Behind the Scenes: Things are never quite as they appear

By Sophie Childs

Bethan Brooks works in London for the ultimate boss from Hell, trying to support her wannabe rockstar boyfriend. But are The Vampire Squirrels really ever going to make it big or is she doomed to be a secretary forever? Luckily, Bethan finds the perfect escape when going to the cinema. There she loses herself in another world and forgets all about the dreaded filing and monotonous office work. Imagine her surprise when one day she encounters her favourite actor on the Tube. Suddenly, she finds herself part of the glamorous movie world she only ever dreamed about. With more at stake than she could ever realise, does she really want to know what goes on behind the scenes?

• Language: English
• Publisher: So Vain Books
• Release date: Feb 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9780993066078

Sophie Childs

Sophie Childs is a home-educating mother of five who spent five long years working in offices, something she's very grateful for in hindsight due to the rich source of inspiration her nightmare bosses proved to be. Now a full-time freelance writer, she lives in the Welsh valleys with her husband and a veritable menagerie of children. Behind the Scenes is her first novel.

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Sophie Childs

Sophie Childs is a home-educating mother of five who spent five long years working in offices, something she’s very grateful for in hindsight due to the rich source of inspiration her nightmare bosses proved to be. Now a full-time freelance writer, she lives in the Welsh valleys with her husband and a veritable menagerie of children.

Visit her website: www.sophiechilds.com

Behind the Scenes

Things are never quite as they appear

Sophie Childs

It’s a So Vain Book

Published in Great Britain in 2015 by:

SO VAIN BOOKS Ltd

75 London Road

Oxford OX3 9BB

www.sovainbooks.co.uk

Email: [e-mail]

Copyright © 2015 Sophie Childs

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

A catalogue record from this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-9930660-4-7

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Design by Marco Dusi

Printed and Bound in Great Britain by PrintOnDemand, Worldwide

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

To Lyn, who is family

One

A hand snaked out from underneath the duvet and hit the snooze button to silence the blaring alarm before retreating back into the warmth.

‘That’s the third time you’ve done that, Bethan,’ came a grumpy voice from the other side of the bed. ‘Just get up already. Some of us had a late night.’

Bethan groaned and threw the covers off, rubbing her eyes against the sudden light. She sat up and looked back over her shoulder at her boyfriend. Lee had rolled away from her, and was doing his best to pretend he was sound asleep.

‘I could call in sick,’ she offered. ‘You know, stay in bed with you for a while, maybe go out for brunch at the café on the corner before heading into town…’

She slipped her hand under the duvet, intending to be seductive, but Lee batted her away.

‘I’ve told you, I need my sleep,’ he said. ‘It was an intense gig last night and I’m meeting up with the lads for a rehearsal this afternoon. If I don’t get some shut eye, I won’t be able to perform. My fans need me, babe.’

Bethan rolled her eyes, something she wouldn’t dare do if she thought Lee was watching. He took his music ‘career’ very seriously, despite the fact that he was only a wedding singer with delusions of making it big with his own material one day. They’d met when he performed at Bethan’s cousin’s wedding, and she had been impressed to hear that he had a band that did ‘a kind of cross between funk and heavy metal, man.’ When she’d heard The Vampire Squirrels play, she’d pretended to be impressed because Lee really was rather gorgeous, with his tousled blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, but it was more likely that Bethan would have a smash Number One before The Vampire Squirrels made it – and she didn’t have a musical bone in her body.

She sighed and pulled herself to her feet. It was probably a good thing that Lee didn’t approve of her taking the day off, because once she got into the habit of not going to work, the chances were high she’d never go back and they couldn’t live off Lee’s wedding fees alone.

As she got ready to go to work, Bethan ran over the things she had to get done that day. There was that mountain of filing she needed to wade through. She wouldn’t mind – there was something quite soothing about the repetition that let Bethan switch her brain off and daydream – but her predecessor had hated filing and so she just threw pieces of paper in whatever pile happened to be closest. It was one of the (many) reasons that had led to her being sacked. The office junior had famously once told a client she couldn’t put them through to the Managing Director because she’d just put on nail varnish and didn’t want it to smudge. Stories about Livvy were always entertaining, but at the end of the day, it was Bethan who had to clean up the mess that girl had left behind.

