Nora ran a hand through her tousled hair.
“It’s fine—the more harassed you look, the more authentic it will be.” Elnaz winked as if she were joking, but Nora wasn’t convinced.
Sara, the stylist, introduced herself and asked Nora to sit down. She dragged a brush through Nora’s hair while Nora cursed silently to herself. Of course they were going to film today. What had she been thinking? After all, they didn’t have much time. She must have misread the schedule. She’d been hoping for a gentle introduction, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.
Filming starts today!she wrote to Bea as Sara continued to battle with her hair.
What? But I’m at work—I wanted to be there, playing a fantastic, slightly eccentric regular customer.
We’ve got plenty of those, Nora informed her.
By the way, I saw my grandmother yesterday and she told me to tell you that she thinks you need to find someone soon. And I quote: She has a lovely apartment, she’s funny, and she runs thebest patisserie in town. Please note—these are not my words, but you know what she’s like—she’ll go crazy if I don’t pass on her advice word for word.
Nice of her, Nora wrote.But you can tell her that guys don’t like smart girls. They just want girls who’ll laugh at their jokes. Please note: You’re cool and Ahmat is the exception that proves the rule. Your grandma and I are in agreement on that point: You’ve found the only good one.
There was a short delay before Bea responded.
There’s a good man out there for you, and he’ll laugh at all your bad jokes.
Bea’s grandmother had taken on the role of Nora’s substitute grandma when she and Bea became friends. Nora’s own maternal grandmother had died when Nora was little, and her grandfather had passed away before Nora was born. Nora and Bea had often cycled to Bea’s grandma’s house after school, where they would eat syrup bread with cheese and orange marmalade, accompanied by a cup of tea.
The fact was that Nora wasn’t looking for a relationship. Sometimes she felt a bit ... left behind since it wasn’t all that common to be over thirty and not even in a relationship. But she didn’t have time to date. Occasionally she wondered whether she might have had a family of her own by now if one of her parents had lived. Then the fear of losing someone wouldn’t be so overwhelming. But there was no time to think about any of that now.
A man came over to her. He was a few years older than Nora, dressed entirely in black, and wearing glasses with thick black frames. He had a headset over his black cap and an iPad in his hand.
“Hi—my name’s Ted and I’m the producer.” They shook hands. “I’ve worked onLet’s Get Bakingfor a couple of seasons now, so just ask if there’s anything you want to know.”
Elnaz had explained that Ted was responsible for content, staffing, and the budget, while Elnaz was responsible for what happened on-site.
“Ted, have you heard anything?” Elnaz asked, marching over to join them.
He shook his head, and Elnaz frowned. “I’ll try calling him again. Don will be here soon.” She disappeared into the bakery, while Ted started going through the papers clipped to his tablet, making the odd note.
Nora looked up at Sara. “Is something wrong?”
“Nobody can get ahold of Henrik. He was supposed to arrive last night, but he didn’t show up.”
So he was a real diva. She knew it.
“And Don, the executive producer, is due to arrive any minute.”
“The executive producer?” Elnaz had explained the different roles, but Nora was still confused.
“He works for the TV company—he’s the one who commissions the show from the production company, so he has the final say on everything,” Sara clarified.
“And how about you? Do you work for the production company?”
Sara shook her head. “I’m freelance.”
It was going to be impossible to keep on top of everyone’s roles and responsibilities.
“Hi, Don!” Nora heard Elnaz say from behind them, loudly and with a hint of hysteria.
A man with a shaved head wearing designer jeans, a tight white shirt, and a dark-colored woolen coat had entered the patisserie. He looked over at Nora.
“So here’s our baker. How are you feeling on this first day of filming?”
“I ... It’s all very new to me.” She didn’t really know what she was expected to say, but it didn’t matter because he had already turned away.
