“Okay,skål.” They clinked glasses. “Skålfor a fuck. Congratulations.”
She narrowed her eyes, then laughed again.“Skål.”
“Here’s to working together in harmony.”
Her smile dissolved into a frown.
“Okay, so maybe we’re not there yet,” Henrik conceded. “But I do want us to work well together, which is why I invited you out this evening.” He sipped his wine. “I really am sorry about what happened the other day, and I apologize if I pushed too hard. I promise that the rest of the filming will be a more pleasant experience.”
“It’s fine. I know I might have been a little difficult at times ...” She took a big gulp of her wine. It felt rough against her tongue, but she was incapable of tasting anything. She should have gone for sparkling instead—it was easier to knock back. “I ... I need to tell you something. I’m afraid the show isn’t going to happen.” She swallowed hard. “I’m going to speak to Elnaz tomorrow.”
“Oh?” She had taken him by surprise. “Why? Have you changed your mind again? It’s too late to pull out now, and if this is about the incident the other day, I’ve ...”
“No, it’s not that. I spoke to the bank.” Another gulp of wine. “They’ve frozen my overdraft limit, which means I can’t afford to buy anything or pay anyone. I can’t even afford to stay open for another week. And if we have to close for the renovations, there won’t be any money coming in at all.” Though she felt ashamed, saying the words out loud brought an enormous sense of relief.
He nodded slowly, gazing into the distance as if he were letting it all sink in. Would he get mad? Give her another lecture on how worthless she was, running her business into the ground?
“There has to be a way to fix this,” he said, much to her surprise.
“But how? I simply don’t have the money.”
He looked at her. “Give me a week. The production company will lose a fortune if we have to cancel the show after all the time and money we’ve invested in it. We have to figure out a way to make it work. I’ll speak to them and see what we can do.”
“That’s very kind of you, but ... I don’t know if I’ve got a week. The invoices are piling up. To avoid a complete disaster, I’ll have to closewithina week!”
“Did Elnaz mention the meet and greet at the bookstore next week?”
Nora nodded.
“Apparently the tickets sold out in a day. The plan is for you to do the catering—I can try to get you paid in advance. Meanwhile, I’ll see what I can do on my end, okay?”
“That sounds amazing.” She released a long breath and smiled at him. “Thank you. But the renovations ... having to stay closed ... I don’t know if ...”
“Of course we’ll compensate you for the days you lose to the renovations. I’m pretty sure that’s in the contract. But again I can arrange for you to have the money now. That will give you a few days’ grace.”
“Thank you,” she said again, more hesitantly this time.
“There’s no need to thank me—I want the show to go ahead, so this is not an act of charity.”
“I realize you’re not doing this for my sake,” Nora said quickly. “But thanks anyway—this might just be my salvation.” She shook her head. “I really can’t understand how it’s come to this.”
“I can,” he said, looking her directly in the eye.
“Oh? Because I serve bad coffee?” she said, half joking.
He made a face. “No. And by the way, all that business with the coffee—I have to confess that was all scripted by Ted.”
“What?”
“I’m afraid so. You serve excellent coffee.”
She was so relieved—she had begun to wonder. Although lying to her wasn’t fair.
“It’s come to this because of the selection you offer.” Henrik’s expression was serious. “I’m not saying that just to make you mad, but because it’s true.”
She didn’t say anything for a while. “Notjustto make me mad—but that’s part of it?”
“Okay, yes.” He smiled, but immediately grew serious again. “Even if I pushed too hard the other day.”
