affections. If anything, it seemed that Theresa was the one most likely to supplant Rebecca in his affections.
‘Now,’ Christopher said seriously. ‘We can all see that you’ve worked very hard on this, Esther. How do you feel that you’re doing?’
It was a stupid question and Esther wished that he hadn’t asked it. ‘I feel reasonably comfortable in the first and last acts,’ she explained, ‘but I find the middle act really difficult.’
‘You don’t seem any different in the middle act,’ said Ellie Ford.
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ interrupted Rebecca. ‘You do seem different, Esther, but you don’t seem like Kay.’
‘I don’t feel like Kay,’ confessed Esther. ‘Quite frankly, Christopher, I’m not sure I’m right for this part.’
‘Of course you are,’ said Christopher with a note of irritation in his voice. ‘You don’t think I’d have chosen you if I hadn’t known you were perfectly capable of doing it, do you?’ Esther shook her head. ‘Right, then I suggest we do some hot-seating,’ said Christopher.
Esther wanted to groan aloud. She absolutely loathed hot-seating and didn’t feel that it served any useful purpose at all. However, she knew it was extremely popular with a lot of directors and many actors, and by the looks on the faces of those around her she sensed that she was in the minority. Only Damon looked as horrified as she felt, which was no surprise because it was clear that Damon was one of those people who thought that acting was something you simply got on with.
‘OK, Esther, you sit in the middle of the circle and we’ll ask you questions,’ said Christopher. ‘Remember now, you answer them all as though you’re Kay. Who wants to start?’
‘I will,’ Noel said enthusiastically. ‘What’s your favourite food?’
Esther’s mind went totally blank. She couldn’t even think what her own favourite food was, never mind what Kay’s might have been. In fact, she wasn’t certain what sort of food Kay would have eaten back in 1919. ‘Italian!’ she blurted out.
There was a collective burst of laughter and Christopher frowned. ‘Don’t be silly, Esther,’ he said. ‘I hardly think Kay was likely to be eating Italian food, do you?’
‘I’m really sorry,’ apologised Esther. ‘I wasn’t thinking like Kay, was I?’
‘Exactly,’ said Christopher, far more cheerfully. ‘And that’s at the root of the whole problem. Now then, answer the question again, but as Kay.’
‘I can’t think of anything,’ confessed Esther. ‘I mean, what sort of food did they eat in 1919?’
‘Roast beef?’ Rosie suggested.
‘Probably,’ said Damon. ‘I don’t suppose they’d heard of mad cow disease in those days.’ Again everyone giggled, with the exception of Christopher.
‘I can’t say roast beef, can I?’ Esther remarked crossly. ‘Even if that was Kay’s favourite food it isn’t my idea, it’s Rosie’s.’
‘She was only trying to be helpful,’ drawled Damon, giving her a tight-lipped smile.
Esther wished that she wasn’t so attracted to him. He was horribly sarcastic and plainly thought her acting diabolical, but there was still something about him that fascinated her.
‘For goodness sake, Esther,’ continued Christopher. ‘Let’s try you on another question and do concentrate. Think Kay. Think Time and the Conways. Think anything but bloody Esther for God’s sake!’
There was a sense of awkwardness in the room now. For the first time a slight wave of sympathy engulfed Esther. No actor or actress ever liked being bawled out in front of other people and it was considered rather bad form on Christopher’s part. He seemed to realise this because he quickly softened his tone. ‘Sorry, it’s just that I don’t think you’re really trying.’
‘I am,’ Esther assured him, ‘but I’ll try harder.’
‘What’s your favourite colour?’ asked Rosie helpfully.
‘Pale blue,’ Esther said at once. She could imagine Kay wearing long elegant pale-blue dresses, or a pale-blue twinset and a tight-fitting pencil skirt in the middle act.
‘What’s your favourite animal?’ asked Nicholas.
‘A cat,’ replied Esther. Somehow she knew for certain that Kay would like cats; cats were aloof and independent. It would be Hazel who liked dogs. For at least twenty minutes the question and answer session continued and, by the end of it, Esther realised that she could have told an audience almost anything they wanted to ask her about Kay except how she should be acted. She didn’t feel that this was really the point of the exercise.
‘OK, let’s run through that scene again,’ said Christopher. ‘Hopefully the hot-seating will have helped considerably.’
