said:
Helene’s keeping the expenses down
. Valerie was grateful for Jim, whom she thought of as a sensible, organised kind of man, probably in his early sixties. He was a little too ex-navy to be exactly Valerie’s type and rather starstruck with Helene, which Valerie found unflattering to herself, but he brought a measure of bearded, modulated calm to the group which, under Helene’s sole direction, was inclined to flutter.
‘And for the duration of the project they’re staying here with me. They’ve been getting to know our lovely city and Cosmo’s been doing all his research. And Poppy’s managed to get a little job as well. And the house is just so alive again! Which is so lovely, I do so love being surrounded by all their
creativity
.’
In another silent exchange Valerie and Jim agreed that, even for Helene, this was going a little far.
Poppy was now leaning forward with her round bottom firmly embedded in the back of the sofa cushions. She stretched up, straightening her arms and planting her hands on her knees, and looked round. Valerie noted how much Poppy would benefit from a thorough waxing, starting with the upper lip.
In a deep, unsmiling voice she said, ‘We’re totally committed to this project, Cosmo and I. We think it’s just tremendously exciting as a project, and we’ve got tons of ideas. And of course we want to get tons of input from you too. After all, it’s a community opera. And I’ve got lots of ideas about how we can really get the
whole
community involved. So, if I can kick off with a few logistics, I’m making myself available to the project on a daily basis, but please try to avoid Tuesday and Thursday mornings unless it’s an emergency. You can access me at any other time, whatever, okay?’
She stared round in the silence that followed. What kind of emergency should we be expecting in a community opera? Valerie was wondering.
‘I mean, please don’t think I’m getting all kind of bureaucratic about it, but I’m actually working two nights a week on Mondays and Wednesdays and it’s quite demanding and it might get kind of manic if I don’t just set some boundaries now and I hope everyone understands, okay?’
‘What do you do, Poppy?’ Valerie asked pleasantly. ‘Helene said you were in the theatre. Are you working at the Theatre Royal? Stage managing or something?’
Poppy closed her eyes and raised her thick eyebrows. Then she opened her eyes and looked languidly at Valerie, shaking her head from side to side slowly.
‘No, actually. I was doing a bit in London, prop-making and stuff, just filling in while I was doing my course. But there’s no real work in theatre these days, that’s why I was doing this course. I mean, I’m practically a fully qualified acupuncturist and homeopath. Now we’re in Bath I’m doing two nights a week in a care home for the elderly. The Circus Nursing Home, just along from here.’
‘Right,’ said Valerie, knowing she had just heard a prepared speech and thinking, Aha, so she can’t get a theatre job, and they must need the money. She looked over at Jim, who was stroking his beard, but his raised eyebrows told her that he hadn’t clocked that one.
Cosmo was standing up now. The earlier unsightly blush that had spread over his face had settled back into an uncomfortable mottle over his cheeks. The rest of his skin looked too fine and white, and his lips too fat, red and petulant for a man. He was not even successfully boyish, since his long, downy hair was receding fast from his high pink forehead and looked like a thinning, damp, mohair shawl slipping slowly off the back of his head. His bulging eyes, crustily myopic, together with his narrow sloping shoulders, round belly and short legs, gave him the air of a viable but unpromising foetus, rather startled to find itself on its feet and wearing a jacket and baggy trousers.
‘Right, folks. I’m, ah, Cosmo. As you’ve heard.’
He was looking at the ceiling,
Helene’s keeping the expenses down
. Valerie was grateful for Jim, whom she thought of as a sensible, organised kind of man, probably in his early sixties. He was a little too ex-navy to be exactly Valerie’s type and rather starstruck with Helene, which Valerie found unflattering to herself, but he brought a measure of bearded, modulated calm to the group which, under Helene’s sole direction, was inclined to flutter.
‘And for the duration of the project they’re staying here with me. They’ve been getting to know our lovely city and Cosmo’s been doing all his research. And Poppy’s managed to get a little job as well. And the house is just so alive again! Which is so lovely, I do so love being surrounded by all their
creativity
.’
In another silent exchange Valerie and Jim agreed that, even for Helene, this was going a little far.
Poppy was now leaning forward with her round bottom firmly embedded in the back of the sofa cushions. She stretched up, straightening her arms and planting her hands on her knees, and looked round. Valerie noted how much Poppy would benefit from a thorough waxing, starting with the upper lip.
In a deep, unsmiling voice she said, ‘We’re totally committed to this project, Cosmo and I. We think it’s just tremendously exciting as a project, and we’ve got tons of ideas. And of course we want to get tons of input from you too. After all, it’s a community opera. And I’ve got lots of ideas about how we can really get the
whole
community involved. So, if I can kick off with a few logistics, I’m making myself available to the project on a daily basis, but please try to avoid Tuesday and Thursday mornings unless it’s an emergency. You can access me at any other time, whatever, okay?’
She stared round in the silence that followed. What kind of emergency should we be expecting in a community opera? Valerie was wondering.
‘I mean, please don’t think I’m getting all kind of bureaucratic about it, but I’m actually working two nights a week on Mondays and Wednesdays and it’s quite demanding and it might get kind of manic if I don’t just set some boundaries now and I hope everyone understands, okay?’
‘What do you do, Poppy?’ Valerie asked pleasantly. ‘Helene said you were in the theatre. Are you working at the Theatre Royal? Stage managing or something?’
Poppy closed her eyes and raised her thick eyebrows. Then she opened her eyes and looked languidly at Valerie, shaking her head from side to side slowly.
‘No, actually. I was doing a bit in London, prop-making and stuff, just filling in while I was doing my course. But there’s no real work in theatre these days, that’s why I was doing this course. I mean, I’m practically a fully qualified acupuncturist and homeopath. Now we’re in Bath I’m doing two nights a week in a care home for the elderly. The Circus Nursing Home, just along from here.’
‘Right,’ said Valerie, knowing she had just heard a prepared speech and thinking, Aha, so she can’t get a theatre job, and they must need the money. She looked over at Jim, who was stroking his beard, but his raised eyebrows told her that he hadn’t clocked that one.
Cosmo was standing up now. The earlier unsightly blush that had spread over his face had settled back into an uncomfortable mottle over his cheeks. The rest of his skin looked too fine and white, and his lips too fat, red and petulant for a man. He was not even successfully boyish, since his long, downy hair was receding fast from his high pink forehead and looked like a thinning, damp, mohair shawl slipping slowly off the back of his head. His bulging eyes, crustily myopic, together with his narrow sloping shoulders, round belly and short legs, gave him the air of a viable but unpromising foetus, rather startled to find itself on its feet and wearing a jacket and baggy trousers.
‘Right, folks. I’m, ah, Cosmo. As you’ve heard.’
He was looking at the ceiling,
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