Only… it wasn’t quite right. Everything was compacted, squeezed down in scale, and the view of Manhattan outside was frozen in two dimensions. The corridor behind the reception desk that should have led deeper into the building was abruptly truncated by a green curtain. Even the light from outside was subtly wrong, the harsh glare of studio lamps instead of the warmer, more diffuse tones of sunlight.
She looked back at her companions. Eddie appeared impressed by the replica, while Grant and Macy were grinning with anticipation. ‘So?’ said Grant. ‘You like it?’
‘Isn’t it cool?’ added Macy. ‘It’s just like being in the actual UN!’
‘Yeah, it’s pretty amazing,’ Nina replied, turning to take it all in. ‘It’s smaller than the real thing, though.’
Grant nodded. ‘Yeah, they had to squish everything to fit it into the stage. It’ll look fine on camera, though. Put the right lens on, and they can make a broom closet look like a ballroom.’
‘So what happens in here?’ asked Eddie. ‘If it’s for Nitrous 3, I don’t suppose you’ll be delivering any long speeches about world peace.’
‘Nah, nothing boring like that, dude,’ said Grant cheerfully. He pointed towards the main entrance. ‘I’m gonna smash through there in a Ferrari, then do a drift to knock down the North Koreans shooting at me. Then I run up the stairs after the mad general with the suitcase nuke. We have a big fight, he uses all these darts and guns and crazy shit built into his bionic arm, and I end up hanging from that thing up there.’
‘That “thing” is Foucault’s Pendulum,’ said Nina icily, glancing at the gold-plated sphere dangling on a long wire above one end of the lobby.
‘What, it’s part of a clock?’
‘No, it’s—’
‘Thought it was just some cool swinging ball dealie. Anyway, there’s a big electromagnet inside it, so I use it to deflect a bullet he shoots at me—’
Eddie normally let his disbelief be suspended very high when it came to action movies, but the former Special Air Service soldier couldn’t let that go unchallenged. ‘Don’t think so, mate. Magnets don’t affect bullets.’
Grant regarded him uncertainly. ‘You sure?’
‘I’ve got some experience in that area, so yeah.’
‘Huh. Wouldn’t have thought the writers would get that wrong. I’d better tell ’em — don’t want people to think the story’s stupid!’
‘God forbid,’ sighed Nina.
‘Still, it’s a movie, so the rule of cool applies, right? Anyhow, he misses and I swing across and use the magnet to grab his bionic arm so that he’s trapped, then I shove the detonator I took out of the nuke inside his arm, and just before I jump to safety I tell him, wait for it… “Know what my favourite book is? A—”’
‘A Farewell to Arms?’ Eddie predicted.
‘Yeah, that’s right, good guess! And then his arm explodes. Awesome, huh?’
‘It’s certainly incredible,’ said Nina, struggling to restrain an eye roll that would have snapped her head back with its sheer momentum. ‘Although don’t take this the wrong way, Grant, but it all sounds kinda… far-fetched.’
‘Nah, it’ll be great. The writers know what they’re doing.’
‘The same writers who think bullets are magnetic?’ said Eddie, smirking.
Grant considered that, then dismissed the thought. ‘Anyway, it’s cool, huh? It’ll look totally like the real thing on film. Hey, maybe we could have the premiere at the real United Nations. You could put in a word, Nina!’
‘I’ll think about it,’ she said, having already done just that for the millisecond the suggestion deserved. She walked deeper into the set, looking up at the tiered balconies. The resemblance to the real United Nations building was indeed uncanny… enough to trigger an unexpected pang of emotion within her.
A mixture almost of homesickness — the feeling that this was where she should be — and sadness. Loss. Until two months earlier, the UN complex had been the focus of her work, her base of operations as an archaeologist with the International Heritage Agency. Now, she knew it was unlikely she would ever return. She gazed at the facsimile, lost in reverie.
Footsteps behind brought her back to the present. ‘I’m going to miss this place,’ she said quietly, thinking it was Eddie.
It wasn’t. ‘What do you mean?’ asked Macy, stopping beside her. Another curious look, this time with concern behind it. ‘You’re just taking a break from work, like a sabbatical… aren’t you?’
Nina didn’t reply, but the silence was broken by Grant. ‘Okay, dudes. Let’s go have lunch. And talk.’
His expectant grin told the couple that he had more in mind than social chit-chat. ‘Talk about what?’ said Eddie.
Nina glanced at Macy. ‘Do you know what he’s on about?’
She tried to contain a smile. ‘Some of it. Trust me, you’ll be interested.’
Still beaming, Grant gestured for the others to follow him back to the golf cart, and they resumed their drive through the lot. ‘All right, Grant, come on,’ said Eddie. ‘What’s the big thing you want to talk to us about?’
The actor appeared briefly conflicted. ‘I kinda wanted to wait until you met my business partner, but… ah, okay, whatever. I’ve started my own production company!’
‘Really? Congratulations,’ said Nina.
‘It’s called Every Rose Productions,’ Macy added.
Eddie and Nina exchanged puzzled glances, before getting it. ‘Because Every Rose has its Thorn, right?’ she said.
‘You got it!’ Grant replied, extremely pleased with himself.
Eddie groaned. ‘Jesus, I thought my puns were bad.’
Grant ignored him. ‘I’ve done well as an actor, but I want more control, you know? More of a stake in the success. So I teamed up with this guy I’ve worked with before — you’ll meet him at lunch — and we’ve got some projects up and running.’
‘What sort of projects?’ Eddie asked.
‘You ever heard of the Gabriel Payne books?’
‘No,’ said Nina.
‘Yeah,’ Eddie said simultaneously. ‘I’ve read some of ’em. Thrillers. They’re not bad. Sort of Jack Reacher knock-offs.’
‘We bought the rights to the series,’ Grant told them. ‘I’m gonna play Gabriel Payne. Former Navy SEAL, tormented loner with a dark past who’s irresistible to women — it’s perfect for me.’
Eddie gave the blue-eyed, fair-haired actor a sceptical look. ‘In the books… isn’t he black?’
‘This is Hollywood, man! Things change. If Brits can play Americans, why not this?’
‘It’s not quite the same thing,’ said Nina in disbelief.
Grant wasn’t listening. ‘So besides that, we’ve also got Rev Limit, which is like Nitrous but on bikes—’
‘Grant says I can be in it!’ said Macy happily.
‘Then there’s Taking Liberty, kind of a Die Hard in the Statue of Liberty. And a great comedy called First Baby, dunno if I’ll be in it or just producing, but it’s such an awesome concept. Get this: the wife of the President of the USA dies in childbirth, but her last words to him are that he has to promise to raise their kid just like a normal dad. So he takes the baby to cabinet meetings, changes its diapers on Air Force One, that sort of thing. The script’s a scream!’
Nina had no comment, her mouth frozen open. Fortunately, Grant couldn’t see her. ‘I’m sure it’ll make a fortune,’ Eddie said sarcastically on her behalf.