‘I’m really sorry about this, Noel,’ muttered Esther as the pair of them took up their places again.
‘Don’t worry,’ Noel said reassuringly. ‘I love being the centre of attention; it’s every actor’s dream.’
‘Well I could do without it at the moment,’ confessed Esther. ‘It’s only nice if you know you’re doing well.’
‘You’ll get it in the end,’ he promised her. ‘I’m sure Christopher’s telling the truth. After all, why would he have cast you in a role that he didn’t think you could do?’
‘To make him look better,’ Esther suggested in a quiet voice.
‘No, I don’t think he’d do that,’ Noel replied. ‘Kay’s such a pivotal character that it would ruin the whole play no matter how good Christopher was himself. Come on, really go for it this time.’
Esther did really go for it and she thought that she’d done better but when it was over there was still silence in the hall. When it became apparent that Christopher wasn’t going to make any comment the group all started talking to each other, breaking up into the sub-sections that were beginning to divide them. It was only then that Christopher came across to Esther.
‘That was better, darling,’ he murmured. ‘On the surface you were certainly more like Kay, but I didn’t feel that you were Kay, if you get my drift.’
Esther did get his drift. He meant that she was using tricks and gestures to convey the character and not feeling the part. The problem was, he was right. ‘I think it’s coming,’ she answered.
Christopher put a hand on her arm and stared intently into her eyes. ‘I’m sure you’re going to be really great,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Why don’t we go into the kitchen at the back there and I’ll help you run through some of the lines. Noel’s fine, no question about it, but I think that perhaps if I read Alan I could get a better response from you. After all, I got a very good response from you when you were playing Ophelia opposite my Hamlet, didn’t I?’
‘You certainly did,’ agreed Esther, wondering why the touch of his fingers on her arm seemed to be sending a glow of heat through her clothing.
‘I think you’d respond very well to me in any situation,’ Christopher added meaningfully.
Again Esther began to believe that she might be successful in her desire to seduce him. There was no mistaking his interest now, and as he led her through into the tiny kitchen she sensed that both Rebecca and Theresa were watching the pair of them very carefully.
Once in the kitchen Christopher made them both a cup of coffee and then, as they stood in the corner of the tiny room, he slid an arm round her waist. She felt his hand gently slide up beneath her long jersey until he was able to lightly stroke the bare skin around the side of her waist. ‘You’re beautiful you know,’ he said. ‘I can’t imagine what Marcus was thinking of. He must be mad to prefer Claudine. I can tell you this, if you were my girlfriend I’d make sure I’d keep you.’
With a smile Esther moved away from him, pulling her jumper down over her leggings. ‘As I’m not your girlfriend it doesn’t really matter, does it?’ she queried lightly.
‘Not at the moment,’ agreed Christopher. ‘I can’t believe that you don’t feel there’s something special between us though.’
Esther widened her eyes in mock innocence. ‘Professionally?’ she asked.
‘Professionally and personally,’ he said quietly.
‘I think we ought to concentrate on the professional side at the moment, don’t you?’ Esther retorted briskly. Some instinct told her that this was the right way to keep his interest. By the expression on his face after she’d spoken she knew she was right. If anything, he looked even more interested now than he had a few moments earlier.
‘As you like,’ he agreed. ‘We’ll deal with the professional side first and see what develops on the other side later, agreed?’
Esther gave him the benefit of her most seductive smile. ‘Agreed,’ she said warmly.
After that Christopher got down to the business of the play and for the next half-hour the pair of them worked tirelessly. By the time they’d finished Esther had to admit that she’d improved. Christopher was good, there was no question about it, and somehow his truthfulness as Alan improved her performance immeasurably. It was rather like playing tennis or dancing, she thought – it was always easier to be good if your partner was good too.
When they returned to the hall the rest of the company were working on their potted Shakespeare scenes. ‘Glad to see you’ve all kept busy,’ Christopher said. ‘Who organised this?’
‘I did,’ said George. ‘I knew you wouldn’t want us to waste time, but on the other hand I didn’t think I should take over directing Time and the Conways.’
‘No, no that’s excellent,’ said Christopher. Esther watched as Rebecca walked over to her boyfriend and whispered something in his ear. He glanced back at Esther and then across the room to where Theresa was standing. Theresa’s expression was hard to fathom. She looked fascinated by Christopher and yet slightly awkward and nervous, as though she wasn’t quite certain herself what her feelings were.
