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Chapter 13

Frank was waiting for us in the car park when our taxi drew up only a few minutes late. He too was looking very smart in an evening suit. I paid the driver and presented him with a signed photograph, as instructed by Amy before joining the others. We then exchanged our clutch bags.

Frank was too much of a gentleman to say anything in front of Amy, but I could see from his expression just how surprised and impressed he was by the way I looked.

‘I understand it’s your birthday today, young lady, may I offer my congratulations.’

I thanked him and blushed in a very lady-like manner. Amy looked on and smiled.

The waiter took our shawls, showed us to our table and helped Amy and me to our seats. I smiled and murmured my thanks, unused to such attention, but enjoyed it, nonetheless. I couldn’t help but notice occasional glances by other diners towards our table and guessed that they were recognizing Amy and perhaps, Frank as well. They seemed oblivious to the glances, which I assumed must come with being famous. As soon as we were settled the waiter passed round the menus, with Frank making small talk whilst we selected our dishes. At last we’d placed our orders and the waiter disappeared. We moved on to discussing the progress of the film and I decided that it would be best for me to listen and leave most of the conversation to my companions. After a few minutes Amy became bored with this conversation.

‘So what did you want to see us about, Frank?’ Amy asked.

‘First of all, I want to thank you both for everything you’ve done over the last fortnight. We’re back on schedule, which has saved us money, despite the added cost of employing Nicola here at short notice. We will also now have a much more memorable hunt scene thanks to her riding skills.’

I blushed and averted my gaze.

‘I’m just relieved that I wasn’t expected to gallop on that damned horse. I’ll be checking the wording of my contracts much more carefully, next time,’ Amy replied.

‘We’ll also make sure that the cast are fully aware of the implications of what we are expecting of them,’ he replied.

It was now time for Amy to blush a little and she did not seek to respond, so Frank continued this time seeming to address us both.

‘As you both know, we’ve also found it useful to have Nicola available as a stand-in at other times. In fact, Les Worth has asked whether we might continue the present arrangement when we shoot the remaining interior scenes at Hatfield in a fortnight’s time. Would you be available to work for fifteen day’s from the third of July onwards, Nicola?’

Nobody had discussed the possibility of any work during the last remaining location shoot before filming was finished.

‘I guess so, I’ve no other work commitments. But would that be alright with you Amy?’

‘I’ll say! It’s been fun having you around. You can continue to stay with me in my caravan if you like.’

‘When does your existing contract finish?’ he asked.

‘Tomorrow! I have an appointment with the costume department to turn me back into Nick.’

‘We’d pay you the usual Screen Actors Guild rates for stand-ins, but this time we’ll expect you to be available on set and ready in costume whenever you are needed.’

‘It’ll be more corsets and crinolines next time, I’m afraid, Nikki,’ said Amy with a smile.

‘We won’t always need you when we are dressing the set, but you must be ready to get changed into costume at short notice. Sue Evans has arranged to provide duplicates of Amy’s costumes so that, if necessary, you can both be on set at the same time,’ continued Frank.

‘I understand.’

‘So is it a deal?’

I was on the point of agreeing to these terms, but before I could do so, the waiter returned and started pouring our drinks. As soon as he was gone Amy butted in.

‘Since Nikki is going to be spending two more weeks in girl mode, she’s going to need some more clothes to wear when she isn’t filming.’

‘How have you managed over the last fortnight?’ Frank asked me.

‘Amy has been very kind and has either bought a few things for me to wear or else loaned me some of her own clothes including the dress I’m wearing tonight.’

‘Yes, I’d noticed; I must say you look very good in it,’ he replied, smiling.

‘Thank you,’ I said blushing slightly. 'I’m also currently borrowing a contemporary dress and a pair of shoes from the Costume Department.’

‘I’ll talk to Sue Evans in the morning to see if she can loan you some other modern clothes to wear when you aren’t filming.

‘Don’t be so mean, Frank, you’ve already said that employing Nikki has saved you money,’ said Amy.

‘So you’re acting as her agent now?’

‘Well she will need somebody to stand up for her interests.’

Frank sighed.

‘Alright I’ll throw in a clothing allowance of £100 for each week that she’s actually filming.’

‘So that’s £200 for the two weeks she’s just finished and another £200 for the July filming,’ said Amy.

‘Your agent here strikes a very hard bargain,’ said Frank to me, ‘but, alright I’ll agree.’

Amy looked across at me and nodded.

‘In that case I accept,’ I said.

‘Good. I’ll send Joan to see you tomorrow morning to sort out the details of your new contract and I’ll see you both again on location in Hatfield on Saturday fortnight.’

‘That should give us plenty of opportunity to go out and get you some more clothes,’ commented Amy to me.