If she’d have known how mind-numbingly boring reinsurance was, Bethan would never have taken the job, but she was getting sick of rejections and everyone had said how reliable it was as an industry. ‘A job for life’, the recruitment agent had called it. Bethan wasn’t sure she wanted to do anything for life, but after the insecurity of a zero-hour contract at a sportswear shop, she had to admit that it was good to have money to spend. There was a cute little Gucci handbag she’d seen and desperately wanted. Although she knew that Lee would complain that she had enough bags already – could you really ever have enough bags? – she didn’t have one quite like this. It was just perfect for nights out when she didn’t want to take much more than her phone and purse. As soon as she’d been paid, it was going to be hers.

‘Do you want to go to the movies later?’ she asked Lee, as she got dressed. ‘There’s a new Ben Affleck movie out. I could meet you after work. What about that nice little bar next to the cinema? We could go there for tapas beforehand. It’s been ages since we’ve been out together.’

‘I told you, Beth. I’ve got to meet the lads,’ came Lee’s voice from under the duvet. ‘I’m going to stay in bed, try to get back to sleep if you ever let me and head out after lunch. I’ve got no idea what time I’ll be back – we’re writing a new song and you know how long it can take to find the right riff.’

Bethan had long since learned to keep her mouth shut when it came to The Vampire Squirrels’ new songs, so she simply said ‘OK, then. Maybe at the weekend?’

‘Mmmmmh’, Bethan wasn’t sure if Lee was agreeing or snoring, but a quick glance at the alarm told her that she was running late, so she leaned over, kissed the top of his head and ran out the door.

One of the advantages of living out in Kilburn was that you could usually get a seat for the first leg of the journey into London. The Circle line was a different matter – most of the time there was standing room only, but this time Bethan got lucky. She could see a single, solitary seat with nothing but a newspaper sitting on it in the carriage, and she was standing in exactly the right place to be in pole position to get it when the doors opened.

Having been dealing with her commute for a couple of months now, Bethan had mastered the London Underground. She’d perfected the speedy walk that wasn’t quite a run but usually saw her outpace her opponents. However, this time, despite making a determined beeline, she was pipped to the post by a smug youth, who smirked at her while flicking open the paper he’d picked up to make room for himself.

‘Here. Have my seat,’ said a man sitting opposite the teen.

Bethan turned around to see him getting up so she could sit.

‘Thanks,’ she said gratefully, sinking down. She hated standing on the Tube – it always left her exhausted before she’d even got to work.

The man smiled, leaned against the closest pole to him and turned his attention back to the book in his hand. Bethan looked up at the cover, trying to get a good look at the man without seeming as though she was staring. She was sure that she’d recognised his voice from somewhere, and peering at his face she suddenly realised why. That chiseled jaw, the nose that had clearly been broken sometime in the past - but only served to give an extra level of interest to his face - those deep, brown eyes that could look so intense when he wanted them to... There was no mistaking it.

‘Excuse me,’ she confided in him. ‘Weren’t you Hugh in The Way We Laughed?’

The man looked up from his book, grinned and nodded. ‘That’s right. You must have been one of the five people who saw the series. I’m Vincent.’

‘I know,’ Bethan smiled. ‘Vincent Constantine.’

She could barely contain her excitement and did her best to act all nonchalant, as if seeing her favourite actor on the Tube was an everyday occurrence. Bethan was a huge fan of his and once had queued up for hours to go to a special midnight premiere of an indie science-fiction flick he’d starred in, complete with costume. Although Vincent Constantine wasn’t a major TV star, he’d done a lot of off- the-wall comedy series and quirky movies that were just the kind of film she loved. Some critics were even tipping him to be the next Simon Pegg.

A moment later, when Vincent went back to reading his book, she was kicking herself for not thinking of something witty to say to keep the conversation going. She tried not to sigh with disappointment, a million questions whirling around in her head that she’d love to ask but didn’t want to intrude. However, at the next stop, the woman sitting next to Bethan got off and Vincent surprised her by deftly swinging round to take the seat.

