A Heart to Trust

by A. L. Brooks

  “I guess.” Jenny sighed. Olivia had got on every last one of Jenny’s nerves the last few weeks but the last thing she wanted to do was spend her entire evening talking about the woman. “Sorry, let’s change the subject. We’re supposed to be celebrating your exit from TC!”

  “True, but you’re clearly upset about this situation, and you know I’ve always said I’d be here for you.”

  “Yeah, but no. Not tonight. Olivia Sinclair is my problem, not yours.” Jenny raised her glass and waited until Adrienne lifted hers before continuing. “Here’s to you and your amazing new life in San Francisco. And thank you.” Jenny’s voice caught. “For everything.”

  Adrienne’s eyes glistened as she clinked her glass against Jenny’s. “Thank you. And you’re welcome.”

  “So, what happens first? I mean, you finished at TC today, but when do you head out there and how soon until you get the foundation up and running?” Jenny was in awe of what Morgan and Adrienne planned to do with a big chunk of Morgan’s money from her winnings and sponsorship from the women’s pro golf tour. The foundation they intended to start up—to enable more young girls to play sports—was something they’d announced to the world only a few months ago. Morgan’s status as number one in women’s golf, a position she’d held for over a year, had opened up all sorts of opportunities for her. That she’d choose to do something entirely for others wasn’t a surprise to anyone who knew her.

  Adrienne beamed and launched into a detailed explanation of what her next few weeks entailed.

  Jenny grinned; it was great to see her mentor so fired up over this new project. Adrienne also had the prospect of finally living with her partner, Morgan, after over a year of doing the long-distance thing. Adrienne and Morgan were so happy; Jenny was both elated for and envious of them. Sure, she was only twenty-nine, and maybe some people would think that was too young to seriously think about finding ‘the one’ and settling down. But Jenny had always been a bit of a romantic, and she secretly yearned to find someone amazing to fall in love and make a home with.

  Roz and Tamara had done it when they were only twenty, and Jenny couldn’t imagine them ever not being together.

  Adrienne had found her special someone at the later age of forty-nine, but look how well that had turned out.

  So hoping for something similar as you approached thirty wasn’t aiming too high, was it? Of course, there were Jenny’s issues with trust to get around first…

  Over the next half hour, more people arrived at the bar to say their goodbyes to Adrienne. Jenny knew most of them, and before long she’d sunk herself into enjoying the evening, leaving her thoughts far behind. She spent some time with Toby, a cameraman she’d worked with a few times over the last couple of years. He was a laidback guy and fun to talk to. She was also introduced to Adrienne’s closest friend, a woman named Tricia who was a professor at NYU. Watching Adrienne with her was amusing, to say the least. The two women clearly went way back, and the stories they bounced off each other had everyone laughing.

  Maxwell also appeared at some point, much to Jenny’s surprise; he wasn’t known for socializing with work people. “Adrienne is special,” was all he said when Jenny questioned him on it. He pulled up a stool next to hers and sat, a bottle of beer looking tiny in his big hand.

  “So,” Jenny ventured. She took a gulp from her light beer—she’d switched after her first cosmo as her budget didn’t stretch to Manhattan prices. “What do you think of our new job?”

  Maxwell rarely showed emotion, so his deep frown was almost comical. “I’m not sure I’m happy.”

  Jenny swallowed. “Yeah?”

  He twisted his beer bottle in his hand. “One of the best things about working at TC was they only did sports programs.” He looked forlornly at Jenny. “I know we’re still working on sports projects but the new one…I am not a fashion man.”

  Jenny took in Maxwell’s plain—some might say boring—chinos and dark-green, short-sleeved shirt. “I hear you.” She decided to push him a little, deeply curious if she was the only one with personnel problems in the new situation. “But I don’t mind the work so much as the new, um, team arrangement.”

  Maxwell looked blankly at her.

  “You know, Olivia being the way she is.” She held her breath.

  “Olivia is very professional.” He tilted his head. “And Chrissy is nice.”

