7
Nora had worked day and night all weekend, preparing for the arrival of the TV crew on Monday. According to the schedule she had received, they would spend the day going through the patisserie and would discuss what it would be like once they started filming. When she got up on Monday morning after only three hours’ sleep, she was almost too tired to feel nervous. She met her gaze in the mirror, and like a clichéd advertising slogan, she thought: Just do it. Her blue eyes were dull, and there were dark circles beneath them. Thank goodness there would be no filming today.
Renée would bake most of the bread. Hassan was coming in early to prepare the sandwiches, make the coffee, and set everything out before the TV crew arrived at eight. The store was opening a little later today so that the production team could work undisturbed.
The smell of newly baked bread met Nora as soon as she opened the door. How she loved that smell—which she associated with a deep sense of security, her childhood, and her parents. Renée emerged from the bakery with a tray of warm rolls and tipped them into a basket, the flour swirling up and dusting her curly red hair. She looked at Nora and smiled.
“Isn’t it exciting? It starts today!”
Nora managed a smile in return. Just do it. She said hi to Hassan, then took a cup from the shelf, filled it to the brim with freshly brewed coffee, and took a big gulp.
She helped Renée and Hassan with the final preparations, and soon the patisserie was full of camera people sorting through equipment and setting up lighting, presumably to test things out before filming began tomorrow.
Then Elnaz arrived. “Nora—great to see you.” Then a look of horror crossed her face. “Oh wow ... It’s good we have Sara—she’s fantastic at getting rid of dark circles. Let’s have you go straight to makeup.” She pointed to a corner table, where a tall woman with a big, bushy hairstyle was setting out approximately four hundred different items.
“Makeup? But we’re not filming today, are we?”
“Yes! I thought we made that clear to you.”
“No, I thought you were just doing a rehearsal today.”
“Yes, but then we’re going to start filming.”
Nora ran a hand through her tousled hair.
“It’s fine—the more harassed you look, the more authentic it will be.” Elnaz winked as if she were joking, but Nora wasn’t convinced.
Sara, the stylist, introduced herself and asked Nora to sit down. She dragged a brush through Nora’s hair while Nora cursed silently to herself. Of course they were going to film today. What had she been thinking? After all, they didn’t have much time. She must have misread the schedule. She’d been hoping for a gentle introduction, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.
Filming starts today! she wrote to Bea as Sara continued to battle with her hair.
What? But I’m at work—I wanted to be there, playing a fantastic, slightly eccentric regular customer.
We’ve got plenty of those , Nora informed her.
By the way, I saw my grandmother yesterday and she told me to tell you that she thinks you need to find someone soon. And I quote: She has a lovely apartment, she’s funny, and she runs the best patisserie in town. Please note—these are not my words, but you know what she’s like—she’ll go crazy if I don’t pass on her advice word for word.
Nice of her , Nora wrote. But you can tell her that guys don’t like smart girls. They just want girls who’ll laugh at their jokes. Please note: You’re cool and Ahmat is the exception that proves the rule. Your grandma and I are in agreement on that point: You’ve found the only good one.
There was a short delay before Bea responded.
There’s a good man out there for you, and he’ll laugh at all your bad jokes.
Bea’s grandmother had taken on the role of Nora’s substitute grandma when she and Bea became friends. Nora’s own maternal grandmother had died when Nora was little, and her grandfather had passed away before Nora was born. Nora and Bea had often cycled to Bea’s grandma’s house after school, where they would eat syrup bread with cheese and orange marmalade, accompanied by a cup of tea.
The fact was that Nora wasn’t looking for a relationship. Sometimes she felt a bit ... left behind since it wasn’t all that common to be over thirty and not even in a relationship. But she didn’t have time to date. Occasionally she wondered whether she might have had a family of her own by now if one of her parents had lived. Then the fear of losing someone wouldn’t be so overwhelming. But there was no time to think about any of that now.
A man came over to her. He was a few years older than Nora, dressed entirely in black, and wearing glasses with thick black frames. He had a headset over his black cap and an iPad in his hand.
“Hi—my name’s Ted and I’m the producer.” They shook hands. “I’ve worked on Let’s Get Baking for a couple of seasons now, so just ask if there’s anything you want to know.”
