She was vaguely aware of a Golf pulling into the parking area and just as she passed heard someone calling out her name.
‘Tasha? It is you.’ She turned to see Callum standing, his laptop under his arm. He pressed his key fob to lock his car and walked over to the other side of the low wall separating the car park from the pavement. ‘What are you doing in this neck of the woods?’
‘I thought I’d come to St Helier to buy a few bits for Mum and Dad.’
He nodded. ‘The shopping area is quite a way in that direction.’
‘It is?’ She thought about her bus trip. ‘I didn’t consider that when I got off the bus before the station.’
‘If you wait a moment, I can walk with you. Unless you’d rather be alone, of course.’
She shook her head, still taken aback to have seen him so unexpectedly. ‘No, I’d like that.’
They were soon walking together and she wondered if he might suspect she had been meaning to come to the station to see him. ‘I suppose you bump into people you know here all the time.’
‘It depends. Sometimes it happens, but there are people living on this small island who I haven’t seen for years, even decades.’
Surprised, she gave him a doubtful look. ‘I can’t imagine that happening on such a small island.’
‘You’d be surprised. Anyway, it might be small but there are over one hundred thousand people living here now. The numbers have increased massively over the past forty years or so.’
‘That does surprise me.’ She smiled at him.
‘What?’ he asked, laughing.
‘You must be well known here though. A bit of a local celebrity, being on the radio and all that?’
He shrugged. ‘Only to the people who listen to the show. Know me, that is. I’m no celebrity. Your chap Riley is one of those. I wouldn’t be suited to that life at all.’
‘No? Why not?’ She didn’t imagine he would be but was interested to know why the notion didn’t appeal to him.
‘I like my privacy too much. No one is bothered about someone like me. Riley, on the other hand, must have a hell of a time with fans coming to his home, or bothering him when he’s out with friends, or girlfriends, or whatever.’
She couldn’t tell whether Callum was genuinely interested, or if he was concerned for Erin. ‘He lives in a secure apartment that’s impossible to get into unless you either live there or are invited.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
She frowned. ‘Put it this way, the lift goes directly to Riley’s apartment. It goes to other floors, too, but he has a code to take it straight up to his hallway.’
She saw Callum raise his eyebrows in surprise and smiled. ‘He usually has someone nearby looking out for him too. Just in case some chap decides to challenge Riley to a fight.’
‘People do that?’
‘Not often, but he’s been the tough guy in a few films and occasionally you’ll get someone who’s had a bit too much to drink and wants to show off to friends.’ She shook her head. ‘If they knew Riley well they would know his muscles look great on camera, but he’s never used them to fight anyone.’
‘I see.’ They stopped, waiting for a set of traffic lights to change so they could cross the road. ‘It’s fascinating to think how different someone can be from their public persona, don’t you think?’
She thought back to all the times she had been surprised when she first did this work and got to meet many of the people she had thought impressive on the screen. ‘I don’t think much would shock me now.’
Callum laughed. ‘I suppose not.’ He stopped near what looked like a big frog on a granite plinth.
‘What a strange statue!’ she said without thinking. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude.’
‘That’s a crapaud. A local toad.’
‘I see,’ she said, not really seeing at all. She realised they had reached a long street with shops on either side. ‘I suppose this is where we part ways then?’
‘It is, but if you want a lift back to where you’re staying, I can either come and pick you up when you’re finished, or you can walk back to the studio. I should be finished in—’ he checked his watch ‘—just over two hours. In fact, I’d better get a move on if I don’t want to be late.’
