Melody 5 - Rising Stars

4 (ii) - Molly

Molly

Molly had never had champagne at lunchtime before. Scratch that. She'd never even had champagne before! Sure, she'd had fizzy stuff like Prosecco or Cava on special occasions like New Years Eve or her and Georgia's 18th Birthday - but she'd never had actual champagne. And here was Sherri Holt ordering it like it was 7Up.

"Another bottle of Laurent-Perrier," Sherri told the waiter.

"Of course madame," he replied, in a deep French accent.

"He's lovely," giggled Rhian, knocking back the remnants of her glass. "I wouldn't have minded school French lessons half so much, if he'd been our teacher."

Everyone laughed and the waiter gave an amused smile.

"And a bottle of sparkling water for our Welsh petite amié over there," said Sherri, raising an eyebrow in Rhian's direction.

"Of course," replied the waiter with a knowing smile.

"Don't get too used to all this just yet," said Sherri, looking around the packed celebrity hang-out. "But as it's your first day, I wanted to treat you all."

"I've always wanted to come here," said Amy. "But it's been a bit out of my league."

Molly figured 'Hollands' would be out of all of the girls' leagues. After all, it was a Michelin starred restaurant that only the rich and famous could afford to frequent, although Molly supposed Sherri got a free pass given that she was married to its owner and head-chef - the gorgeous TV chef, James Holland.

"Well, if you hit the big-time, then you'll be able to come here whenever you want," smiled Derren.

"I've been before," said Olivia. "A couple of times actually."

Molly couldn't fail to notice the daggers that Amy threw in Olivia's general direction, although Olivia was oblivious. Molly had to admit that Olivia seemed a tad annoying, but maybe she was just coming over like that because she was nervous. Molly knew that she certainly was. Although the rest of the girls seemed nice, Molly still couldn't get over the fact that she was actually here.

She'd gone home after the auditions determined to put the whole business behind her and get on with teaching at the Dance Academy - but it seemed that everyone else had other ideas. When she'd told her mum and dad what had happened at the audition, they'd immediately said that she should go for it, and that given time, Georgia would understand. Her boyfriend Josh had also said the same thing - he thought she was crazy to let an opportunity like that slip through her fingers. And her boss at the dance school, Sally, had actually said she'd sack her if she didn't demand to see Sherri Holt again! She said she'd seen hundreds of performers over the years and that only a handful had what it took to make it in this business - and Molly was one of them. She just needed to realise it!

"But what about Georgia?" Molly had pleaded.

"She might not like it at first," said Sally. "But she loves you, she'll understand. Besides, your mum will smooth things over for you."

"I don't think it will be that easy," sighed Molly.

"Well, don't think you're coming back to work here, until you contact Sherri Holt and say you've changed your mind."

"You can't sack me!" said Molly, outraged.

"I can when it's for your own good," insisted Sally. "I want the next time you come back here to be when you're gracing us with your presence as the famous pop star - Molly Butterick!"

Molly giggled. "Give over!"

"I'm serious! You can do the grand opening of a new classroom or buy us a couple of new tutus," laughed Sally.