Page 36 of Doc Hollywood

Clara leaned over to Taylor, whispering in his ear, “This bit is tradition. He always drags the title of the quiz out as long as possible to keep us all guessing.”

As soon as she said that, people around the room started calling out topics.

“Politics,” was yelled from one corner to groans from the rest of the room.

“Not today, keep guessing,” Ron shouted.

“World War Two.”

Clara rolled her eyes at the next suggestion, again leaning into Taylor and whispering, “That’s Brian; he asks for that every week. And every week, the quiz master says—“ She let the pause hang in the air.

“No way, Brian. Guess again,” Ron called.

“Disney?” Clara yelled, a laugh in her voice.

“Ahhh, I see someone’s been studying after their dismal performance last week and wants another go,” Ron joked, pointing at them.

The whole table of doctors cracked up laughing, shaking their heads and yelling that it had better not be Disney again.

“Let me play you a little song. It might help you guess the topic,” Ron hollered, then reached over and pressed a button on his control deck.

A familiar tune rang out through the room; it was the theme tune of Superman.

Clara, without thinking, turned to Taylor, gripping his arm, her eyes the widest they had ever been.

Taylor stared back at her, initially serious, then his lips quirked up at the corners.

This was when Clara broke and began laughing, putting her hands up to her face, trying to stifle the noise. Which only led to a loud snort coming out. This had the effect of making her laugh harder. She stuffed her fist into her mouth and glanced over at Taylor, whose blue eyes were fixed on her and full of mirth.

“You snorted!” He chuckled, and his eyebrows went up.

“I know,” Clara chortled, nodding in agreement and then snorted with laughter again.

“We’re going to do well this week,” Sadie announced loudly before she, not so subtly, elbowed Taylor.

“As I’m sure you can all guess from that music, this week, our topic is Superman!” the quiz master announced with a flourish.

Much to Clara’s horror, she snorted again. “Sorry.” She covered her mouth with one hand and used the other to wipe at her eyes. Leaning into Taylor, she muttered, “Do you want to leave?”

“He can’t leave,” Sadie hissed. “We might have a chance of winning for a change.”

“No. It’s fine. I do have one question though,” Taylor’s voice was low and serious.

Clara nodded, but she was worried he was going to ask to leave.

“Am I allowed to answer all the questions, even if they’re about me?” he enquired, managing to keep a straight face.

Clara couldn’t help it; she snorted again, exclaiming, “Of course. We want to win. Just once!”

“Okay then.” He leaned back in his seat, smirking. Then, he leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table, speaking loud enough for only their team to hear. “I know a lot about Superman.”

Sadie put her hands over her mouth, biting down on her fist to smother her chuckling.

Mike replied, “Yeah, well, so do I.”

Clara rolled her eyes; Mike always liked to be the one who knew the most at the quizzes.

“Trust me on this one,” Taylor said and nodded.

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