by A. E. Radley
“But what about you? You’re stepping down?” Simon questioned. “He’s making you stand down?”
“No, I offered.” She deliberately hadn’t told anyone about the negotiations with Marcus. She felt bad about keeping things from Emily and Simon, but she’d had to do it alone. Applewood’s failure was her fault, and at first that knowledge had been almost crippling.
She’d been so caught up in the trauma of what was happening at work that she hadn’t had time to really think about what was happening around her. After her collapse, she’d started to think. Staring at the ceiling of her hotel bedroom, she’d come to a few conclusions, the main one being an understanding that she was just going through the motions. Every day, every week, followed a certain structure. A set series of events with no room for change. Once the schedule was broken, Olivia had been forced to stop and think about her life.
And when she’d started to reflect on what she actually wanted from life, she’d been shocked to find that it wasn’t even remotely business-related.
Simon ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. “This is a lot to take in,” he admitted. “I’m not sure how I feel about working for Marcus.”
“You won’t be working for Marcus,” Olivia explained. “You’ll be taking my position.”
Simon shook his head, confused. “What?”
“Pardon,” Olivia corrected. “You’ll be managing director.”
“I can’t be managing director.”
“Of course you can,” Olivia told him with a roll of her eyes, then delicately took a bite of the bread roll. She’d known that Simon would balk at the suggestion of taking over. It was in his nature to stand behind someone else, rather than put himself front and centre. But she also knew she could teach him.
“I’m too young,” Simon argued.
“Don’t be silly,” Olivia said. “Anyone would think you don’t want the job.”
“Oh, I want it,” Simon admitted. “I just don’t know how you managed to sell it to Marcus.”
“No offence,” Emily interrupted, “but isn’t it a big step up from being a personal assistant to being managing director?”
“Hey, don’t get involved,” Simon complained with a grin.
“It’s not common,” Olivia admitted.
“So,” Simon started, “let me see if I have this right. Marcus doesn’t have an audit and restructuring team?”
“He doesn’t,” Olivia confirmed.
“And you’ve somehow managed to convince him that he can outsource that work to Applewood?”
“I have.”
“And he has agreed to this?”
“He has.”
“And you’re stepping down?”
“I am.”
“And I’m replacing you?”
“Well, I would hope so.”
“And Marcus knows about this?”
“He does.”
Emily, who’d watched the interaction, shook her head. “Well, that felt like watching a tennis match.”
Simon sat back and blinked as he took everything in.
“Would Simon be working here or in London?” Sophie asked.
“London,” Olivia replied. “There may be some travel to New York, but he’ll be based in our current office.” The question brought a flashback to the crash, and she shifted uncomfortably at the memory. She’d miss London, but there was no way she’d be able to board a plane again.
Although, despite nearly dying, the crash hadn’t been a terrible thing. Without it, she wouldn’t be where she was now. She wouldn’t have Henry and Emily back in her life. In some strange, twisted way, the crash had almost been a good thing for her. Not that she’d ever admit it as she’d grumbled about walking with a cane, and, for the last week, learned how to walk without it again.
“Unless you decide to move,” she continued.
“Move?” Simon frowned.
“The office space may be too big. Although you will probably need to hire more staff. Marcus’s firm will grow at an extraordinary rate. There will be some redundancies, obviously, but I’ll deal with that before I leave.”
Emily placed her hand on Olivia’s arm. “I think we should give Simon a few moments to digest all of this.”
Olivia looked at Simon’s terrified expression and realised that the information was probably overloading him.
“Is there no other way?” Simon asked.
“This is the best way,” Olivia said.
“But he’s forcing you out.”
Olivia chuckled. “No, I’m going because I want to.”
Simon shook his head. “But, but you love Applewood. You love working.”
“I do. I did. But…” Olivia sighed. “Simon, a lot has happened lately, and it’s opened my eyes to a lot of things. I wasn’t living; I was simply being. I’m making changes—changes that should’ve happened a long time ago.”
“You really want this? To quit?”
