Page 48 of Mistaken Impression

I put down the script and check my watch. “Just before noon.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Not bad.”

Considering we didn’t start until ten-thirty, I think it’s nothing short of a miracle. “I know. We got through that a lot quicker than I thought we would. I’m wondering if we should break for lunch and then go through it all again afterwards, but with the food this time. What do you think?”

His brow furrows. “I’m not sure. Maybe we ought to check with Ruby first. She said they like to start full rehearsals as early as possible, didn’t she?”

I can see his point, but I’m not convinced. “You don’t think we should run through it all again ourselves, before we invite everyone else in?”

“I’d love to say ‘yes’ to that, but I’m not sure we’ve got the luxury of that much time.”

“Shall I go ask her?”

“I think it might be wise… but I’ll go, if you like?”

“No, it’s fine.” I get down from the stool, and he reaches for the script, flipping over a couple of pages. I know he’s checking on the ‘drizzle’ speech, and while I want to reiterate that it really doesn’t matter, it’ll make him feel better if he gets it right, so I leave him to it and exit the rehearsal studio, crossing the hall and knocking on Ruby’s door.

“Come in.” I push the door open and enter. She’s sitting behind her desk and looks up at me, smiling. “Ella… what can I do for you?”

“I just came to let you know we’ve done our first run-through, without the food, and we wanted to ask whether we should do it all again, by ourselves, or whether you want to get the rest of the team involved?”

“I think we need to get started on rehearsals,” she says, nodding her head. “Time’s moving on, I’m afraid.” She gives me a sympathetic look, which says she’s not blaming me, and I feel guilty for my outburst on Monday, right before I went home. She’s no more to blame for this situation than I am, but she got the brunt of my tiredness and bad mood.

“What do you want to do, then? Get everyone to come in now?”

She glances at her computer screen. “I think we can allow some time for lunch and start at… one-fifteen?”

“Okay.”

“I’ll send a message to the team to let them know they’re needed in the rehearsal studio. We’ll do a couple of dry runs, without the food, so we can work around Blain, and the lighting and camera angles. Then we’ll go again…”

“With the food?”

“Not necessarily. I mean, I’m hoping it’ll work out that way, but we’ll keep going until everyone’s happy with the set-up, and only then will we add the food. So, if you can make sure it’s all prepared, because you won’t get much warning.”

“I already have.”

She nods her head. “It’s going to be a late finish, I’m afraid.”

“Okay. I’ll let Blake know.”

A smile touches her lips. “You’re supposed to call him ‘Blain’, don’t forget.”

I don’t reply, but leave her office and head straight back to the rehearsal studio. Inside, Blake is sitting on the stool I vacated a short while ago, still thumbing through the script, but he looks up as I come in.

“How did it go?”

I walk over, standing a little distance from him, leaning against the island unit. “We’re starting full rehearsals after lunch… at one-fifteen. To start with, you’ll do dry runs, like we’ve just done, and when everyone’s set up correctly, they’ll bring in the food.”

He nods his head, glancing at everything I prepared earlier, most of which is still on the countertop – except the lamb, which I put back into the refrigerator once I’d studded both legs with garlic. “Okay… but is everything going to keep for that long?”

“Most of it’ll be fine.” I grab the trays of vegetables and put them in the refrigerator, above the lamb.

“What about the green beans?” he calls from behind me.

“They’ll be okay, and so will the potatoes. They’re in water.” I go back over to him. “We’ll just move everything out of the way.” He helps me put the pans onto the table, so the countertop is clear, other than the spices and oils, which we push to the back. “I hope you didn’t have any plans for this evening,” I say, turning back to face him.

“No. Did you?”

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