Page 83 of Another Lucky Number

‘Well done, Emma!’ Amber’s voice breaks through the clapping, causing it to peter away. ‘Now, who has questions?’

A few hands raise.

‘Yes. The lady with the pink and blue sarong.’

‘Thanks, Amber,’ she says. ‘Emma, loved the pop culture reference. Which is your favourite –Bruce AlmightyorEvan Almighty?’

I catch Amber rolling her eyes, but I’m delighted by the ridiculousness of the question.

‘Bruce Almighty. No question.’ I beam at her. ‘I’m a massive Jim Carrey fan.’

‘OK, who’s next?’ Amber moves things along. ‘Yes, man with the Hawaiian shirt…’

‘Thank you, Amber,’ he says. ‘I’m wondering, Emma, given that you mentioned saving the planet as being high on yourpriority list, what approach would you take with reducing carbon emissions globally?’

I ponder this for a moment. It’s a challenging question, but surely I can come up with a reasonable response. I’m willing my mind to hand me the perfect answer, but unfortunately it does the opposite and goes completely blank.

‘I… eh…’ I feel myself start to panic. ‘I think…’

I glance helplessly at Amber and she mouths the word ‘governments’ at me. Thankfully, this is enough to kick my brain back into gear.

‘It’s a great question… I think national governments are the answer. They have to care enough to make it a priority and make real change happen. So, I’d put people in power who would do that.’

The man with the Hawaiian shirt seems satisfied enough with my answer and I breathe a sigh of relief that I’ve made it through.

‘Who’s next?’ Amber looks around for any more raised hands. ‘Yes. Lady with the flowery sunhat.’

The woman Amber has indicated to steps forward to address me. ‘Emma, you mentioned that you’d end conflict and create world peace…’

I cringe. That line sounds like the stereotypical beauty contestant response. The problem was, at that point, I’d lost my place in my notes and was trying to fill the silence while I found it again.

‘I’m just wondering how you’d do that?’ says the woman. ‘Humans, by their very nature, are hardwired to come into conflict: it’s a survival instinct. How would you suppress that biological urge in the pursuit of world peace?’

This question almost floors me – literally. Having only made it through the last one thanks to Amber, my legs begin to tremble. I have no clue how to answer this question – perhapsanother reason why I should have kept the subject light. I’m so out of my depth on this one, it’s not funny.

‘Gosh, right… that’s a toughie…’ I’m floundering, my brain has crashed again and this time it’s shut up shop. No amount of coaxing or being prompted by Amber is going to help. ‘I… eh… gosh, it’s really hot isn’t it…’

I put my hand to my forehead and glance across at my friends, then at my group of onlookers, who suddenly look very blurry. Then the next thing I’m aware of is everything closing in around me and the world turning black.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Icome around on the sand to Amber and Cat kneeling beside me talking urgently to each other and a hazy group of people watching from a few feet away.

‘Emma, honey, can you hear me?’ Cat’s voice sounds distant and tinny. ‘Amber, we need to get some water in her.’

‘Come on, Emma. Let’s sit you up.’ Amber sounds similarly far away as she and Cat hoist me into a sitting position onto a lounger.

Once I’m more with it, I take the bottle of water being offered to me and glug at it thirstily. The crowd of onlookers is thankfully dispersing, but it does little to ease the sting of humiliation as I catch up with what’s happened. Tears prick at my eyes.

‘I messed up.’

‘You didn’t mess up. You passed out.’ Cat strokes my hair. ‘The heat must have been too much for you. Especially when you were sweating so much. I’m so sorry. We should have thought of that and done it indoors.’

‘Yeah, our bad.’ Amber trickles some water down my face to cool me down.

As much as I want to believe that my faint was due to the heat and dehydration – and it may well have been a factor – the truth is that I was in a blind panic because of the question that woman asked. And the one before it I only managed to answer because Amber bailed me out. Which begs the question: how will I cope tomorrow when it’s going to be ten times harder?

My friends continue to fuss around me, checking I’m all right and not going to pass out on them again.

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