When the doco team left for Rome, the departure was covered by a Channel 8 news camera crew and some sixty family and friends of the eight team members waved them off. Becky, who'd become very friendly with Roxy, came home for the departure and hugged and kissed his mother and wished her well on her big adventure and when kissing Roxy goodbye whispered, "Please try to keep mom away from nasty old lecherous Italian men."
"But you're okay if she turns to sexy clean-looking young Italian men?"
Red-faced Becky nodded, giggling.
During the eight weeks away, Roxy and Sophie became even closer in their relationship and one evening as they watched the sun disappear behind distant hills, Sophie reached across from her deckchair to take Roxy's hand.
"This is as good as it gets. I'm so sad I don't have the depth of relationship with my own children I have with you."
"You'll know better than I do you can only go so far to improve relationships," Roxy sighed, and added, "It takes both sides to develop the quality of such bonding. You know your big chance will come if or I should say when either of them is responsible for making you a grandmother."
"That's true," Sophie nodded and said she looked forward to that event. "Well how do you think you are going?"
"I suppose I have to say I've been very disappointed but that's most due to my own inexperience. I'd thought it will be full on for me and everything would go smoothly. I hadn't expected the long periods of inaction as we waited for equipment to be set-up or dismantled, as we waited for weather to clear or the natural lighting to be just right, the foul-ups of people not arriving for interviews despite being confirmed but I'm getting used to it."
"Why did you push Steven away? At the start you two were all over one another?"
"Well he wasn't only humping his camera around. One afternoon when it was raining and you'd gone off to get supplies I found him humping Sally."
"The randy wretch."
"Who do you mean?"
"Why Steven of course."
"Your comment fits both of them. That night I told him to stay away from me. He didn't like it but I have maintained cordial relations with them."
"Oh here come Steven and Sally now from reviewing today's footage," Sophie said. "They both look unhappy."
Sally snarled, "Forty percent of today's shooting is sub-standard. We'll have to remain here and re-shoot those two interviews. The sound is crap and the lighting failed to measure up consistently."
"That's fine," Roxy said and they watched Steven trudge off.
"He's apologized for taking the guys off to quaff wine last night," Sally said. "It turned out the venue was a night club and the entertainment was so good and women wanted to dance with them they found time just ran away on them."
"Men!" snorted Sophie sympathetically and received a warm smile from Sally.
"Why don't we three go out tonight together and keep away from men," Roxy suggested and Sally said great idea providing Sophie joined them. "We'll want one responsible person with us, eh Roxy?"
The team of nine including the Italian liaison officer had four Campervans, three 24-feet long and a 28-foot one that the three senior camera crew, cameramen Steven n and Roy Schmitt and the sound tech/grip Rory Miles used as their base and it included a fire-proof safe to store video tapes, logs and releases, Sally's scrip and copies and storyboards. Every day or so Sophie took the tapes to a properly equipped city processor to be copied. She'd retain the copy and deposit the original with a forwarding company in a reputable international courier network for delivery to Channel 8 for professional editing and storage. Sophie usually did that either calling a cab or riding one of the team's four bicycles and carrying the precious tapes in a backpack and had an additional strap buckled around her waist.
Sophie only became lost once in making those drops by cycle whereas she'd expected to often get lost but she did carry a map. She was delighted to find her Italian was improving enormously.
The practice was to group the vans in a line on location and always have a team member on watch. Throughout the time they were in Italy two of the guys had their wallets stolen when they were drunk and Sally had the bicycle she'd used to go shopping stolen and that was replaced. Even more important, all the consignments of video tapes got through to Channel 8.
After two weeks Sally offered to replace Sophie as the bicycle courier but the reply was, "No way, keep the guys doing their jobs. This is something important I can do and I feel I'm making a valuable contribution."
