Kath’s brow furrowed as she watched the next bit. At the time, she’d not thought a thing of Flo moving her to the far side of the forecourt outside the call centre, but now that she watched it again, they were practically in the hedge by the time the officious-looking brunette dipped in and out of shot. Her line manager, Kath thought. Maybe she’d not asked permission to film. Kath tuned back in as Flo explained what had inspired her to do the ride, ‘—and, of course, your enthusiasm to raise money for such an important charity was inspiring. In fact, they have a call centre for Lifetime, don’t they? Oh. You wouldn’t mind just taking one more step this way, would you? Out of security’s way is always best.’
Flo threw a naughty wink at the camera.
‘You’re not a trouble maker at work, are you, Flo?’ She definitely was a woman in possession of a wicked laugh. A wicked laugh she wasn’t using right now.
‘Not at all. I tried – try – to do my very best for the callers. Anyway, back to what you were saying about LifeTime. What sorts of hours can people ring in?’
Sue smiled. Flo was born to do television. ‘You’re an excellent prompt for a very important point I was hoping to make, Flo. Yes. LifeTime does have a dedicated hotline staffed entirely by volunteers. (Looks directly to camera.) I promise you viewers, this was completely unrehearsed, but it is important for all Britons to know that when they think there is no one out there who can understand what they’re going through … there is. LifeTime has dedicated, twenty-four-hour listening lines open to anyone who feels they might need a friendly ear.’
“What type of qualifications do the helpline folk need?”
‘Flo, if I didn’t know better it’d sound like you’re in the market for another job!’
Kath crossed her arms. Maybe that explained the funny business with the line manager.
Kath continued for a bit about how LifeTime was always looking for volunteers, that there was training, but the main thing they were looking for in the volunteers was an ability to listen, really listen, and not just trot out the same truisms everyone knew.
Flo gave an earnest nod, then jumped in. ‘So what you’re saying is that people want a personal touch. Not a scripted response to a genuine problem that is specific to the caller. Who wants someone plodding through a script by rote when you’re at your darkest moment? No one! That’s who! Just because two people take milk in their coffee doesn’t mean they want the same amount, does it? Or coughs! One might have whooping cough. One might have pneumonia. It pays to take an interest, doesn’t it? Going off script doesn’t mean you’re daft. It means you’re interested.’
‘Absolutely,’ onscreen Kath agreed. ‘What it also—’
‘In fact I would say it’s critical that the volunteers have a mind of their own. If someone out there were to call me, for example, I can pledge, hand on heart, I’d be willing to listen for as long as you needed. We’d pour a proverbial cuppa, sit down and hash it out. Ten minutes, an hour, all night long. Whatever it takes.’
Kath nodded along as her onscreen persona said, ‘I know I’d like you to be on the end of the phone in my hour of need.’ She would as well. Maybe she could carve out a little Kath and Flo time on the ride.
‘I’d do that for you, Kath.’ Flo had taken her hand at this point. ‘If you needed it. I’d be there for you. No judgement. No script. Just you and me talking about the things that really matter.’
Kath’s throat grew itchy as she watched her eyes glass over on the monitor. The editors had said they’d cut this bit out if she wanted, but if she wanted their viewers to know the real her then she couldn’t edit out the tough bits. The vulnerable bits. ‘Ooo! You caught me there.’ She waved her hand in front of her face as if it was a cure all for an unexpected attack of emotion. ‘Blimey! I just got hit by — ooof.’
‘You alright, love?’ Flo asked.
‘Yes, I just … [Shakes head] Goodness! Forgive me. I’m obviously feeling a bit emotional today.’ A sob escaped her throat.
‘Better out than in, darlin’.’ Flo pulled her into a half hug.
Kath tried to shake herself out of it. She’d be back on air soon. But she was riveted as she watched herself say, ‘I just wish my brother was here to see how amazing you all are. I wish he’d known there were people like you he could’ve called for support.’
The make-up girl, Bridie, scurried into place as a tear streaked down her cheek as her on-screen self properly succumbed to the tears. ‘I should’ve been there for him.’
Flo rubbed her back, ‘’s all right, duck. We all should done a lot of things.’
Flo gave her a tissue, Kath gave Flo a hug. It had all been about a million times more moving than she’d thought, but … she hadn’t really thought of her brother speaking to an actual person before. She stuffed down all of the feelings again, watched as the onscreen notice telling people the LifeTime number if they’d been affected by the content of the segment and then, mercifully, they cut for a commercial break.
‘Alright, Raven? Put it here, yeah? Before you’re too famous to remember me.’
Raven looked up from her drawing, surprised to see Dylan standing in front of her, his hand curled into a loose fist waiting for a bump. She gave it an awkward tap with her fist after flipping her phone face down on the table, weirdly embarrassed