Shortly after that, the company adjourned for the day and Esther found herself swept along with Christopher, Rebecca and Theresa to the nearby pub. Christopher chatted easily to them all but once he was at the bar and the three girls were sitting together Esther felt an uneasiness in the air. Surprisingly, it didn’t come from Rebecca but from Theresa, who looked less than happy at Esther’s presence.
‘Here we are then, girls,’ said Christopher, putting down their drinks. ‘Now, we can talk about anything but work, agreed?’
‘Agreed,’ said Rebecca with obvious relief. She looked at Esther. ‘I suppose you had this problem when you were with Marcus. Presumably he liked to talk about work morning, noon and night?’
‘Well, not at night,’ said Esther.
Rebecca laughed. ‘Oh, I see. Well, I didn’t mean it literally. Naturally Christopher has better things to think about at night than the play. I make sure of that, don’t I, Chris?’
‘Don’t call me Chris,’ he said shortly. ‘You know I hate it.’
‘How’s Marcus getting on in America?’ asked Theresa.
Esther looked at her in astonishment. She couldn’t believe that Theresa really thought she’d want to discuss Marcus and America. ‘I’ve no idea,’ she said curtly. ‘He and I haven’t been in contact since he left England.’
‘It must have been an awful shock for you,’ continued Theresa, smoothing her tight top down over her extraordinarily large breasts and thereby drawing all eyes in the pub to them.
‘I’d like to suggest that there are two things we don’t talk about,’ said Esther. ‘That’s the play and Marcus.’
‘Sounds a good idea to me,’ agreed Christopher. ‘I must say Marcus was never my favourite topic of conversation.’
‘I don’t suppose you were his either,’ Rebecca remarked idly.
Esther hoped they weren’t going to ask her for confirmation of this and to her great relief they didn’t.
The four of them continued to gossip for a while, the usual showbusiness gossip about who was going out with whom, performances that had hit the headlines recently or – more interestingly – scandals known only within the profession itself. Esther was enjoying herself immensely; she’d missed this kind of conversation since Marcus had left and realised that she was probably spending far too much time alone. However, Rebecca suddenly glanced at her watch and then tapped Christopher lightly on the arm.
‘I think we’d better be going,’ she said. ‘You did promise Theresa some extra tuition, remember?’
Christopher looked slightly taken aback and his eyes caught Esther’s for a fleeting moment before he turned to face the now silent Theresa. ‘Of course,’ he said charmingly, ‘I hadn’t forgotten, Theresa. I suppose this is one of the problems of both acting and directing. As an actor I always enjoy the winding-down period when rehearsals end, but there’s no rest for the director – or the wicked!’
‘You should certainly know about that,’ murmured Rebecca, and Esther felt a strange tension creep into the air. It was plain that Christopher no longer wanted to linger in the pub and within a few minutes the girls were collecting their coats. While they were gone he leant towards Esther.
‘I meant what I said earlier, back in the rehearsal room,’ he said earnestly. ‘I really do think there’s a very special rapport between us, and I’m sure you know it too. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, you’ve only to let me know. I’m sure I don’t need to spell out what I mean, do I?’
Esther shook her head. Her mouth felt slightly dry because although she knew that Christopher was now pursuing her, which was what she’d wanted all along, she also felt that there was something strange going on between him, Rebecca and Theresa. She didn’t believe that Theresa was his lover; she was far too unsure of herself in his presence for that to be true, but there was certainly something brewing and it crossed her mind that perhaps Rebecca was bisexual. If so, then possibly Christopher watched them, although somehow she didn’t believe that he was the sexually passive type.
‘We’re ready,’ Rebecca said sharply, standing just behind Christopher’s chair and putting her hands on his shoulders as though to affirm that he was her possession. Esther would have expected Christopher to object to this but instead he glanced up and she saw a look of pure sexual excitement pass between the pair of them. All at once she couldn’t wait for them to be gone.
When she was finally alone she decided that after she’d finished her drink she’d go back to the flat and carry on working on the play. She knew that it was silly – Lydia would always be happy to see her, but somehow Time and the Conways, Christopher, and the whole company were becoming more important to her than anything else. Before she could leave she was suddenly joined at her table by Damon Dowden.