As it turned out the Italian liaison officer Camilla Rossini proved to be the anchor for the team and she'd been helped to gain ascendency in that role by Sophie and those two became good friends. The pressure of her heavy responsibilities kept Sally the team leader on edge and her behavior at times became very erratic. Fortunately she recognized the leadership qualities of the hawked-nosed but easy-going Camilla, a 48-year old mother of three adult children and could see that the men jumped when Camilla snorted at them.
Throughout the time in Italy, none of the team became aware that the business-oriented professional Sophie called the shots and Camilla barked out orders or gentle admonishments as required to keep the group operating as a team.
Steven found Sophie drew well and sketched faster than anyone else and he began using her to draw the sequence by sequence of next day's shoot as a storybook. At times Steven and Sophie would disappear and that raised eyebrows but of course nothing was said; all in the group were adults.
The arrival in Florence after that day's delay because of reshooting was not the majestic entry that Sally, Roxy and Camilla had spoken about and excited other members of the team.
The plan had been to enter the city at dawn but that entry was delayed six hours because an engine part for one of the vans failed to arrive the previous day but was delivered overnight.
The convoy sighted the city from elevation early afternoon. Being the height of the tourist season the roads were clogged. When the vehicles became separated the passengers in each vehicle heard by phone where the lead vehicle was waiting for them to regroup. It was a very hot day and the air was still and dust and smoke dulled expectations somewhat but that first view that charged up the team about the charm and magnificence of Florence when all eyes focused on the magnificent and famous reddish/orange dome of the Florence Cathedral. Despite the hazy atmosphere, the dome gave the impression of being pristine.
After late lunch then convoy went up into the Florentine hills to a campground park called Camping Michelangelo. A few minutes after they team began settling in Rory the sound technician called to everyone to follow him and then went to a clearing at the edge of the camp and saw the city spread out below them some 5 km away. Sally pointed out some of the great buildings of the city, some several hundred years old.
"We are looking at the cradle of the Renaissance," Sally said softly and the team, all immersed in their mission since their arrival in Italy, looked down at Florence in silence as if in awe until Steven said, "I think we should set-up for some night filming here this evening. The sky is clearing and the breeze will probably die by nightfall."
They quickly learned it was nightmarish maneuvering campervans in the crowded city and went to locations in one vehicle, Sophie remaining behind to be on guard around the other three vehicles until the others returned and then she got a break until it was time to take the tapes to be copied and dispatched. Quite often the camera crew was back by midday, filming early morning in the galleries before they opened to the public but then remaining to catch some crowd scenes looking at the treasures and as the guides spoke to Italian parties in their language, Roxy the presenter would translate on camera.
The team remained in Florence for three weeks and only had Sundays off. There was so much to do and as Sally knew from the outset, nothing could be rushed in Italy and so she'd planned for filming to be slow progress and it worked pretty well.
One evening in the second week they were in Florence, Roxy was playing cards with Larry Charles the lighting tech, Sophie and Camilla Rossini when she received a call.
"Hi it's Nick Robbins. I've arrived and am at the Montebello Splendid here in Florence."
"Omigod, Sally will be excited. Um why are you calling me instead of Sally?"
"Her phone is not on. She'd given me your phone number."
"Oh dear, Sally is out for the evening with a couple of the crew," Roxy lied, aware Sally had sloped off unabashed with Steven, announcing it probably would be very late before they returned. "If her phone's off I can't see how you can contact her. They will be bar hoping and dining and then probably going to a club or two."
"Then you come and have dinner with me somewhere."
"Why?"
"Because I have no wish to dine alone on my first night in Italy."
"Then come up here to our camping ground. We haven't eaten yet."
Nick said, "A camping ground, not thanks. Please Roxy, be a lovely darling."
She weakened.
"Just a minute."
Roxy took Sophie aside seeking advice and she groaned when Sophie smirked and said, "It's only dinner darling and just think accepting could be good for your career."
That was sufficient to totally collapse Roxy's resistance. She hadn't had a man touch her for neigh on three weeks, so perhaps just a kiss from Nick would be fine. Just a kiss? Roxy shivered in excitement and yawned and said to Sophie then she better go and meet Nick.
