Page 18 of Wish You Were Her
“Your mother told me that you don’t like to eat too much in the morning, but I can make you anything you want,” George said, speaking rapidly and with a worried look in his eye.
Allegra swiped a piece of brown toast and the jam knife. “This is fine. Thanks!”
They made their way down to the shop for ten o’clock and she noticed Jonah waiting by the entrance. While her father turned on the lights and brought the till trays through from the office, Allegra went to unlock the front door. She smiled politely at Jonah but he quickly looked away. She sighed and let him in.
“Welcome to the Saturday morning meeting,” she said cheerfully.
He merely grunted.
A table was set up in the middle of the shop, one that would normally hold a lot of books with reduced prices, but was now prepped and ready for a meeting, with water jugs, pens and paper, all arranged by Allegra. Mary arrived shortly after Jonah, ready to man the desk in case of customers, and Simon and Courtney, the publicist from JCPR (the publicity firm hired to help out) joined just after ten.
“I brought you a doughnut,” Simon said triumphantly, presenting it to Allegra with a flourish.
“Oh!” Allegra said, delighted by the charming gesture. “Thank you.”
She gingerly took the doughnut box and placed it in front of her. She felt a little awkward, being the only one to receive a gift of baked goods. If it were more than one, she would give them to the whole table, but Simon had bought her a single doughnut with pink icing and hearts made out of sprinkles.
“Can I just say,” the publicist spoke in a soft voice, full of wonder, “what an honor it is to meet you?”
Allegra gave her a tight smile. “Thanks. Ditto.”
“I mean, I’ve watched that adaptation ofA Little Princessso many times with my daughter, you were such a wonderful Sara Crewe.”
“Wow, that’s an early one,” joked Allegra. “Thank you.” It had been her second acting project and her first time at the top of the call sheet. She had loved playing Sara. A little girl who missed her father.
Her eyes flashed to George and she hoped that Courtney would leave the conversation at that. Acting had always been her escape. Her way of making order out of chaos. Discussing and dissecting it seemed to taint it.
“Shall we start?” asked Jonah, pouring himself some water from the chilled jug. “We have a lot to get through.”
“Well,” said Courtney. “I’ll start by letting you all know that the box office is set up with the Lake Pristine Tourist Board and I’m in contact there with Sajid and Kate. We’ll be keeping an eye on ticket sales as soon as the program is live. People can book through their website or over the phone.”
Allegra watched Jonah make excessive notes, his brow furrowed in concentration. Simon was observing her and smiling eagerly every time she made eye contact with him. He was like a golden retriever, determined to be friends, so she always smiled back at him. Mary was reading at the cash desk and George was listening intently to Courtney.
When Allegra spoke, everyone looked surprised.
“Because Dad refuses to get a mobile, I’d like to volunteer myself as his stand-in should anyone need to get in touch with him directly about matters to do with the festival.”
“That would be exceedingly helpful,” Courtney said frankly. “Thank you, Allegra.”
As Jonah took notes on the meeting he tried to avoid looking at Allegra. Everyone else around the table was staring at her as if she were an angel from heaven and it gave him enormous secondhand embarrassment. He queried Courtney on the program announcement and asked Simon about mailing out brochures. He put questions to George about cost and transportation and ordering more stock.
He lived for the summer book festival. He liked being surrounded by people who loved and appreciated books. And he liked that his days were filled with so many tasks to do. Everything always went down to the wire, and although this would be his third year with the festival, many things were still unpredictable and it was what he worked for all year. Now, his mentor was giddy about handing over a ton of responsibilities to his daughter, someone who was all about film and not books. Someone who had not earned a place at the table.
“There’s only one thing really worrying me at present,” Courtney said, as the meeting began to draw to a conclusion. “Quentin Morrison as the… sort of… big author event?”
“Yes?” George prompted her to go on and Jonah could tell by his boss’s expression that he knew what was coming next.
“Well,” Courtney was clearly trying to be tactful, “he’s famously… not the easiest to work with, and his agent still hasn’t confirmed if he will be doing his festival event in August.”
“He appeared for us two summers ago,” Jonah said, a tad defensively. “He likes leaving things to the eleventh hour.”
“Is he that big crime writer?” asked Allegra, and Jonah forced himself to look at her.
“Yes. Three hardbacks a year. He’s quantity over quality, but his shows always sell out.”
“Wow, harsh.”
Jonah frowned. “What is?”