‘Drinking alone?’ he remarked. ‘One of the signs of alcoholism, I believe.’
‘I wasn’t alone,’ Esther said acidly. ‘The others have just left.’
‘And who were they, or shouldn’t I ask?’ enquired Damon.
‘Christopher, Rebecca and Theresa,’ Esther told him. ‘Why on earth should I want to keep that secret?’
‘You tell me,’ said Damon.
Esther felt that she should say something more agree able, something to improve the relationship between them. Not that she’d ever done anything to be difficult, but she sensed that Damon didn’t like her, and quite apart from the fact that she fancied him like mad she felt it would be better for the whole company if the pair of them were on good terms.
‘I really liked your reading of Ernest Beevers,’ she said. ‘It’s not the kind of part I’d have expected you to be so good at.’
‘Really?’ Damon raised his eyebrows. ‘What sort of roles did you have in mind for me then?’
Esther felt slightly uncomfortable. ‘Well, stronger roles I suppose, although it’s true that Ernest Beevers becomes very strong in the middle act. It’s just that after your Iago and—’
‘Did you see it?’ Damon enquired.
‘No,’ confessed Esther, ‘but I read all the reviews.’
‘Don’t tell me that after all your experiences with Marcus you believe what you read in the papers!’ Damon laughed. ‘Have you seen me in anything at all?’
Esther was beginning to feel more and more awkward. ‘No,’ she admitted. ‘Mind you, there’s lots of good actors I haven’t seen but that doesn’t mean that I don’t know they’re good.’
‘Name me one,’ demanded Damon.
‘Alex Jennings,’ Esther said firmly. ‘Somehow, probably because of Marcus’s commitments, I’ve never got round to seeing him but I’m sure even you wouldn’t deny he’s one of the best stage actors around at the moment.’
‘Agreed,’ conceded Damon. ‘I hadn’t realised how busy you were,’ he continued. ‘I’ve managed to get to see Alex in quite a few things but obviously you’ve been busier than me. Tell me, what’s your favourite stage role so far?’
‘I’ve mostly done TV,’ confessed Esther. She was beginning to feel angry now. It was plain that Damon was deliberately needling her and she wondered why she’d bothered to try to be pleasant. The problem was, despite his attitude she was still incredibly attracted to him. Like the other members of the company Damon dressed casually, but somehow on him even casual clothes looked smart. This evening he was wearing a pair of khaki chinos, a burnt-orange shirt, open-necked to reveal a white T-shirt beneath, and casual brown loafers. With his thick dark hair swept back off his high forehead and his dark eyes looking intently at her from beneath even darker brows, he was heart-stoppingly handsome and he had cheekbones that would be the envy of any male model.
‘I bet you photograph well,’ said Esther without thinking.
Damon softened. ‘What on earth makes you say that?’
‘Only the fact that you’ve got such good bones.’
‘I inherited them from my mother, so it’s luck, not a skill,’ he confessed. He was still smiling and for the first time Esther felt that he was really looking at her. She wished that she was wearing something slightly more figure hugging than the long, ice-cream pink, polo-necked jersey over her usual rehearsal garb of black leggings.
‘You ought to get your hair cut,’ he said.
Marcus had loved her long fair hair flicked up at the shoulders; the thought of cutting it still seemed like sacrilege. ‘That’s a very personal remark,’ she said.
‘No more personal than telling me I’ve got good bones,’ he retorted.
‘That was a compliment. I wasn’t telling you to go out and have plastic surgery.’
Again Damon laughed. ‘Sorry, that’s one of my problems. I always say what I mean and in our profession that’s both dangerous and unusual.’
Esther drained the last of her drink and started to get up but Damon put out a hand to restrain her. ‘Let me get you another. This is the first time I’ve really enjoyed myself all day. What are you drinking?’
Damon went off and returned with drinks for both of them. ‘All I really meant was,’ he said slowly, ‘it would make you look different if you had a more modern hair cut. Something short and sharp. Let’s face it, generally you’re pretty typecast, aren’t you? Something like a change of hairstyle can dramatically alter the way agents look at you.’
‘Taken another way,’ pointed out Esther, ‘it can also ruin your chances of getting any work at all. When we were at drama school we were told that if we had a hit playing a certain kind of role and with a certain kind of look the last thing we should do was go out and change it.’
