Page 52 of A Scottish Teashop in Napoli

‘And?’

‘And they said theymightbe interested at some time in the future in making a short documentary about the factory, the buffalo farm –andthe teashop!

‘Yeah, my brother did mention it,’ Lucy said.

‘So, being the Marketing Mogul that I am, I didn’t waste anytime and sent them a short video of the factory, the farm and the teashop.’

‘I wondered why you were wandering around with your phone held high, talking to yourself instead of making cheese,’ said Lucy with a cheeky wink.

Valentina shrugged. ‘Allora,I never let an opportunity pass me by.’

‘So? What happened?’ said Elena, eyebrows raised.

‘I’ve had a few Zoom calls with the producer and the AD—’

‘The what?’

‘Assistant Director.’

‘And?’

‘They were meant to be filming in Iceland next week, but because a volcano there has just erupted again, the police have declared a state of emergency, so they’ve had to cancel, which means they would like to film here instead!’

‘Dio mio! Next week!’ Elena squeaked. ‘No way. What about the school, the tours, the teashop?’

‘I did think about that. The documentary is one of these fly-on-the-wall films, where you would do what you normally do, pretend the camera isn’t there. The only problem is the visitors. There’ll be a lot of hanging around, plus they might not like being filmed, or might relish their five minutes of fame too much, so Papà – Alfonso – came up with a possible solution, but only if you and the students agree.’

‘Go on.’

‘The students can play the visitors. It would be a fantastic opportunity for them to practise their spoken English!’

‘And the real visitors who’ve already booked?’

‘We can offer them an invitation to the gala night as compensation.’

‘And if they can’t rearrange?’

‘We’ll send them a bag of Moretti goodies or… I’ll think of something. What do you say?’

Elena frowned. ‘It’s a great idea on the face of it, but I’m not so sure the students will agree…’

‘I’ll ask them tomorrow morning in class, shall I?’ said Lucy.

‘You mean, we will be on TV?’

‘That’s right – and in the UK too.’

‘Madonna mia! We are gonna be movie stars!’

‘Now, let’s not jump the gun…’

‘Scusi?’

‘I mean, let’s slow down,’ Lucy had insisted. ‘Let’s not get carried away. First, we need to put the idea to the production company, andifthey agree, you might want to discuss it with your families. If everything then goes to plan, we’ll get to work right away as filming is due to start next week.’

As soon as they’d got the green light, classes had been spent researching characters and rehearsing. Each student had a specific part to play, from restaurant owner to airline captain.

As Matteo was a master cheesemaker and the most fluent in English, he would be playing the leading role on the factory floor.