Stars and Hearts Read online

Chapter Two

  At seven o’clock the next morning, I was rudely awakened by the sound of some old punk band blasting out of my alarm clock radio at full volume. I almost had a heart attack.

  I sat there recovering for a good minute before I remembered this was the day I was starting my new job. I tumbled out of bed, brushed my teeth, and drifted to the kitchen, feeling like a shaken zombie.

  Mum was in there bopping about to a reggae tune as she prepared our packed lunches. As soon as she caught sight of me, she jumped.

  “Yazmin!” she said, placing her hand across her heaving chest. “You startled me!”

  I guess I must have looked like a zombie as well as feeling like one.

  Mum merrily made us a strong black coffee each as she hummed, out of tune, to the music.

  I poured myself a small bowl of cereal with soya milk and sat down at the kitchen bar.

  “You must be excited!” Mum said, joining me.

  “I will be when I’ve woken up properly,” I replied, splashing enough soya milk into my coffee to cool it to a drinkable temperature before guzzling it down.

  “Hope the job goes well for you,” Mum said sweetly. “Keep an eye out for me. I’ve only worked in that café for a few weeks and I’m sick of the customers’ faces already. The theatre would be much more fun.”

  “Ok Mum,” I answered lazily, shoving a big spoon of cereal into my face.

  “Thanks sweetie!” she beamed, jumping off the barstool and heading to the bathroom to take a shower.

  I finished my cereal, inserted my earbuds, and blasted my lugholes with rap music. Within ten minutes, the caffeine had kicked in, the rap had got my adrenaline going, and I was ready for the day!

  I took a quick shower, put on my prettiest make-up and dressed myself in the lucky brown suit I’d worn at my interview.

  Mum drove me to the theatre and wished me good luck as she dropped me off.

  I took a deep breath as I stepped through the gleaming glass doors into the foyer. Then I made my way to the metal fronted box office. Sat there staring at me through the bars of the serving window was a slim, pink-faced, middle aged lady with short grey hair and glasses.

  “Hi,” I said nervously. “I’m Yazmin Jones. I’m starting my new job here today.”

  “Hello Yazmin,” the lady said kindly. “Just a sec.” She jumped off her chair and let me into the small cream-walled office through a door.

  A Japanese girl, about my age, with long, fringed glossy hair smiled at me. “Hiya!” she said keenly.

  “Hi,” I replied, hoping I’d made my first friend in town. She looked really sweet.

  The grey-haired lady led me to the back of the office where a tall, slim black woman with an afro was waiting to meet me.

  “Hi Yazmin!” she said, gripping my hand tightly as she shook it. “I’m Kalisha – the box office manager. Sorry I didn’t meet you at your interview – my mum had a health scare that day.”

  “Sorry to hear that,” I replied. “Hope she’s ok.”

  “She’s fine, thank you,” Kalisha said, rolling her eyes suggesting her mum was a bit of an attention seeker. “Eighty-three and still going strong!”

  Then Kalisha introduced me to my new colleagues. “This is Rose,” she said, as the middle-aged woman who’d let me in shook my hand sloppily. “And this is Suki,” she said, gesturing towards the young Japanese girl. The girl smiled brightly and nodded.

  Kalisha took my coat and hung it on a peg. “Right. I always like to begin by giving my new staff a tour of the theatre – it’s nice to get a feel for the place before you start work.”

  First, she took me down an office corridor and introduced me to staff from various departments. They all seemed very nice. Then she showed me the dressing rooms, the greenroom, and the costume wardrobe. We even went and stood on the stage! Kalisha brought a seating plan of the auditorium with her and we sat in about fifteen different seats to give me an idea of what I’d be selling. The whole place felt very magical and exciting. I felt privileged to have been chosen for the job and was sure I was going to love it. At the end of the tour, she showed me the telephone room upstairs, where I’d be working when I wasn’t in the downstairs box office. It was large and cheery with creamy yellow walls, and windows which looked out onto the main street. Around the edges of the room, facing the walls, were eight computers.

  I spent the rest of the morning with Kalisha, listening to her answering phone calls and watching her operate the computer as she answered queries, booked tickets, and dealt with a ridiculous complaint from a lying bastard who falsely claimed the seat he’d sat in for a recent show was located behind a pillar. What a twat! Kalisha pointed out he’d had one of the best seats in the house and refused to give him compensation. Good for her!

  At twelve o’clock, I took a thirty-minute break, sitting at the side of the office with my packed lunch. I then took a quick stroll out of the building around the theatre gardens to stretch my legs before returning to the box office and sitting with Kalisha again.

  “Your turn to answer a few calls now,” she said, opening a box which contained a brand new headset with mic attached. “This is your own headset – keep it in this.” She produced a grey drawstring bag and scrawled my name on it.

  “I’m not sure I’m ready to speak to people yet,” I said, feeling a bit sick.