Elnaz had explained that Ted was responsible for content, staffing, and the budget, while Elnaz was responsible for what happened on-site.
“Ted, have you heard anything?” Elnaz asked, marching over to join them.
He shook his head, and Elnaz frowned. “I’ll try calling him again. Don will be here soon.” She disappeared into the bakery, while Ted started going through the papers clipped to his tablet, making the odd note.
Nora looked up at Sara. “Is something wrong?”
“Nobody can get ahold of Henrik. He was supposed to arrive last night, but he didn’t show up.”
So he was a real diva. She knew it.
“And Don, the executive producer, is due to arrive any minute.”
“The executive producer?” Elnaz had explained the different roles, but Nora was still confused.
“He works for the TV company—he’s the one who commissions the show from the production company, so he has the final say on everything,” Sara clarified.
“And how about you? Do you work for the production company?”
Sara shook her head. “I’m freelance.”
It was going to be impossible to keep on top of everyone’s roles and responsibilities.
“Hi, Don!” Nora heard Elnaz say from behind them, loudly and with a hint of hysteria.
A man with a shaved head wearing designer jeans, a tight white shirt, and a dark-colored woolen coat had entered the patisserie. He looked over at Nora.
“So here’s our baker. How are you feeling on this first day of filming?”
“I ... It’s all very new to me.” She didn’t really know what she was expected to say, but it didn’t matter because he had already turned away.
“And where is Henrik?” Don looked around.
“He’s on his way,” Elnaz replied, sounding distressed.
Ted reappeared, clutching his phone. Don’s presence seemed to have put them all on edge. And what had happened to Henrik? Maybe he’d changed his mind about doing the show with her—but could he do that at this late stage?
“Okay, I’m going to pop over to Espresso House and grab a coffee in the meantime,” Don said. Nora wanted to shoot him. “I love their dark roast,” he added with a smile.
While Sara worked her magic on Nora’s face, the rest of the team came over to say hi. There was a sound technician and four camera operators, all women of different ages.
Nora went through the episode list once again. They would be filming four episodes. Two episodes of the Let’s Get Baking Christmas special would air each week over a two-week period. Elnaz had told her that each episode involved approximately three days’ filming, and that the filming would continue through November, with breaks when Henrik and Elnaz were filming Christmas with the Eklunds .
The atmosphere felt increasingly fraught. Elnaz was stomping around with her phone clamped to her ear, while Ted scribbled frenetically on his iPad. What if the whole show was postponed? She really needed this.
Elnaz gave her a strained smile. “Good to see you’re going through the schedule—do you have any questions?”
“Where’s Henrik?”
“We don’t know. I’m sure he’ll be here soon. But we can talk about the day while we’re waiting. We’ve made a few changes. The plan is for Henrik to go through all your baked goods today and for you to tell him something about the history of the patisserie. Tomorrow he’ll look at the raw materials, what you use for baking, then you’ll go through the bakery itself—the ovens, the equipment, and so on. We’ll use all of that material for episode one. Then we’ll spend a couple of days making some changes in here, and we’ll ask you to put up Christmas decorations and do the Christmas baking. Oh, and we’d like a section on bread that we plan to film later this week.”
Those were major changes.
“We’re keeping the final scene as is, featuring the gingerbread house competition in the square. It’s going to be fantastic!” Elnaz said firmly.
If the star of the show condescends to turn up, Nora thought.
Just then the door flew open and Henrik appeared, in blue jeans, a checked shirt, and a sheepskin coat. A collective sigh of relief passed through the room.
Elnaz hurried over. “Where have you been?”
Henrik didn’t answer. He simply glanced at her and headed in Nora’s direction. He took off his coat, hung it over the back of a chair next to her, then poured himself a cup of black coffee. Elnaz rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. Nora knew exactly how she was feeling. The fact that Henrik couldn’t even bring himself to answer Elnaz only reinforced Nora’s view of Henrik as a diva.
He looked at Nora. “So you decided to do the show after all?”
“Yes ... I mean, I always wanted to do it.”
He stared at her without saying a word, as if to underscore the fact that she had said something altogether different the last time they met.
One last flick of the powder brush, and Sara was done with Nora. She nodded to Henrik. “Your turn.”
He gave Nora a thin-lipped smile as she vacated the chair and he took her place. Ted joined him, and they spoke quietly. The producer seemed to be issuing instructions.
