I think that’s the aim of any charity, isn’t it? Money’s vital to us, of course, because we couldn’t do what we do without it. But hearts and minds are just as important.’
‘And I see that the charity’s run on a shoestring, so all the donations you receive go straight into your work.’
He was feeding her lines, bringing up all the points that Alex wanted to highlight. She smiled a thank you. ‘Yes, that’s right...’
* * *
Alex felt as if she’d run a marathon. It had only been an hour, but she was exhausted, her heart thumping in her chest. All the same, Leo had been right. She was eager for more, and had been disappointed when he’d announced that this was all they had time for tonight and handed over to the next presenter.
‘Did we speak to everyone?’ Leo had said that there were callers waiting but Alex had been unable to gauge how many, or whether they’d been able to speak to them all.
‘There are always people who don’t get through. Some of them try again.’ Now that they were off-air, Leo seemed suddenly more guarded.
‘But... They may be in trouble. They might need someone to talk to...’
‘Yeah, a lot of them do. We have procedures to deal with that. You needn’t worry about that side of things.’
She couldn’t—wouldn’t—let him give her the brush-off like this. ‘I’m... I’m sorry Leo, but that’s not the answer I’d hoped for.’
Alex was expecting some kind of reaction; Leo clearly wasn’t used to being challenged by anyone around here. But she hadn’t expected a smile.
‘What answer were you hoping for, then?’
She took a deep breath. ‘That there’s some way that I could get back to the people who didn’t get through.’
He leaned forward, flipping a switch on the console in front of him. Alex’s headphones went dead and she realised that, even though the sound engineer in the control room seemed to be paying no attention to it, their conversation could be overheard. She slipped the headset off and laid it down.
‘The call-handlers take names and numbers from everyone, and they always ask what the caller wants to say.’
‘And they make a note of that?’
‘Yes, they do. And they pass the list on to me.’ That seemed to be the end of it as far as Leo was concerned. He was the trustworthy one, the one who got things done, and he was ready to steamroller over anyone who questioned him.
Maybe she’d deserved it. Maybe he had called her all those years ago, and he still remembered that she hadn’t called him back.
‘Look, Leo. I think there’s something... We need to clear something up.’
‘What would that be?’
He gave so little. It was questions all the way with Leo, and she was starting to wonder whether he wasn’t hiding behind them.
‘Did you call me after the party?’ Alex wondered how he’d like a taste of his own medicine, and answered his question with one of her own.
He seemed surprised. ‘I’m not sure I remember.’
‘Why don’t you try?’ If this issue was getting in the way of the work she was committed to now, she wanted an answer.
‘I said I would.’ His slight shrug seemed designed to imply that it really didn’t matter all that much to him. ‘But that’s the way it works. It’s a lady’s privilege not to call back.’
He flashed her his most charming, roguish smile. That alone probably made the chances of any woman not calling him back extremely slim. Or maybe it was just Leo’s way of changing the subject.
‘Since you won’t give me a straight answer, I’ll assume that you did call. And I’ve been wanting to tell you that I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you, but I really couldn’t. Something happened on the way home and...it was impossible.’
She had his full attention now. Leo couldn’t hide the surprise in his eyes. ‘What happened?’
‘I...’ Alex gulped. It was all such a long time ago now and it ought to be irrelevant, but it wasn’t. A rap sounded on the glass that separated them from the control room and she jumped.
‘I’m sorry.’ Leo snapped suddenly into professional mode. ‘The producer’s here, and I need to have a word with him. Would you mind waiting?’
Alex nodded and he swung to his feet, striding to the door and closing it behind him. He reappeared on the other side of the glass, where a man was waiting for him.
Leo’s back was turned to her but the man was glancing at her, even though Leo was obviously talking to him. Curiosity got the better of Alex and she reached for her headphones, flipping the switch that she now knew controlled the sound between the control room and the studio.
‘It’s not acceptable, Justin.’ Leo’s voice rang in her ears.
‘I really don’t see what the problem is...’ Alex saw Justin spread his hands in a gesture of puzzlement.
‘Well, there isn’t any problem because I’m not going to do it. I won’t introduce Alex Jackson as a disabled person. She has a disability, and she’s open about that, but I’m not going to read out an introduction that makes it seem as if it’s the most important thing about her. She’s here to talk about her charity, which, by the way, is all about encouraging young people to see past their disabilities. And educating others to do that too.’
Alex’s gaze moved to the screwed up ball of paper on the floor, which Leo had tossed at the glass. He’d moved past it so smoothly that she’d hardly realised he had a problem with it.
‘Okay...okay.’ Justin’s tone was conciliatory. ‘It was an error of emphasis, I’ll grant you that. No harm done, though...’
‘Only because I didn’t read the introduction out. I want to hear all the trailers for the show, because I don’t want Alex or her charity misrepresented.’
This was almost too much. Leo was fighting her corner without being asked, but just knowing how she’d feel. A thrill of warmth for him clutched at her heart and Alex wondered whether she should go and retrieve the paper, to see what had been written. But then she’d have to take the headphones off, and she wanted to hear this.
‘We’ll email the sound files through to you. Anything else?’
‘No. I’m grateful you’re addressing the issue with your customary effectiveness.’ Leo’s tone had relaxed into lazy charm. ‘Actually, there is one more thing. Thanks for all you did to help make this evening happen. It’s been a good night.’
Justin seemed to heave a sigh of relief. ‘Yep. Nice chemistry in there, Leo. And the caller rate went through the roof...’ Justin’s gaze flipped towards Alex and Leo turned. When he saw her, his lip curled imperceptibly.
She reddened and took off the headphones,
