Jessica Lord had been waiting for this television programme for two weeks and had even refused an invitation to the cinema, because her favourite author, Jivan Childering, was going to appear on Sally Mennon's People in the News. It was a rare opportunity to see a writer who normally went to extreme lengths to avoid publicity and who was becoming famous for his tangles with the press.

She tied her hair back, cleaned her spectacles and got ready to enjoy herself. After pouring a glass of wine, she got out the box of chocolates she'd been saving for a happy occasion and curled up in the corner of the couch with her feet up. It was Saturday night, after all.

She looked down at her book with its author photo. Childering was one of the most handsome men she'd ever seen. Or else the photo in the book had been touched up.

As the programme began and he was introduced to the studio audience, she sighed. No, it hadn't been touched up. He really was gorgeous, with his straight blue-black hair and dark eyes. Just as the newspapers said, he seemed to have inherited the best from both parents, the height and clear-cut aristocratic features of his English mother, the graceful carriage and olive skin of his Indian father.

Until he opened his mouth. And then this brilliant author, whose latest book had hit the bestseller lists within days of being published, turned wooden and uncooperative, answering the interviewer's questions with monosyllables. From the way the two of them looked at one another, they were not on good terms.

The wine remained untasted on the table beside Jessica, and when the unopened box of chocolates slid to the floor, she didn't bother to pick it up.

Sally's questions were tactless and deliberately provocative, but Childering wasn't handling them well. She was trying to get him to talk about his childhood and how badly his mother's family had treated him. She didn't mention his mixed race specifically, but that was clearly what she meant when she called him 'the cuckoo in the nest'.

His wooden expression was replaced for a moment by anger at the phrase, then he said, 'Is my childhood relevant? I was told you wanted me to talk about my latest book tonight.'

'Yes, of course I do. And later on we'll have the viewer segment. We've picked three questions for you to answer. So ... tell us about your new book, Jivan. What does your intrepid hero get up to this time?'

Just as he opened his mouth to reply, Jessica's telephone rang.

'Oh, no!' For a moment, she debated leaving it, but she could never bear to do that, so picked up the phone. 'Yes?'

'Is that Jessica Lord?'

'Yes.' Quick, she thought, whoever you are, tell me what you want and go away! And you'd better not be trying to sell me anything. She continued to stare at the television screen, trying to follow what Childering was saying about his book.

'Jessica,' said an unknown voice, 'your question has been picked for use during the Jivan Childering interview tonight.'

'What?'

The voice repeated what it had said in a bored tone. 'Would you like time to fetch your question?'

'No. I can remember it.'

'Then if you'd like to hold the line for two or three minutes, we'll connect you to the studio and you can speak to Mr Childering. Oh, wait – can you just turn down the sound on your TV first? We're getting a bit of echo.'

She did as he asked, then waited, trying to control her nervousness as she held the phone to her ear and listened to the programme through it