  “Oh yeah. Yeah, that’s very true.” Crap, it was just her with the issues. Or it was just about Olivia and how she seemed to have some problem with Jenny?

  “Is something wrong?” Maxwell’s frown was back.

  “No! Not at all.” Jenny raised her bottle and he tapped hers with his. “Let’s go talk to Adrienne.” She moved off before waiting to see if he followed.

  She made sure to keep the rest of her conversations throughout the evening about anything except work. By the time it came to say goodbye to Adrienne, Jenny was tired and sad. She held Adrienne tightly as they hugged out their farewell.

  “I meant what I said.” Adrienne looked deeply into Jenny’s eyes. “I’m here for you whenever you need me, okay? Just pick up the phone or drop me an email. Whatever you need.”

  “Thanks.” Jenny did appreciate it, but she knew it was definitely time to stand on her own two feet. She wouldn’t be bothering Adrienne at all if she could help it. “I’ll miss you! But I know you’re going to have the best time in California. And I’m so happy for you and Morgan.”

  “Thank you.” Adrienne was all teary again and wiped her eyes. “God, this is pathetic! I always did hate goodbyes.” She squeezed Jenny once more. “I’ll speak to you soon.”

  “Sure thing.” Jenny pulled away, knowing she wasn’t far off from crying herself, and loathed to drag this out any more. “Okay, I’m outta here.” She gave Adrienne a little wave, then turned on her heels and left the bar before anyone saw the mess her tears made of her mascara.

  Jenny was thankful she’d switched to light beers the night before when, at around eleven the next morning, Olivia was very, very Olivia. A hangover would only have made things worse.

  “Jenny.” Olivia pierced her with a hard stare. “Did you have to do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Make changes to the Catwalk documents without using track changes.” Olivia’s voice could have cut glass. “I thought we all agreed we would—”

  Jenny held up her hand. “Wait a second! What changes? To what document?” She’d spent all morning on the phone with work connected to her other three, smaller projects. None of her day required her to work on anything related to Catwalk.

  Olivia’s mouth tightened. “The changes to the catering schedule. I’ve just opened it up and since I last worked on it yesterday morning, one of my columns has been deleted and there are two new ones with entries that make very little sense. It shows you as the last person modifying the file on SharePoint.”

  “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.” She tried to keep her voice even. “Catering isn’t my area, it’s Chrissy’s. Why would I go into the document and change it?”

  Olivia blinked, then faced Chrissy, who sat opposite Olivia. “Didn’t you tell me you’d asked Jenny to update the schedule while you were in that meeting with Derek?”

  Chrissy pursed her lips. “I honestly don’t remember that conversation, no. When did I say that?”

  Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “Yesterday morning,” she said icily, “after our team meeting.”

  Chrissy held up both hands and gave Olivia a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry, Olivia, I don’t recall that at all.”

  Olivia looked at her for a long moment, then switched her attention back to Jenny. “I know you haven’t used SharePoint before, but you need to get a grip on this. You can’t go into any document you like and muck around with it—”

  “I didn’t!” Jenny said so loudly that heads turned fro
m other area of the production team. “I didn’t,” she repeated, lowering her voice. “This was not me.”

  Olivia’s mouth fixed into a thin line. Then she huffed out a loud breath, muttered something about “bloody amateurs” under her breath, and swung back around to her screen.

  Jenny seethed. Who the hell did this woman think she was? “Hey, whatever happened to your document, it wasn’t done by me. The SharePoint info must be wrong. I’m sorry you’ve lost work, but calling me a ‘bloody amateur’ doesn’t help the situation.”

  Olivia blinked, flicked a glance in Chrissy’s direction, then looked back at Jenny. “Fine. It won’t happen again.”

  It wasn’t an apology, not by a long shot, but it was something. “Good.” Jenny’s heart pounded and her foot tapped out an erratic rhythm on the floor beneath her desk. She’d never met anyone who riled her up as fast as Olivia Sinclair.

  “Coffee?” a voice asked quietly.

  Jenny looked up to see Chrissy by her desk, her coffee mug in her hand.

