‘In the Times!’ Olivia yelped. ‘I was just reading the film section!’
But he was already laughing, his blue eyes bright with amusement. ‘Don’t worry! I get it. I would have read articles about you, too.’
Olivia blinked. ‘You would have?’
‘Of course.’ He shrugged, as if it were obvious. ‘Anyway, I shouldn’t be teasing you like this.’ His gaze dropped to his plate. ‘Especially not now. See, I’ve got something very important and a little . . .’ He gave an awkward laugh. ‘. . . well, it’s a little embarrassing, to tell the truth. But I really want to talk to you about it.’
‘OK . . .’ Olivia felt a flutter of nervousness clutch at her throat. She could sense the waiters trying not to listen.
Was Jackson really about to talk about . . . them? As a couple? If he wanted to re-open that chapter of their lives . . .
Her breathing stopped as Jackson reached across the table and took her right hand. His fingers felt warm and strong and achingly familiar.
‘Olivia,’ he said. His voice throbbed with emotion. ‘I really, really need . . .’ He hesitated, looking anguished.
‘Yes?’ Olivia’s voice came out as a squeak. Her left hand was clutched so tightly around her napkin, it would have shredded if it hadn’t been made of cloth.
‘. . . your help,’ he finished in a rush. Then he let out a whoosh of breath and rolled out his shoulders. ‘Whew.’ He gave her a lopsided grin. ‘It was hard to get that out!’
Olivia just stared at him, her mouth hanging open. Outside, the sights of London swung past, exotic and beautiful, and having no effect on her because, inside, she felt numb. ‘What are you talking about?’ she asked faintly.
‘It’s the role. I mean, roles.’ Grimacing, Jackson sat back. ‘For our London scenes, I have to do English accents for the brothers.’
‘Yeah . . .?’ Her head was still whirling with reaction as she drew her hand away from his.
He didn’t seem to notice. ‘Well, one of the brothers is “posh” – upper-class English. I can do that, no problem! But the other brother . . .’ Jackson sighed. ‘He’s a “Cockney”, a real working-class Londoner, and I just can’t get that accent right.’
‘And you think I can?’ Olivia shook her head, almost laughing. ‘Jackson, look at me. I’ve never even been to England before!’
‘But you’re awesome at voices, though,’ Jackson said. ‘Your robot voice in Camilla’s sci-fi version of Romeo and Juliet was amazing!’
It was amazing, Olivia thought wistfully. But she wasn’t thinking of the strange voice Camilla had made her put on. She was thinking of that opening night performance, when Jackson as Romeo had given her a very first kiss . . .
Focus! She jerked herself out of the memory and found Jackson looking at her expectantly:
‘So, can you help me?’
‘Well . . .’ Was it really a good idea to spend so much one-on-one time with Jackson, when her feelings were so confused? Olivia hesitated. ‘Don’t you have a voice coach?’
‘Of course.’ Jackson made a face. ‘Unfortunately, we don’t really see eye-to-eye.’
‘Hmm.’ Just think of it as work! Olivia told herself firmly. She sat up straighter, trying to look professional and confident, and scooped up a strawberry from the bowl of fruit. ‘All right, then. Why don’t you try a Cockney voice for me now?’ She smiled brightly and popped the strawberry into her mouth. ‘How bad can it be?’
‘OK.’ Jackson took a deep breath. ‘Awight, gawvanah – there’s sumwan arskin’ for ya on the doggonbone.’
‘Um . . .’ Olivia’s eyes widened as she almost choked on the fruit. She noticed one of the waiters raise his eyebrows to the other. ‘OK. I have to admit, I have no idea if that was a good accent or not. But I’m pretty sure that whatever you just said, it wasn’t in English!’
Jackson grinned, visibly relaxing. ‘It’s pretty different, anyway. But I really need to practise without my vocal coach glaring at me the whole time. So . . .’ He looked at her hopefully. ‘What do you think? Will you help me? I don’t want the whole of England laughing at me when I open my mouth on-screen!’
Olivia pressed her lips together, forcing herself to stop and think it through before she answered. What would Ivy say, if she were here?
OK, I think I know the answer to that one. Fiercely protective Ivy would not let Olivia put herself in a situation where she could be hurt again.
But on the other hand . . . Olivia wanted the movie to be good, didn’t she? And she didn’t want anyone laughing at Jackson. He may not have been her boyfriend any more, but that didn’t mean she’d stopped caring about his feelings. And if helping him out meant spending lots of time together . . .
That’s what I want, she realised. Whether it’s sensible or not! She’d been so nervous about seeing Jackson again, but the last hour had actually been wonderful. When they’d broken up, her only hope was that they would manage to be civil, but this had been way more than civil. Olivia had almost forgotten just how much fun it was to be with him!
And what is Ivy going to say about that? She smiled ruefully, imagining her twin’s reaction.
‘OK,’ she said to Jackson. ‘I’ll do it.’
‘Yes!’ He pumped one fist in victory. ‘Thank you so much. You’re really saving me!’
Olivia laughed and picked up another strawberry. ‘I don’t know about that, but I do have an idea. You want to get your accent right, don’t you?’