Our dishes arrived before I had the chance to reply. It appeared that my minor role in the movies had been judged a success and was set to continue in a fortnight's time. I wondered whether Amy had played a part in the decision to keep me on, although she had professed ignorance of the fact. On the other hand, I don’t think Frank would have agreed to the proposal unless he felt I would be able to contribute to the success of the production.

Once the main business of the evening had been decided, we settled down to an enjoyable meal together. No further reference was made to the current film or to my background. Frank was good company and had plenty of interesting stories to tell about other projects that he’d worked on, and the stars with whom he’d worked. I got the impression that he was enjoying his evening. As a middle-aged man he seemed to be relishing the kudos of entertaining two attractive young ladies. Once we had finished the main course and were waiting for the dessert Amy got up and excused herself to go to the ‘Ladies’.

‘So how have you found sharing a caravan with our starlet?’ asked Frank.

‘Amy’s been very good to me, but as you’ve just seen, she can be a little bit bossy at times,’ I replied.

He smiled.

‘Yes, I've noticed that, but from what I’ve seen you’ve had an enjoyable time working with us over the last fortnight?’

‘Oh yes! I’ve had a wonderful time.’

‘I suspected as much, and I meant what I said about how much we appreciated your stepping in to save the day.’

‘I'm glad to have been able to help,’ I said looking down at the table and noticing my lovely manicured nails and wondering whether I dared to ask about possible openings for Nicola in the longer term. But this was not the time to ask. I now had the offer of two more weeks work so it might be better to wait until that was done.

‘One other thing, Nicola,’ Frank added.

I looked up.

‘Keep practicing your girly voice and female mannerisms. You never know but they may come in handy to you sometime.’

I smiled and blushed a little in response.

As Amy was about to return to the table she was approached by a young woman and spent a few moments talking to her, at one point looking over towards our table. Then she returned, chuckling to herself.

‘What’s the joke?’ asked Frank.

‘That girl asked me whether it was Amy O’Donnell sitting at our table, as she’d heard that she was filming locally. She said she wasn’t sure but she thought she recognised the dress you were wearing, Nikki. She must have assumed that I was your personal assistant.’

‘So what did you say to her?’ I asked.

‘I confirmed that it was Amy O’Donnell and the famous film director Frank Wilson.

‘I don’t see how she could have made that mistake since your face is so well known.’

As I explained to you last week, hair and makeup can make all the difference. The fact that she mistook you for me shows that it was a good idea to employ you as my stand-in.’

Frank smiled and I blushed. Amy continued with a wicked grin on her face, addressing me.

‘I advised her not to interrupt you while you were having your meal but suggested that if she waited until we were leaving I felt sure that you’d be happy to sign an autograph for her.

‘I can’t pretend to be you and sign your autographs,’ I said.

‘I don’t see why not, you have signed loads of them for me over the last few days. Also, you now know enough about me and what I’ve been doing recently to be able to say a few words to her.’

Amy extracted a small pile of publicity photographs from her handbag.

‘Here, take these, and let’s see how you get on as my stand-in in real life. After all, that’s what you are being employed to do.’

‘I thought I was excused duties tonight, althoughI suppose it will be an opportunity to practice my girly voice,’ I said to Frank.

He smiled.

As we left the restaurant half an hour later I was approached by a small group of excited youngsters, whilst Amy and Frank looked on as amused spectators. I did my best to play the part of a starlet, although apologising for what I described as a small dose of laryngitis to explain why my voice sounded different. Eventually the group went away satisfied, several of them with signed photographs.

‘You really dropped me in it there,’ I commented to Amy as Frank went to collect his car to take us back to the set.

‘I know. That’ll teach you not to look more glamorous than I do when we go out together.’

She noticed that I was looking embarrassed.

‘I was only joking,' she said with a chuckle. 'But you do look so lovely, that I’ve been feeling quite envious of you all evening.’

Frank drove us back to Amy’s caravan and gallantly helped us both out of the car.

‘Thanks for the meal tonight, I’ve had a wonderful time,’ I said.
He smiled and bowed to us both before making his way to his hotel.

‘I don’t feel like putting an end to the evening yet, would you like a nightcap?’ asked Amy.

‘Alright then.’

She poured us two glasses of wine.’

‘So, Nikki you seemed to have enjoyed your birthday?’

‘Yes, of course, and I am just sorry you had so little time to get ready.’

‘Don’t worry, I’m pleased you have had the opportunity to experience what it is like to go out for the evening looking so good.’

I didn’t respond for a moment or two, not knowing what to say, but then thought it best to change the subject.

‘Amy do you think I have a female voice?’ I asked.

She seemed a little surprised by my question.

‘Your voice was perfectly acceptable this evening as you were clearly making an effort although it can sometimes sound a little low pitched for a girl. I’m not saying you sound like a guy but you could make it sound more like a girl, with practice, if you wanted to. There are no end of voice training videos on You Tube.’

