‘Oh right,’ he says. ‘Morning.’
Then he turns back to his laptop and stares at the screen.
For a moment I stand there without moving. I’m shocked at how … deflated I feel. Did I actuallywanthim to insult my tights? Is that why I wore them?
Jesus, that’s worrying.
Well, I can’t think about Art now. I sit down, fire up my laptop, put on my headphones and get to work. I’m determined to workstraight through the morning but after an hour I have to get a coffee.
‘Do you want anything from the kitchen?’ I ask Art as I open our office door.
‘No thanks,’ he says, without looking up.
Well, if he doesn’t want to spout his usual nonsense today, that’s fine with me. More than fine, actually. At least I’ll get some peace and quiet.
I’m adding milk to my coffee when a tanned, buff man in his late twenties strolls into the kitchen. It’s Adam Pender, who plays Ritchie. He grins at me.
‘Howiya!’ he says cheerily. ‘Haven’t seen you here before. I’m Adam.’
‘I know.’ I smile back at him. ‘I’m Annie McDermott. I’m one of the new writers.’
‘Welcome toNorthside, Annie McDermott,’ says Adam. ‘How are you finding it?’
‘Really good!’ I lie. ‘Though, you know, a bit stressful with the rewrites …’
‘Ah, yeah,’ says Adam. ‘Well, you have my sympathies, but you know, I hear I’ve got the A-story now, so it’s not all bad!’
‘Oh, yeah!’ I say.
‘Yeah, I was just in with Bernard, looking at the scene-by-scenes,’ says Adam.
‘He showed you already?’ I’m surprised. AtOur Toonactors were always asking writers about upcoming storylines, but once their availability for a big story had been confirmed, the usual policy was to keep the actual details from them for as long as possible.
‘Ah, you know, it’s an emergency,’ says Adam. ‘Now I’m taking advantage of this office kitchen to get a free coffee.’ He lowers his voice. ‘Don’t tell Bernard.’
I laugh. ‘I won’t.’
Adam gets some coffee down from the press. ‘What episode are you doing again?’
‘One of the big ones,’ I say. ‘The second episode on the anniversary night.’
Adam whistles. ‘They gave you that for your first one? You must be good.’
I’m not going to admit I was as surprised as he clearly is. ‘I don’t know about that.’
‘There’ll be loads of action for me, right?’ says Adam.
I remember what Nora said about his injured knee. ‘Yeah, but don’t worry, the kidnapping scene in the hospital will be totally fine.’
‘What do you mean?’ says Adam.
‘Well,’ I say, ‘we won’t need to actually show you jumping off the fire escape.’
‘Oh right.’ Adam doesn’t look at me as he scoops coffee into the machine. Shit, maybe I shouldn’t have reminded him of his inability to do stunts. The last thing I want is to alienate the cast as well as my fellow writers.
I feel a bit awkward now. ‘So … nice meeting you! And I’ll do my best with the script.’
To my relief, Adam gives me another friendly grin. ‘Great to meet you too.’