Free Take Two (A psychological thriller) by Stephen Leather Page A

accelerator.
    ‘Bit queasy, actually,’ she said. ‘Would you mind slowing down, just a bit.’ She flashed him her little-girl-lost smile.
    ‘Sure, of course,’ he said, and braked sharply so that the seat belt tightened against her chest. ‘That was a good night, wasn’t it?’
    ‘Terrific,’ she said.
    ‘Bet you’ve been to a lot over the years?’
    ‘A fair few.’
    ‘They’re still a new thing for me,’ he said. He slowed as they approached a hump-backed bridge but still went over it so quickly that Carolyn felt herself rise out of her seat. Her stomach lurched. ‘Sorry,’ he said.
    ‘Where were you before?’
    ‘Before? In what way?’
    ‘Before the network? Where did you work?’
    ‘I joined straight from university,’ he said. ‘Graduate entrant. Six hundred applied and they only took three of us.’
    ‘Impressive,’ said Carolyn, wincing as he almost lost control of the car and missed scraping a dry stone wall by inches.
    ‘Yeah, the selection process was brutal. But I got through and they sent me on several shows to learn the ropes and now I’m on Rags To Riches.’
    ‘It’s a great show.’
    ‘Absolutely. But we can make it better. We should be getting another million or so viewers.’
    ‘And how will you do that?’ asked Carolyn.
    ‘We might have to take the show in a different direction,’ said Waites.
    She looked across at him. ‘How would you do that?’
    He shrugged carelessly. ‘There’s lots of options,’ he said. He grinned. ‘Do you want to do a line?’
    ‘A line?’
    ‘Coke,’ he said. He patted his jacket pocket. ‘Got some great stuff here.’
    Carolyn shook her head. ‘I don’t…’
    ‘What, never? I thought all actors did.’
    ‘When I was younger, maybe. But these days, alcohol and nicotine are my drugs of choice.’
    ‘Coke is way better for you than booze,’ he said. ‘No hangover, no weight gain.’
    ‘You’re not telling me I look fat, are you?’
    Waites laughed. ‘God, no,’ he said. ‘You’re amazing for…’ 
    He left the sentence unfinished but she knew what he was going to say. For her age.
    ‘I tell you, Carolyn, I’ve always fancied you. At uni you were always at the top of my “to do” list.’
    ‘Excuse me?’ said Carolyn.
    He grinned. ‘The list of stars you’d like to… you know.’
    ‘And I was top of yours?’
    Waites nodded enthusiastically. ‘Bloody right.’
    ‘I suppose I should be flattered. Who else was on your list?
    Waites laughed. ‘You really want to know?’
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘Angelina Jolie for one. Megan Fox.’
    ‘So I’m in good company,’ she said. ‘But I don’t get why I was on your list.’
    ‘I was a big fan of the show at uni,’ said Waites. ‘Me and my mates used to watch it together. You know, four years ago the show had a much younger viewer profile. That’s something we need to address.’
    Carolyn nodded.
    ‘So where’s the show heading?’
    ‘Heading?’
    ‘You know, what direction do you plan to take it?’
    ‘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