The Freedom Building by Martin Kendall

Author:Martin Kendall [Kendall, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781916299009
Publisher: Martin kendall
Published: 2019-12-02T22:00:00+00:00

10

The television studios were located not far from the city centre on the west side of the city, just outside the inner ring road. A road broadly circled the acre of land where, in the middle, a large square, white building loomed. On the front green, next to a small car park, a huge satellite dish pointed threateningly towards the sky, like an anti-aircraft gun. John stood next to it, smoking incessantly.

‘Mr Gowan?’ a soft voice whispered behind him.

John jumped and turned. A smartly dressed Wilkinson, with finely combed hair above his ears and piercing blue eyes, stood before him. Next to him was a tall, broad man with an earpiece.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,’ Wilkinson said. ‘Shall we go in?’

They walked through the electronic doors, and Wilkinson gave their names at reception. A short, fat man, who introduced himself as Rick and whom John realised was the producer he had spoken with on the phone, led them upstairs and into a room with seats.

‘I hope you’re not too nervous,’ Rick said to both John and Wilkinson. ‘Mrs Fielding will be coming in shortly and should make you feel at ease. Are there any questions you might like to ask at this stage?’

John wasn’t really listening, and the rest of the afternoon went rather quickly. They met the interviewer, Fielding – a black woman who seemed taller in person than on television – and ate tea in the refectory. Wilkinson made a few comments about the interview, and John responded as best he could, but he could not stop thinking how easy it would be for his ignorance to be exposed by some awkward, direct question from Fielding, especially if John could not hear parts of the question. John had had a pretty good idea of the type of questions since the telephone conversation with Rick, and he’d prepared answers that he hoped would satisfy Fielding’s direct questions which he wouldn’t be able to hear, but Fielding was notorious for not letting her interviewees go until she got the answer she was seeking. Fielding would be using a picture of the future building as a point of reference, too: something which John would not be able to see.

The frightening prospect of defeat, of losing to the darkness and being transported away from this world, churned around his fearful head into the early evening. He could be living his final few hours. But he felt angry and stubborn, too: being threatened by something that had always stolen his talent and was now trying to take away his claim to being designer of the Zenith building. Being pampered by an attractive make-up artist was a welcome distraction, and both he and Wilkinson laughed a little nervously at trivial things. Wilkinson had his own problems: taking the risk today of defending his decisions on live television to keep his son in his employment while also maintaining Zenith’s contract with the Israeli military.

As John looked at himself in the mirror, he

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