Page 110 of At the Heart of It
Kate forced herself to watch. This show was her baby. Her monster. She had to own it.
Viv wore her hair piled loosely on her head, and her simple black maillot suit showed off her yoga-sculpted shoulders and arched collarbones.
Collarbones, Kate thought, remembering the game Jonah had described. How they’d taken turns planting kisses on the spots they named as they worked their way through the alphabet. God, she wished she didn’t know. About the game, the secrets, about everything that would happen in the next twenty minutes.
“We’re ready to roll,” Pete called, snapping Kate back to the present. He looked at her and nodded once, and Kate wondered how much he suspected. How much anyone here suspected.
Amy stepped up beside him and glanced back at Kate. Her expression didn’t change, but Kate could feel her telegraphing the words.
Are you okay?
Kate nodded and forced her attention to the hot tub. To the scene unfolding before them. Viv was laughing at something Jonah had said, inching a little closer to him at the urging of the sound man.
“And—action!” Amy stepped back and looked at Kate again, lifting her hands and offering an almost imperceptible flutter of her fingers.
It’s out of our hands now.
Kate nodded and took a breath.
Then she flicked on the miniature, hand-held camera she gripped in the folds of her jacket.
“Okay, guys—just like we talked about,” Kate said. “Casual banter about the day’s shooting. No names, no specifics about the couple. Just general discussion about therapy methods and the sort of work you’re doing.”
“Got it.” Viv smiled and turned to Jonah. “I think we’re making some amazing progress,” she said. “I feel really great about what we accomplished today.”
Good, Kate thought. Nice and vague. That’ll make it easier to edit.
“Yeah,” Jonah said stiffly, then took a sip of beer. He glanced at the sound guy, who gave him a hand gesture urging him to elaborate. “They seem like a nice couple,” he added, resting his beer can on the rock ledge.
Viv smiled and swished her fingers through the bubbling water, a perfect image of casual banter. “I agree,” she said. “Of course, they could benefit from some improved communication. They need to learn to speak more constructively with one another.”
“They need to stop acting like toddlers fighting over whose diaper stinks the worst,” Jonah muttered as he spun the beer can between his fingers. “In the end, they’re both full of shit.”
Kate nodded, approving of the dialogue even if she hated everything else about this moment. About what she knew was coming. She ordered herself not to glance back toward the house, even as she kept the miniature camera aimed that direction.
“It seems like such a positive sign that they haven’t given up yet,” Viv said. “The fact that they’re coming here to see us speaks volumes about their commitment to each other. About their willingness to work things out, even though they’ve had moments of doubt over the years. Who hasn’t, right?”
“Sure.” Jonah looked at Viv a little oddly, and Kate held her breath. Did he suspect something?
If he did, he seemed to shake it off. He took another sip of beer and kept talking. “Maybe we get them in a room and take turns duct taping each one’s mouth shut so they’re forced to listen instead of yammering at each other.”
In her mind, Kate heard the doorbell. It was imaginary, of course, something they’d cut in during editing. But she knew that’s how it would go. How the scene would unfold on viewers’ television screens. The shot would jump to the lawyer in a three-piece suit standing on Viv’s front porch with a briefcase in his left hand. His right hand would drop from the doorbell, and he’d stand there waiting with an expectant look on his face.
In reality, the lawyer was stationed in Viv’s mudroom, waiting for his cue to enter. To walk out on set and deliver the big news. At least he really was a lawyer and not a hired actor. Some guy out of Oregon where Viv and Jonah’s marriage had taken place. That had been Chase’s idea, a way to throw a bone to some favored member of his legal team.
Kate held her breath, waiting.
Right on cue, the side door swung open. Kate glanced down at her hand, making sure the camera was aimed right at the pathway leading from the house to the hot tub. She took a step back, getting into position. They’d reshoot this part later, but this was about capturing authentic reactions. The ominous march of the lawyer’s wingtips across Viv’s cobblestone patio. The steely look on his face. The way he adjusted his tie, preparing himself to deliver the unexpected news.
Kate watched it unfold, knowing without a glance down at the handheld that she’d gotten the shot she needed. Pivoting to the right, she angled the tiny camera toward the hot tub, keeping it tucked in her jacket. This was her chance to snag backup footage that Pete and his crew might not get.
Back in the hot tub, Jonah hadn’t yet noticed the lawyer’s entrance. He was still nursing his beer, still making guarded conversation with Viv. Kate wanted to stop time. She wanted to preserve everything about this moment. This perfect, oblivious instant before everything changed forever.
“Excuse me?”
Viv and Jonah looked up. The surprise on both their faces was real. Even Viv hadn’t been clued in about how this would all go down. She knew about the divorce, but her surprise in the moment was genuine. That had been Chase’s idea, too, a chance for the big reveal. An opportunity to catch everyone off guard.
Just like they’d hoped, Viv looked startled. “Oh. Hello. I—I didn’t realize we had company.”
