‘Shall I set up for a shot as we pull away from the jetty?’ asked Lou, smirking as she looked through her viewfinder.
I wished I’d never told her about my kiss with Aidan now, but I’d needed her opinion on it all. Was I going completely mad? Would Tim deem it a sackable offence? Lou had told me not to be so ridiculous and that I deserved to have a good time.
‘Tim? Do you want a shot of us pulling away?’ I asked.
‘Yes, and we’ll do at least one intro and outro at our first stop. And I don’t want loads of noise in the background, although I don’t see how we can avoid it with this lot,’ he said, rolling his eyes.
The boat pulled away from the jetty and Lou shot some footage of a miserable-looking Ruthie looking all windswept at the bow of the boat. We could use it to tease the main show. Put some nice Scottish music over it.
‘Let’s have some smiles, Ruthie,’ I said, projecting my voice over the sound of the boat’s engine as it carved its way through the water.
Aidan leaned forward, his voice low and soft. ‘She doesn’t seem to be enjoying this, much.’
‘Is it that obvious?’ I mouthed.
The commentary had started up, so there was no chance of us doing any pieces to camera for the moment, so I sat back and enjoyed the ride. It was beautiful out here and, in some ways, if I squinted and – I imagined perhaps more so on a clear day with blue skies – it reminded me of Vietnam again. It had the same cragginess to the landscape, the same mountain peaks on the horizon.
‘You can see Ben Lomond clearly now,’ said Aidan, indicating the large mountain looming in front of us.
I nodded gratefully, relaying the information to Lou.
‘Lou, get a shot of Ben Lomond in if you can? It’s that peak there,’ I said, pointing it out.
When the boat pulled up alongside Wallaby Island, the driver cut the engine and we were able to shoot some of the script I’d so painstakingly written (actually, that wasn’t true, I’d bashed it out) last night. Considering my mind had been elsewhere, I was surprised I’d managed to put anything together.
‘And action!’ said Tim, ridiculously loudly given that Ruthie was only about half a metre away.
‘And here we are at Inchconnachan, which, thanks to the Countess of Arran, houses Scotland’s only wallaby colony. There are currently between fifty and sixty of them living here on the island!’ trilled Ruthie, thankfully switching into professional mode.
It was impressive how she did that. Very convincing. So much so that my step-mum was a big fan.She’s just so nice and down to earth! Always so happy to get her hands dirty and muck in!I’d tried telling Sharon on multiple occasions that this was Ruthie’s television persona and that actually she was snippy, defensive and difficult and that nobody at Holiday Shop liked her, but Sharon wasn’t having any of it, and now I’d given up. Let her believe what she wanted: who was I to shatter the illusion?
‘Let’s go straight into the next intro. And … action!’ yelled Tim.
‘I’m Ruthie Withenshaw and welcome to part two of our Scotland special: Loch Lomond. Come with me to discover this magical region, the largest lake in Scotland peppered with twenty-two islands and twenty-seven islets. Wildlife is rife here, too, with everything from ospreys to wallabies, and there’s so much to do, from relaxing island cruises to paddleboarding and kayaking. Loch Lomond really has got it all!’
‘She’s good when she wants to be,’ whispered Aidan.
‘Talk about knowing how to turn it on,’ I said.
I liked having Aidan next to me. He was funny and observant and I thought he might see the world of TV in the same way I did – slightly amusing, fun and full of self-importance (Tim was a prime example). Aidan didn’t strike me as one of those worthy types who only watched travel shows if they were being fronted by Michael Portillo.
‘How’s your piece coming along?’ I asked.
‘Not great,’ he said, looking at me. ‘For some reason, I keep getting distracted. Every time I sit down at my laptop, my mind starts to wander.’
I felt my heart quicken. Surely he wasn’t insinuating that it was me who was hindering his concentration? I tried to arrange my face in a nonchalant way, as though I wasn’t beginning to feel my body burn from the chest up.
‘What’s been on your mind?’ I asked, remembering how good it had felt to kiss him.
Had he been thinking about it as much as I had?
‘You, actually,’ said Aidan, smiling. ‘Call me crazy, but I can’t seem to get last night out of my head. You and me, out there on that beach …’
‘The lilt of the bagpipes …’ I said, thinking back.
‘The waves lapping on the shore …’ he added.
I laughed. ‘Kind of romantic, when you think about it.’