Page 83 of Happily Never After
The ticks go blue but he’s not typing. Shit, have I overplayed this? Just as I’m beginning to think this was a really bad idea, his reply comes through.
See you in ten *smiley face emoji*
‘I thought you were in the thick of it and I was bringing you tea?’ Liv looks confused when she walks into the kitchen to find me fiddling with the teapot.
‘Yes, but I reached a good break point,’ I lie. ‘Anyway, you’re always making the tea. Time I made it for you for a change.’
She looks at me suspiciously for a moment before smiling. ‘Fine. Just make sure you warm the pot and use the timer. I’ll know if it’s over brewed. There are some Madeleines in the tin there. I’ll have one of those as well.’
‘Great. Why don’t you go and make yourself comfortable and I’ll bring it over when it’s ready.’
‘I assume you’re joining me?’
‘Not today. I’ve got a call I need to go on.’
Another suspicious look. ‘Really? You never mentioned it just now.’
‘It’s a last-minute thing.’
By the time I’ve made the tea and reassured Liv for a second time that nothing weird is going on, honestly, nearly fifteen minutes have passed. I practically run into my bedroom, shutting the door behind me and stabbing the call button on my phone.
‘Hiya,’ Finn says as the call connects. ‘This is a surprise. What brought it on?’
‘It’s partly an apology,’ I tell him.
‘What for?’
‘For my part in whatever happened when you came down here. I thought that doing something that we did every day while we were in France might give us the opportunity to reset our friendship.’
He sighs. ‘It’s me that needs to apologise,’ he says. ‘I was really looking forward to seeing you, but then I just kind of froze. I can’t explain it, and I’ve been trying to find a reason to get in contact and say sorry. But then I thought maybe this was what you wanted, and then it all got in a mess in my head.’
‘Me too. God, what a pair.’ As if choreographed, we each take a sip of our tea. I can’t help studying the background on my screen, trying to get a feel for his home.
‘So, tell me about the show,’ I prompt after a moment, before things can get awkward again. ‘Have you got the set design there?’
He smiles. ‘I have, but it’s top secret so I’m not sure I can show it to you.’
‘Worried I’m going to sell the idea to the competition?’
‘You can never be too careful but, as it’s you…’ He picks up the phone and switches to the rear camera so I can see his screen, which is one of those massive things that pretty much spans his entire desk.
‘This is a 3D rendering,’ he tells me as the phone wobbles momentarily. ‘Sorry, just grabbing the mouse so I can show you around. So, the contestants will stand at the podiums here, and there is a display on the front of each one showing their prize fund. Then this massive screen facing them here is where the auction items will be displayed, and this is where the really clever stuff happens.’
‘Go on.’
‘We’re going to be using virtual reality. So the contestants will have VR headsets they can put on, and then they can handle the objects in the virtual world, turning them over to look at them from different angles and so on. Whatever they see will be shown on the screen here so the studio audience can follow along. For viewers at home, we’ll just cut to the VR feed.’
‘Impressive.’
He turns the camera so I can see his face again. ‘It is, isn’t it? I wish I could take the credit for the idea, but it actually came from one of the brainstorming sessions at the beginning.’
I can feel myself relaxing as he talks me through the rest of the concept. I’m still not really up on game shows, but I feel a connection to this one after all the time we spent on it together. However, while I’m excited to see it coming to life, I’m more pleased that my idea seems to be working.
‘How’s the book?’ he asks when we’ve been through everything to do with the show. We’ve covered a few other topics too, and I’m surprised to see that nearly an hour has passed.
‘Top secret. I’m not sure I can tell you anything.’
‘Hold on, that’s not how it works!’