‘Oh I agree,’ said Damon. ‘Do tell me, what was your big hit?’
Esther flushed with annoyance. ‘I’m not saying I’ve had a big hit; I’m just pointing out that there are advantages to a certain look, particularly for a woman of my age.’
‘I think we’d better drop the subject,’ Damon suggested. ‘I was sorry to hear about you and Marcus,’ he added, his voice off-hand but his eyes surprisingly kind.
‘Why?’ asked Esther rudely. ‘You didn’t know either of us.’
‘No, but I know what utter shits people like Marcus Martin and Christopher Wheldon can be, which is why I’m rather surprised that you’re quite as friendly with Christopher as you are. I’d have thought one nasty experience with a massive ego might have warned you off at least for a little while.’
‘I’m not particularly friendly with Christopher,’ Esther said defensively.
‘No? Then how come you’ve been given the part of Kay?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ said Esther. ‘I wanted to play Hazel.’
‘Well you’d certainly have played her better than you’re playing Kay,’ said Damon. ‘Are you trying to tell me that you didn’t know you had a chance of playing Kay? That you didn’t have an opportunity to tell Christopher you didn’t want to do it?’
‘When I auditioned he did discuss the possibility of it with me,’ Esther confessed reluctantly. ‘I seem to remember saying something about of course I wouldn’t turn it down because any actress would love to have a chance of playing the role, but I was only being polite.’
‘Not polite,’ Damon pointed out, ‘you were just making sure you didn’t slam the door on a chance of joining his company. You wanted to show you were an adventurous spirit, isn’t that true?’
‘I’ve no idea why I said it,’ Esther replied. ‘Whatever the reason I’m being paid back in spades now.’
Damon stretched his arms above his head and she felt his long legs brush against hers as he spread them out beneath the table. ‘I imagine there’s some consolation in all the private tuition you’re getting,’ he said with deceptive charm.
‘If you mean those few minutes we spent in the kitchen,’ said Esther, ‘then they were helpful, yes.’
‘I’m sure he’ll find somewhere more private for your next lot of lessons,’ said Damon. ‘Don’t play the naive ingenue with me, Esther. I’ve been around far too long to fall for that one. You’ve made it pretty plain that you like him, so don’t pretend you haven’t.’
‘I admire him as an actor,’ was all Esther could think of to say.
Damon gave a bitter laugh. ‘It’s amazing what that expression can mean to girls,’ he said at last. ‘Well, don’t blame me if you get your heart broken again. And this time, I certainly won’t feel sorry for you. Once bitten twice shy I’d have thought.’
‘Why do you have to be so deliberately offensive?’ demanded Esther.
‘I enjoy it,’ drawled Damon. ‘Anyway, it makes a change from the fawning charm of our actor-director.’
Esther’s eyes were now sparkling, and she could see that Damon too was enjoying their repartee even though some of his comments had hurt her more than she cared to admit. Before either of them could speak again there was the sound of the pub door opening and then Ellie Ford was standing next to them at the table.
‘There you are,’ she said to Damon with relief, not even bothering to glance at Esther. ‘I went back to the flat and you weren’t there. I thought you were coming round for something to eat tonight.’
‘I fancied a drink first,’ said Damon. ‘There’s no law against it, is there?’
Obviously taken aback by the sharpness of his tone, Ellie backed off hastily. ‘No, of course not, it’s just that …’
‘What?’ Damon demanded.
‘Nothing,’ said Ellie deciding to sit down next to him. She looked across the table at Esther. ‘Are you trying to get some help from Damon, too?’ she asked.
‘Help about what?’ Esther asked.
‘Playing Kay of course. I should imagine that’s the thing uppermost in your mind at the moment. It must be horrible to be struggling so badly at this stage.’ The forced sympathy in her voice was even more irritating than Damon’s outright condemnation of some of her acting and Esther felt her temper rising.
‘Well,’ she said sharply, ‘I don’t suppose you’ll have any problems playing Carol. I mean, it’s easy for you to assume the mentality of a sixteen-year-old, isn’t it? Admittedly you’re not as naive as she was, but if you used a little less make-up then no doubt even that problem could be overcome.’
‘I think I’ll take that as a compliment,’ said Ellie.
