Ten Days with Mr Darcy (on hold)

Chapter twenty-seven - An embarrassing audition

Jessica glanced around at the other occupants of the waiting room, wondering whether there was anyone she recognised. A blonde girl in the corner, who she'd seen at a previous audition, smiled and nodded. Jess smiled back then returned her attention to the sides, willing the words and sentences to sink in. The role—a nurse who would perform an ultrasound scan on a pregnant woman—consisted of one short scene, containing professional but reassuring dialogue designed to relax the patient and her husband. She hoped that reading the lines in a calm and friendly way would win over the casting director and their team.

When they called her name she entered the office and took the offered seat. Her resume sat on the top of a large pile on the desk. The woman in charge explained what she wanted and her assistant fed Jessica the lines to act against. Although she had to glance once to remind herself of the script, she felt comfortable during the audition and when the casting director thanked her for coming she thought everything had gone as well as it could. It was all down to the sort of person they were looking for. Although it wasn't a large part, it would be on TV and higher profile than anything she'd done before.

She headed back to the waiting area to collect her coat. Crossing the threshold her foot tangled in something, throwing her off balance. She felt herself falling, as though in slow-motion, and flung her arms out to cushion the impact. The room was full of people, all seemingly engrossed by her progress through the air. Her handbag tumbled over itself, tossing out loose coins, keys and makeup before landing on the floor. She felt the burn of the fibres on the heels of her hands as they slid along the coarse office carpet.

Everything stopped. A moment of silence followed, as though someone had hit the pause button on her life.

The quiet was broken by a breathless voice from somewhere behind her. "Sorry...so sorry! That was my fault. I left my bag in the way."

Then everyone began to move at once. Two fellow auditionees helped her to stand, while the receptionist collected together the contents of her bag. Rubbing the bump on her knee, she thanked them repeatedly, stuffing everything back inside as quickly as possible so she could find somewhere quiet where she could crawl away and die of embarrassment.

Red-faced, Jess focused on the exit, reaching for the handle with shaking hands. Despite her public protestations that she was fine, the fall had rattled her and she needed some time alone to collect herself.

Just then the door swung towards her, narrowly missing her nose but catching her on the shoulder. She heard gasps and sympathetic groans behind her; evidence that her second accident hadn't gone unnoticed. The person who entered looked like a nightclub bouncer, tall and bulky. He grunted what sounded like an apology and held the door open, allowing Jessica to escape into the relative safety and solitude of the hallway beyond.

She walked down the short corridor and round a corner, finding the main hallway empty. It was one of those anonymous office blocks filled with magnolia paint, suspended ceilings, plastic plants and no personality. Jess leaned against a convenient wall, counting limbs and fingers to make sure she'd come out of her ordeal unscathed. She was still inspecting her injuries as the squeak of rubber soles on the shiny tiles distracted her. Looking up, her breath snagged in her throat as she gazed into a pair of familiar green eyes. "G...Gareth?"

In Derbyshire, he'd always been quick to smile, but today Gareth Jones' face remained impassive. If he was pleased to see her, he didn't show it. At least he recognised her. "Hi, Jessica. How are you?"

She mentally catalogued the bruise on her knee, her aching shoulder, the scrapes on her hands and the life-threatening levels of mortification, but instead fixed a smile to her face. "I...I'm fine...great actually. How about you?"