Chapter Eleven
About half an hour later, after I’ve slapped a ton more make-up on my face, plaited my hair into a pretty braid and changed into my favourite emerald green jumper, I head downstairs to find that Auguste is already down there, sitting at the massive kitchen table and fiddling with a gigantic, professional looking video camera.
‘Woah,’ I say, joining him over at the table. ‘That’s the real deal.’
Auguste nods, smiling slightly. He handles the camera gently, almost as if it’s a new-born puppy or something. ‘This is a Canon C200. I could not ever afford one for myself, but Henry insists on the best. I’m lucky to use it. It has a a very wonderful dual pixel auto focus and can shoot in 4k. It’s a great versatile piece of kit. Of course there are even better out there, but this is perfect for Henry’s videos and I have used it to shoot my own short feature.’
‘Wow,’ I laugh. ‘I gotta be honest, I didn’t think you had that many words in you.’
Auguste shrugs slightly and pushes his glasses up his nose. ‘Sorry. I am boring you?’
‘Not at all! Have you always wanted to be a cameraman?’
Auguste rests the camera on his thighs. ‘I want to be a film-maker,’ he says. ‘I am actually submitting’
‘Are we ready chaps?’ Henry interrupts, bursting into the room and practically bouncing with energy.
‘All set,’ Auguste stands up and carries the camera into a room off the kitchen, Henry behind him. I follow the pair of them and gasp in surprise to see that this other room is like a little TV stage set! Professional lights hang from the ceiling and there’s even more camera equipment in the corner. The back wall is full of mahogany shelves crammed with hardback books and placed in front of the shelves is an artfully tatty leather sofa.
‘This is amazing,’ I say, following Henry to the leather sofa. ‘I assumed this was a laundry room or something.’
‘Oh, we have someone who picks up our laundry,’ Henry laughs. ‘Ridiculous, I know. But my family has been using the company for years and I like to be loyal.’
‘You… you get all your laundry done for you?’ I goggle.
‘You do too, now,’ Henry says, eyes twinkling. ‘It’s a condition of living here. You allow me to pay for your laundry. Auguste loves it.’
Auguste nods in agreement. ‘It is very helpful. I hate to iron.’
‘Me too. Ironing is the most boring thing.’
And then I laugh out loud, not quite believing that I appear to be living in a Notting Hill mews house for free and getting my laundry done for me. I know it’s only temporary, but still. Sometimes luck just takes a turn, and it seems like mine is all coming in at once!
‘Okay!’ Henry claps his hands together. ‘Just follow my lead, Bess. Auguste will say ACTION and then I will start to talk and do my usual intro. Auguste, can you pan the camera over to Bess when I mention her name? But keep her hidden until then. I want it to be a big reveal!’
I run my hand over my braids nervously. This is nerve-wracking. I can’t remember the last time I was intentionally on camera. Before I can think any further on it Auguste shouts out ‘Action!’ and Henry starts speaking right into the camera.
‘Hey chaps!’ he says brightly. ‘I’m here to banish all the blues with magic unexpected news!’ He chuckles at the rhyme before launching into a little backstory about the day a stranger saved his life.
‘And you can find that video clip here,’ he says, pointing at the ceiling. I look at the ceiling before I realise that Auguste will probably edit in one of those little links that viewers can click on.
‘What an amazing couple of days I’ve had, guys,’ Henry says. ‘As you know I was desperate to find this woman. This angel on earth who saved my life.’
Upon hearing him describe me as ‘an angel on earth’ I get such a rush of guilt that it makes me immediately want to confess. To shout out, ‘It wasn’t me! I didn’t save your life! I’m lying to you so you pay me to make you even hotter!’
I cover my mouth with my hands. Be normal, Bess. You can do it.
‘And chaps… I found her,’ Henry continues, oblivious to my moral struggle. ‘She’s here. My angel is here and she is called Bess.’
Auguste pans the camera over to me. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do so I give the most angelic wave I can. Then I say ‘Hi guys!’ like I see all the YouTube people do whenever I watch one of their videos. I just about stop myself from sayingdon’t forget to like and subscribe!
The corner of Henry’s mouth twitches up in amusement at my wave. He thinks I’m an idiot. Iaman idiot. But he’s the one calling me an angel. That’s super full on! It’s put me on the back foot!
‘So,’ Henry says, shuffling in a little closer to me. ‘After a pretty exhausting search that involved walking the streets of Notting Hill looking for the woman who saved me, I found Bess in a café on Portobello Road. I couldn’t believe it. At first she didn’t recognise me at all! But when I jogged her memory we hit it off right away.’
Did we hit it off right away?
‘And when I found out that Bess was a personal trainer, I just had to hire her.’
