Suddenly, everything went quiet. ‘Gabi? Gabs?’ Anna said, her volume rising. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Turn the TV on! Turn it on right now! BBC One.’
‘But… what’s this got to do with—?’
‘Just do it, Anna!’
Anna picked up the remote and jabbed a button to turn it on to the right channel. All she saw was the regular presenters of one of those early evening entertainment shows with features and news snippets, guests and occasionally a live band. A reporter was doing one of those interviews when an actor or singer had something to promote, the kind filmed not in the studio but in a stylish yet anonymous hotel room.
‘Why have you told me to…?’ Anna began to say to Gabi and then fell silent,as the screen switched to a shot of the interviewee and she saw exactly why Gabi had…
It was Brody.
Brody was being interviewed in the stylish yet anonymous hotel room.
Anna sat back down on the sofa with a thump. It was similar to that immediate reaction she’d had seeing him at the top of the Shard, only this time it was more like falling, as if the floor had disappeared and the air beneath her was just about to let go and allow her to plummet downwards. It was the strangest sensation.
Anna blinked, unable to tear her eyes away from the screen. The reporter had been doing some preamble, saying something about the well-known children’s author revealing the reasons behind his disappearance from public life.
‘So, you’re back,’ the reporter said. ‘And so is Pip! I hear you’re working on the final instalment of the series and there are murmurings the book will be available to buy next year.’
‘Yes, as long as people are still interested in reading it,’ he said, and he didn’t actually smile, but something in his eyes made it seem as if he had. Anna practically stopped breathing.
‘I’m sure they are,’ the interviewer said.
Anna had always liked the woman before but now she wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t just interviewing Brody, she was fawning all over him! Look at her, flipping her hair…
‘What’s taken you so long to get around to writing the final instalment in the series?’
‘Almost a decade of writer’s block will do it,’ he replied.
The shot cut to the reporter, looking thoughtful. ‘And what brought an end to that?’
‘I met someone,’ Brody replied, then paused. Anna’s heart began to hammer painfully. ‘Someone who reminded me how brave and resilient and adaptable human beings can be, how just when we think our story is over, there might still be an unexpected twist, giving us a different ending.’
The reporter liked this. ‘Ahappyending?’ she asked, leaning in.
Brody shook his head, in the manner of someone refusing to be drawn. ‘And that’s what Pip needed too… A different ending. I’d written myself into a corner, leaving her stuck in a dark and lonely place, but it suddenly became clear what the solution was – she needed someone else to help her climb out of it. I think we could all do with a little help like that from time to time.’
He and the interviewer began to discuss the reasons he’d stopped writing – the accident and the disintegration of his marriage. Anna stared in fascination. It was so strange to hear that voice and at the same time to see him moving, his expression changing. It made everything seem vaguely unreal. The topic then moved on to the panic and agoraphobia that had marred his life. Anna felt so selfish for having missed it. She’d known there was something wrong…
‘That’s why I wanted to come forward after keeping silent for so long,’ he said. ‘So many people suffer with anxiety and panic in secret. I was too ashamed of what was happening to me to tell anyone, so I struggled alone, and things just got worse and worse. It’s important to talk about mental health issues, so that people can understand that they’re not alone, that they’re not irrevocably broken. That there is hope. But like Pip, I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed a helping hand.’
‘Are you currently receiving treatment for your anxiety?’
Brody nodded. ‘For more than six months now.’
‘And have you conquered it?’
‘Getting there,’ Brody replied, a smile lifting his features. Anna gripped onto the arm of the sofa for support. She’d never seen him smile before. It was so… so…
And then he was gone. The reporter was rounding up and there were shots of the pair of presenters back in the studio. Anna stood up and moved towards the television, although she wasn’t quite sure why.
‘Anna?’
Anna almost jumped out of her skin at the muffled voice that seemed to be coming from somewhere near her midriff. She looked down and saw she was clutching her phone. Oh, yes. Gabi.
‘Are you there?’ Gabi asked, sounding shrill. ‘Did you see?’
