Real Love Read online

  ‘That is not all, as a matter of fact’ Kathy said, getting her teeth into the topic of her daughter’s shortcomings. ‘You also didn’t put the recycling out last Thursday and now we’re up to our eyeballs in cereal boxes and coke cans. Not to mention that you forgot to pay the gas bill. You see this’ she said, whipping out a letter from her pocket. ‘It’s a red bill! I’ve never in my life had a red bill before.’

  Daisy took the letter and looked at it. It was indeed a threatening red colour. It struck her as a bit convenient that her mum had the letter in her pocket, ready for a good cue.

  ‘When did this come?’

  Kathy paused. ‘Yesterday.’

  ‘And you waited till now to tell me about it because…’

  Kathy turned back to the kettle, suddenly noticing some limescale on it that needed seeing to immediately. Daisy knew full well that her Mum had saved the bill for an occasion when she could wave it in Daisy’s face with the maximum of drama.

  ‘Just pay it, would you?’ Kathy said.

  Daisy shook her head. She couldn’t believe that she was the actress in the family, not with the theatrical scene her mother had just produced.

  ‘I’ll do it on the way to my meeting’ she said as she kissed Jake on his forehead. ‘Have a good day at school, Monkey.’

  ‘Mum! Don’t call me Monkey anymore. It’s embarrassing.’

  ‘OK, how about My Little Ray of Sunshine, is that better?’ she said, hoping for a smile.

  But Jake only tutted. Along with the overdeveloped embarrassment muscle that had recently popped up, he seemed to have forgotten his sense of humour too. Perhaps it was living with her mother that was responsible for that. She and Jake had always laughed together before. She had thought they always would.

  Daisy decided it was a good time to leave. Everyone seemed pissed off with her this morning.

  Ashley was standing outside her office while Daisy sat nervously inside, watching her through the glass partition. She was having a somewhat spirited debate with an older guy with a paunch and a fancy three-piece suit. Daisy couldn’t hear what it was about. But she thought Ashley seemed liked she was holding her own.

  After the guy walked off, Ashley walked back in, saying ‘Sorry about that! That guy used to be my boss and I don’t think he’s quite adapted to my promotion to junior agent. He doesn’t understand why I won’t still do his photocopying.’

  Junior agent? Daisy wasn’t sure what that meant. Was that less somehow?

  ‘Right, so, Jones and Jones. I’m assuming you’ve heard of us?’

  Daisy nodded. ‘Yeah, a lot of people from the year above signed with you.’

  ‘Yes, James Clarke was from your school, wasn’t he? He’s just gotten a role in quite a large movie, from what I gather. Fourth billing too. Only graduated a year, not too shabby.’

  ‘No, not too shabby at all’ Daisy agreed.

  ‘But I know you’re headed for the theatre and I want to assure you, we’ve got very strong links with that world too.’

  ‘That sounds great’ Daisy said, a little relieved to know that Ashley had been listening to what she wanted.

  ‘However, it’s a competitive world, which I’m sure you know. So we like it if our actors can be a little… flexible about the kind of work they do initially. The thing about acting is, it’s a journey. And actors who are rigid about what they’re willing to do, they make the road longer, more winding. It takes them a lot more time to get where they’re going, if at all. And that time will be rather on the meagre side, financially speaking.’

  The mention of finances, that caught Daisy’s attention. She’d been broke for the last three years and not exactly flush prior to that. A series of office temping roles had never really brought in the big bucks. Enough to keep her and Jake this side of homeless, certainly. But counting the pennies was wearing thin. And now Ashley was telling her that if she stuck to her guns about only taking theatre roles, that situation might continue for the foreseeable. It was a sobering thought.

  ‘James Clarke did a three-month run in a soap when he first came to us’ Ashley continued. ‘Perhaps that sounds pretty unappealing but James was smart about it and he used it to launch himself.’

  Ashley wasn’t wrong. The last thing on this earth Daisy wanted to do was to be in a soap. She didn’t even watch them.

  ‘I’m not saying that’s what will happen to you, by the way. It’s just an example of how actors do all sorts of things to break in’ Ashley said. ‘What I’m saying is, boosting your profile early on isn’t a bad thing. So what I need to know is…’

  Daisy waited for the punchline.

