Page 85 of Snowed In with You

She clicked back to Nate’s TikTok from yesterday, and sure enough, there was footage of him walking through a door next to a sign for Fountain Road Studios. She googled it, and found the address in Dalston in East London. Before she had a chance to change her mind, she was closing her parents’ front door and hurrying up the hill to Purley train station, and an appointment with . . . destiny? Madness? More frustration? Something that didn’t feel like lead boots, anyway.

When she arrived at the studio there was a crowd of fans outside, eyeing her beadily as she elbowed her way to the door, and clearly wondering if she was going to gain access where they had not. She pressed the doorbell and waited, trying to look nonchalant when her heart was pounding out of her chest.

‘Fountain Studios,’ said a woman’s voice.

‘Hi,’ said Lucy into the intercom, aware that every single person was listening. ‘I’m here to see Nate Lambert?’

‘What’s your name, please?’

‘Lucy Glover. I’m a . . . friend.’

‘Right,’ said the woman, with a tone that suggested she’d heard all this before. ‘Is he expecting you? You’re not on the list.’

‘Not exactly,’ said Lucy.

‘Mmm, right,’ said the tinny voice of the woman. ‘I can’t let you in.’

‘Can you give him a message? Tell him I’m here?’

‘No, I can’t do that either. Sorry.’ The intercom line went dead.

Lucy pressed her lips together and took a deep breath, conscious that twenty people were hanging on every word of this conversation and willing her to fail. She pressed the bell again and waited longer this time.

‘What now?’ snapped the woman’s voice.

‘Is Alex Jansen there?’

‘Yes,’ said the voice sarkily. ‘Is he a friend too?’

‘Yes, he is,’ said Lucy firmly. ‘Can you please tell him that Lucy Glover is here. Say Lucy from Zermatt. He’ll know what that means.’

‘He’s in a meeting,’ said the voice.

‘Then interrupt,’ said Lucy, starting to lose patience. ‘He won’t mind. But he WILL mind if you’ve left me standing out here all day.’

The line went dead again, and Lucy waited, avoiding eye contact with the fans glaring her down from the pavement. After what seemed like an age, the door unlocked and a resentful-looking woman appeared.

‘You Lucy?’ she asked.

‘Yeah,’ said Lucy, as half a dozen other women leaned forward, looking like they might also declare themselves to be Lucy in an I’m Spartacus chorus.

‘Come in,’ said the woman, opening the door enough for Lucy to slide through, then firmly closing it again. ‘Sorry about making you wait, I had to check with Alex. People try all kinds, no offence.’

‘None taken,’ said Lucy. ‘I guess you’ve seen it all.’

‘Yep,’ said the woman, who had a slightly world-weary air despite probably not being a day over twenty-five. ‘The TikTok stars definitely have the craziest fans. There were loads more of them earlier, when Nate arrived. They’ll all be back later, but there’s always a hardcore group who hang around all day. It’s mad.’

She led Lucy to a reception area with a sofa and a couple of plastic chairs, then left her with a vague, ‘Wait here, Alex will come down.’ There was no coffee, so Lucy filled a plastic cup from the water dispenser and hoped her hands would stop shaking.

‘Lucy!’ said Alex, bursting into the room and pulling her into a hug. She closed her eyes and leaned in to him, then opened them to see that he was being trailed down the stairs by . . . Sasha. Shit.

‘Hello, Lucy.’ Sasha’s expression suggested she’d stepped in something unpleasant. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I was hoping to see Nate,’ Lucy replied, giving Sasha a challenging look.

‘I thought we agreed that I’d give him your message,’ said Sasha coolly.

‘And have you done that?’ asked Lucy, raising her eyebrows. Alex followed the conversation warily, and Lucy wondered what he would do if a catfight started. Video it, probably.