He told himself it would be too difficult to drive back there and up that terrible road to lock everything. That slope was a real ordeal, no matter which direction you were going in. When you set off, everything started beeping and the distance sensors went mad because of the branches and stones. The car was so wide that the bushes and brambles scratched the sides noisily. It was painful to hear, but worse, it was difficult to keep the 4×4 on course without going too close to the edge, because to the right were jutting rocks, and to the left a drop hidden by the undergrowth … The Audi was uselessly big, too large for the small roads he had had to take, and even for the roads in Limogne. This was galling because it had been so expensive to rent, and the insurance wouldn’t cover all the scratches it already had. Even so, he wouldn’t put it on Alpha Productions expenses as an example to the two newbies, even though his own finances were tight at the moment. He shouldn’t have rented such an expensive car for three weeks when his last two films had done so badly – two films in a row that had sold fewer than 100,000 tickets. But it was the last four-wheel drive available, apart from a Maserati Levante, which would have been even more expensive. Truth be told, he didn’t hate driving the monster; he actually found it exhilarating.

When he had parked, he didn’t get out straight away, but sat there for five minutes. He watched the little town come alive around him, comforted by the sight of people coming and going. At the same time, he felt distanced from them, like a complete outsider. He noted the way they looked at him. The car projected an image of affluence and good living, when in fact his self-confidence was at rock bottom. Since the end of March even the smallest expense had worried him. He didn’t want to talk about it with Lise or show that he was worried, but he felt just as vulnerable as when he was starting out, with as little financial stability as he’d had at twenty-five. Every new production was a gamble; he always felt as if he were starting again from zero. Taking risks is inherent in the job of a producer, whatever their age and experience, but at more than fifty years old, he no longer had the carefree attitude of someone starting out. He had spent his career soothing anxieties, comforting directors and actors and reassuring partners who took failure badly, who were destroyed by it, beset by the fear they’d never make another film. But having spent so many years supporting others, he no longer had the energy to convince himself.