Page 22 of The Wish
‘You’ll have your wish, darling, I promise. I’ll not let anything stop you and Alex.’
‘But Dad—’
With a conspiratorial smile, Mandy whispers, ‘You leave him to me.’
Jesse giggles. ‘How many times have you said those words to me?’
‘Probably too many for your father’s liking.’
‘So, you’ll meet Alex?’
‘We’ll all meet him and do everything we can to help the two of you make your wish come true.’
‘It will be worth it, Mum, in the end it will be worth it, I promise you.’
‘I know. Now shush, go back to sleep, I’ll sit here a little longer.’
The smile doesn’t leave Jesse’s face, even as she falls asleep. Mandy looks over at the pinboard, noticing gaps she’s sure weren’t there before. She looks questioningly at Amy, who smiles a secret smile and goes back to her book.
CHAPTER 11
‘Alex, long time no see!’ Steve calls out.
Dammit, Alex thinks. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself – it’s been days since he’s shown his face in the office as he’s been doing some deep diving into Jesse’s project. It’s turning out to be even more work than he thought it would be at first. Truth be told, he’s a bit daunted by it.
He strides across the office floor, acknowledging his colleagues with a nod or flick of his hand. At his desk, he gets down to business as quickly as possible, logging on before he even has his jacket off. He wants it to look as if he has been at work for a while.
Steve leans over the cubicle. ‘So, how are you getting on?’
‘Good, yourself?’ Alex answers, facing his monitors.
‘I’m good, considering we’ve all had to cop Ian’s bullshit every day you’re not here. What are you up to?’
Alex sighs and swivels his chair round to face Steve. ‘I think I can do it, but I’m going to need help.’
‘Anything, mate, you just have to ask. Have you talked to Ian about it?’
‘I was hoping to circumvent him, you know what he’s like. He’ll want to string me along before he says yes.’
‘That’s true,’ Steve scratches his head. ‘I’ve got a deadline coming up, but I could work on it after hours. Maybe back here after dinner?’
‘Or at my place, if you’re up for it? I’ve got a pretty good set-up.’
‘I’m sure you have.’ Steve leaves his cubicle and pulls up a chair. ‘How about you tell me about this game you’re designing, this wish.’
Alex winces. ‘Ian got that wrong. It’s not a game; it’s an interactive 3D video experience.’
‘Whoa.’ Steve whistles. ‘Tell me more.’
‘Jesse has shown me photos of her family at their favourite places. I’d like your help to go to these places and film them. Then, with the other material she has given me – drawings by her brother, poems from her mum, family photographs – we create a film for them. Next up, we bring them into the studio to recreate their special moments. What do you think?’
‘So, are you saying we’re going to be using the studio? We’d need permission from Frank for that.’
‘Permission shouldn’t be a problem – I’m doing what Frank asked me to do. I’ll ask Frank about the studio when we get to that stage of development.’ Alex thinks, but doesn’t say,if we get to that stage . . .He needs to stay positive about this. ‘Would it help if I show you what I’ve done so far?’
Steve nods, so Alex goes onto the server and navigates to a private folder. Here he’s scanned in Sam’s drawings, the handwritten poetry. He’s created mood boards and references, trying to establish the visual tone and atmosphere of the piece, something realistic, but also charming, like stepping into your very favourite day. He’s put together some concept art and sketches, based on their conversations and used some 3D models to roughly block out shots and camera movements.
Steve whistles. ‘You’ve got this done in a few days when it takes weeks to put together a three-minute commercial? Are you sure you need me, mate?’
