Chapter Twenty-Nine
Everything is moving in the direction I dictate – the job, my sense of self and what I want out of life.
I’m getting everything I need. And yeah, Cam’s film was really bloody good, as I knew it would be, but nostalgia is in the past for me (hah).
If I’m looking back on anything, it’s only to learn a lesson.
I won’t let anything or anyone derail my forward motion …
Late on Saturday afternoon, Anika jumps on the train and then the Tube into town, making good time as Little Simz vibrates through her earbuds.
As she emerges from the station, she notices a missed call with a number she doesn’t recognise, but which her phone handily enquires Maybe: King’s College Hospital.
A zip of alarm invades her body, but she breathes until it dissipates.
I wish they’d give it a rest – on a weekend?
She’s also been avoiding the emails that have been sent.
Soon, she thinks half-heartedly. Everything’s been going so well.
Why step back into the world of medical concerns?
Walking into the lobby of the hotel where the film screening is taking place that afternoon, Anika glances around and then follows the signs to the screening room.
She notes with disappointment that there are only expensive glass bottles of water assembled at the entrance next to the poster for End of the Day on an easel.
Is that it? Half the point of going to the cinema is the snacks.
Her phone illuminates in her hand and she sees a message from Shamz.
Anika sighs, disappointed at the wait. She peeks into the cinema room and realises there’s only one eager-looking journalist in there, sitting at the far end of a row and writing in a pad.
She considers letting him know about the time change, but he seems happy with his notes and his prime seat.
Anika doubts he’s keen to see the film for the same reason as her.
Butterflies jostle low in her stomach and she isn’t sure if they’re on Cam’s behalf or because of whatever the film might bring up for her about those days when they were teenagers.
Maybe it’s just the way he’s been talking about it, and all the memories she’s been sent back to lately.
That’s not me any more, she reminds herself.
Shameeka has said Anika should come to the film’s official premiere next week as well, insisting it will be a good networking opportunity – but Shamz was also adamant that nobody actually watches the film at the premiere, they just walk the red carpet then head to the party.
So a no-pressure, Cam-free viewing tonight?
Perfect. She even added a new affirmation last night: Today I was prepared for anything that got thrown in my path, be it friend or foe.
Anika smiles stiffly at the bored-looking PR assistant who checked her name off the list in the lobby without mentioning the delay, then makes her way back up the shallow marble steps to the hotel foyer.
The concierge blatantly scans his eyes up Anika’s legs as she walks up the final steps in her oversized belted T-shirt dress and brand-new Louboutin heels.
His expression is somewhere between judgement and lasciviousness, and she catches him in it.
Don’t you have a job to do? She wants to say it out loud and decides she’s about to, but then hears Tina call her name.
‘Neeks! In here, hon!’
Shameeka, her wife, Maia, and Tina are leaning against the bar through some double doors off to the side of the lobby, and Shamz is ordering shots.
Anika purses her lips pointedly at the concierge guy, then heads into the bar.
She squeezes Tina into a hug, plants a kiss on Maia’s cheek, and then is greeted by Shamz proffering a tequila.
‘Ooh, I don’t know about—’
Shameeka’s not having it. ‘Uh, uh. Come on.’
Anika sighs, grinning, and knocks it back after clinking the small glass to her friends’. Shamz slams her own glass onto the bar and then leans back to observe Anika’s outfit. ‘Damn Daniel, back at it again with the patent leather Loubies?’ she says, lifting Anika’s hand to make her twirl around.
‘Astoundingly retro reference, babes,’ Anika says, chuckling.
‘I’m old, did you forget?’
They order a bottle of champagne and head to a table outside, stepping through the sliding doors in the bar area that leads to a canopied patio. The view down a Soho alleyway isn’t exactly up to the elegant standards of the hotel itself, but it’s perfect for revelling in the late-summer warmth.
‘So, someone’s been shopping then?’ Tina says.
‘A lil’ something, you know …’ Anika replies with a smirk, kicking up her red bottoms as they sit down.
Shameeka nods at the waiter who comes up to the table a moment later with the bottle of champagne and glasses on a tray.
He starts to pour the bubbles. ‘Oh, just a drop for me.’ Anika’s still a bit fuzzy from the night before, not to mention the tequila shot, but Shamz shakes her head vigorously.
