Melody 5 - Rising Stars

3 (ii) - Amy

--- AMY ---

It was early in the evening and Max’s Bar in Soho was pretty quiet, which was not good.  Not good at all.  It meant Amy had too much time to think about her humiliating audition.  Fortunately she only had to endure ten more minutes and then her shift would be over.

As she absent-mindedly tidied up some glasses, Amy didn’t know why she felt so bad, as she’d done a damn good performance.  Maybe it was because Derren McKenzie had been there.  Or maybe it was because this time next month, she’d be celebrating her 21st birthday.  Amy had always told herself that if she hadn’t ‘made it’ by the time she was 21, then she’d jack in show business, but she’d always blithely assumed that she would have ‘made it’ by then.  Yet here she was, still doing bar work, making just enough to pay the rent.

Amy had moved up to London when was 16, her head filled with dreams of fame and fortune, but her dad hadn’t been happy about it.  Since she’d been little, all of her teachers had said that Amy was University Material.  No one in his family, or her mum’s, had been to Uni, so Maurice Anderson was as proud as punch that his daughter would be going.  It meant all his hard work had paid off.  He’d pulled himself up by the bootstraps, as he called it, and made it all the way from a cheeky East End market trader to the MD of his own firm.  Carpet Magic! – The best carpet and soft-furnishing retailer in the South East. (That was the slogan!) 

By the age of 40 Maurice Anderson was a self-made millionaire, but all that cash didn’t give him and wife Christine, the one thing they really wanted – a child.  So after years of trying for their own, they were finally blessed to adopt baby Amy.

Growing up, Amy knew she was the most adored little girl in the world.  Anything she ever wanted, they gladly gave her – a pony, dance lessons, even a ride in a hot air balloon for her 7th birthday.  But her dad had given her more than material things – he’d instilled in her, a strong work ethic and a cast-iron belief that she could do anything she set her mind to.  Unfortunately Maurice had thought she’d set her mind to being a lawyer or a doctor.  Or better still, the next MD of Carpet Magic!  But the only interest Amy had in soft furnishings was when she was snuggled under her duvet watching Dirty Dancing for the millionth time.

Despite his reservations about her career choice, her dad always said he’d help her out with money if she ever needed it; but Amy had always steadfastly refused to ask for a single penny.  To her, any request for money, no matter how small, meant that she’d failed.  So instead she poured all her talent and energy into succeeding as a popstar.  She’d even got close a couple of times.  Really close.  But just when it looked like success and a megabucks record deal were only a heartbeat away, something would make it all come crashing down.  And after today, it looked as though the same thing had happened to her again!

“Hey gorgeous,” said Derren, with his usual laconic grin, as he sauntered towards the bar.

Derren McKenzie?  What was he doing here?  Damn, he was sexy, but that wasn’t the point!  Why couldn’t he have come in five minutes later?  Then she’d have been out of there – heading home to a chilled glass of Chardonnay and a pity-party for one.

“I was worried you wouldn’t be here,” he said.

“You just caught me,” said Amy, smoothing down her glossy locks.  “I finish in five.”

“Great.  We can go for a drink.  Or something else,” he said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Amy rolled her eyes.  Did he really think she was that easy?

“I meant some food,” he added quickly, but still with a cheeky grin.  “Although we could always skip dessert…”

Normally Amy would have enjoyed Derren’s playful banter.  In fact, she’d have positively encouraged it, but she wasn’t in the mood tonight.