'Well, he's hardly our age is he?' Commented Edward with a dismissive grin.
'Well he can play the part so why not?' Argued Serena. She knew what he was thinking. Despite the age gap, Raf was her good friend so of course he would play alongside her in Holby village's amateur dramatic society's production of the sound of music. Truth be told, Serena didn't think she could stand being up on stage with Edward pretending to be his Baroness fiancée. Pretending to be in love with him. She'd been there done that a lifetime ago and she'd had no wish to go back there. Biggest mistake of her life.
'I can make him look more mature' cut in Bernie, the village hairdresser. She was a dab hand at makeup too and had been recruited as part of the wardrobe team despite her no fuss look. She spent so much time doing other people's hair that she had no patience for her messy mop and makeup was for other people.
'Ok fine, let's do that. If Ric wants to mess around with the sound team instead, there's no reason why Raf can't take his place.'
Edward shrugged. 'Alright my dear if that's what you want.'
Serena flashed him a look of pure loathing. She hated it when he did that. Bernie wondered why she'd ever thought they had been happily married. She was the village's latest arrival, opening up a hair salon to the grateful hordes of Holby's desperately unstyled population who were forced to trek to another village for it. She was new, she had a lot to learn. She also hated confrontation and to be stuck around these two made her inch slowly towards the door. This time she stayed put, willing to argue for Raf and her modest makeup skills. An angry Serena did not equal a happy atmosphere. Her ex-husband knew how to wind her up and how Bernie wished he'd leave the village. She'd never had a problem personally with him (too old for him) but she saw the kind of letch he was around the young women and it made her skin crawl. No wonder Serena despised him. Their marriage must have hit the rocks pretty early.
The team decided on Raf playing the part of Max Detweiler. Edward conceded as he really didn't care, it was a secondary character and unlikely to take away from his central role as Captain von Trapp. Ric was in the running to play the role but with his personal history mocking him, he decided against it. His ex-wife Lola was recruited for the show and stayed there, the best choice for Mother Superior. She was a fabulous singer with a voice that could boom around a building, echo in your heart and steal your soul. Not many of those around Holby village. Serena herself was an accomplished singer but she acknowledged that she didn't have the same power. The Baroness was the only role available to her after Lola's spectacular takeover but she didn't mind. She had two duets with Raf and quite liked the role. Just not playing alongside Edward for it.