Before long Elnaz appeared in a doorway, wearing a visitor’s lanyard. She left the door ajar and beckoned Bente to her.
“So good to see you again,” she said, giving Bente a hug. “And I’m so pleased you got in touch with your idea.”
Bente smiled. “I’m glad you’re interested.” She slipped in through the door, which closed behind them.
Elnaz returned her smile as they continued along the corridor. “I love your YouTube clips on wine—you’re a natural in front of the camera, and it’s great that TV24 seems keen on your idea. Just a quick update: I met one of the producers for lunch the other week, and he loved the concept, so I thought we might as well bring TV24 on board right away. He and Ihad a meeting about something else this morning, but we chatted briefly about you, and they’re definitely interested.”
“Fantastic.” Bente did her best to suppress the excitement that was racing through her body; she wanted to be as professional as possible.
As they walked, they met several people who knew Bente; each one greeted her as if nothing had happened, as if she was here every week, and she felt herself grow taller with each encounter.
“How are things with you?” she asked Elnaz. “How’s life at Palento?”
“I think things are beginning to move—it was kind of slow at first. Your ex Henrik and his girlfriend are making a show about the newly renovated patisserie—you might remember there was a fire.”
“Yes, I heard about that. Such a shame—it was a really old business, wasn’t it?”
Elnaz nodded. “The oldest patisserie in Västervik.”
“The new show sounds great.”
“Are you still in touch, you and Henrik?”
“Not anymore. But I’m glad his Christmas special went so well, and that he fell in love at the same time.”
The Christmas episode of Henrik’s regular show last year had been a great success. It had aired in a prime-time slot, and the viewers had loved watching him fall in love with Nora, the pâtissier he was working with, in real time. The whole thing had made Bente happy too. He deserved every success. He was a good man, even if the love between them had perhaps never been strong enough to last.
“What did you think of his apology?” Elnaz asked.
Bente understood immediately what Elnaz was referring to. “It was ...” She tried to choose her words carefully.
Years before, in the moment when everything collapsed around her, she had been completely alone in France. A meeting with her French ex-boyfriend in connection with the recording of a show there had triggered rumors that she was cheating on Henrik. She had protested her innocence, had assured Henrik over and over again that nothing had happened, but he had believed every word that was written.
After that, when the scandal over the unpaid restaurant bill broke, Henrik had remained silent. He didn’t contact her or offer any support. True, he had been absolutely certain that she had cheated, but she had been left totally isolated. No one in the world of entertainment had been prepared to stand up for her.
Henrik had eventually posted an apology on Instagram, which was picked up by gossip magazines and online publications. In it, he’d admitted that he should have defended Bente when things spiraled out of control. He had also apologized personally in a long message to her, but it was the public apology that had been an attempt to make things right, even if it hadn’t actually changed her situation.
“It was what I needed,” she said eventually.
“Even if it was a bit late,” Elnaz commented.
“I expect he had his reasons.” Truthfully, Bente agreed with Elnaz, but now was not the moment to come across as someone who held a grudge.
Elnaz opened the door of the meeting room, where a man with a shaved head, and dressed in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and blue jeans, was waiting. He stood up and gave a small smile, as if he was too stressed to smile properly, and held out his hand. “Don.” Short and to the point.
Bente had heard of him even though she’d never met him before. She knew that the man’s name was actually Robert, but for some unknown reason he was called Don. He had been working at another channel when Bente was with TV24, and had built his reputation producing scandalous docusoaps. These days he made other kinds of shows, and had produced Henrik’s Christmas special together with Elnaz.
“Okay, let’s get started.” Bente sat down next to Don, and Bente took a seat opposite them. She opened up her notebook to where she had written down the most important details; she hadn’t wanted to stare at a computer screen throughout the meeting. She began by talking about the message she had received from her friend Camille, the bottle’smysterious background, and everything she had found out about it. She showed them pictures of the bottle on her phone.
They listened attentively.
“This is really exciting,” Don said, once Bente had finished and sat back. She let out a long breath. She had nailed it.
Elnaz looked at Don, nodded, and smiled. “This would suit Didrik, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely. It would be fantastic.”
“Didrik?” Bente didn’t understand.