  Blowing out a breath, Jenny stood. “Yes, please.”

  They strode over to the coffee station.

  “You need to watch her,” Chrissy said once the machine was noisily doing its work. She leaned closer to Jenny. “I don’t know what she’s up to, but you’re not the only one she’s accused of messing things up.”

  Jenny’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  Chrissy nodded. “Apparently she told Derek that Maxwell was the one who was supposed to set up that meeting with the city. You know, the one about the permits for the Catwalk broadcast trucks? Derek was furious because it got booked into the wrong day. But that was her task, not Maxwell’s. I heard Derek nearly tore him a new one over that. Poor guy.”

  “Oh my God!” Jenny turned to look at Maxwell across the floor. “I’d better check he’s okay.”

  Chrissy flinched but then laid a hand on Jenny’s arm. “Don’t, it’s okay. I had a little word with him this morning. He’s fine. Doesn’t want to talk about it, you know?”

  “That bitch,” Jenny hissed.

  Olivia had gone too far. Maxwell was a sweet guy, and he didn’t deserve to be dropped in it like that. No matter what Chrissy said, Jenny would find time to check in with him later.

  “I know.” Chrissy’s mouth drooped. “I’m not sure I can stand working with her until the end of the year.”

  “You wouldn’t quit, would you?” Please don’t go, don’t leave me to deal with her on my own. Chrissy was the nearest thing she’d got to a work friend out of all the C&V staff, and although she sometimes annoyed Jenny with her sugary nature, she was at least an ally against whatever Olivia was doing.

  Chrissy shrugged. “I don’t want to, no. I guess…” She looked away.

  “What?”

  When Chrissy looked back, her eyes were sad. “I guess I’d rather she left. But I bet she’s sticking around. She thinks she’s so great, she’s probably got her eye on a promotion at some point and with the new structure, who knows what’s possible?”

  Jenny rolled her eyes.

  “I know,” Chrissy said.

  “Hey, thanks for pulling me away from her back then.” Jenny thumbed in the direction of their desks. “I was ready to explode.”

  Chrissy chuckled. “I could tell. And hey, anytime. I think it would be great if we could watch each other’s backs, you know?”

  Jenny nodded vigorously. “Totally.”

  “Cool.” Chrissy’s smile was wide.

  Chapter 11

  Olivia watched Jenny out of the corner of her eye. She had her own work to do, but she was enthralled at the way Jenny handled whoever was on the other end of her phone line. As far as Olivia understood, Jenny needed something delivered to a site uptown far earlier than the supplier had originally agreed to. She was equal parts friendly, firm, cajoling, and a little flirty as she negotiated with them. It was a masterclass in persuasion, and Olivia was in awe.

  Aside from the document mess-up earlier, Jenny had impressed her so much in the last couple of weeks. Olivia didn’t know why it took so much to admit that to herself and was uncomfortable with how it felt. She’s good at her job. Just because she dresses differently from you, and yes, acts a tad unprofessional at times, cut her some slack. And stop being so hard on her.

  Olivia knew why she was doing it, deep down, but that didn’t make it any easier to stop. She could see herself in Jenny, thinking the world was easy and everything was hers for the taking. Thinking she didn’t need to worry about looking a certain way to impress people. And, certainly, thinking she didn’t have to be concerned someone she called a friend would turn around and stab her in the back. Did Jenny have any idea how much she could lose if she didn’t up her game?

  At that thought, Olivia’s attention was drawn to Chrissy, and she almost snarled. There was a Sally in the making, if ever she’d seen one. Should she warn Jenny of her suspicions? Oh yes, as if Jenny would believe anything you said after you ripped her to pieces earlier this morning.

  Jenny said multiple “thank yous” into the phone, hung up, and punched the air.

  “Well done,” Olivia said before she could censor herself.

  Jenny stared at her.

  Olivia’s cheeks burned. Oh well, you’ve started now, so you may as well finish. “I mean it. I would have delivered whatever that was by hand if I was them, and probably not have charged you for it, either. You might be wasted in this kind of work with negotiating skills like that.”