Nora looked around. The patisserie had been transformed into a film set—two powerful spotlights had been set up, and thick cables snaked across the floor at the far end of the room. Two static cameras had been installed in the café, and an operator was ready with a moving camera. The space behind the shelf where the coffee and cups were kept was occupied by a large sound desk and a man wearing headphones.
“There are a lot of customers waiting outside,” Henrik said, glancing up at Nora.
What was he talking about? She went over to the window and peered out. A long line snaked down the street. She hadn’t seen this many customers in years. Oh, so now it suits them to show up! she thought acidly.
Elnaz joined her. “Henrik is ready. If you open up, we’ll film a few people ordering and settling in with their morning coffee.”
“You mean you’re going to start filming now ? Don’t we need to go through anything beforehand?”
“No, not unless you have questions.” Nora had a hundred questions, but chose to stay quiet. “Okay, so we’ll start with you unlocking the door so the customers can come in, then we’ll start filming—we’ll tell you when. We’ll also film you and Henrik saying hi to each other. The next scene will be the two of you going through the patisserie together, him trying your cakes and so on. We’ll let you know when we break.”
Elnaz had already explained that a film crew would sit down and speak to Nora and Henrik separately. These clips were used in all reality shows, with the participants ostensibly sitting alone in front of the camera and discussing their experiences and reflections. The aim was to capture the participants’ emotions. Nora, however, had no desire to talk about her emotions.
“Don’t worry,” Elnaz added, as if she were aware of Nora’s hesitation. “Ted and I will give you instructions as we go along. All you have to do now is open up.”
Nora did as she was told. At the front of the line stood Maggan from the deli counter. She gave Nora a cheery nod as she walked in, followed by Ingemar. She grabbed hold of Ingemar’s hand. “Let’s sit here,” she said, claiming the table nearest the cameras by draping her leopard-print coat over the back of the chair before heading for the counter and placing their order with Hassan.
Henrik was now wearing an apron. He stared at the waiting customers, then moved closer to the counter, listening as Ingemar ordered.
Nora looked inquiringly at Ted. “Do I just carry on as normal?”
“Absolutely. In a few minutes we’ll do some filming here in the café, then we’ll do the tour of the whole place with you and Henrik.”
Nora went and stood next to Hassan.
“My usual, please,” Ingemar said. “A cheese roll and a coffee.”
“That will be twenty-five kronor,” Hassan replied, sliding a roll onto a plate.
“Sorry, what did you say?” Henrik was frowning at Hassan.
“I ... er ...” Hassan glanced uncertainly at Nora. “Twenty-five kronor.”
“I see. Twenty-five kronor. Right.” Henrik folded his arms.
Nora rolled her eyes and turned to Maggan, who ordered a prawn sandwich and a coffee.
Ingemar dug into his pockets. Eventually he produced a wallet, then put it away. “The thing is, I have a tab here ...” He looked at Nora. “Nora writes down what I owe, then I pay when I can afford it.”
“It’s okay, this is on me,” Maggan said, and Nora let out a long breath. No doubt Henrik would have some snide response.
“Wait,” Henrik said. “Can you do that again?” He waved to Elnaz. “We ought to film this.”
Elnaz nodded to the camera operator, who pointed one of the static cameras straight at the till. Elnaz clapped her hands to indicate that they were rolling.
Henrik smiled at Ingemar. “Did you say you have a tab here at Nymans?”
Nora put Maggan’s sandwich on a plate, then turned her attention to Ingemar. “Are you really okay with them filming this, Ingemar?”
“We have permission from all the customers,” Ted said quickly. “There’s a guy outside sorting it out before they come in.”
“I’ve got nothing against being on TV.” Ingemar’s eyes were sparkling.
“There you go,” Henrik said with a triumphant look at Nora. “Don’t worry, this is a good thing—it builds character.”
“Excellent, let’s go again,” Ted said.
Ingemar smiled at Henrik. “Yes, I have a tab here at Nymans. Sometimes I’m a bit short on money, you know how it is, and then Nora lets me have credit. She’s great. She understands people in this town.”
The camera was pointed at Nora. The merciless glare of the spotlights was shining straight in her face, and she realized why Elnaz had looked so horrified earlier. There was no hiding anything in that light.