Daisy looked across at Tom who was biting down on his thumb, just as the lights faded and the host reappeared on the stage.
“Who wants to live through some more heartbreaks?” he shouted into the microphone and to everyone’s surprise, they all cheered. Tom almost loudest of all.
At work, a few days later at just after 5:00 a.m., Daisy sat alone at her computer. She’d edited some audio Clara had left for her from a face-to-face yesterday—an interview with a British popstar who’d just made it big in America and was teaming up with the same producer as Taylor Swift for her next album. She’d scanned the usual websites and written up anything that had come in overnight and she’d gone back through some other interviews in case she could create stories out of bits that hadn’t yet been used.
There wasn’t much else out there and she had days like this, where she could probably just go home or sneak in a nap on the sofa. She wanted more than this, and she was capable of it. She was sure she was, so why did she find it so hard to take the leap? Fuck it. She would just do it. She’d apply for the job and see what happened. Tom was right, worst case she could just turn it down, but she couldn’t turn it down if she wasn’t braveenough to apply. Zack would understand. He’d support her. He just wanted her to be happy; he’d said as much. She would tell him the moment she got home.
She clicked onto the intranet, a rush of energy building in her chest as she searched for the listing, her finger shaking against the mouse as she scrolled further down. As her eyes landed on the heading, her throat tightened, her heart sinking like a rock on sight of it.
***Closed for Applications***
That was it then. She was too late. She’d missed it. Daisy hadn’t realized how much she’d been holding on to it. Using the knowledge the role was there as some kind of safety net. A reminder that, at any moment, she could find the courage to change her life.
Tom had been so matter-of-fact about it; that she should just do it, and timing didn’t matter, but it did. It mattered to Zack, and that mattered to her. Zack had to give up his entire career for their relationship. Everything he’d trained for. It was that or wait five years to be together, and once they’d said the words out loud, they needed to act on them. Zack said that if they didn’t, it was part of Daisy’s conditioning that meant she’d back out. Panic. Get cold feet and run, even though it was what she wanted. That Daisy would always choose men who were unavailable if she was left to her own devices, because she didn’t feel like she deserved more. She didn’t feel worthy of love, but Zack loved her. They’d left Manchester the following month, moving to London for a fresh start where Zack thought he could possibly find as fulfilling a role in HR. He was interested in people, and that job still had an element of it. Daisy knew he didn’t enjoy it as much, but he’d stopped complaining about that just as she’d stopped talking so much about her own ambitions.
Looking down at her phone she saw it flashing with a number she didn’t recognize. It started with +1 which she knew was international. The States.Oh my God.She jumped up, her fingers rushing to answer. Dan! Daisy hit the phone so fast she had to swipe across twice to pick up, switching it to loud speaker.
“Daisy, it’s Annabelle Fletcher. I’m here with Gretchen and Beatrice. Is now a good time to talk?”
It took a moment for all the words to land as Daisy stared at her phone, her feet fixed to the floor beside her desk.
“Hello? Daisy?”
Shaking, she started running through to the little studio in the corner of the office.
“Yes. Yes! Now is a great time. I’m at work and I’m just headed to the studio. Are you okay if I record this?” she asked, plugging her phone into the desk and watching as the levels appeared on the monitor in front of her. She couldn’t believe it. Three of the biggest actresses in Hollywood were on the other end of the phone and they wanted to speak toher.
“Of course,” said Annabelle. “Why do you think we called?”
“Thank you. And you can trust me with this, I promise.”
“We know,” said another voice Daisy recognized as Gretchen’s. “Annabelle has assured us of that.”
Daisy sat up straighter in her seat, a smile spreading across her face.
“Okay, first of all, can you all just say your names so I can check levels?”
Within the hour, websites, TV channels and radio stations across the UK and America were running with the story, including the line “in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Now! Annabelle Fletcher said...”
Chapter Sixteen
Tom
“Can you just lighten it a touch more?”
Tom was at his favorite printers, going through all the work he had so far for the exhibition. He actually hadn’t seen his photos on a larger scale for a couple of years. Normally he edited them himself on his laptop and emailed them off to whichever magazine or brand he was working with. He hadn’t realized how different it would feel when it was his own work and it was just for him.
Raj, the image editor Tom always used, had printed them all off at A1 sizing and stuck them up on the wall of his studio, ready for Tom’s arrival. When he pushed open the door and walked inside, a rush of warmth filled his chest as he took in all the giant images on display. He was sure an exhibition like this had been done before, but God it felt good to be surrounded by happiness. Just like the laughter therapy he did, it was impossible to feel sad while looking at these photos.
He moved from one to the next, leaning in, taking in the detail, noting down adjustments. The two elderly ladies on the bus were a bit too shadowed. The trees in the background of his dad’s photo needed to be slightly less in focus. The couple on the picnic blanket needed to be brighter so the red of the blanket popped more, enhancing the image. His favorite photo ofStormy needed some fiddling around with contrast to bring out the color of the sky behind him. Somehow, the only one that needed minimal change was the one from the ceilidh.
“Like that?” Raj asked, pointing at the photo of Sophie on his screen, tucked up in bed, head resting against the wall as she laughed.
“Yes, mate,” Tom said, patting his shoulder and nodding. He was surprised how long it had taken him to find an image of Sophie where her happiness was etched across her entire face. If you’d have asked Tom to describe her, it would have been the main thing he’d have said. That she was always happy. That if he searched through his phone or on his laptop he’d have hundreds to choose from. Actually the one that showed her the happiest was the one he’d taken of her on the beach in Byron Bay the night he met her. Leaping into the air, taking up space and radiating happiness. He didn’t want to think too much about what that might mean.
“These are really good, man,” Raj said now, turning to face Tom from his swivel chair. “How many more are you getting?”
Tom shrugged. “I guess I just keep going until a couple of weeks before and then get all the best ones ready.”