‘Fuck you mean? We need to celebrate you becoming a radio don dada!’
She senses her friends’ excitement to toast her new success and relents, even though the thought of more alcohol makes a headache shimmer on the horizon. ‘Go on, then.’
They all raise their glasses, but, just as they finish clinking, Anika spots someone who makes her heart rate kick up a gear. Leaning towards Shameeka, she asks, ‘Didn’t you say this is just one of the press screenings? Isn’t it a bit unusual that Cam’s here?’
Following her friend’s line of sight to where Cam Asiedu is walking down the alleyway towards the hotel, Shamz shrugs.
‘Oh, I think Ayo said he wanted to catch one of the screenings and hang out in the back to start getting used to the audience reaction. Or maybe to intimidate the journos, who knows. This is the last preview screening, so maybe Cam just wants to check things out before the party? To be honest, from a PR perspective it’s good that he’s prepping to … ’
As Shameeka speaks, Anika’s attention is drawn towards Cam like a magnetic pull.
He’s alone, sunglasses on, his expression serious as he checks something on his phone.
She swallows her drink hard, pleased to see him but also not quite sure what to expect.
Cam makes his way towards them and notices Anika with an undisguised look of surprise that turns into a bemused smile.
‘Anika Lapo,’ he says as he reaches their table, one hand in his pocket.
She smiles reflexively too, noting his continued use of her full name.
He’s dressed in a casual soft-grey suit with a white untucked tee and, of course, flawless white-on-white low-tops.
Seeming to realise that he’s zeroed in on her a bit too specifically, Cam expands his smile into a grin that he directs at the whole table.
‘What we saying? Oh, hey, how you doing?’ he says, noticing Shameeka and nodding at her.
‘Ayo didn’t let me know you lot were coming, I would have …
Well, I dunno, to be fair. Hidden?’ He laughs, and Anika can tell he’s genuinely a bit tense as he takes his sunglasses off and folds them into his top pocket.
When Cam catches her eye again, she can definitely see it.
Nerves. Are they related to her being there?
She thinks about how things wound up at the canteen and the ambiguous tension still between them.
Shameeka explains that they’ve pushed back the start time of the film, and Cam nods.
‘I’m going to head inside and make a quick call, grab a drink.
I was gonna say a beer, but, let’s face it, brown liquor is on the cards.
You guys good? Need a round, or … ?’ They all shake their heads, charmed.
‘If you lot hate it, don’t let me know after, yeah?
’ He grins his winning grin again, but his eyes linger on Anika.
She gives him a small smile of encouragement as she feels a twist behind her sternum at Cam’s unusual vulnerability.
Drawing in a breath, she turns back to her friends as they drain the last of their champagne.
When they head down to the screening room twenty minutes later, Anika scans the sparsely populated seats expecting to see Cam sitting somewhere at the back, but there’s no sign of him.
She sits on the end of a row next to Tina, who unzips her bag when the lights begin to dim.
Anika can hear the rustle of a plastic bag, then T turns to Anika and winks. ‘Jelly babies for my babes?’
Anika giggles and reaches into her bag, glad that someone came prepared.
The PR, a blonde who looks up at them disapprovingly as they munch the sweets, starts to introduce the film.
She gives lengthy information about embargoes and reviews.
‘And we’re actually going to run a few test-trailers for projects we’ve got coming up on our slate before the main screening begins … ’
Anika rolls her eyes. ‘I’m just gonna pop to the loo,’ she whispers.
Edging her way out in the flickering light of the previews, Anika blinks as she returns to the brightness of the empty downstairs lobby.
Looking around for the toilets, instead she spots Cam sitting on a sofa off to one side of the luxurious space.
Taking a deep breath, she forces herself to walk over to him.
He doesn’t notice her at first, frowning at his phone screen again, but eventually he looks up and his eyes brighten, only to cut back to his phone when Anika sits down beside him.
She’s unsure if this is a good idea, until he turns his head and raises one eyebrow at her crossing her legs, his skimming gaze much more welcome than the concierge earlier.
A leg man … ? Her long brown limbs are glossed to a shine with shea butter, toned but thick-thighed.
She gets why he might find them distracting.
‘You’re gonna miss the beginning,’ she says finally, nudging his arm with her elbow.