Chapter 47

The Summer Ball was scheduled to begin at seven on Friday evening. Adam had no intention of going when he woke on Friday morning and told Cassie as much when she asked. But she was persistent, going out of her way to ask him every half an hour or so. They were sitting at the kitchen table after lunch, watching the news, when she surprised him with a different question.

“You haven’t watched that DVD Chloë gave you yet, have you?”

“What DVD?” asked Eddie. Adam ignored him.

“How did you know?”

“Because I’d know if you’d watched it.”

“How?”

“Watch it and find out.”

“What DVD?” Eddie asked again.

Cassie sighed and spoke as if to a child. “Chloë left Adam an advance copy of the Reunion DVD when she came to tell him she was back.”

“Cool. It’s not out for another month. You should have said, mate. I’d like to see that again. Go and get it, I’ll set up the player in here.”

“It’s not the movie he needs to watch,” she said.

“What then?”

Now Adam sighed. “Apparently, I’m in a special feature on the second disc. I’ve got to sign a release for it. That’s why I’ve got an advance copy.”

“Oh, sod the release! You just need to watch the documentary,” Cassie said, sounding exasperated.

“What’s so bloody special about it?”

“Watch it and you’ll find out.”

“Can’t you just tell me?”

“No. You have to see it for yourself or it won’t work.”

“What won’t work?”

“Eddie, please don’t interrupt.”

Adam held up his hands. “Okay, Okay. If it means you’ll let me be, I’ll watch the damn thing. I’ll go get the disc. Eddie, you set up the player in here.”

Five minutes later the DVD had loaded and Eddie held the remote. “Where to?”

“Documentaries,” said Cassie.

Eddie selected the menu item. “There are loads of ‘em,” he said when the next menu had loaded. “Which one?”

Adam went with his instincts. “An Oscar Dedication,” he said.

“Good guess,” said Cassie. She mocked his earlier tone, “How did you know?”

The documentary began with Sam Bradwell opening the golden envelope and announcing Chloë as winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting actress. As Chloë walked towards the stage to collect the award, Mark Watson voiced over the clip.

“Chloë Goodman’s Oscar for her role in Reunion was, in my opinion, well deserved and, for those of us who know her well, her acceptance speech held no surprises. She thanked the cast and crew, the Academy and her family. But there was one other person she thanked...”

The voice-over faded to be replaced by Chloë’s speech. “ ... and there’s one more person I need to thank. Not because he had anything to do with the film, but because for the past few months he’s made my life worth living. I’d guess most of you have heard that I started a university course this past autumn, and after just a few days, I was convinced I’d done the wrong thing. I was ready to give it all up and run back to London and back to the business. But one person, more than anyone else, changed my mind. He accepted me for who I was. Treated me like a person. Made me feel special and I fell in love with him. He’s here with me tonight. My man. My love. My soul mate. Adam, this is for you.”