“Very much so.” Olivia reached out and gestured for him to do the same. She took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “Next week, I move into my new house. I don’t have to worry about an exhausting commute, and my time will be my own until I decide what I want to do next.” She turned to Emily and smiled. “I have Emily and Henry in my life now, and that’s worth more than any job.” She turned back to Simon. “Of course, Applewood is important to me. Its legacy is important to me, and I want it to survive. But the time has come where I need to separate Applewood’s life from my own.”
Simon squeezed her hand and nodded.
She retracted her hand and smiled fondly at him. “Besides, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do the job. You’ve shadowed me for long enough to know every facet of the business.”
Simon laughed nervously. “There’s a difference between seeing you do it and doing it for myself.”
“There’ll be a handover period,” Olivia assured him. “I’ve every faith in you.”
The heavy words hung over the table for a few moments before Simon joked, “As long as I don’t have to do your old commute.”
“I wouldn’t let you.” Sophie gently elbowed him in the ribs. “I wouldn’t want you flirting with the cabin crew.”
Emily laughed, and Olivia felt heat in her cheeks.
“You have to watch out for these financial sorts,” Emily told Sophie. “They’ll give their business card to anyone.”
Sophie laughed. “You got the business card too?”
Simon and Olivia looked away, blushing, and Emily burst out laughing.
* * *
“I can’t believe you were planning to quit and have Simon replace you and you didn’t tell me in advance.” Emily pressed the elevator button and shook her head.
“I don’t like repeating myself,” Olivia maintained.
“You thought I might argue with you and wanted to wait until we were with other people,” Emily surmised.
“Possibly.” Olivia grinned.
The elevator doors closed, and the car started to ascend to the top floor of the hotel.
“Do you know what you’re going to do next?” Emily asked.
“No idea.” Olivia let out a sigh. “It still feels unsettling to me. I never thought I’d leave Applewood, and now I’m doing that and moving into a house at the same time. I don’t mind admitting that I’m quite nervous about the whole thing.”
Emily took Olivia’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “Nervous?” she asked.
Olivia grinned again. “Terrified.”
“I’m so proud of you,” Emily whispered softly. “I know you hate change, but you’re facing all of this head-on.”
“I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”
“I think we should make a list of things you’d like to do next. You like lists,” Emily pointed out.
Olivia’s eyes lit up. “I think I’d like that. You know, I’ve always liked the idea of growing tomatoes.”
Emily chuckled. “If that’s your dream, then we’ll figure out how
to grow tomatoes.”
CHAPTER 41
Olivia looked at the suitcase by the front door and let out a sigh. She didn’t know what made her more miserable, the fact that Emily was going away to London, or the fact that she couldn’t stand to be without her for a few days. She’d always been independent and kept her feelings to herself. Since being with Emily, she’d learnt to express herself more, which was a good thing—except when expressing herself was moping about being without her girlfriend for such a short period of time.
“Don’t pout,” Emily told her as she pulled on her jacket.
“It feels as if I only just managed to convince you to move in. And now you’re leaving again.”
Emily turned and cupped Olivia’s face in her hands. “I’ve been living here for a month. I moved in just two weeks after you. It was hardly a long wait. And I’ll only be gone four days. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Why do people say that?” Olivia grumbled. “You won’t be back before I know it. If you were, then you wouldn’t be leaving. It’s such a bad saying. It would be more accurate to s—”
Emily’s lips silenced her. She felt herself being pressed up against the front door, Emily’s hands in her hair, her body tight to Olivia’s. Emily tore her lips away and started to plant hot, wet kisses down her throat.
“You don’t fight fair.” Olivia groaned as Emily blew cool air across her wet neck. “You know this won’t make me miss you less, don’t you?”
“I don’t want to go. I have to,” she breathed against Olivia’s ear, then gently bit the skin below. “I’ll call you every day. And when I get back—”
“Mommy!”
Emily sighed and pulled back, quickly checking herself in the mirror. “We’re down here, sweetheart.”