‘Let me guess. I’m the last person you expected to meet on the Tube?’ he asked before Bethan could even open her mouth.

She nodded, not sure that she could trust her voice to work properly right now.

‘You’d be surprised at how many actors travel on the Underground. Only last week, there was Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and me all in the same carriage discussing scripts we had been sent. I was telling Tom that he really needed to move away from action movies and go for a romantic comedy, show people that he’s still got it.’

‘Really?’ squeaked Bethan. ‘Did he agree with you? That must have been amazing!’

Vincent laughed. ‘I’m just kidding.’

Bethan blushed, feeling like she was the stupidest person on the planet.

‘This is London,’ Vincent explained simply. ‘People never pay attention to what’s going on around them. Look at them.’ He waved his hand in the direction of the other passengers. ‘All engrossed in their Kindles, Smartphones or iPads. I really could be a Hollywood A-lister and nobody would notice. After all, Keanu Reeves travels on the New York subway all the time and no-one bats an eyelid. I’m hardly in the same league.’

‘You will be one day though,’ said Bethan loyally.

‘Maybe,’ Vincent laughed, making Bethan blush again, ducking her head down so he wouldn’t see.

‘So, what are you reading?’ she asked, desperate to have a conversation with him without turning into a babbling idiot. She was rather proud of the fact that her voice barely wobbled.

‘This?’ Vincent flicked the pages back so that she could read the title. Glow in the Dark. ‘My agent sent it over. It’s supposed to be a cross between Twilight and The Godfather. They’re planning on making a movie of it, so I figured I ought to read the book to get a sense of what happens. They always say the book is better than the film, after all, but all I can say is that this better be an exception.’

‘That bad, huh?’ Bethan sympathised.

Vincent nodded. ‘I’m up for the part of the vampire’s father. I’d be playing a character 10,000 years old. Personally, I’m not convinced. I’ve been told it’s going to be the next big franchise, but I can’t see it myself. I’m only looking at it because my agent begged me to. Reckons it’s going to be the film that makes my name in the States. I’m still not sure that vampires are my thing.’

‘Oh I don’t know,’ Bethan said. ‘It worked for Robert Pattinson and look at Brad Pitt – things really took off for him after he did Interview with the Vampire.’

‘Oh yes, that’s right. Angelina mentioned it…’

Bethan almost believed him, before she realised that Vincent was referring to his earlier joke, and she laughed with him, as the train pulled into her station.

‘This is my stop,’ she told him, really not wanting the conversation to end.

‘Then I shall bid you good morning.’ Vincent took off his hat and nodded at her.

‘You have no idea how great it was meeting you,’ Bethan told him.

‘And you,’ Vincent said. ‘It’s always good to talk to someone who enjoys my work. Makes it all worthwhile, you know?’

‘Absolutely,’ Bethan nodded as if she understood exactly what he meant, although she’d never experienced someone telling her how amazing her filing system was.

She got up and went to stand by the door, ready to get off.

‘What’s your name by the way?’ Vincent asked.

‘Bethan. Bethan Brooks.’

‘Have a good day, Bethan Brooks.’ The smile Vincent treated her to left Bethan feeling as though she was walking on air, and although she was five minutes late for work, she didn’t even notice the black look her boss gave her as she sat down and switched on her computer.

Two

Lee? Lee?’ Bethan put her bag and keys on the hallway table, calling out for her boyfriend as she got home. She hadn’t been able to get through to his mobile all day and was desperate to tell him about meeting Vincent Constantine.

However, it looked as though he was still out with the band, so Bethan had to content herself with updating her Facebook page instead. She was kicking herself for not having asked for a photo of the two of them together. Reading the responses, some of her friends were happy for her, but she was getting tired of explaining who Vincent was when she knew that if they only saw him, they’d recognise him immediately. She couldn’t really have been the only person to see The Way We Laughed and besides, it wasn’t as though it was the only thing Vincent had been in.

In the end, Bethan decided to step away from her computer and stick on a DVD instead.