  ‘That if I sign you, that you’ll trust me. That you’ll go to auditions that I send you to and that you’ll give it your all. That you’ll make the best of every opportunity.’

  Daisy considered the question, but not for long. The last few minutes had been illuminating. Whatever fantasies Daisy had about being able to choose a role had pretty much died in front of her eyes, murdered by Ashley.

  And Ashley was the only one offering her help. Daisy had spoken to her classmates after the meet and greet. It had been slim pickings in terms of conversations that seemed like they might go anywhere. Only Abigail had gotten any real interest from Helen Bradley. She’d played it down, but she’d gotten a phone number and no one else had.

  So here Daisy stood, on the precipice. The choices were these: refuse to compromise and hope for some luck or take the hand of Ashley and hope to god she didn’t lead her off a cliff.

  The image of Jake’s ever-shortening trousers suddenly popped into her head.

  ‘If you’ll have me, Ashley, I’ll put myself in your hands.’

  Three

  Three weeks later, Daisy hadn’t heard a peep from Ashley. She was, however, speaking to several temp agencies a day, trying to find some admin work.

  ‘Yes, yes, of course. Full clean driving license’ Daisy was telling Sally from Select Recruitment while she watched Jake darting about the living room, looking for something haphazardly.

  ‘Mum, I can’t find my tie’ Jake shouted directly in the ear not pressed to the phone, not realising how close he was to her eardrum. After the ringing noise had faded, Daisy held up a hand for him to wait.

  ‘But Mum! I’ve got to get to school now! If I’m late again, Mr. Kendrick’s gonna go barmy!’

  ‘Yes, I’m available now. Hope to hear from you soon’ Daisy said to Sally and put the phone down. ‘Jake, for god’s sakes’ she said in annoyance to her frantic son. ‘Couldn’t you see I was on the phone?’

  ‘I know, but it’s an emergency!’

  Daisy tutted and began to search the living room, looking for the tie. ‘For future reference, an emergency means your leg has fallen off. At a bare minimum, there should be a fair bit of blood. Missing ties are not an emergency. For crying out loud, did you even look?’ she said as she pulled the errant tie out from behind a sofa cushion.

  But Jake didn’t hear the question, too relieved to care. He grabbed the tie and slipped it around his neck, grabbing his mobile phone and looking at the time in horror.

  ‘It’s quarter to nine! I’m dead!’

  Usually, Jake walked the twenty minutes to school but since Daisy was currently unemployed while she waited for an acting job to come in, she had more time on her hands than usual.

  ‘Come on, I’ll drive you.’

  ‘Why are you temping again, anyway?’ Jake asked as they pulled out onto the main road. ‘I thought you were an actress now.’

  Daisy smiled. ‘Well, it’s not really what you’d call a regular type of job. I’m probably still gonna have to temp sometimes. At least for now.’

  ‘Does that mean we’re gonna have to keep living with Gran?’

  Daisy was surprised.

  ‘For a while, yeah. Why? Don’t you want to?’

  Jake went quiet for a moment.

  ‘It’s not that I don’t like Gran. But you don’t seem to get on with her. You’
re always arguing.’

  ‘It’s not arguing, just bickering. It’s what people do with their parents.’

  Jake looked disturbed.

  ‘Is that what we’ll be like when I grow up?’

  Daisy wasn’t sure how to answer that. It had been her and Jake alone for a long time. They’d been a team. But things were changing.

  For a start, puberty was coming. Daisy had always hoped that he wouldn’t be the sullen creature she’d been as a teenager but maybe that was just the way things went. Maybe there was no avoiding it. But Daisy was buggered if she was going to prophesize all that oncoming horror to the poor little sod. Better he didn’t know.

  ‘You and me? No way! We’re best friends. Like the Gilmore Girls, only you’re a boy and we’re British. And we talk at a normal speed.’

  ‘Who are the Gilmore Girls?’

  ‘Look on Netflix.’

