Page 35 of Don't Believe A Word

Having to give her credit for not actually mentioning the considerable investment she’d brought to the table that, like it or not, actually gave her some clout, Cristy said, ‘Well, I’m sure we can work something out. Now, how do you like your coffee?’

‘Black, two sugars, please. Shall we take it to the studio? We’re booked in from nine so we ought not to waste any more time. I’m sure the techies will be waiting.’

Knowing that time was money to Iz, while to the techies it was a made-to-measure concept, Cristy said, ‘Why don’t you go on ahead while Connor and I download our scripts? We’ll be right behind you.’

Iz beamed in the way only she could, and taking her coffee she got as far as the door before turning back. ‘I probably ought to bring this up sooner, rather than later,’ she said, ‘but we – that’s the Sponsorship Liaison Group and I – think you should delay uploading – or is it downloading – the first episode for another week.’

Having already decided they should, Cristy waited for her to explain her thinking.

‘We want these promos to gain as much traction as possible beforeHindsight’sinitial airing,’ Iz explained. ‘As we haven’t been able to record them until today, it’s not leaving us much time tolet your millions of followers know that you’re about to hit them with a brand-new series.’

‘But even if they miss the opening episode,’ Connor pointed out, ‘it’ll always be there for them to download. It’s kind of the point of a podcast.’

Iz coloured slightly, as if she’d actually forgotten that. ‘Of course,’ she mumbled. ‘I … I’m just …sharingour thoughts, and we feel that building momentum through a series of promotions on all platforms during the week before the first episode drops will get us – you – off to a flying start.’

Before Connor could argue further, Cristy said, ‘Thank you for considering the dynamics of how to reach our listeners, Iz, and you’re not wrong, we could probably benefit from delaying by a week.’

Iz grinned happily, and saluted them with her coffee before taking off for their designated studio.

Connor was regarding Cristy in confusion.

‘We’re not really ready yet,’ she told him, ‘so this suits us perfectly.’

‘But we have the first episode in the can,’ he reminded her. ‘And a lot of press releases have already gone out, not to mention our own, unsponsored, promos.’

‘I know, but we can use the delay to our advantage, let people think that something …relevantand even shocking has cropped up to push back the start date. Meantime, an interview with Mia Winters could change things quite considerably …’

‘If it happens.’

‘We’ll exert some pressure if need be. In the meantime, letting Iz and her sponsors call the shots over this could be the start of choosing our battles. They only need to be fought if there’s an issue of real importance at stake. And whether we start the uploads this week or next doesn’t make much difference, especially when we’re not at all sure yet how this series is going to shape up.’

‘It has the potential of being a great story …’

‘Potential, yes, but the deeper into it we go – and we’re still in shallow waters right now – the more I’m feeling that something’s not quite right with it. I mean, there’s obviously a lot wrong if we look at it from the perspective of a two-year-old child beingspirited away by a couple of middle-aged women, but getting to the bottom of it all and thinking of how long that could take … Frankly, I’m already feeling nervous about turning up enough material to meet our weekly commitments. If we don’t there’s no knowing what the sponsors might do.’ She thrust a coffee into his hand. ‘So now, on that happy note, let’s get these promos in the can, then we can get back to what we do best.’

CHAPTER NINE

By Wednesday morning, thanks to an hour’s meditative yoga, followed by coffee with Jodi and baby Aurora, Cristy was feeling far more relaxed than she had for the past two days. Her conversation with David at the start of the week had left her angry with herself for caring about him and Juliette, disappointed with herself for being unable to stop thinking about him, and furious with Matthew simply for breathing.

Still, she was nice and chilled now – in both senses of the word – and ready to seize the day.

Connor looked up as she swept into the office, red-cheeked and windswept from her brisk walk to Spike Island. ‘I had an interesting call while you and my wife were downward-dogging at David Lloyd’s,’ he announced drolly.

‘Tell me,’ she encouraged, hanging her coat and going to pour herself a coffee. ‘Clove, did you send the edit of Sadie’s latest interview to her for feedback?’

‘Done,’ Clover confirmed. ‘No word yet, but the boyfriend got in touch this morning to ask why the first episode wasn’t dropped last night.’

‘And you told him?’

‘What you said, that we’re waiting to speak to Mia in case it impacts the story in some way.’

‘Great. And nothing from Mia yet, I take it?’ Without waiting for an answer, Cristy said, ‘Are we being honoured by Iz’s magnificent presence today, does anyone know?’

‘Apparently not,’ Jackson replied. ‘She said she has to be in London. I didn’t ask why, mostly because she’d have told me and life’s too short.’

With a laugh, Cristy said, ‘In which case, as it’s just us, I have a little announcement to make before we go any further. It’s probably best you all know – if you haven’t worked it out already – that David and I are no longer … together.’

‘What?’ Clover exclaimed in confusion. ‘But I thought you guys …’

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