Chapter Two- Voulez-vous

People everywhere. A sense of expectation hanging in the air. Giving out a spark. Across the room your eyes are glowing in the dark. And here we go again, we know the start, we know the end. Masters of the scene. We've done it all before and now we're back to get some more. You know what I mean…

It's traditional when you get married that you have a hen do and your groom has a stag do. James had planned a crazy adventure thing for the boys to go on in Wales for the weekend. I had left Mollie in charge of mine, seeing as she was my Maid of Honour. We had agreed to do two parties, a wild alcohol fueled one for all the adults and then a quieter film night with the younger ones. I knew Mollie liked to party, so I was slightly dreading what she had planned for evening out. To be honest, so long as we didn't have a repeat of John's stag do, I was fine.

Mollie and James had organized the stag and hen dos to happen on the same weekend. I said goodbye to Matthew as he got in the car with James, John, Greg. Some of Matt's theatre buddies and James' army mates were meeting them there. I waved them off as they drove down the street and then headed back into the flat. I had a few hours to myself, so I curled up with my script and score sheet ran over some of the songs.

I had just made it to Thank you for the Music when my door opened.

Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing. Thanks for all the joy their bringing. Who can live without it? I ask in all honesty. What would life be? Without a song or a dance, what are we? So I say, thank you for the music, for giving it to me!

"Don't you know it already?" called my sisters voice from the hallway.

"It's called practise!" I shouted back, getting up from the sofa and heading to the kitchen.

Mollie was my younger sister by half an hour and she was my best friend. She was a little shorter than me, with brilliantly blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She was in a summer dress and carrying a bag on her shoulder. She smiled as she saw me.

"Sounds great though, sis!" she smiled.

"Thanks." I replied, "How come you're over?"

"It's your hen do, silly!"

"I thought we were meeting tonight?"

"I know, but I thought I would come and see you before you head to work!"

I hugged her, "You're welcome any time, Mol. You know that!"

She returned the hug, "Thanks!"

"So what do you have planned for tonight?"

"Ah," she smiled mischieviously, "That would be telling!"

"Aw, come on!" I smiled, "Can't you tell me anything?"

She shook her head, "Nope! Just be ready after work around 10.45!"

"That's so late!"

"What do you mean?" She asked, "The night is still young!"

I shook my head in disbelief, "You know I have to go to work tomorrow, right?"

"You'll be fine!" she said, smiling the kind of smile that no one has ever been able to say no to.

I sighed, "Fine!" and smiled.

She smiled back, over the moon, "Yay! I can't wait!" she squealed, hugging me tightly.

"Me neither!" I said, hugging her back.

Voulez-vous (ah ha). Take it now or leave it (ah ha). Now is all we get (ah ha). Nothing promised, no regrets. Voulez-vous (ah ha). Ain't no big decision (ah ha). You know what to do (ah ha). La question c'est voulez-vous. Voulez-vous!

At half ten that evening, I headed from the stage to my changing room, where I got changed into a suitable outfit for whatever Mollie had planned. I said goodnight to various people on the way out, including Sara who played my onstage mum.

"Night Sara!" I called through her open door.

"Night dear!" she poked her head round the door. "Oh it's your hen do tonight isn't it?"

I nodded, "Don't expect me to look so alive tomorrow!"

"Well, have a good time!" she smiled, "You deserve it!"

"Thanks!" and I waved goodbye as I headed out the theatre.

At stage door, I found my sister Mollie, my sister in law, Abigail, Mollie's co-photographer Sarah, Lestrade's daughter Sally and to my surprise, Amelia and Catherine, who played Sophie's friends, Lisa and Ali. We had become quite good friends in the time that I had been doing the show and Mollie knew this as I never seemed to shut up about it.

"SURPRISE!" They shouted as I came out of stage door.

I laughed and smiled. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"Mollie asked if we wanted to come along!" said Amelia.

"And I'm never one to turn down a goodnight out!" laughed Catherine.

"No, I'm aware of that Catherine!" I smiled, remembering the night we had had after our press night with the new cast. She had taken me and Amelia to a pub after the show for one drink. That one drink had turned into three drinks in three separate pubs. I hadn't gotten home until gone two in the morning!

She laughed and came over to hug me.

"Seriously thanks for coming!" I said into her shoulder.

"I wouldn't miss my girls hen do for the world!"

I looked at Mollie. "So where are we going?" I asked nervously.

"Just follow us!" she smiled.

