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people your age, I’m thinking.” She lowered her voice. “I’m also one of the producers of Noontime , and between you and me, we’re working on getting national distribution. So it should appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Including people like you. Tell me: Do you watch any food or lifestyle shows on tv?”
    â€œSome. My boyfriend works at Sterling, a restaurant downtown. He’s the bar manager.”
    â€œI’ve been to Sterling. The food is excellent.”
    â€œSo sometimes we watch the shows about restaurant kitchens. The ones with yelling and swearing are entertaining.”
    â€œHmm. Then there’s me, being boring and nice.”
    â€œDon’t forget about the sugar and spice.”
    Her face lit up. “You know, that’s a good idea. I should make the segments spicier.
    More edgy. To appeal to a younger audience. And to men. Let me make a note of that.” She took out her notebook, wrote the word SPICIER on a blank page and closed it again. Put it away. “So, how are you enjoying the choir these days?”
    â€œI like it. Partly because of what you said. It is interesting to watch people in action.”
    â€œEspecially when so many are creative people.”
    â€œThat’s one way to describe them,” I said, and she laughed.
    On the way back to the church, she asked about my job.
    â€œDo you see yourself staying there and climbing the corporate ladder?” she said. “Or are you putting in time while you pursue something more artistic?”
    I would have snapped at Joanne if she asked me those same questions, laughed at the artistic part and told her to back off. But I liked Anna showing interest in me.
    â€œI can see moving up,” I said. “I might transfer to head office. Get involved with making training videos.” I shouldn’t have said that, I know. Shouldn’t have talked about something that probably wouldn’t happen. I guess I wanted to come off like someone with a plan and a clue. Someone like her.
    She said, “Training videos? What are they like?”
    So I told her about the rd and the email from her assistant. And that Nathan and I were making a video the next morning at the store. And she looked totally interested in what I was saying. As if she were interviewing me on her show. She said, “I can see what the senior person saw in you. You have an appealing manner. You’re engaging. Have you done on-camera work before?”
    â€œNo. Never.”
    â€œOh.”
    â€œHave you got any tips on how we should shoot the video?” What the hell. There was no harm in asking, right?
    She did. For the next few minutes, she gave me a crash course on how to act on tv. She talked about what to wear and what not to wear. About makeup and lipstick colors. About making eye contact with the camera, and how to look expressive. She told me to memorize and rehearse my lines beforehand. And to decide in advance which words in each sentence should be stressed.
    We stopped outside the church, and she quickly demonstrated the most flattering ways to stand, walk and angle my face and body toward the camera.
    â€œThank you so much,” I said when she’d wrapped up. “I hope I can remember everything you’ve said when we do the taping tomorrow.”
    â€œI could email you a checklist,” she said.
    â€œI wrote one up a while back when I visited a high school class for a Career Day. Your email address is on the choir list, right? I’ll send it to you when I get home tonight.”
    â€œThat would be great.”
    She opened the church door and held it open for me. “Here we go,” she said. “Into the breach.” And I laughed like I got the joke.

CHAPTER NINE
    A t the break that night, Anna went off to make a phone call. I wandered over to the soprano section and said hi to Joanne and Wendy. They invited me to come out for a drink at a nearby pub with some