She put on Tell Me It’s Forever, a film in which Vincent had a small supporting role as the best friend of a guy diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was the first time she’d seen him act and he’d caught her eye even then. There was something so compelling about his performance that had made her want to see more, and he’d soon gone on her list of actors who she would watch no matter what they did - a short list that included Robert Downey Jr, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Brad Dourif.

Bethan fell asleep in front of the TV, and didn’t stir when Lee crept in well after midnight, heading straight to bed without bothering to wake her, fetching a blanket from the cupboard and draping it over her to keep her warm.

On the Tube the next morning, Bethan looked out for Vincent but didn’t see him. She realised it was a long shot to have bumped into him even once – what were the chances of meeting your favourite actor unless you went to a convention? – but she’d still hoped that maybe they could continue their conversation. She even went out and bought a copy of Glow in the Dark during her lunch break so that she would have something to talk about if they ever met each other again.

Bethan kept her eyes open the next day and the day after that, but still no sign of him and she knew she wasn’t going to see him again. That didn’t stop her day-dreaming about it at work though, her imagination taking her off on adventures when she should have been sorting through invoices. In her mind’s eye, she and Vincent met up and he invited her out to coffee. They got on like a house on fire and he invited her back to his apartment, where she met his beautiful wife, television chef Melissa Grey. Melissa made them all a sumptuous dinner and they became great friends, regularly going out with Lee from there onwards.

She was just picturing Lee writing a song about going to the movies with the VIPs. It would be the song that saw The Vampire Squirrels finally make it big and Lee would take Bethan on tour with him, so she could finally give up office work. Of course, she’d have to buy a complete new wardrobe for the occasion. Being the girlfriend of a famous rock star would demand a certain standard when it came to appearances.

Bethan started pondering the best designers for a rock star’s girlfriend to wear to make sure they got onto all the ‘Best Dressed’ pages. Should she go for someone up-and-coming or one of the established big names?

‘Bethan!’ Bethan jumped at the sudden interruption of her reverie. ‘My office. Now.’

Bethan got up and meekly followed Pete Newton into his office. She had a sinking feeling that he had been calling her for a while.

‘Would you like to explain to me why I had to answer my own phone not just once but three times?’ he asked sternly.

‘I’m sorry,’ Bethan said, bracing herself for the reprimand she knew she fully deserved. ‘I was busy.’

‘Busy watching paint dry? I hate to inform you, but the office was decorated many years ago and the décor is well and truly finished.’ Pete’s tone was oozing with sarcasm and Bethan blushed.

‘You can consider this a formal warning,’ he told her. ‘I’ve been watching you recently and the standard of your work has been going considerably downhill – not that it was ever that great to begin with. If you don’t buck up your ideas, well, there are plenty of girls who’d love to have your job.’

‘Yes sir,’ Bethan mumbled, sheepishly slinking back to her desk, looking at how many invoices were left. She was beginning to think that she wasn’t cut out for admin, but it wasn’t as though she was particularly well qualified to do anything else. She sighed and wondered whether she had it in her to make a last-minute effort to impress Pete that day.

She looked up at the clock. Stuff it. There were five minutes left of her contracted hours. There was no point in sticking around, not when she wasn’t paid overtime. She’d skip lunch tomorrow, instead, to get up to date with everything.

Bethan decided to head over to Leicester Square and grab a bite to eat before catching a film, with or without Lee. If she was honest with herself, she preferred going to the movies without him – she didn’t have to compromise to find something Lee was happy to watch, especially since all he seemed to be interested in were explosions and car chases – and she knew a great all-you-can-eat Chinese in one of the back roads where nobody seemed to care if she was there by herself. Dinner was sorted. With all of Lee’s late-night rehearsals, going out without him was becoming an annoyingly frequent occurrence. It was either that or sitting at home by herself, twiddling her thumbs.

She texted her best friend Maria to see if she fancied joining her and moments later had a reply.

Sure. I’ve still got a bit of work to do before I can get out of here. Meet you at the cinema? x

Knowing that she had something lined up for later took a little bit of the edge away from having to eat by herself.

As soon as she walked in, Bethan relaxed, feeling all the stress of work melting away. She was miles away from the stuffy office, and despite his gruff exterior, the grumpy manager always made her feel as though all was right with the world.

