He laughed, a deep rumbling that tickled my ear.
‘You are going to be OK to do Tilly’s photos, aren’t you? I mean, we all know you’re doing it as a favour, and that you’ve been travelling a lot lately.’
‘Yes. My assistant knows that weekend is a no-go for anything. I’ve taken the Friday off too so that I can go over some things.’
I smiled at the slight nerves in his voice.
‘They’re going to be fantastic pictures, Charlie. I know it.’
‘I hope so. Obviously I will be blaming my studio assistant if anything does go horribly wrong. You do understand that.’
‘I’d expect nothing less from an artistic master such as yourself.’
The laugh rumbled gently over the line again.
‘Have you got any more trips coming up?’
There was a slight hesitation before he answered, and I assumed he was thinking ahead in his calendar. ‘No, things should start settling soon.’
‘That’s good, then, isn’t it? I mean, I know you like travelling sometimes but…’
‘Yes. There’s been more than I anticipated lately.’
Down the line, I heard the doorbell to his room sound.
‘Room service is here. Better go.’
‘OK, go and watch your film and enjoy your dinner. And have fun tomorrow! I absolutely insist.’
‘All right. I’ll try. Now go to bed, it’s late.’
‘Yep. Heading off now. Night, Charlie.’
‘Night, Libs.’
32
I was waiting for Charlie in the car park and heard the throaty engine before I saw him turn in. He pulled up to me and I scooted around to the passenger side and hopped in.
‘Morning.’
‘Morning. Ready to do this?’
‘I am. Are you?’
‘I feel better now you’re here but… yes, I am.’
I tilted my head at him. ‘Charlie Richmond, I do believe you’re actually excited about this.’
A grin slid onto his face. ‘I am. I really am. But I’m also totally bloody terrified about messing it up. It’s a very odd combination, I have to say.’
I grabbed his hand. ‘You’re not going to mess up. Just do what you did with us in the bedroom…’ He raised his eyebrows and I silently ran through the sentence again. ‘Yes, OK. That came out decidedly different from how it sounded in my head, but still you know what I mean. Do what you did then, and what you always do when you go out taking photos, and it’ll be great. It’ll be amazing. It’ll be—’
He laughed, clapping his hand over my mouth. ‘I get the idea.’
‘Mmmff.’
He removed his hand.