  “Th-thank you.” Jenny cleared her throat; her eyebrows were so high it was difficult to differentiate them from her spiky fringe.

  They looked at each other a moment longer.

  “Well.” Olivia pushed her chair back. “I need another coffee. Can I get you one?” She picked up her mug, held out her free hand, and gestured at Jenny’s mug.

  Wordlessly, Jenny picked it up and handed it over.

  “It’s straight up black, yes?” Olivia asked.

  “Yeah. That’s…that’s great, thanks.”

  Olivia’s knees wobbled as she made her way over to the coffee station. Careful. You’re being friendly. She pictured Broderick smirking at her. Okay, maybe her pretend-husband was right. Maybe there was something in this whole be-a-bit-nicer-to-the-colleagues thing.

  She returned to their bank of desks and deposited Jenny’s coffee in the same spot it always stood just to the right of Jenny’s mouse, within easy reach whenever she concentrated on her screen.

  Olivia blinked at the thought. How do I know that about her already?

  “Thanks.” Jenny gave her a small smile.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Hey, where’s mine?” Chrissy glared at Olivia as she sat back down.

  Desperate to bite back with something scathing—but knowing it would only achieve more acrimony—Olivia gritted her teeth and stood once more. “Cappuccino, yes?” She took more than a little delight in seeing Chrissy’s mouth drop open.

  “Okay, I am available if you need me for anything urgent. Otherwise, I’ll see you all on Monday,” Olivia said as she packed her laptop into her bag.

  It had been a long morning—she’d come in especially early so she could get everything done before leaving at one. But it had also been a pretty successful morning, despite the snafu with the catering schedule. Hell, even Chrissy had seemed to warm to her after the coffee run.

  “Um, Olivia?” Chrissy asked.

  Olivia looked up just in time to see Chrissy and Jenny exchange a glance. “Yes?”

  “Where are you going?”

  Olivia looked first at Chrissy, then Jenny. “Home,” she said, reluctant to give away even that snippet of information. They’d shared coffee, sure, but what did they care what she did with her time off?

  “But why?” Chrissy tilted her head. “Are you sick?”

  Sn
orting softly, Olivia shook her head. “Do you even look at our team calendar, Chrissy? It’s my half-day vacation.” The words were out before she thought to temper her tone.

  “I’m looking at it right now.” Chrissy’s voice was flat. “There’s no vacation in here.”

  “She’s right,” Jenny piped up.

  Olivia pinned Jenny with a piercing stare. Oh? You want to be Chrissy’s little lapdog now, is that it? It stung more than she wanted to admit; she had thought things were thawing between them since this morning. Clearly she was wrong. Damn her. And Chrissy. “I booked it three weeks ago and added it to the team calendar.” Olivia picked up her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder. “If it’s not there now, I expect someone managed to delete it.”

  It was a cheap shot, she knew that. She marched away from the desks, gratified to hear the sounds of angry whispers trailing after her, even as a small part of her berated herself for stooping that low.

  Riding down in the elevator alone, she let out a long breath and rolled her shoulders a couple times. This last month had been horrendous. Their team wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders, and the antagonism—especially between herself and Jenny—only made it worse. Olivia knew she didn’t help with the way she spoke sometimes, but the woman was so damn infuriating! One minute they were sharing a moment like this morning, the next Jenny was acting juvenile with that basketball game, or lapping up every word Chrissy spoke. In addition, everything external about her screamed airhead, layabout, lazy. But her work was, generally, faultless, and she seemed to have no qualms about putting in the necessary hours. Even more irritatingly, her dry and sharp sense of humor often left Olivia struggling not to laugh out loud. And those damn smoky eyes, whenever they locked with hers…

  She arrived home some fifteen minutes later—living in the Flatiron district, so close to the office, was definitely a huge bonus. Although Broderick owned the apartment outright and Olivia therefore did not have to pay rent, she’d insisted on paying her way equally for everything else. They had a grocery fund, and the heating and utilities were in both their names. Everything else in her own bank account was savings for the future, for the time when she’d branch out on her own.