Page 20

Tess stood behind the new basement bar, its polished wood gleaming under the soft lights. The shelves behind the bar were stocked with an array of spirits, the fridge filled with fancy beer, and the sleek countertop held coasters featuring classic film posters.

The Eclipse Cinema was nearly ready, and the weight of that reality pressed against Tess’s chest. For months, the chaos of renovations had given her something to focus on. It had just been one foot in front of the other, plodding ever so slowly forward. But now, with the finish line in sight, the pressure of the reopening loomed.

But now was nice. Tess had to admit the bar was pretty cool.

Zara was taking in the room, too. ‘It’s coming together,’ she said, pleased.

Tess felt a knot of irritation twist in her gut. It did look great. But this was her place, and every time Zara showed up, it felt like another piece of it was slipping from her grip, inch by inch.

The trouble was, as much as Tess tried to hold on to that thought, a spark of warmth from their conversation at speed dating crept into her mind, making Zara seem a bit more human, a bit more likeable.

Tess didn’t like it. It felt like a trick.

‘Thanks,’ Tess replied curtly, trying to keep her tone neutral.

Zara turned to her with that practised smile. ‘You’ve done an amazing job keeping it all together.’

Tess shrugged, avoiding her gaze. Compliments from Zara always felt like an attempt to manage her. She’s just teeing you up.

‘So,’ Zara said, taking a few steps closer, her voice slipping into business mode, ‘Ahead of the grand reopening, our advertising needs to start nowish. There’s a local company who will handle it all for you.’

Tess frowned. ‘That sounds expensive. Can’t we just leave it to Fi? She does our social media bollocks.’

‘That’s worked in the past, has it? Leaving it to Fi?’ Zara asked.

‘She sold out Jaws,’ Tess said defensively.

‘That’s great. But you can’t half-arse promotion,’ Zara shrugged.

So the gloves were coming off?

‘She doesn’t,’ Tess said, though she wasn’t totally sure what Fi did if she was honest with herself. Tess wanted to keep out of the dirty business of whoring out the tickets.

‘People need to know you’re here, Tess. They don’t know that right now,’ Zara said.

‘But we’re across from the beach. The foot traffic—’

‘…Hasn’t kept you out of the red. Why do you assume it would change now?’ Zara asked.

‘We restored,’ Tess snapped back. ‘The place looks…’

‘A coat of paint is not enough. One thing on its own is not enough. It’s not enough to be bright and sparkly. You have to be loud too,’ Zara said, placing both hands on the bar and leaning in, her tall frame suddenly intimidating in a way it never had been. Zara was losing some control.

Was that good or bad? It felt like Tess had been trying to make this happen for a while. Draw out the real woman. But her success was slightly disturbing.

‘How much does this company cost?’ Tess asked.

Zara gave Tess a number that, as ever, she didn’t like.

‘Is it really worth that?’ Tess asked.

Zara gave Tess a look of unguarded frustration. ‘I just want to help get people in the door. You’ve done all this work, and people should see it! Isn’t that what you want?’ she demanded.

What could Tess say to that? That was the point of this, wasn’t it? People coming to see movies here. Tess didn’t know exactly what bothered her. She wondered if she was just a total control freak. Well, she didn’t really wonder. She was, wasn’t she? Because she’d had to be. She’d kept this place going by the skin of her teeth. That had required control. Putting it down again felt risky.

She decided not to answer the question. There was no way to answer it that didn’t seem like she was being difficult for the sake of it.

Zara realised she wasn’t getting an answer and started again. ‘I’m not here to take control, Tess.’

‘Come on,’ Tess chided. At this point, she just wanted her to admit it. Zara was being a bit scary, but on the other hand, they were so close to getting real. ‘Just say what you want to do. I’m tired of waiting for the big KO.’

Zara didn’t flinch. She met Tess’s gaze steadily. ‘I know it’s yours. It should be yours. You’ve kept it going when most people would have quit.’

‘You say that now,’ Tess said with a bitter chuckle, ‘but I’ve seen how things go. Someone comes in with “helpful ideas,”

and pretty soon the whole thing’s out of your control.’

Zara leaned closer. They were inches away from each other now. Tess could see a lot of detail in Zara’s face that she’d never noticed before. The flecks of gold in her emerald green eyes. The fullness of her mouth.

Then a little of the anger seemed to drop out of Zara’s face. It softened in a way that caught Tess off guard. ‘I’m not here to take control, Tess,’ she repeated, gentler this time. ‘I wish you’d hear that.’