‘What about by gestures and mannerisms?’

‘I think you’re gradually getting there. I was quite impressed with the way you handled those fans earlier this evening and I don’t think the crew would have wanted to employ you as a stand-in me at the next shoot unless you were fairly convincing. But why do you ask?’

‘Frank suggested that I should practice them both and that the skills might come in useful sometime.’

‘I can see that I’ll have to watch out for my job, if I’m not careful,’ she said with a smile.

I looked down at the floor, blushing slightly.

‘I was just wondering if there might be any longer-term opportunities for me to work as a stand-in.’

‘As a girl?’

‘I don’t really have the physique to stand-in as a guy.’

‘That’ll be up to Frank to decide but I think that you have played your part splendidly over the last fortnight, much better than any of us could have imagined.’

‘Thank you for all your help and encouragement also for this evening. It was the last thing I ever dreamed of doing on my birthday, but somehow it seemed so right’

Amy got up and kissed me on the cheek.

‘You are most welcome. I shall look forward to helping you to resurrect Nicola in a fortnight’s time. We’ll need to make a list of the additional clothes you are going to need and spend some of the allowance that I negotiated for you. Are you willing to let me go and buy them for you or can we arrange to meet up to go shopping? At least this time we won’t need to avoid pretty, feminine, things,’ she said.

‘You always seem to want me to wear girly clothes when I am not on set’

‘Don’t struggle against your inner self. It’s been obvious to everyone that you’ve been enjoying yourself as Nicola over this last fortnight and you looked so beautiful this evening, so it is time you accepted the fact.’

'In that case I’d better leave the shopping to you as it will be embarrassing for me to go shopping for pretty feminine things dressed as Nick'.

‘You won’t be able to try them on unless we resurrected Nicola for the day.

‘What would I do about my hair?’

‘I could lend you a wig for a day. Just let me know when you’re likely to be free over the next fortnight for us to do some shopping?'

'I'm not sure what I'll be doing after tomorrow, I’ll have to find myself somewhere to stay until we begin filming at Hatfield once again. But at least I’ll have some savings to pay the rent on a hostel.’

‘I assumed that you would be staying with your mother?’

‘No, my mother lives in Manchester and I don’t get on with her latest boyfriend. The last time I was there we had a row which is going to take some time for both of us to forget. I would prefer to find a hostel to stay in the London area, even though it will be more expensive for me than returning home.’

‘Have you considered remaining as Nicola until we start filming again?’

I smiled.

‘It is a nice idea, but I don’t think I would be confident enough to live as a girl on my own. Someone would be bound to find out.’

‘In that case why don’t you come and stay in the spare room of my London flat for the next fortnight. Then we could go out shopping together for some clothes. It’ll would give you the opportunity for some more practice talking and acting like a girl, as Frank suggested. I won’t always be there to keep you company, but you would be no worse off than living in a hostel.’

‘But I’ve an appointment tomorrow morning with Sue and her staff who are going to turn me back into a guy.’

‘You’ll just have to explain to her that your plans have changed and that you will be staying as you are for the next few weeks. I’m sure she isn’t going to object.’

Amy sound increasingly enthusiastic about her idea. Her offer would certainly save me a lot of trouble and expense, even if it did involve my remaining as Nicola. On the other hand, I could not but remember Sue Evans’ warning about not letting her get me into trouble, or the information I’d learned from Guy Lemon confirmed by what I’d found in her jewellery drawer. But would I have the courage to confront her about it.?

‘That’s very kind of you, Amy, but ..’ I began to answer hesitantly.

‘But what? We get on well together, don’t we?’

‘Yes, I suppose we do.’

‘And you’re now quite used to living in girl mode whenever I’m around.’

‘Yes, but you've already been very good to me, and I would feel that I was imposing on your hospitality.'

'No you wouldn’t. It’s just my way of thanking you for getting me out of riding that horse.'

I thought for a while about the implications of her offer until she began to lose patience.

'Well, what are you going to do? Nikki.'

‘I suppose there could be advantages if I didn’t have to go through changes of gender tomorrow morning and again in a fortnight’s time,’ I said tentatively.

‘My thoughts exactly.’

‘Can I think about your offer overnight and let you know first thing tomorrow morning?’

‘Alright, if you really need to do so, but remember my offer is being made to Nicola and that is not subject to negotiation. ' Nick’s clothes can stay where they are in the locker. You aren’t going to need them again until after we’ve finished filming. I couldn't afford the publicity of having a young man staying with me who was not my boyfriend and in any event, it’s Nicola who is my friend.’

‘I understand, that’s what I need to think carefully about.’

 

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Next week: My last day on set

I will try and get back to the normal Friday morning (UK time) postings. Thanks for the comments and corrections everyone. Feel free to keep them coming.
Louise