  Daisy waved at Jake as he walked through the gates with his friends but he didn’t wave back. She tried not to take it personally. She was a Mum; she wasn’t supposed to exist in front of Jake’s mates. That was a new rule that had only begun to be enforced in the last six months. Daisy had decided to respect it.

  Just as she was about to drive off, her phone rang. It was Ashley. Daisy’s heart skipped in her chest as she picked up the call.

  ‘Hello,’ she said, realising her mouth had gone dry. She swallowed thickly as Ashley said ‘Hi! Ashley, here! Are you busy right now? There’s an audition I want you to go to at half ten.’

  ‘In ninety minutes?’ Daisy cried.

  ‘Yes, sorry about the short notice.’

  ‘But it’s not enough time, I need to look at the pages and-’

  ‘Don’t worry about that. There’s no script right now. They’re just meeting people.’

  ‘No script? What’s the part?’

  ‘Errm, not sure but I don’t think we need to worry about that at this point’ Ashley said vaguely. ‘Can I tell them to expect you?’

  ‘Ashley, I don’t know what I’m going to. How can I prepare?’

  ‘I told you, it’s not that type of audition. Just show up and let them talk to you. Tell them about yourself, let them get a read on your vibe, that sort of thing.’

  Daisy was flummoxed. She couldn’t understand why Ashley was being so cagey. Unless...

  ‘It’s not… I’m not auditioning for porn, am I?’

  There was a sigh down the phone. ‘No, Daisy. I don’t represent adult film actors. They don’t make enough money for me to take a decent cut. Now are you going or not?’

  Daisy had made a promise that she would go to whatever Ashley sent her to. This whole thing sounded dodgy but Daisy couldn’t afford to be difficult. Certainly not with the very first thing Ashley asked her to do.

  ‘Can you text me the address?’

  ‘Shit!’ Daisy cried as she caught her hair in the hair dryer, dragging it out and checking it for permanent damage. It looked alright, thank god. That was the last think she needed, a bald patch on top of her lack of preparation. That was why she’d gotten caught in the first place, because she was rushing to get ready for an audition she knew nothing about.

  ‘What’s going on’ Kathy said, bursting into the room unannounced, drawn in by the yelled obscenity.

  ‘Mum!’ Daisy cried, pulling her robe a little tighter. ‘What have I said about knocking! I could have been naked.’

  ‘You came out of my body, Daisy. Do you really think you’ve got anything that would surprise me?’

  Daisy didn’t have time to vomit so she simply pretended her mother hadn’t said it.

  ‘Anyway, I heard you shouting the faecal word. I was worried’ Kathy went on.

  ‘You were nosy.’

  Kathy ignored her. ‘What’s going on, anyway? What are you getting ready for? Is it a temp job?’

  ‘Nope. Audition’ Daisy said with satisfaction. Sometimes she suspected her mum didn’t think she would get anywhere with the acting thing. She’d never said it, exactly. It was more of a feeling. Well, now Daisy was auditioning for something, which is what professional actors did. Check and mate.

  ‘For what?’ Kathy asked.

  ‘Not sure exactly’ Daisy said as she finally finished her hair.

  ‘You’re not sure-’

  ‘I haven’t got time for this. Grill me when I get home’ she said, steering her mother gently out of the room so that she could get dressed.

  ‘Sounds odd, I must say’ Kathy said through the door as Daisy slipped her best jeans on, pairing it with her favourite top, the red one that always got a compliment. ‘Are you sure it’s not porn?’ her mother shouted through the door.

  ‘YES!’

  Daisy was at the offices of Cut and Shut Productions, sat in a room with a bunch of other girls. Every single one of them was coiffed to within an inch of their lives and at least five years younger than her. Apparently presentable was not the look expected in this room. It was fashionista.

  Daisy realised that if she’d had days to get ready for this, she still wouldn’t have looked like these girls. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her appearance, she liked to look nice. It was just that it wasn’t at the forefront of her priorities. But Daisy knew that was not a fashionable opinion for young women these days. It would probably always be a major giveaway that she was not really that young.

  ‘Daisy Howard?’

  Daisy stood and followed the young man with the bullring through his nose into a room where two men and a woman sat waiting. They all looked quite middle-aged.

