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about the dinner, she realised that they hadn’t yet talked about what they were going to wear. A lot would obviously
     depend on how much of an effort everybody else was going to make and there would be no way of knowing that until they all
     turned up. She guessed that Angie would dress up a bit. That she would badger Barry into doing the same. Ed wouldn’t need
     much encouragement to wear something flash, while Sue was one of those people who put a lot of effort into looking like she’d
     made no effort whatsoever. It was a tricky one, all things considered, but she and Dave usually worked this sort of thing
     out between them.
    Well, Dave asked and she told him.
    Another smile, before she picked up her bag and turned off the light.
    In the small auditorium, Philip was leaning against the stage talking to Trish, which annoyed Marina because hadn’t Trish
     told her that she was leaving? She’d suggested as much, anyway, when clearly she had just been waiting for the right moment
     to get Philip on his own.
    Trish raised a finger. Only be a minute. Marina smiled and raised her hands, like it didn’t matter.
    She walked across to the window and, once it was clear that she could not hear what Trish and Philip were talking about, she
     thought about the best way of putting things, when she got her turn. They wereworking towards an end-of-term show, something that Philip had been piecing together through their weekly improvisations.
     Now, it was only six weeks away. There probably weren’t even going to be any ‘leads’, not as such, and it was only a couple
     of lunchtime performances for friends and family, but still you never knew who might be sitting out there and it couldn’t
     hurt to give yourself the best chance to shine, could it?
    ‘You should push yourself forward a bit more,’ Dave had said. Was
always
saying. ‘It’s not being pushy, not when you know you’re the best.’
    I just wanted to make sure I was heading along the right lines. I just thought I’d ask if there was anything else you were
     looking for. Anything I’m doing wrong
…
    She turned when she recognised the rhythms of a conversation being wound up, and moved slowly towards the stage. She nodded
     to Trish as they passed one another. Philip was putting his notes into a satchel.
    He looked up and shook his head. ‘I’m so sorry, Marina, but now I’m
really
late.’ He slung the satchel over his shoulder. ‘Can this wait until next week?’
    She nodded quickly and said, ‘Yes, of course.’
    ‘Sure?’
    ‘Absolutely. It’s not a big deal.’
    ‘Great, bless you.’ He moved past her then turned, walking backwards towards the doors. ‘Listen, good stuff today, all right?’
    ‘Really?’ God, this was exactly what she needed to hear. ‘Is there anything I can do to improve—?’
    But Philip was already saying ‘next week’ and pushing out through the doors.
    Marina stood there and listened to the squeak of his footsteps as he walked away, towards the front entrance of the theatre.
     After a few minutes she could hear voices in the foyer. There was some kind of dance and fitness group for the over-fifties
     that took over the space fifteen minutes after the acting class finished.
    She looked at her watch.
    She walked back to the dressing room, where the first of the middle-aged dancers had already begun to change. One of them
     asked her if she was all right.
    She pulled a chair close to the mirror and took out her make-up.
    By now, Dave would almost certainly be waiting for her outside, but she did not want him to see that she had been crying.
    Dave Cullen kept trying, but he had begun to doubt that he would ever learn to enjoy espresso. It was way too strong for him
     and it was only two mouthfuls, for heaven’s sake, but he persevered because he understood that those who drank it were far
     more sophisticated than those who didn’t. More grown-up. His friend Kevin always ordered one after lunch at the Italian