She put her bag on a chair to reserve a table, went to grab a plate and helped herself to the buffet. Her mouth was watering already at the thought of their sweet-and-sour pork balls. Bethan didn’t know what they did that made them so amazing, but nowhere else did pork like Yóu Cāntīng.

‘There you go,’ said the man in the queue in front of her, handing her a plate.

‘Thanks.’ Bethan looked up. ‘Oh my goodness,’ she gasped when she realised who she was standing next to. ‘Vincent Constantine!’

‘Bethan Brooks,’ he grinned in return.

‘You remember me?’ Bethan asked, surprised.

‘But of course,’ Vincent replied. ‘It’s not every day you meet someone who saw the least popular BBC3 sitcom of all time.’

Bethan blushed. Had she come across as a foolish fan girl after all? ‘What are you doing here?’ Bethan asked, then kicked herself for asking such a stupid question. Actors needed to eat just like anyone else.

‘I love this place. I eat here all the time when I’m filming in the area,’ Vincent told her. ‘I’m good friends with Cheng, the owner. He’d kill me if I didn’t come at least a couple of times a month.’

The pair began serving themselves from the buffet and Vincent advised Bethan on the best dishes. She didn’t tell him that she already knew what she wanted, enjoying the attention. Although she was usually a creature of habit, she went with some of his recommendations, not wanting to seem ungrateful. Swapping her usual Szechuan-style Tofu for vegetables in black bean sauce, she added special fried rice and a generous portion of chow mein, as well as the sweet-and-sour pork balls she’d been looking forward to.

‘Don’t forget to have some of their lemon chicken,’ Vincent advised. ‘I don’t know what Cheng’s secret ingredient is, but it’s simply divine.’

Although it seemed like a strange combination to have on her plate, the smell wafting up told Bethan that her taste buds were in for a treat. Perhaps it was a good idea to have a change from her usual after all.

As Vincent continued to extol the virtues of each of his choices, Bethan could barely focus on what he was saying. She was having trouble wrapping her brain around the fact that Vincent Constantine – the Vincent Constantine – was having dinner in the same restaurant as her. How strange to think that he was apparently a regular at one of her favourite places, yet it had taken all this time for them to meet here.

‘Why don’t you sit with me?’ Vincent suggested when they’d chosen everything they wanted.

‘Are you sure?’ Bethan asked. ‘I don’t want to intrude.’

‘Intrude on what? I’m here by myself and I could do with the company.’

‘Well, in that case, let me just grab my bag.’

Bethan went back, got her things and joined Vincent in a quiet spot at the back of the restaurant.

‘So, how’s it going with Glow in the Dark?’ she asked.

Vincent rolled his eyes. ‘I can’t imagine why anyone would want to read that drivel for fun. Vampires with eyes that glow in the dark? How stupid can you get? Vampires are meant to be scary creatures, the stuff of nightmares, not these benevolent guardians of the human race the author seems to think they should be. Still, much as I hate to admit it, my agent’s right. It definitely has the potential to be the next big thing. I can see how it would appeal to teenage girls and I’d be foolish to pass on the opportunity.’

‘Didn’t you say you were going to be the father, though? Winter’s a great character,’ Bethan pointed out. ‘He’s what made the story as far as I’m concerned.’

‘So you have read the book then?’ Vincent said. ‘I’d have credited you with better taste than that.’

Bethan blushed, trying not to act as though she was just some dumb, obsessed fan, even though that was exactly what she felt like. ‘I was just curious to see if it was as bad as you said. I didn’t think it was and I meant it when I said that Winter is really cool. He’s got a lot more depth than Alerick, his son. In fact, I think Winter’s the most interesting character in the book. If the filmmakers have got any sense, they’ll give him more attention on screen, even though Alerick’s meant to be the protagonist.’

‘You’re just saying that to make me feel better,’ Vincent laughed.

‘No, I’m really not,’ Bethan assured him. ‘Look at it. This guy is 10,000 years old. He’s seen it all. His son is a relative baby and hasn’t grown out of the hot-tempered phase.