Page 26 of Competing Against Thor

I just had to work out what that was, and how to make it a reality.

Chapter 13

DAISY

It was a relief to not have been knocked out the first round I came back into the competition, but that didn't make it any easier to come back into the studio now. If anything, it made memorenervous because I knew that I could go home at any moment.

And it didn't help that I was running late and wouldn't have time for a coffee before filming started. It was all Danny's fault, if he hadn't been hogging the bathroom this morning, then I'd have been on time.

I hurried over to my station and stowed my bag away, finally feeling like I could breathe.

"There's a coffee on your table."

"Argh." I jumped, knocking my head against the pole next to me.

Concern filled Thor's eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine." I rubbed my temple. "If that bruises, I'm going to blame you."

He chuckled. "Fair enough."

"Thanks for the coffee though." I grabbed it and took a sip. "Ah, so much better."

"I thought you'd want one. I was getting worried that you weren't here yet and thought they'd disqualified you."

"Oh, no. It was all Danny's fault."

He chuckled. "Why do I get the impression it's often Danny's fault?"

"Because you've met him," I responded. "Though no, it isn't always Danny's fault. But this morning hehadto have a long shower just as I needed to brush my teeth, so here I am."

"You live together?"

"Oh, right. Yes. We share a flat above our workshop. The front half is where I do my thing, and the back half is where Danny's forge is. You'd like it." I realised as I said it that I actually had no idea if that was true or not.

"That does sound good. My forge and workshop are in the same room."

"I imagine you're only using one of them at once, though," I pointed out.

"True. That does make it easier," he agreed.

The bell rang, signalling that it was time to start filming.

"I'm going to be glad when I don't have to hear that bell again," I murmured.

"Same. The competition is fun, but it does get kind of exhausting to always be at its beck-and-call."

"Exactly." I smiled at him. He wasn't wrong there, and it was even worse because I was having to work on Violet Shaw's commission in the days between the competition too. "So, what do you think it's going to be this week?"

"I'm not sure," he responded. "I was looking around before you got here to try and work it out, but I didn't get very far. They're good at keeping the themes under wraps."

"You mean you didn't just ask your friend to tell you what's going on?"

"Mel? I doubt she knows to be honest. She's technically the head producer of the reality TV shows, but I don't think she knows what the exact plan for any of them beyond the highlights."

We came to a stop when we were in the normal position and fell silent while we waited for the presenters to appear.

It only took a moment for Rosie and Duncan to appear, both dressed far too nicely for the workshop. If I didn't have to go to work straight away, I'd have felt underdressed.

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