  ‘Hi Daisy, I’m Ryan’ said one of the men, a handsome blonde guy in his fifties. ‘What we’re doing today is just meeting people, trying to get a sense of them. So if you wouldn’t mind, we’d really like it if you’d just tell us about yourself.’

  Ashley had sort of told her this was going to happen, and Daisy had been wondering on the drive over what she’d say. She hadn’t been able to come up with anything that made her seem even halfway interesting. But now it was time to open her mouth and see what came out. God help her.

  ‘Well, err… I just graduated from Medford Drama School and… I’m a Pisces. Shit, I don’t know why I said that’ she burbled. ‘You don’t care about my star sign. Come to think of it, neither do I. What a load of crap. I’m sorry, I’m talking absolute rubbish because I’m not really sure what to say. I only found out about the audition this morning. I thought it might be porn. OK, I think I’ll stop there’ Daisy said, taking the deep breath she’d needed since words had come tumbling from her mouth.

  She thought that was it, that they’d thank her then show her the door. But Ryan was chuckling to himself, giving meaningful looks to his mute colleagues. ‘So, how much do you know about the show Laid in Medford?’ he asked, once his amusement had subsided.

  Oh, so this was an audition for a TV show? Why all the mystery?

  Daisy had never heard of the show. She didn’t want to say that, but there was no way to blag it. Why hadn’t Ashley just told her what she was up for? She could have at least Googled it.

  ‘Sorry, I haven’t had a lot of time for TV lately’ Daisy answered.

  ‘You’ve never heard of it?’ Ryan asked.

  ‘Afraid not.’

  ‘That’s absolutely fine’ he assured it. ‘Well, it’s a scripted reality show about a…’

  Daisy knew she should wait for the guy to finish his sentence, but she couldn’t help herself.

  ‘Wait, did you say reality show?’

  Everyone’s eyes went big at the interruption.

  ‘Because I’m an actress. I just graduated. I’m not looking to be a…’ Daisy trailed off, unable to find a word that wasn’t offensive to the people in this room.

  ‘No, you misunderstand. An actress is exactly what we want’ Ryan said. ‘It’s scripted reality.’

  Daisy felt like she was losing her mind. Scripted reality? What the bloody hell did that mean?

  ‘I’m sorry, perhaps I’m being really dense her
e, but…’

  ‘It’s a show where the situations are set up, but they’re also real?’

  If Ryan thought that explained anything, Daisy couldn’t see how.

  ‘Nope, not getting it’ Daisy said.

  ‘Perhaps you’ve seen one and you didn’t realise. The Only Way is Essex? Made in Chelsea? They started in the US - The Hills? Jersey Shore? Surely you’ve heard of those?’

  Daisy had, of course, heard of those shows. But she’d never had the urge to watch one. When Daisy had time for TV, she was strictly a fiction watcher, usually whatever Scandinavian crime show popped up on Netflix. ‘Reality programming’ was utterly peripheral to the world Daisy lived in. But she still had no idea what business an actress would have in that kind of show. From what she knew, the types that went into those programmes were itching to be famous, but they weren’t trained actors.

  But it didn’t matter. Daisy had come in here not knowing her arse from her elbow. Whatever these people were looking for, it wouldn’t be her. It would be one of the high-heeled creatures in the room outside. They looked right in a way that Daisy didn’t.

  ‘Look’ Ryan said. ‘Here’s the thing. We’re the latest in a long line of scripted reality and we had a decent first series, numbers wise, but we’re looking to stand out this season. Our cast of regulars is great, but we thought that if we added a real actor, that we could really bring the drama up.’

  Daisy had never been so confused.

  ‘But then, aren’t you just making a fictional drama? Why bother with any of the ‘reality’ at all?’

  Ryan looked at his fellow producers and they looked back. Daisy thought for a second that they were just going to tell her to go. But Ryan abruptly burst out laughing.

  ‘Daisy, you don’t know how often me and Jill have had this argument.’

  Jill had yet to open her mouth and it was hard to imagine her getting into a debate with silver-tongued Ryan. In fact, Daisy was struck by the thought that everyone else in the room was just a prop to Ryan. He was the only one that had any real say.