Blessed be the Willow

"The oak fought the wind and was broken; the willow bent when it must and survived." – Robert Jordan

"Drama queen," Katie Bell muttered under her breath, watching the actors pace around on stage disdainfully. She was lounging back in the double bass section of the deserted orchestra pit, her feet kicked up on the chair in front and her arms crossed over her chest as the actors on stage ran through their lines to the empty theatre.

There was a snort beside her and she glimpsed her father Simon on the chair beside her, shovelling popcorn into his mouth, barely even trying to hide a grin. "Says you," he retorted lightly.

Katie shook her head, turning her attention back to the stage dismissively. "I'll have you know," she said, tossing her head to shift her fringe from her eyes. "I am much more refined than that." She scoffed and gestured at where one of the actors had bumped into a piece of scenery, knocking it off kilter. "See?" she scoffed, as if that proved her point. She muttered under her breath, "Fucken' amateurs."

Simon grinned. "I remember when you were little more than an amateur," he told her. Katie rolled her eyes, but Simon was unrelenting. His eyes glittered mischievously as he asked, "'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' ring any bells?"

Katie whirled on him, pointing a finger at him forcefully. "We don't talk about the play-that-shall-not-be-named."

Simon barked a laugh and someone from the side of the stage shushed him harshly. He looked over sheepishly and raised a hand in apology then went back to munching his popcorn, albeit a bit more subdued.

They watched the actors in silence for a moment as the director came onto stage to correct their blocking.

As the scene was starting up again, Simon offered the tub of popcorn to Katie. She took a handful and asked offhandedly, "Do you reckon Jane'll come?"

Simon shifted to a more comfortable position and pulled the popcorn onto his lap. He hummed consideringly. "She hasn't said anything to the contrary."

Katie rolled her eyes and stuffed a piece of popcorn into her mouth. "She hasn't said anything to the contrary," she parroted mockingly under her breath.

Simon reached over to poke her in the side and Katie let out a giggle. "Oi," he said. "None of that."

Katie tilted her head back and blinked innocently at him. "But you make it so easy," she said sweetly.

Simon batted at her head with a chuckle when Katie ducked away, her eyes shining brightly. He shook his head fondly. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Katie stretched languidly in the chair with a lazy grin and folded her arms behind her head.

It had been just the two of them since Katie was a little girl – her mother, driven to the point of exhaustion by the instability of a husband whose job mandated that he follow the work around, had left them to pursue a life of her own. Neither Simon nor Katie ever resented her for her decision, though they did mourn her active presence in their lives. They still met up for lunch whenever Simon happened to be playing the theatre in town, and Angelica regularly kept in contact with Katie.

Katie grew up with a doting father, a distantly affectionate mother, and several half-siblings she got to know over FaceTime and scarce meetings in person.

For the most part, Simon and Katie were happy.

Simon played synth for the Willow Symphony Orchestra, which he co-owned after the original owner had decided to retire to Switzerland to herd goats. His co-partner – and leader of the wind section – Emily Watson was the daughter of the last owner, and had stayed behind to run the orchestra in her mother's stead.

Simon and Emily shared a love of music unrivalled by anyone they came across, and that same love had been shared with Katie growing up. It was too bad that Katie much preferred a life onstage to a life in the pits.

Starting at duets with the lead vocalist of WSO to the sounds of her fathers' arrangements, Katie had moved onto stage acting, and a degree in drama. A few years after parting from her father to go to college, Katie returned to WSO – which had grown from a small-time ensemble into a full, travelling theatre production – bringing with her a new generation of actors and performers, eager to make their big break in the industry.

Which is how Katie found herself lounging in the orchestral pit of the Lunar Amphitheatre, watching her co-stars rehearse.

Simon chucked a piece of popcorn at her head. Katie stared at it as it bounced into her lap, then slowly looked to Simon incredulously.

"What?" Simon asked innocently, failing in smothering the grin that threatened to take over his face.

Katie rolled her eyes but was saved from replying by the director calling for all cast members to appear on the stage. She stood. "That's my cue," she said, giving her father a mock salute.

Simon's face took on a fond smile. "Knock 'em dead, kiddo."

Katie faced the stage and steeled her shoulders, already feeling the character take over. "I always do," she said.

It was tradition for Simon and Katie to get ice cream after the first dress rehearsal in a new city. This time they were headed for a hole-in-the-wall ice cream parlour one of the ushers had recommended to them. They planned to meet at the side entrance to the amphitheatre after the rehearsal, once they were released from their respective roles.

The stage manager had kept Katie behind to go over cues and so she was running 20 minutes over as she rushed up the stairs from the backstage dressing rooms, slinging her bag over her shoulder hurriedly. She tugged out her phone as she took the stairs two at a time, seeing a message from her dad.

Popsicle: You good?

The stairs levelled out and Katie unlocked her phone to tap out a quick message as she jogged down the hallway.

KitKat: K wanted to talk shop. Got held up

She got a message back almost instantly.