Tess hesitated, the weight of Zara’s words sinking in. She didn’t want to admit that Zara might have a point. But she did. And denying that might cost Tess in the long run. Tess hated to admit it to herself, but she had no choice.

‘Fine,’ Tess said, exhaling slowly. ‘We’ll hire this company. On a trial basis! If it doesn’t show quick results, I’m sacking them.’

Zara smiled, a flicker of relief passing across her face. ‘Great.’

Tess hoped Zara wasn’t going to start telling Tess she was making the right choice. Tess couldn’t have withstood that kind of shit.

But Zara just said, ‘So, let’s talk about the opening night. We’re agreed on Hitchcock, yes?’

‘Yes. Despite my reservations about the man and his conduct around his actresses, he did make some great films,’ Tess said, calming down. She was back in a place she understood.

Zara smiled. ‘Yeah. He was a piece of shit, alright.’

Tess was shocked into a laugh. Zara was swearing, and once again, she seemed less like a number-crunching robot and more like a person who Tess might have even liked under different circumstances.

‘But he’s a good example of what I’m talking about. Classic and accessible. That’s a good remit for the place. But!’ she said quickly before Tess could argue, which she absolutely was planning to do. ‘I don’t think that needs to apply to every showing. Just sixty percent of them.’

‘Wait, what?!’ Tess gaped.

‘I keep telling you. I’m not trying to make the place totally commercial.’

‘So I can still show more obscure stuff?’ Tess said, shocked. ‘Stuff that’s pretty uncommercial.’

Zara looked at her in alarm. ‘Are you kidding? I want you to. That’s another selling point of this place, the USP of it. I think you can have your cake and eat it here, Tess. This is all in the marketing plan I’m working on.’

‘So you’re not going to argue with me if I play The Watermelon Woman?’ Tess checked.

‘I’ll be honest, I have no idea what that is,’ Zara admitted. ‘But if you think it should be seen, I want you to show it.’

Tess was stunned. ‘First off, it’s criminal that you’ve never heard of The Watermelon Woman. It’s seminal lesbian indie cinema.’

Zara rolled her eyes.

Tess realised she’d gotten a bit distracted. ‘Second, you could have said all that before.’

‘I’ve been telling you the whole time.’

‘Yes, but I didn’t actually believe you,’ Tess said honestly.

Zara appeared stunned. But then started looking another way—angry. Not the high irritation of a moment ago. There was true, unvarnished anger in her green eyes. ‘Who exactly do you think I am?’ Zara demanded.

Well, it seemed like an honest moment was incoming. But not the way Tess wanted and certainly not like she expected. ‘I-I-I…’

‘I’m getting tired of this constant suspicion,’ Zara said flatly. ‘I’m trying to help your business, Tess. That’s it. No big scary corporate takeover. It’s just help. You took out a loan, and I’m going to help you pay it off.’

Tess felt fear. It was all getting a bit real. ‘OK, calm down.’

‘I’m calm. I’m annoyed, but I’m calm,’ Zara told her sharply.

Tess took a deep breath and did something she never thought she’d say to Zara. ‘Look, I’m sorry. You don’t deserve the attitude. It’s not even about you. I’m just scared. This place has a lot of history for me. I can’t let it down.’

Zara’s anger seemed to deflate in seconds. ‘Yeah. I know that, Tess. I honestly do.’ And she smiled at Tess warmly.

The smile was the thing that cracked it open in the end. Combined with the display of temper, it created a spark of something in Tess, a realisation.

Zara was kind of sexy.

No. Zara could not be sexy. Zara was the numbers drone, the face of the bank that owned Tess’s very soul. How could a person like that ever be attractive?

But it was too late. Tess had seen it. And she knew there was no going back. Once you saw that in someone, there was never any way to unsee it.

‘So, can we just be on the same team now?’ Zara asked.

Tess nodded mutely.

‘Great. Now, let’s talk about the website. It needs an overhaul.’

Tess nodded again.

‘You’re not going to fight me on this?’ Zara asked, slightly confused.

Tess shook her head.

‘I guess I should have shouted at you months ago,’ Zara muttered to herself.

Tess shrugged.

Tess listened as Zara outlined her plan for the website redesign, her voice full of relentless enthusiasm.

She watched Zara’s lips—somehow more enticing than she'd ever noticed—move, curve into that confident smile, and keep on talking. Tess was mesmerised. And absolutely livid.