‘It’s quite useful to be able to play a sixteen-year-old when you’re twenty-four; it opens up a lot more roles for you. You’re younger than me, aren’t you?’
‘Just,’ conceded Esther.
‘Well I don’t suppose you’ve ever been offered any roles of sixteen- or even seventeen-year-olds, have you?’ queried Ellie.
‘No,’ Esther replied. ‘I think casting directors find me rather more mature than that.’
Damon laughed with delight and Ellie seemed to decide that she would be better off keeping quiet. Within a few moments Damon had finished his drink and got to his feet. Ellie linked arms with him and once again Esther was left feeling an outsider.
‘See you tomorrow, then, ten o’clock sharp as our esteemed director keeps telling us,’ said Damon.
‘See you,’ Ellie said vacantly, and the pair of them drifted out into the night.
Esther was surprised to realise how much she disliked Ellie. Normally she could rub along with most people but there was something about the baby-faced young actress that she found cold and calculating. Unlike most other actresses, she didn’t even pretend to be interested in anyone but herself and men. It seemed extraordinary to Esther that a man like Damon Dowden would be at all attracted to someone like Ellie, although she wasn’t certain that it was a sexual relationship. It was always possible that he enjoyed Ellie’s barbed comments, which were in tune with his own.
Unusually for her, once Esther got home she realised that she was feeling quite sorry for herself. For a start she was finding her role difficult. In the past acting had come relatively easily to her and she realised that this was because she hadn’t been stretched. The only other time she’d ever had a problem Marcus had been on hand to help her and, to give him his due, he’d been generous with his time. Of course, that part hadn’t in any way been related to his work; if it had been then it might have been a different story. Marcus, like Christopher, couldn’t bear competition.
Quite apart from her professional difficulties, Esther was seriously concerned that it wasn’t going to be possible for her to actually get into bed with Christopher. Rebecca was always on hand and now there appeared to be an even more complex situation involving Theresa as well. Esther wondered if this had something to do with the strange casting of Theresa as Madge. Admittedly Theresa was coping rather better than Esther would have expected, but she was still a mile away from what Esther thought J B Priestley had intended.
She wished that she wasn’t so drawn to Damon; it complicated things too much. By joining the company she had set her mind on a two-fold revenge plan. The first, to shine as an actress, and the second to bed Christopher and hopefully have this news leak across the Atlantic to Marcus. Even if he didn’t want her any more, she knew that it would infuriate him. Now, although it was admittedly early days, it seemed that she was going to have trouble on both counts.
There was always Lydia to talk things over with but she still didn’t want to involve her friend. The whole business was too complicated and she didn’t feel that she could really admit to her true purpose in joining Christopher’s company. Lydia would have understood, but Esther felt that it showed her in a bad light. If she hadn’t fancied Christopher at all then she wouldn’t have considered the second part of her plan, but the truth was that she did fancy him. If it wasn’t for the unsettling presence of Damon then she would probably be even keener on Christopher, but even the brief time she had just spent with Damon in the pub had set her pulse racing. She could picture him naked in bed, his long-fingered hands demanding and yet knowing.
It was more difficult for her to imagine what sex would be like with Christopher. If Marcus was a guide then it would probably involve mirrors. Even during their most intimate moments Marcus had enjoyed being able to watch himself. Usually when mirrors were involved in sex Esther gathered that it was to enable the men to watch the women but in their case she was quite sure that Marcus had had eyes only for himself.
Although she’d intended to go over the play, Esther’s body felt tingling and tight. She wished that she had a casual lover, someone that she could just enjoy a robust session of sex with in order to relieve the tension that had been building up in her throughout the day. Because she and Marcus had been going out together for so long sex had never been a problem for her. Now she realised that she was feeling more and more frustrated and she hoped it wouldn’t be too long before she achieved her aim of getting Christopher into bed with her.
Accepting for the moment there was no chance of that, she went to take a leisurely shower. After she had lathered herself well, she stood beneath the warm spray and allowed it to play on her breasts and upper torso. This had the effect of heightening her sexual desire and she decided to soak her breasts again, but more slowly and luxuriously, taking special care with the nipples, which she gently caressed between her fingertips.
