Take Two (A psychological thriller)

‘That’s a very open-ended question,’ he said. ‘We want to continue to grow the audience, of course, so we can maximize the advertising revenue. We want to develop storylines that will excite our existing viewers and hopefully bring in new ones.’

‘And how exactly do you go about doing that?’

Waites grinned. ‘That’s why we’re paid the big bucks,’ he said.

‘I know that,’ she said. ‘But I’m wondering what sort of changes you might be making to bring in new viewers.’

‘We’re looking at several options.’

‘A younger cast?’

‘Well there’s no doubt we’d like to see the average age of our viewers come down a bit. Back to where it was when I was at uni.  The average age of a Rags To Riches viewer is about five years below the typical Corrie or EastEnders,  but we’re still well above Holby and Hollyoaks.’

‘But does that mean lowering the average age of the cast?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Has somebody said something to you?’

Carolyn shrugged carelessly. ‘Not really,’ she said. ‘It just seems obvious if you want a younger audience, you get a younger cast. I’m old enough to remember when almost all the actors in Corrie were in their forties. Now most of them are kids with sunbed tans and too much eyeliner.’ She grinned. ‘And that’s just the boys.’

‘It’s the way of the world,’ said Waites.  ‘We can’t fight it, all we can do is roll with it.’

‘But it’s crazy. Youngsters aren’t sitting at home in the evenings watching TV. And if its spending power you’re after, then it’s the middle-aged audience you want. The ones who’ve paid off their mortgages and said goodbye to their kids. They’re the ones with the money.’

‘That’s not the way my bosses see it,’ said Waites. He patted her leg, just above the knee. ‘What’s worrying you, Carolyn? Has somebody said something to you?’

‘What might they have said?’ asked Carolyn.

‘I don’t know. But something is obviously worrying you.’

Carolyn sighed. She looked down at his hand that was still resting on her leg. ‘There’s a meeting the week after next. A writers’ meeting.’

‘Yes…’ he said, hesitantly.

‘I just get the feeling that something big is being planned. And I don’t want to pick up a script in a few weeks and find I’m lying in an Intensive Care Unit with Seb crying on Andrea’s shoulder as they pull the plug.’

Waites laughed and gave her knee a gentle squeeze. ‘That’s not going to happen,’ he said. ‘If they were going to write you out, they’d do it so you had the option of coming back. That’s a given.’

‘Are they thinking about writing me out?’ she asked.

‘At the moment everything’s up in the air,’ said Waites. He smiled seemingly unaware of how uncomfortable he was making her.

Carolyn bit down on her lower lip. It was the last thing she wanted to hear. Before she realised what had happened, Waites had pulled over to the side of the road.  They were parked next to a five-bar gate that led to a field. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

‘I’m getting tired,’ he said. ‘I need a pick-me-up.’ He took a small silver phial from his pocket and unscrewed the top. He held it in front of her. ‘Sure you don’t want some?’

Carolyn shook her head. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure you should be driving and snorting coke.’

Waites sprinkled a small amount of white powder on the back of his left hand and sniffed it up both nostrils. He grinned and shuddered. ‘That’s better,’ he said as he put the cap back on the phial. He shuddered again. ‘See, coke should be on the show. The fashion business runs on drugs but we never see it on the show.’

‘You can’t show drug-taking on TV,’ said Carolyn.

‘Of course you can. And we should. How do you think models stay so thin? The models I know all do coke. Lots of it.’

Carolyn looked at her watch. It was after half eleven. ‘We should be going,’ she said.

Waites put away the vial. ‘What’s the rush?’ he said. He unfastened his seat belt and put his left hand on her knee.  ‘We’ve got the moonlight, some very good cocaine, I’m with the sexiest woman on TV. Have you ever done it in a Porsche?’

‘Are you insane?’

‘Come on now, Carolyn. Live a little.’ He tried to kiss her but she pushed him away.  He sneered at her. ‘You need all the friends you can get at the moment, honey,’ he said. ‘You’d be a lot better off with me in your corner.’

‘What do you mean?’

He tried to kiss her again but she pushed him away.

‘What do you mean?’ she repeated.

‘I mean you’re not on everybody’s to-do list, Carolyn. Some people at the network just think you’re a dog that’s had its day. They want to replace you with a younger model, maybe one of the girls from The Only Way Is Essex.’

‘That’s ridiculous.’

‘Is it? Reality TV is where the big numbers are. We get one of the hot reality girls onto Rags To Riches and the numbers will go through the roof. And if that happens, you’ll be history.’

‘Is that what the network’s planning?’

Waites grinned, He reached between his legs. ‘Tell you what, you give me a BJ and I’ll tell you which way the wind is blowing.’

Carolyn couldn’t believe she’d heard him right. ‘What?’