Chapter 7

Adam drove Chloë to a takeaway not far off the campus and she bought four fish suppers which they took back to Adam’s flat and ate at out of the paper wrappers at the kitchen table. While they ate, the four students exchanged stories. Adam was pleased to see Chloë gradually relax. At first, she didn’t offer any stories of her own but had plenty to say about the other’s exploits. Her movie-star smile graced them with its presence. Her eyes were no longer puffy but shone and twinkled. She looked happy.

“It must be weird being famous and having people recognise you all the time and stuff,” said Cassie before shovelling some more chips into her mouth.

Chloë swallowed her mouthful of fish and waved her fork in the air. “You know, until the past few days I never really thought about it. I mean, it’s like, I’ve never known any different, until now, so it’s always felt ... I don’t know ... normal, I suppose.” She stabbed a large chip and ate it.

“How old were you when you started acting?” Adam asked.

She chuckled. “I can’t even remember my first job, but I’ve seen the result. At least, my mom tells me that it’s me. I must have been about nine months old or so.”

“What was it?”

“A television ad for washing powder—you know, one of those that is kind to baby’s skin or whatever. I don’t even know if they still make it. I think the company was sold to one of the big multi-nationals. Anyway, after that, I did catalogue modelling and more adverts and finally got a regular role on a show when I was six. Do you remember the soap Neighbourhood?”

“Remember it?” said Eddie with a snort. “It’s notorious. Worst soap in television history. Good God, it was awful. Terrible plots, worse scripts. Really low budget stuff. You could even see the walls of the sets move when people walked past. And the acting ... Don’t even get me started.” He paused then said, “Shit, you weren’t in it were you?”

She nodded. “For four years. I was in it right up until it was cancelled.”

Eddie looked contrite. “Sorry. I’m sure your acting was all right.”

“I was only ten when I left—how good could I have been? Good enough I suppose because I landed a role in Spy Squad of the back of it.”

“That was my favourite show when I was a kid!” said Adam. “The gadgets those spy kids had were so cool. I mean not by today’s standards, but ten years ago they were cool. I didn’t know you were in that.”

“You couldn’t have been,” said Eddie. “You’d have only been, what, nine or ten or something? All those spies were teenagers. Fourteen, fifteen and sixteen.”

Chloë nodded. “I was nine when I started—just part-time while still in Neighbourhood. I was playing Bobby’s kid sister, Lauren.”

Eddie, Adam and Cassie all went “Ahhh”, as they realised which character Chloë had played. “She wasn’t in it very much until she became a spy herself after a couple of years,” said Eddie. “She was, like, the youngest ever spy in the squad or something, wasn’t she? I didn’t know that was you. But didn’t she get killed off soon after she turned spy?”

“Yep,” said Chloë. “I got a part in Centenary Close and couldn’t commit any time to the show, so they either had to replace me or kill the character off.”

“Now,” said Adam, “I remember you in Centenary Close. That was the best soap on telly at the time. But you were only in it for a couple of years.”

Chloë nodded. “I left to start working on movies instead. I was fifteen when I made Until Midnight and I guess you could say I haven’t looked back since.”

“So what’s happening with the movie career while you’re in Westmouth?” asked Eddie. “Is it on hold or what?”

“It’s sort of on hold.”

“Sort of?” asked Cassie.

“Yeah. I finished shooting a new film just over a month ago. I think they’re planning to bring it out before Christmas so that it qualifies for the Oscars. I’ll probably have to do some publicity for it, but mine is more of a supporting role so I can get away with the bare minimum.”

“What’s it called?” asked Cassie.

“Reunion.”

“I’ve heard of that,” said Eddie. “It’s supposed to be the next Brit-Flick to conquer the States.”

Chloë nodded. “So they say. Who they are, I don’t know. Studio execs or critics I expect. It’s a story in two halves except that the second half is twice as long as the first if that makes sense.”

“So it’s a story of three thirds?” said Eddie, ever the mathematician.

“Shut up, Eddie,” said Cassie.

“It’s about the relationship between two people when they were at school and then again twenty-five years later when they meet at a reunion.” Chloë sounded very enthusiastic. “I play the female lead, Kelly, when she was at school. It’s a good part, one of the best I’ve ever had. Really meaty. She’s a strong character.”

“You always seem to play strong women.”

“I guess I’ve been lucky because there aren’t that many strong female parts about. Normally they’re bimbos or damsels in distress. But Kelly’s different. There’s this flashback sequence in the second half of the film which is one of the best scenes I’ve ever done. I’d tell you about it but I don’t want to spoil it for you if you go and see the film. I’m opposite Tom Walker. He was really cool to work with. I even got to do my first proper on-screen love scene. But the real stars are Mark Watson and Lisa Mitchell.”