“Wow,” she says, wide-eyed. “You’ve done your research.”
“Are you ready?” I clear my throat and then, feeling weirdly nervous in front of a diehardStar Warsfan, I tip my head back and give it my best shot. “RWWWAGGGGHHHHH!”
Carolyn gasps and then screams in my face, but thankfully it’s a really happy scream and not a you’re-going-to-ruin-my-wedding-dream scream.
“That was awesome!” she yells, giving me a high-five. “How can I ever thank you? I feel so emotional! You’re really capturing the spirit of Chewie!”
I steady the mask on my head as it tilts. “Really?”
“Yes! And you know what?”
“What?”
She takes one of my Wookiee paws and clasps it with both her hands. “You have so many Chewbacca qualities, Sophie. You really do.”
“Oh, cool. Thanks!”
My phone, sitting on her coffee table, starts vibrating with a message. Then another. And another. A stream of messages comes through.
“Hang on,” I say, shuffling across the floor to the table. “Let me check these.”
I try picking up my phone, but it’s hard in the costume, so Carolyn kindly picks it up for me. I tell her the passcode so she can unlock it and then she clicks on the conversation and places the phone in my hand.
“I’m going to call Darren,” she says excitedly, rushing to the other side of the room. “He’s going todiewhen I tell him how amazing you are.”
But I’m hardly listening, because I’m reading the stream of messages from Cordelia.
EMERGENCY!!
Where are you?
Can you come here now?
[Location pin drop]
Hello?
Hello?!
Sophie
Sophie, can you come now
NOW SOPHIE!!!
This is important!
I need you!!
EMERGENCY!!!!!!
Please come!!!
“Carolyn, I’ve got to go,” I say, my breath catching in my throat. Thank goodness I’m in West London: she’s in Notting Hill, not far at all. “There’s been an emergency!”
Carolyn pauses her conversation with Darren, looking over, stunned. “Everything OK?”
“I’m sorry, I have to run!”
