“And where is Henrik?” Don looked around.
“He’s on his way,” Elnaz replied, sounding distressed.
Ted reappeared, clutching his phone. Don’s presence seemed to have put them all on edge. And what had happened to Henrik? Maybe he’d changed his mind about doing the show with her—but could he do that at this late stage?
“Okay, I’m going to pop over to Espresso House and grab a coffee in the meantime,” Don said. Nora wanted to shoot him. “I love their dark roast,” he added with a smile.
While Sara worked her magic on Nora’s face, the rest of the team came over to say hi. There was a sound technician and four camera operators, all women of different ages.
Nora went through the episode list once again. They would be filming four episodes. Two episodes of theLet’s Get BakingChristmas special would air each week over a two-week period. Elnaz had told her that each episode involved approximately three days’ filming, and that the filming would continue through November, with breaks when Henrik and Elnaz were filmingChristmas with the Eklunds.
The atmosphere felt increasingly fraught. Elnaz was stomping around with her phone clamped to her ear, while Ted scribbled frenetically on his iPad. What if the whole show was postponed? She really needed this.
Elnaz gave her a strained smile. “Good to see you’re going through the schedule—do you have any questions?”
“Where’s Henrik?”
“We don’t know. I’m sure he’ll be here soon. But we can talk about the day while we’re waiting. We’ve made a few changes. The plan is for Henrik to go through all your baked goods today and for you to tell him something about the history of the patisserie. Tomorrow he’ll look at the raw materials, what you use for baking, then you’ll go through the bakery itself—the ovens, the equipment, and so on. We’ll use all of that material for episode one. Then we’ll spend a couple of days making some changes in here, and we’ll ask you to put up Christmas decorations and do the Christmas baking. Oh, and we’d like a section on bread that we plan to film later this week.”
Those weremajorchanges.
“We’re keeping the final scene as is, featuring the gingerbread house competition in the square. It’s going to be fantastic!” Elnaz said firmly.
If the star of the show condescends to turn up,Nora thought.
Just then the door flew open and Henrik appeared, in blue jeans, a checked shirt, and a sheepskin coat. A collective sigh of relief passed through the room.
Elnaz hurried over. “Where have you been?”
Henrik didn’t answer. He simply glanced at her and headed in Nora’s direction. He took off his coat, hung it over the back of a chair next to her, then poured himself a cup of black coffee. Elnaz rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. Nora knew exactly how she was feeling. The fact that Henrik couldn’t even bring himself to answer Elnaz only reinforced Nora’s view of Henrik as a diva.
He looked at Nora. “So you decided to do the show after all?”
“Yes ... I mean, I always wanted to do it.”
He stared at her without saying a word, as if to underscore the fact that she had said something altogether different the last time they met.
One last flick of the powder brush, and Sara was done with Nora. She nodded to Henrik. “Your turn.”
He gave Nora a thin-lipped smile as she vacated the chair and he took her place. Ted joined him, and they spoke quietly. The producer seemed to be issuing instructions.
Nora looked around. The patisserie had been transformed into a film set—two powerful spotlights had been set up, and thick cables snaked across the floor at the far end of the room. Two static cameras had been installed in the café, and an operator was ready with a moving camera. The space behind the shelf where the coffee and cups were kept was occupied by a large sound desk and a man wearing headphones.
“There are a lot of customers waiting outside,” Henrik said, glancing up at Nora.
What was he talking about? She went over to the window and peered out. A long line snaked down the street. She hadn’t seen thismany customers in years.Oh, so now it suits them to show up!she thought acidly.
Elnaz joined her. “Henrik is ready. If you open up, we’ll film a few people ordering and settling in with their morning coffee.”
“You mean you’re going to start filmingnow? Don’t we need to go through anything beforehand?”
“No, not unless you have questions.” Nora had a hundred questions, but chose to stay quiet. “Okay, so we’ll start with you unlocking the door so the customers can come in, then we’ll start filming—we’ll tell you when. We’ll also film you and Henrik saying hi to each other. The next scene will be the two of you going through the patisserie together, him trying your cakes and so on. We’ll let you know when we break.”
Elnaz had already explained that a film crew would sit down and speak to Nora and Henrik separately. These clips were used in all reality shows, with the participants ostensibly sitting alone in front of the camera and discussing their experiences and reflections. The aim was to capture the participants’ emotions. Nora, however, had no desire to talk about her emotions.
“Don’t worry,” Elnaz added, as if she were aware of Nora’s hesitation. “Ted and I will give you instructions as we go along. All you have to do now is open up.”
Nora did as she was told. At the front of the line stood Maggan from the deli counter. She gave Nora a cheery nod as she walked in, followed by Ingemar. She grabbed hold of Ingemar’s hand. “Let’s sit here,” she said, claiming the table nearest the cameras by draping her leopard-print coat over the back of the chair before heading for the counter and placing their order with Hassan.
