Dan brought him to a room stuffed with couches and tables covered with drinks and plates of sandwich wraps and cupcakes, and filled also with the day’s players and their plus ones. Lucky asked when he was going to meet the host of Wheel of Fortune, Marjorie Sorenson, and Dan explained the host wouldn’t have any contact with contestants until taping, because she liked to convey on camera that feeling of meeting someone for the first time. In about thirty minutes, make-up would arrive, wardrobe would sign off, and the first three players would go to the stage and compete in front of an audience. One last thing: Lucky’s tie wouldn’t work on camera; it might clash with the backdrop. Let’s get rid of the tie, said Dan.

‘I should talk to the other contestants,’ said Lucky. ‘Find a way to get an edge.’

‘Why don’t you sit and relax?’ said Dan, before leaving the room. ‘Don’t try too hard.’

‘Hey!’ Lucky said to a teenager pouring himself a glass of orange juice at the refreshment table. ‘Do you know the rules of Wheel of Fortune?’

‘Yes,’ said the boy. ‘I’m Stan. I’m the carryover champion.’

‘Good for you.’

‘He loves words,’ said Stan’s mother, putting an arm around the child.

‘I always have, sir,’ said Stan.

‘You like word games, huh?’ Lucky said. ‘Can you name the five properties of a verb?’

‘Yes. No. What are they?’

Lucky said: ‘Good luck.’

The crew tested bells and buzzers in the studio down the hall. Lucky didn’t talk to other contestants, all busy with their plus ones. He waited: a long shudder. A make-up artist arrived and sat him down before a mirror, where she addressed the spots on Lucky’s face, covering them with an impeccable, beatifying, almost golden varnish. He had never worn make-up before.

‘You are really good at this,’ he said.

The make-up artist, Jennine, said, ‘I know. Who’d you bring today?’

‘Oh, she couldn’t make it.’

‘Never mind. Now, remember when you get out there: you have a story to tell. And stop touching your face.’