was going to read the script, even if Zack wasn’t.
***
‘Well?’ Ellie demanded the next morning.
‘Well what?’ Zack was throwing Elmo’s rubber ball around the kitchen, bouncing it off the units so that Elmo skittered and slid across the cream marble-tiled floor like something out of a cartoon.
‘Did you read it?’
‘Read what?’
‘The film script.’
‘Oh, that. Yes I did.’
‘Woof.’ Elmo barked impatiently, ready for Zack to throw the ball again.
‘What was it like?’
‘Actually, it was pretty good.’ Throw.
Ellie filled the kettle at the sink, skipping out of the way as Elmo barreled past in ecstatic pursuit of the ball.
‘And?’
‘Still not doing it.’
‘Woof woof woof.’ Elmo’s tail wagged furiously as Zack dodged behind the table and grabbed the ball a split second before he could reach it.
‘Who was the priest?’ said Ellie.
‘What priest?’
Ha! ‘The one in the film script who turned up at the end.’
Zack straightened up; his red polo shirt had come untucked and there was a new rip in the knee of his Levi’s. ‘Oh, that priest.’ He narrowed his eyes in concentration then said innocently, ‘Sorry.I don’t think I can remember.’
Ellie shook her head. ‘You promised.’ The one thing she’d thought about Zack was that he was honest. If he said he’d do something, he should do it.
‘I was really busy last night.’ He was watching her reaction. ‘Anyway, how do you know there’s a priest in it?’
‘I made a copy, took it home last night, and read it.’ Meaningfully, she added, ‘Unlike some people.’
‘Have I disappointed you?’ Zack lobbed the ball towards her, over Elmo’s head. ‘Here, catch.’
Ellie caught it in her left hand as Elmo leapt into the air. ‘Yes, you have.’
‘Neat catch.’ He signaled his approval. ‘So what did you make of the script then?’
She threw the ball back to him, sending Elmo into a frenzy of excitement. ‘I thought it was brilliant. It is brilliant. It’s funny, it’s moving, and it’s original. If it was made into a film, I’d go and see it.’
‘Would you?’
‘Yes.’
Zack teased Elmo by waving the ball just out of reach. ‘And would you cry at the sad bits?’
‘Maybe. OK,’ Ellie conceded, ‘probably.’
‘Like when Mary finally meets the son she put up for adoption and discovers it’s Father Dermot?’
‘Oh God, yes!’ Belatedly she stopped dead in her tracks. Zack lobbed the ball into the air and she stood there, not even attempting to catch it. One of the stools clattered as Elmo almost brained himself, diving on the ball and triumphantly regaining possession at last.
Zack half-smiled and said, ‘It just came back to me in a flash.’
‘So you did read the whole thing?’
‘I wasn’t going to. You shamed me into it.’
‘Excellent.’ Ellie felt herself flush with pleasure. ‘And will you back them?’
‘I still can’t do that.’ He looked regretful. ‘It’s not my field, the risks are astronomical, I don’t have any contacts who’d be prepared to invest in that kind of venture. But I did like the script,’ he went on. ‘A lot. When they get here, I’ll let them down lightly.’
‘Right.’ Oh well, at least she’d tried.
‘And if their film ever does get made,’ said Zack, ‘we’ll go along to the cinema and watch it together. My treat.’
Elmo dropped the ball at his feet, desperate to get the game up and running again.
Ellie said, ‘And will I get to say I told you so?’
Zack said good-naturedly, ‘Deal.’
***
The doorbell went at two minutes to eleven. Ellie opened the door to the Kerrigans and saw the naked hope in their eyes.
As she showed them into the hall, Kaye whispered excitedly, ‘Has he read the script?’
‘He has.’
‘We didn’t sleep a wink last night! And on our way over here this morning we saw two magpies. Two for joy!’
Oh dear. And now Zack was about to dash their dreams. Ellie led them up the staircase and knocked on the living-room door.
‘It’s finally happening. This could be it.’ Joe Kerrigan, taking deep breaths, briefly touched Ellie’s arm as they waited for Zack to appear. ‘Wish us luck.’
They were in with him for almost thirty minutes. Ellie, typing away with her ears on elastic, finally heard the door open upstairs, followed by the sound of footsteps on the staircase. If the meeting had lasted half an hour, could that mean Zack had changed his mind?
Then she heard Joe say, ‘Well, thanks anyway,’ and knew he hadn’t.
Zack put his head round the office door. ‘I have calls to make, but Joe and Kaye would like a quick word before they go, so I’ll leave you to show them