  “Don’t worry, Yazmin – you’ll be fine! I’m here to guide you.”

  I put on the headset, adjusted the mic, and answered my first call. Some stuck up bitch with a plummy accent wanted to know what was on next Christmas – more than a year away. When I explained we weren’t booking that far ahead and that we had no idea what plays would be on yet, she didn’t believe me and acted really spoiled. Not a good start! She didn’t believe Kalisha either and we ended up having to put her through to the theatre manager, who no doubt told her the same thing.

  The next few calls weren’t too bad. I booked tickets for a couple of performances of Peter Pan and told at least five people the Saturday evening performance of Othello was sold out. I also answered a call from some dirty old woman who asked if she’d be able to touch the actors from the stage side seats. The answer was no, thank goodness.

  Then Kalisha went into a meeting, so I sat between Suki and Rose to learn from them. They were sat at the box office window, serving customers as well as answering phones.

  Suki turned to me, beaming. “I haven’t seen you around town before.”

  “I’ve only lived here a few weeks,” I replied.

  “Cool!” she said. “I moved here quite recently too. We must go for a drink.”

  “That would be great!” I said, pleased this potential friendship was looking promising.

  Rose looked at me sadly and asked, “How old are you?”

  “I’ve just turned eighteen,” I replied.

  “I’ll be eighteen next-month!” Suki said.

  “You two were born just a few weeks apart then,” said Rose, frowning. “It doesn’t seem five minutes since I was eighteen. I’m sixty-three now. I keep forgetting I’m not still a young girl. Sometimes I look in the mirror and wonder who the old bag staring back at me is. I really do get a shock.”

  Suki laughed, “Sixty-three isn’t old.”

  “I know,” Rose agreed. “But eighteen doesn’t feel five minutes ago. In reality, it was forty-odd years ago. When that time goes round again, I’ll be dead.”

  Suki and I looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

  The awkward silence was broken when a handsome young red-haired man appeared at Suki’s window. I was pretty sure he was an actor from his show biz demeanour and loud, showy voice.

  “Hi!” he said brightly. “Do you still have tickets for Thursday matinee? My parents have decided to come up at short notice, I’m afraid.” He tutted and rolled his eyes.

  He looked at me and caught my eye. He was gorgeous. My heart began thumping wildly.

  Unlike me, Suki didn’t seem to be at all nervous
with men. “We’ve got two nice tickets sixth row centre circle,” she said confidently, batting her eyelids.

  “That’s not bad,” he said. “Yes please. Any chance of freebies?”

  Suki studied her computer screen. “Doesn’t look like it’s going to sell out, so yeah – we can give you free tickets on this occasion.”

  “That’d be great. Thanks!” As the tickets printed, he kept looking at me and smiling. I felt quite faint. “Are you alright?” he asked, his forehead crinkled in concern.

  I couldn’t speak.

  “It’s Yazmin’s first day,” said Suki. “There’s a lot to learn. She’s a bit overwhelmed, I think.”

  “Well, Yazmin,” said the actor, picking up his tickets and pushing them into his inside jacket pocket. “Good luck with the job. I’m sure you’ll love it!”

  I just about managed to smile and nod in his direction.

  The actor turned and walked away, smiling sympathetically. He’d only walked a few paces when Rose burst out laughing. “You fancy him!” she boomed.

  I winced. He was bound to have heard.

  “He’s gorgeous,” Suki said. “Who wouldn’t fancy him?”

  “I don’t think I’d want to marry an actor,” Rose said. “It can’t be a great life with your husband spending most of his time out of work, then living miles away when he does finally land a role. I can’t imagine they stay faithful.”

  “It would be glamorous though,” Suki sighed dreamily.

  “Anything but glamorous,” Rose insisted. “All the drugs and the sleeping around and stuff … An actor’s wife has a miserable life.”

  How narrow minded and prejudiced to put a group of people all in the same bracket! I thought, blinking in disbelief.

  “Bit over the top,” said Suki, echoing my thoughts.

  Rose shook her head. “Well, I wouldn’t want to become the victim of an actor.”

  “Victim of an actor!” laughed Suki. “Actors don’t leave victims unless they’re playing serial killers or something. You’re funny!”

  “You’re only young,” said Rose, still shaking her head. “You have a lot to learn, my gal.”

  Yet another green-eyed monster rearing its ugly head, I thought. She was probably jealous and couldn’t bear the thought of seeing either of us hot chicks ending up with an actor husband. She obviously hated the thought of either of us being rich and glamorous, posing on red carpets in front of a sea of flashing cameras, and being snapped by the paparazzi wherever we went.

  I really enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. My first day in the box office had been great. The only thing I was dreading about my new job was sitting on the serving window in case more gorgeous actors and handsome young male customers appeared, making me tremble and shake, and forget how to speak. I had to get over this somehow.