After a few moments she unhooked the shower-head and, holding it in her right hand, allowed it to play between her thighs. Then she raised it a little and let the water drip down over her lower stomach and pubic hair. As the tension began to gather in her vagina she allowed her thoughts to wander. She’d intended to fantasise about Christopher but instead it was Damon’s dark face that appeared in her mind. Slowly and sensuously she began to lather the soft golden fleece over her pubic mound and, as she did so, she allowed herself to imagine that it was Damon’s fingers caressing her so tenderly. After a few moments she stood with her legs clenched tightly together. Then she crossed her legs and started to contract and release her genital and thigh muscles until slowly she felt the wonderful buildup of warmth that told her an orgasm was on the way.
She loved this particular moment, the moment when she knew that she would soon be flooded by the hot bliss of sexual release. When she couldn’t stand it any longer she stood with her feet planted firmly on each side of the shower cabinet, thrust her hips forward slightly and, using her fingers, slowly started to stimulate herself with two fingers. She refused to allow herself to touch the incredibly sensitive clitoris, concentrating instead on the area around it so that the build-up was slower but more intense.
All at once she felt a heavy ache deep inside her vagina. This was something that frequently happened to her as her orgasm approached and what she really liked best was to have Marcus slide inside her just after the ache began. It would ease as she was filled by his wonderful hardness. This time, that wasn’t possible, and the ache was almost a source of pain to her – but a delicious kind of pain because she knew that it was a sign of impending pleasure. Finally, when she heard herself uttering tiny gasps of need, she let her fingers lightly move over the slippery swollen bud. Instantly her orgasm broke, with waves of muscular contractions spreading through her lower body. As she climaxed, Esther kept her hand pressed firmly against the whole of her vaginal area. She needed the pressure and the contact in order to gain maximum satisfaction.
When it was over she gave a soft sigh of contentment and then carefully sprayed herself down once more before climbing out of the shower and wrapping herself in a warm fluffy towel. Suddenly she felt relaxed and sleepy. She only wished she’d been with Christopher tonight instead of on her own.
It would have surprised Esther to learn that Christopher was thinking the selfsame thing at exactly the same moment. He’d just showered and was sitting in the bedroom of Theresa’s flat wearing only a silk dressing gown while he waited for Rebecca and Theresa to get ready for him. He was already excited at the prospect of what lay ahead of him, especially since he thought that Theresa was going to be slightly shocked by the events. He enjoyed it when girls were shocked; it added an extra frisson of pleasure to watch their innocence dissolve under his and Rebecca’s skilful ministrations and urgings. He had no doubt at all that Theresa would be a very quick learner and that she would gain maximum enjoyment from their session but, all the same, he wished it was Esther who was with them.
Originally he had intended to bed Esther simply to show Marcus how stupid he’d been to reject her, but now it was more personal. She was an exciting mixture of strength and vulnerability and he found her hourglass figure and soft, blonde beauty an intriguing contrast to Rebecca’s dark, detached, haughty sensuality. Not that he intended to share Esther with Rebecca, at least certainly not to begin with; he wanted to have her entirely to himself, to feel those round breasts pressed against him and to watch her trembling with ecstasy as he brought her again and again to the pinnacle of pleasure.
He was so excited by his thoughts that, when the door finally opened and Rebecca and Theresa entered, he was already fully aroused. At least, he thought that he was, but when he saw what Theresa was wearing his erection grew so hard that it was painful.
Naked, Theresa was even more attractive than he’d expected. Her cascading red hair fell nearly to her waist while her body was amazingly slim apart from her very large breasts. Tonight, these breasts were accentuated by the harness that she was wearing. The whole outfit was designed to drive him to a frenzy of desire.
She was wearing a leather mask with rivets round the eye holes, and a black-leather studded collar with buckles and a leather ring. Straps ran from beneath her thighs, up each side of her lower body, round her breasts, across her shoulders and down her back again. In her hand she was carrying a long latex domination strap and, although it was clear by her hesitant movements that this was an entirely new experience for her, he could tell by the redness of her erect nipples, and the faintest of pink rashes on her upper chest, that she too was already aroused.
‘We thought it would be a good idea if we started some tuition now,’ said Rebecca.
‘Who’s the teacher and who’s the pupil?’ asked Christopher.
‘I thought we’d take it in turns,’ Rebecca drawled, and, as Theresa glanced from Christopher and back to Rebecca, Christopher knew that for once he would enjoy being the teacher just as much as being the pupil.