Sam frown-smiled at her indulgently, as though she were being very silly. It made her want to punch him in the face, or– failing that– angrily slam down the lid of her laptop. She sighed, knowing she couldn’t do either.
‘I didn’t know you were involved until late this morning,’ Sam said. ‘Carolyn called me to confirm everything– after she’d spoken to you, I believe. Something about checking there’d be no budget problems caused by moving the event. Only at that point did she tell me this festival would be a celebration of all things love-related. And up until then, she’d never mentioned your name. You might also recall that you only revealed last night that you were working on this kind of fiction, which came as quite the surprise.
‘Also, for the record: I don’t dislike you. I never have.’
He said this softly. Sincerely. The words seemed to whack Amy in the solar plexus, so she resolved to ignore them.
‘We can’t even get through an encounter at the village shop without arguing,’ Amy pointed out. ‘Mr Bradley had to intervene last night in order to prevent bloodshed in a discussion about abook. How can you possibly think we can work together on something as ambitious as this?’
Sam shrugged. ‘Because we have no choice. Contracts are already signed. Rowton Hall is hosting RomFest, and you and I are in charge of it. I’m sure we’ll manage.’
Ping.
Carolyn had joined the meeting.
‘Ah,’ she said. ‘You two are getting acquainted. Excellent. I’ve no doubt you’ll end up fast friends, if you aren’t already.’
Amy choked slightly at this, then coughed to cover her incredulous reaction.
‘We actually went to sixth form college together,’ Sam said, seemingly amused by Amy’s discomposure.
‘Oh, splendid!’ Carolyn cried. ‘I did wonder whether your paths had crossed … Don’t you think Rowton Hall is a wonderful choice of venue, Amy? When I realised it was so local to youandthe inspiration for one of the country’s favourite Regency romances, I had to make sure we got it. We’ll be using the beautiful gardens and woodland, with the house as the ultimate picturesque backdrop.’
‘It’s … brilliant. Yes. Amazing,’ Amy said, trying and failing to sound enthusiastic.
Carolyn tipped her head to one side, perturbed. ‘I know we’ve shifted the goalposts somewhat today, and doubtless this is a lot to take in,’ she said. ‘Which is why I’d like you to have this Friday off.’
‘What?’ Amy asked, forgetting to be polite. Carolyn didn’t do days off– she’d been known to send work emails on Christmas Day, and rarely understood other people’s quite normal need for downtime.
‘Well, notoff,’ Carolyn continued, and Amy fought not to roll her eyes.Here comes something else I won’t like. ‘I want you to make your way to a scary story festival that’s happening up north– see how it all works and get some inspiration.’
‘I suppose that makes sense,’ Amy conceded, nodding her head. ‘Looking at how another genre comes to life at an event would probably be helpful for me, having never done anything like this before.’
‘Indeed,’ Carolyn said, smiling with satisfaction. ‘The event is in Robin Hood’s Bay, near Whitby– presumably because of the Dracula connection– so nottoodifficult for you to get to. I’d suggest the pair of you drive up on Friday, so you’re there for when it kicks off the following morning. I’ve already taken the liberty of organising tickets and accommodation.’
Hang the hell on.
The pair of them?
Amy felt her face growing red as she fumbled for an excuse not to do this, having said mere moments ago that the trip was a good idea.
She could not– absolutely couldnot– spend a night away with Sam. She groped around in her brain for a reason she could offer up that wasn’t juvenile, unprofessional or faintly ridiculous, and came up with nothing.
She became aware that her mouth was hanging open when Sam said, ‘That sounds great, Carolyn. I’ve no doubt the experience will be very illuminating.’ His tone was serious and sensible, but there was laughter in his eyes.
Fantastic. Now Amy would be written off as unreasonable– lacking in commitment to her new job– if she tried to backtrack. Would it have killed him to say, Sorry Carolyn, I can’t rearrange my weekend at such short notice? Unlike Amy, Sam didn’t work for H-K; he could have politely declined the offer with very little loss of face. And anyway, hadn’t he said contracts were already signed? Carolyn was locked into hiring Rowton Hall’s grounds even if Sam point-blank refused to set foot in Robin Hood’s Bay in the rudest manner imaginable.
‘That’s settled, then,’ Carolyn said. ‘I’ll leave you two to talk among yourselves about arrangements. And perhaps we can schedule another call for Monday, so you can report back on what you’ve seen. I daresay you won’t be dialling in separately in future, either, what with your being in the same village, ha ha!’
Fuck. Another bombshell. Somehow, they just kept coming.
‘Now,’ Carolyn motored on, ‘let’s do a quick brainstorm– note down every idea we’ve had so far with regard to this event, as well as any challenges we can see on the horizon. We’ll see where we’re at with a little analysis today, then regroup to discuss how your reconnaissance might help us make the right decisions.’
Amy stifled a groan, strategically bending to retrieve a notebook from the other side of her laptop screen in order to hide the queasy expression she knew was on her face.
Carolynreallydidn’t want a full rundown of the concerns Amy had about planning RomFest right now. But if she’d been honest enough to offer one, Amy knew ‘spending time with Sam Ainsworth’ would have been right at the top of the list.
Shortly after she logged off from work for the night, Amy’s mobile began to ring. She hoped it was Kit, so she could rant to him about the utterly ludicrous day she’d had– but when she picked it up from the table, she saw Lily’s name lighting up the screen.