We headed to Covent Garden tube station and headed across town to Piccadilly and Mollie led us straight to a club called the Piccadilly Institute. It was a posh club that I had passed a couple of times in between shows. It reminded me of the film A Clockwork Orange that Matthew had made me sit and watch a couple of months ago. It was very nice.

The bouncer led us into the club and straight to the bar where a line of shots had lined up for us. Mollie handed them out and held hers up.

"To my big sister who has finally grown up and is getting married. I wish you every happiness!"

"To Keria!" everyone said and downed their shots.

"Let's have a good night!" said Catherine, putting her glass down on the bar and signalling for another round.

"Whoo!" said Amelia putting hers down.

"Let's party!" said Abigail and Sally who were enjoying having a night away from their children. I believe they were sharing a hotel room in London that night.

I smiled, looking around at my crazy ass friends. We had one of the best nights out I have had in a long time and I crawled into bed at a respectable three a.m. Waking up the next morning wasn't fun, but after a shower and several cups of coffee, I was starting to feel more human. I was sat on my sofa, watching a bit of Say Yes to the Dress, before heading to work when my phone buzzed. I looked at the screen. It was a text from Mollie.

Thanks for a great night out. Love you xxx

She had sent all the photos she had taken that night and I smiled, reliving the memories of a truly great night out.

I know what you think, "The girl means business so I'll offer her a drink". Feeling mighty proud. I see you leave your table, pushing through the crowd. I'm really glad you came, you know the rules, you know the game.
Master of the scene. We've done it all before and now we're back to get some more. You know what I mean.

A few weeks after the wild hen do, I was busy in my flat setting the lounge up for a film night. My family has a very young population and seeing as a lot of them are going to be involved in my wedding, I wanted to include them in the hen do part. So, I had talked Mollie into letting me host a film night.

I had created a WhatsApp group chat and had put a few film suggestions into the mix. Mamma Mia was in there along with Les Mis, Tangled, Hairspray and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The main consensus from the group chat was Tangled. I had also let Mollie choose a few games to play as well. The only condition was no alcohol, but plenty of sweets and chocolate.

At half five that evening, people started arriving. First to get here was Mollie, then Sally and Claire, Abi and Anthony and Fliss, Emily and Elijah and Lestrade dropped off Phoebe. I ordered in the pizza and we sat around on the floor eating pizza and chatting. Mollie then got up to set up the first game. I watched as she put up a series of photos from when we were younger. There was our first school photo, my first ever role, the photo that Abi had taken in Dad's backyard of Matt and I when we had been cast in Romeo and Juliet, a photo from New York and a whole bunch of others.

"The aim of this game is to guess how old Keira is in these photos. The closest to each gets a chocolate. Keira, don't give any hints."

I laughed, "I can't remember how old I was in some of these, so no worries."

She laughed and we had a great deal of fun trying to guess how old I was. In the end, Phoebe had the most chocolate, followed by Claire and then Elijah.

We sat and watched Tangled and then Mollie had another game up her sleeve.

"Now we're going to play pass the parcel. In each layer is a little gift and then a challenge." She pressed shuffle on her iPhone and the first song that came on was Lay all your Love. I glared at her.

"What?" she asked innocently, "It's show tunes."

She let the music play and when she pressed pause, Emily had the parcel. She unwrapped it and a top fell out along with a slip of paper.

" Where did you have your first kiss?" she read aloud and smiled. "Johnny and I had our first kiss on a school art trip to The Louvre in Paris. Everyone was busy taking photos of the museum and Johnny turned to face me and kissed me."

Mollie changed the song and the next one was Sweet Transvestite. I laughed as we sang along. The next person to get the parcel was Anthony.

He opened the wrapping and a toy car fell out. He also read the little piece of paper. "Favourite holiday?" He sat and thought for a moment, "I liked when we went to America when Aunty K was working over there."

"That was a good holiday!" I smiled at my nephew.

The next song was The Time Warp and Phoebe got the parcel. She got a Piglet Tsum Tsum and the question "Favourite Disney character." She smiled, "That one is easy. It has to be Moana!"

I smiled at my little sister. She loved all things Disney. She must have got it from me. My passion rubbed off on her.

We had an enjoyable evening. Very different from my other hen night. I couldn't pick between the two, they were both special and memorable moments. I couldn't believe I was getting married in a matter of days. It didn't seem real somehow. But I was lucky. I was marrying the best guy, with the best family around me. Everything else was just secondary.

Voulez-vous (ah ha). Take it now or leave it (ah ha). Now is all we get (ah ha). Nothing promised, no regrets. Voulez-vous (ah ha). Ain't no big decision (ah ha). You know what to do (ah ha). I can still say voulez-vous.