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Zara woke with a jolt, the buzzing of her phone dragging her out of a restless sleep. It was too early to be this stressed. But a lot was riding on the today.

It was the big day, the grand reopening of The Eclipse. Zara hadn’t seen the place in a week, not since she’d seen the bar. The rest of the building had been coming together then, onto finishing touches, paint jobs, lighting fixtures, plug sockets installed. Tess had assured her it would be done on time, vowing that if she had to start cracking a literal whip at the tradespeople, the place would be finished.

Zara believed her. Tess had been oddly compliant since their little spat in the bar. Zara was both relieved and unnerved. She kind of hoped she hadn’t broken Tess.

Zara knew that her snark and obstinacy were a symptom of her passion for the cinema. Zara didn’t want it to vanish completely.

Zara drove over to The Eclipse. As she pulled in, her breath was taken. There it stood in all its restored glory, the marquee gleaming with listed movies.

They were starting the weekend with Vertigo, Dial M for Murder and Strangers on a Train. The facade had been freshly painted a rich, creamy white, with gold accents sparkling like the theatre had time-travelled straight out of the Roaring Twenties.

But there was no time to admire it. From inside, Zara could detect the distant sounds of chaos.

‘What's going on?’ Zara asked, breathless as she rushed through the beautifully restored art deco doors.

The grand lobby, with its newly polished terrazzo floor and intricate gold leaf detailing on the ceiling, looked great, but there was a tense buzz in the air.

Jerry, the projectionist, had his head in his hands. Fi was sat on the floor, nearly foetal. Tess was stood by the concessions, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She barely met Zara’s eyes as she said, ‘I don’t have Vertigo.’

It took Zara a minute to realise what she meant. ‘Oh, the movie?’

‘You think I’d be telling you I’m not afraid of heights?’ Tess snapped.

OK, there was the old Tess. Zara was pleased to see her. Sort of.

‘They gave us the wrong movie,’ Tess elaborated.

Zara’s pulse spiked. ‘How did that happen?’

‘Fi signed for DCPs yesterday.’

Zara didn’t immediately recall the term. ‘DCP?’

‘Digital Cinema package,’ Tess said impatiently. ‘It’s a hard drive with the movie files on.’

‘Oh, yes. Right,’ Zara said quickly.

‘She took delivery of everything we needed for the weekend, and she checked them all, the fucked up one is marked Vertigo, so she didn’t think twice. But when we checked it, it played some kid's movie about a rabbit that wants to be a magician. Hoppin’ Houdini,’ Tess said, looking sick.

‘This would never happen with a proper reel!’ Jerry spluttered. ‘I’d have seen right away. I’d have checked the first few frames, and it would have been obvious.’

‘Jerry, you know I love a proper reel, but DCP is cheaper and readily available. I’ve made my peace with that. You should too,’ Tess said tiredly, and Zara could hear the echo of a lot of discussions about this in the past.

Jerry waived a dismissive hand at her. ‘Your mum held it off.’

Tess sighed. ‘Have I chucked out the old projector, Jerry? Have I chucked out the old projectionist? No. Even though you have no idea how to schedule the movies and you won’t learn. That’s become part of my job, but I accept it.’

‘I monitor the film!’ he cried. ‘I’m not useless.’

Zara thought he did sound a bit useless, as a matter of fact. A projectionist who didn’t know how to show the movies? That might have to be a conversation for another time.

‘I can’t talk about this now,’ Tess snapped at him.

‘Plug it in and press play. No art to that,’ he muttered, shuffling off.

Zara exhaled slowly, trying to stay calm. The grand reopening, with a fully booked house, was hours away.

‘OK, let’s troubleshoot. The distributor made the mistake. They need to fix it, yes?’ Zara asked.

‘I called them. They’d need to ship a new copy, and they’re at the other end of the country. It wouldn’t get here in time,’ Tess told her.

Zara sighed. ‘So what, then?’

Tess shook her head. ‘I guess I could just rearrange it for tomorrow. But I’d have to call everyone who bought a ticket for that specific movie rather than the whole weekend, and either rearrange or refund them, if that’s the only movie they were interested in.’

‘But it’s a solution,’ Zara confirmed.

‘Yes, but… I’m concerned that this is supposed to be a grand reopening to attract new customers and the first thing that happens is that we don’t have the right movie. It’s gonna make us look like amateurs.’

‘Agreed,’ Zara said. ‘We’ll call that plan B, then.’

‘So what the hell is plan A?’ Fi asked, wild-eyed.

‘Can you play a normal digital copy?’ Zara asked.

‘That would look shit,’ Tess said instantly. ‘I’d burn the place to the ground before I’d do that.’

‘OK, well, maybe don’t get the matches yet. It was just a suggestion,’ Zara said, trying to think of the answer. But knew that anything she came up with, Tess would have already thought of.

Fi cleared her throat. ‘I hate to say this, but Jerry kind of gave us the answer.’

Tess took a very long and extremely loaded pause. ‘A reel?’

‘We could get it locally,’ Fi said nervously.

‘Oh Christ, please, no,’ Tess moaned.

Zara looked at her. ‘What are you talking about?’

Tess sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb. ‘There’s a woman. She collects reels. She might have it.’

‘What am I missing?’ Zara asked.

‘She’d never actually let me have it,’ Tess said, skirting the question.

‘Give me her details. I’ll talk to her,’ Zara said immediately.

‘She definitely won’t give it to you,’ Fi said.

‘Who is this woman?’ Zara asked, frustrated.

‘My ex-girlfriend,’ Tess sighed.

‘Oh,’ Zara muttered. Tess had mentioned someone at the speed dating event, but she’d kept the details vague. ‘Well, I guess we have two options. We go see your ex and try to talk her into it, or we let the audience down.’

Tess chewed the inside of her lip.

‘Well?’ Zara pressed.

‘I’m thinking, OK?!’ Tess snapped.

Zara looked to Fi. Fi gave her a little nod, which Zara took to mean that she was sure that Tess would crack. She just needed a second to get there.

Moments later, Tess said. ‘For fuck’s sake. Fine.’

‘I’ll drive you,’ Zara said with the best smile she could fake. She felt oddly apprehensive at meeting the big ex. Who was this woman and why did Tess look so scared?