Sounds Like Radio Episode 06
Cesca didn’t get much out of Miriam, their new(ish) assistant and sound effects store person.
Miriam made vague noises about “taking a personal day” and “accommodation issues”, and Cesca left it at that.
Already she had learned that nagging Miriam got her nowhere.
The following morning Kevin produced a document for discussions with Bill the builder.
“You did this overnight?” Cesca asked.
“I like to get things out of the way,” he said.
Cesca wondered what Monica thought of this – the document was smartly laid out with extensive notes; it must have taken hours.
Kevin vanished into the edit suite again and by the time a planned meeting with Bill was due, he was still at it, head over the computer, engrossed.
So she went alone to meet Bill, taking Kevin’s timetable with her.
“It continues overleaf,” she told Bill sheepishly.
They were back in the same café and Bill had the document in front of him.
“You can see the web links to European law on safe sound levels.”
Bill tucked the sheaf of paper into his shorts.
“I bet it’s fine,” he said.
“You don’t want to look?”
“I’m sure it’ll be cool,” Bill said.
“We’ll make Kev happy. He looked like a guy who needs nurturing.
“Does this café do good panini?”
“Yeah. Um, Kev’s included a ‘no power tools after ten a.m.’ clause. You can drill during lunch, it says.
“Kev usually tries to take lunch from twelve-thirty to quarter past one.”
“Really? I kinda eat when I’m hungry. I’m not big on clocks.”
Cesca felt her heart sink a little at the clash of Kevin (pernickety in the extreme) versus Bill (“not big on clocks”).
“Noise after six o’clock is fine, though. We’re usually all done by –”
“Six!” It was the first time Cesca had seen Bill animated.
“My friend, I’ve never worked past four and I never intend to.”
“But are you going to be able to complete the job?”
He shrugged.
“They all get finished in the end.
“And there’s stuff I can do in the banned times.” He thought for a moment.
“I’ve never done a crossword.”
“Right.”
Bill seemed utterly relaxed.
Cesca went back to set up for three actors who were coming in to record scenes of a play about Lord Byron.
As Cesca sat in her swivel chair marking faders with erasable pen, she felt like she’d had a massage.
Bill was so laid back and it had rubbed off on her.
The actors were due shortly and she went to the office/effects store feeling chilled.
She needed some rustling taffeta rehearsal skirts and some writing implements for the scenes.
A couple of Romantic poets and their love interests were about to write letters.
“I’ve made you tea,” Gerry said, holding two mugs outside the office.
“Lovely.” Cesca was smiling a big, relaxed smile.
“What a lovely day!”
“Er, yes.” Gerry swallowed. “I was wondering if I can sit in on the Byron thing.”
Cesca took the mug.
“Of course,” she said. “You have to start somewhere.
“Actually, this is a good opportunity for you to learn about collecting practical effects.”
Cesca was in the middle of the room now, staring at the shelves.
“Somebody’s tidied!” she wailed.
“Er . . . good?” Gerry said hesitantly.
Cesca had gone from cheerful to horrified in an instant.
“No! It’s not good!” Cesca put the mug down with a thump and tea sloshed out.
She was scurrying back and forth along the shelves.
Gerry saw a few ancient telephones, a box of chains, a mess of synthetic taffeta in many colours, empty bottles of ink.
“The special Biro’s gone! My perfect quill pen! I made that thing years ago.” Cesca turned to face Gerry, her eyes blazing.
“You have to cut the barrel off at a long angle with a really sharp knife, and lots of times it just doesn’t work, but then finally you get it right!
“That old Biro makes the best scratching quill sounds in the universe.
“It’s ‘period’, it’s Byron, it’s dispatches from Napoleonic wars, it’s Marie Antoinette’s last wishes. It’s perfect!”
Cesca gritted her teeth.
“Miriam!” she growled.