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She listened to his radio show without fail, telling herself that the sound of Leo’s voice was an incidental pleasure and that preparing herself for what was to come was the real object. The on-air version of Leo was slightly different from the one she’d met, still astute and probing but not so confrontational, his gentle charm putting people at ease and encouraging them to talk.
Afraid to trust in either the public face or the private one, she left most of the liaison to Rhona, picking up her normal duties in return. Two weeks, a week—and then there was no avoiding it. Everything was arranged, and the following Monday saw the first of her guest appearances on the Dr Leo Cross medical phone-in show.
Alex had arrived at the radio station at six, two hours before the show was due to start. Half an hour had been taken up with a short induction from one of the production assistants, and then she’d been taken to an empty studio to have a look around. Leo was due to arrive at seven, but Alex was reliably informed that he was always late.
‘What are you reading?’ She’d given up looking at her watch and was sitting alone in the restroom, trying to read, when she heard Leo’s voice.
‘Oh... It’s the latest thing apparently, for teenagers.’ She tilted the cover towards him and he nodded. ‘I like to keep up. It’s actually pretty good.’
He smiled, and suddenly warmth zinged in the air between them. He was dressed in jeans and a dark blue sweater that looked far too soft to be anything other than cashmere. However hard Alex tried to look at him dispassionately, he still took her breath away.
He slung a leather jacket down onto a chair and sat down. ‘How are you feeling? Nervous?’
Sick with nerves. That must be probably pretty obvious. ‘A little...’
‘You’ll be fine. Once we get started, the hour will go too fast and you’ll be wanting more time.’ He was leaning towards her, his elbows on his knees. This was clearly Leo’s pep talk for beginners and, strangely, it seemed to be working. Now that the dreaded time had come, and he was here, she felt better about everything.
‘So... What are we going to say?’
Leo shrugged. ‘No idea. I’ll introduce you, we’ll take a few calls and we’ll talk. That’s the thing about phone-in radio—there’s no script.’
‘You like that? The uncertainty?’
He grinned. ‘Yeah. Keeps me on my toes. You’ll be just great, trust me. And if you’re not, then I’ll just interrupt and steer things back on course.’
‘Right. Thanks.’ She’d rather be just great, and not need Leo to save the day. But then that might be a bit too much to ask on her first time.
The door burst open and Alex jumped as the production assistant who’d showed her around popped her head around the door. ‘Leo... Fifteen minutes.’
‘Okay, thanks. We’re ready.’ He turned to Alex as the door closed again. ‘Just relax. It’s a conversation between you and me. Concentrate on that, and the one person out there who’s listening.’
‘One person?’
‘Yeah. Just visualise someone you know, and talk to them. You’ll be surprised how well that works.’
‘I’ll try.’ Alex wondered who Leo visualised. Maybe he’d been doing this long enough not to need anyone. ‘Was it this nerve-racking for you? Your first time?’
He shook his head. ‘Nah. I didn’t have any nerves left to be racked. I was so numb with fear that you could have knocked me over the head with a brick and I probably wouldn’t have noticed. And I wasn’t tipped in at the deep end, like you. I’d been volunteering on a student helpline for years, and done some spots on local radio in connection with that.’
‘That must have been pretty tough. Manning a helpline at the same time as you were studying and working at the hospital.’ Leo hadn’t said anything about a helpline ten years ago, and Alex had thought they’d talked about almost everything in their lives.
‘It was something that meant a lot to me. You make time for the things that are important.’ His face seemed to harden a little, as if the memory was difficult.
‘And you’ve stayed here. Even though you’re on TV now.’ It seemed a little odd that he should hang on to this, when he obviously had other opportunities. Leo didn’t seem the type for sentimentality.
‘Yeah. I like talking to people.’ He shook his head, as if to clear it, and then grinned. ‘You’ll see.’
He ushered her through to the studio, giving her time to get settled. The producer hurried in, putting a few sheets of paper in front of him, and then the call for silence and the ‘On-Air’ light glowed red.
She hardly heard the music that heralded the start of the show, hardly saw what was going on around her. Then she felt Leo’s fingers brush the back of her hand. His gaze caught hers and he smiled, then started the introduction.
‘And tonight I have Alex Jackson with me. She’s the founder of Together Our Way, a charity which helps young people with all kinds of disabilities participate in sport...’ He glanced down at the paper the producer had put in front of him and frowned suddenly. ‘Alex is going to be on the line with me here, and so if you’ve got any questions for her then you know the number to call...’
The jingle for the phone number started to play and Leo took the opportunity to scrunch up the paper in front of him, tossing it towards the control room. It bounced off the glass and dropped to the floor and then suddenly, seamlessly, Leo was talking again.
‘To start us all off, I’m going to ask Alex a few questions about Together Our Way. And, just in case anyone accuses me of monopolising her time here, she will be right here with me every Monday for the next four weeks, as part of our Charity Partnership Project...’
Suddenly his gaze was on her. The smile on his lips, the look in his eyes, said that he was talking just to her. ‘Alex, how long since you founded your charity...?’