Popsicle: Lucky you

Katie rolled her eyes as she turned the corner, her bag knocking into the wall with a hollow thud which she paid no mind to. She tapped out another response.

KitKat: Oi K is nice thank you very much

Popsicle: Whatever you say

KitKat: She is!

Popsicle: Just because you have a crush on her…

Katie grinned despite herself.

KitKat: She is pretty awesome

Popsicle: Useless lesbian

KitKat: I'm pan

Popsicle: Even worse then

Katie grinned.

KitKat: Hey now, I'm not THAT useless

Popsicle: How many complete sentences did you say to her?

KitKat: Four. I counted

Katie was interrupted by a familiar sounding voice coming from the main hall. She slowed to a stop and crept closer to the open door curiously, pocketing her phone. Immediately, she recognised Jane's voice.

Jane was an agent who had recently taken a professional and personal interest in the company, and had been working closely with both Emily and Simon to further the orchestra's reach. Katie liked her – the woman seemed both genuine and competent in a way that was getting increasingly hard to find together. Not to mention, she hadn't seen her dad this happy to be in someone's company since a failed attempt at a relationship with a bartender seven years ago (Katie had really liked Ted, but it seemed the relationship had been doomed to fail ever since the man had confessed that he enjoyed listening to Nickelback…unironically).

Katie always liked talking to Jane, and so was making to round the door when she was stopped cold.

"–t least it'll be worth it in the end," Jane's companion was saying. Katie recognised that voice. That voice haunted her nightmares. That voice was the reason Katie had returned to WSO sooner, rather than later.

Marcus Flint; the slippery, two-faced, slime ball who had been trying to take WSO from her father for years.

It had started innocently enough, with a seemingly genuine offer to sell the rights to the company, but had escalated quickly to back-handed dealings and attempted sabotage once it became obvious that Simon would never sell.

The worst part was that Flint didn't care two jots about music or the arts; all he cared for was money.

So no, Katie was not happy to discover him lurking in the front auditorium of their next performance centre. Even less so to discover him talking to Jane.

Jane was talking. "Lovestruck idiot thinks I'm actually interested in his daft company." Katie heard Marcus' guffaw, and Jane's delicate snort. "I'm telling you; his daughter is worse – if that's even possible." Jane gave a tinkling laugh that sent shivers down Katie's spine. "Stupid bint obviously thinks I'm about to become her step-mother. It's at times like these that I understand what Cinderella's step-mom must have gone through."

Katie had had enough. How dare this…bitch come into her company and threaten them just for a paycheque? Just as she was about to storm into the room and give them a piece of her mind, Katie was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

Her heart lurched and she jolted in place, looking over her shoulder to see her dad. Simon had a grim expression on his face but Katie could see his heart breaking behind his eyes, even as he hastily tried to throw up walls. Katie looked from him to the door pleadingly, but Simon shook his head. 'Later', he mouthed.

Katie acquiesced reluctantly, allowing Simon to guide her down the hall toward the side entrance. They spilled out into the alleyway bordering the amphitheatre and stood in silence for a moment. Eventually, Simon sighed. "At least we found out," he said.

Katie hissed suddenly, drawing away from the door and into action. "What a bitch! She's lucky you pulled me away or I'da…"

"What?" Simon interrupted tiredly, rubbing his temple. "What would you have done?"

Katie threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. "Something!"

Simon shook his head. "It's no use, KitKat. People like that aren't worth the energy." He sounded resigned, and Katie hated it; hated that Jane had reduced her father to this.

She shook her head violently. "It's not right. First Flint," she spat his name. "And now her! This isn't right, and I'm going to do something about it."

"You're right," Simon spoke into the dark. Katie turned to him in surprise, having started to pace as she got worked up. "It's not right," Simon continued. "And you are going to do something about it." He met her eye unwaveringly.

Katie shook her head, knowing where this was going. "No," she whispered. "I can't just do…"

"You're going to let it go," Simon said resolutely.

"I don't think I can," Katie told him honestly.

Simon reached out and drew her into his arms. Katie went easily, tucking herself into his side. He kissed the top of her head fondly.

"Maybe not. But you can try."

They did eventually get their ice cream, and Simon wrote a polite letter to Jane, letting her know that her presence was no longer required. Katie thought that the letter was too polite, but Simon held firm, insisting that nothing would be gained from antagonising the beast.

Katie calmed down when Simon agreed to let her mail Jane a pallet of fish heads to be dumped through her mailbox at the soonest available time. It was always a bonus; knowing the best pair of pranksters in the industry.

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Round 3 for the QLFC

Team: Montrose Magpies

Position: Beater 2

Prompts: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: Write about someone two-faced

Additional prompts used:

9: (relationship) father & daughter

13: (word) whisper

word count: 1927

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A/N: Yay!

Gonna admit I've never read the Turn of the Screw BUT I did read the sparknotes in research for this piece. But anyway...hopefully it's all good. I think I incorporated everything all okay, and well, the idea just ran away with me and I was completely at its mercy so yeah.

song rec - You Want My Sister by 1 Hour Band (watch the video and you will thank me)