He sighed and nodded, knowing there was no point denying the blatant truth. Kit Foley was no further down the road to accepting this project than he had been a week ago. Tomorrow was going to be the start of a war.

She walked across the room towards the kitchen.

‘Clover?’

She turned.

‘I know there’s no reason for you to believe this, but Kit’s not the guy you think he is.’

Clover hesitated. ‘Jeez . . . I really hope not.’

*

Clover Phillips How do you feel about Kit Foley making his debut this season?

Snowboard girl Kit Foley? He was the surfer, right? Oh yeah! He’s hot!

C. P. Did you know he’s based locally now?

Snowboard girl Is he? (Twists around) I hope I see him around!

*

Lift operator I think everyone’s excited to see what he can bring. From what I’ve seen, he’s pretty focused. I think he’s gonna surprise a few people.

C. P. Do you think people will care about his past?

Lift operator Nuh. You gotta live in the moment. Let shit go.

C. P. Even though a man died as a consequence of his actions?

Lift operator (Shrugs)

*

‘How’s it looking?’ she asked Johnny, throwing herself onto his bed and staring at his back. He was working at the pale oak desk where he had set up his laptop and editing equipment.

From here, she could see he was cleaning up some of the footage they’d taken yesterday. Johnny had managed to get an arty shot of a front of rain racing across the lake, the droplets striking the glassy water like bullets on tin.

‘Okay. Hardly groundbreaking. I’ve imported everything we had on the B-roll and now I’m setting up my folders,’ he murmured. ‘I want to keep up to date with the house admin if we’re going to have any chance of getting this done in time for the March submission date.’

‘Well, I literally just finished explaining that to Ari, and you’ll be pleased to hear we are all stations “go” from breakfast tomorrow.’

Johnny turned on his chair, looking impressed. ‘How’d you pull that off?’

‘I gave it to Ari straight. He just witnessed Foley giving me both barrels again, and then implied I was supposed to be grateful that at least he was talking to me!’ She sank back into the pillows, staring up at the ceiling. ‘He’s such a dick.’

‘Ari?’

‘No, Foley.’ She straightened her arms up in the air and examined her nails. ‘I reckon Ari’s actually halfway decent.’

‘Ha, if you say so,’ Johnny said with a disbelieving laugh, turning back to his screen. ‘He’s not spoken to me yet. I’m obviously not worthy. Don’t you reckon he looks like an actual photofit of a psycho. I mean, what are those knife scars on his face?’