Page 81 of Another Lucky Number

‘Why not?’

‘Because it’sterrifying… andhumiliating.’

‘Emma, do you want to get that job tomorrow?’ Amber’stone is calm and reassuring, which tells me she was one hundred per cent expecting this reaction from me.

‘Yes… but—’

‘Then you need to do this. A dry run with a crowd will let you feel all the unpleasant feelings you’re going to experience tomorrow, which means you’ll be ready for them and you can manage them.’

‘Or it’ll be the single most humiliating moment of my life.’ I cover my face with my hands. ‘What the hell are all these people going to think of me?’

‘That you’re brave and someone to admire,’ says Cat.

Amber gets up from her lounger and sits down next to me. ‘Emma, you need to care a lot less about what others think of you. You don’t know these people, and you’ll never see them again after this holiday, so who gives a shit what they think?’

‘What if they film me and I end up as a meme online? I’d die.’

‘They won’t do that. I’ll ask them not to, and we’ve picked this part of the beach on purpose, so that the trees provide some privacy. No one will be able to film from a distance, and I’ll be watching your audience like a hawk to make sure there are no phones out.’

With Amber already having thought of everything and Cat supporting this activity, my only remaining option is to hurl my toys out of my adult-sized pram – something I’m not prepared to do, given all the effort my friends have put into helping me. I’m going to have to suck it up and try to reap the benefits I’m assured it will provide.

‘Fine. Let’s get it over with.’

‘That’s the spirit.’ Amber pats my knee. ‘First thing then: choose your topic. It’s totally up to you what you talk about.’

‘OK… um… I have no idea. Why do I suddenly feel like I don’t know anything about anything?’

‘Because you’re panicking, honey.’ Cat adopts a soothing tone. ‘There are lots ofthings you know about.’

‘Like?’

‘You just bought a new car. You could talk about that experience. Or you could cover a subject like report writing. You did lots of board reports in your last job.’

I grimace. ‘That sounds boring as hell. But then I do know that stuff inside out.’

‘Think of your audience,’ says Amber. ‘Do you think a bunch of holidaymakers are going to be interested in report writing?’

‘Ugh, no.’

‘What about something light-hearted that you can have a bit of fun with?’ she suggests. ‘It’s not about the content, it’s about your presentation skills. You could talk about why street food is the best thing since McDonalds fries, or what you’d do if you ruled the world?’

‘Don’t think I could talk about street food for ten minutes, but I guess I could do the one about ruling the world.’

‘Excellent, that’s sorted then.’ She grins at me. ‘We’ll leave you in peace for an hour to prepare.’

‘An hour?’ My eyes widen. ‘That’s not long enough.’

‘OK, ninety minutes. That’s all you’re getting.’

‘But—’

‘Clock’s already ticking.’

‘You’re so cruel!’ I wail after her, as she and Cat leave our spot and approach a sunbathing couple nearby.

They appear to have a quick conversation with them, then move onto a small group, and it dawns on me what they’re doing: they’re recruiting my audience. My heart starts pounding.This is awful.No, it’s worse than awful. It’s borderline my worst nightmare. Karaoke now seems like a breeze in comparison.

After working myself up into a substantial lather, it dawns on me that I need to pull myself together or I’ll find myself infront of an audience in – I check the time on my phone – eighty-four minutes time with nothing to share.

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