Olivia looked over Emily’s shoulder and fixed her lipstick. “When you get back, can Lucy take Henry for the night, or maybe the weekend?”
“My thoughts exactly.” Emily smiled.
Henry ran into the hallway and held out a piece of paper. Emily took it and crouched down to look at it with him.
“Wow, is this a goodbye card? For me?” Emily enthused.
Henry nodded and threw his arms around her neck. Emily returned the hug. “I will be back before you know it, okay?”
Henry nodded again. Olivia turned away and shook her head.
“And you’ll be good while I’m gone?” Emily pressed.
“Yes,” Henry promised, his voice just a whisper.
A car horn sounded outside.
“That’s my taxi.” Emily kissed Henry’s cheek and gave him a final squeeze before she stood up.
Olivia tried not to look devastated, but she knew she was doing a terrible job of it. Emily hugged her and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. “I love you both. Be good.”
Olivia and Henry walked Emily out to the car and waved her goodbye. They both watched as the taxi disappeared from sight, then turned to each other and slowly walked back into the house. In the hallway, Henry let out a sigh as he closed the front door behind them.
“I’m bored.”
“You cannot possibly be bored.” Olivia reached around him and locked the door.
“I am though.”
“Why don’t you play in your room?”
“With you?” Henry asked with a grin.
Olivia chuckled. “Oh, I see. You’re bored, so you want me to play with you?”
Henry nodded excitedly.
“Very well. But I promised your mother that I would get you some new shoes, so I think we should go shopping first.”
Henry sighed. “Not shopping.”
“I’m afraid so. Get your shoes on.”
“You used to be fun,” Henry grumbled as he passed her.
“Was not. I was never fun. I made you eat cucumber the first time we met,” she told him with a smirk.
* * *
After an age of getting ready and getting to the store, Henry had complained that he was hungry and would need to eat before starting to look at shoes. The department store restaurant overlooked the busy New York street below, and Henry stared out the window with interest.
Olivia was fairly convinced it was one of Henry’s many delaying tactics, which he deployed when asked to do something he found boring. But as she couldn’t be sure, she’d allowed him to sit with a sandwich and juice while she drank a coffee.
“Why are people clapping?” Henry asked.
Olivia lowered her coffee cup and looked out the window to where Henry pointed.
“That man’s proposed; I assume she said yes.”
“What does that mean?”
Olivia thought for a moment. “Well, it’s a tradition that when someone asks their partner to marry them, they get down on one knee. Like that man is doing.”
“What’s prosposed?”
“Proposed,” she corrected. “When you propose to someone, you are asking them to marry you.”
“Why is she showing that lady her hand?”
“Because he has given her a ring to wear.”
“Why?”
Olivia quickly realised that explaining things to a five-year-old made a lot of things sound utterly ridiculous.
“It’s a gift. He wants her to have the ring for the rest of their lives together. If she accepts it, then she is saying yes and that she wants to marry him.”
“When will you ask Mommy to marry you?”
“Me?”
Henry nodded.
“I…Henry…it’s…”
“Because you love each other, don’t you?” Henry pressed on. “So, you should get married.”
“It’s a bit early to be thinking about marriage.”
“How long should it be?”
Olivia picked up her coffee, wishing she had wine instead. “I don’t know, longer than it’s been.”
“Another month? A year? Three years? A hundred years?”
Olivia sipped her coffee. “I, well, there’s no set amount of time, Henry.”
“Why is it too early, then? How do you know when it’s the right time?”
Olivia lowered her coffee and looked out of the window as she considered the question.
“Why do you think we should get married?” Olivia asked.
“I dunno.” Henry shrugged. “Lucy and Tom are married.”
“That doesn’t mean that your mother and I should get married.”
“Lucy says that people get married to show they love each other and they have containment.”
Olivia frowned and thought for a moment. “Commitment,” she corrected.
“That,” Henry said. He took a bite of his sandwich. “What is that?”
“A promise. I’ve made a commitment to look after you. I’ve promised to look after you.”
Henry sipped his juice. His brow furrowed in concentration. “So, Lucy and Tom promise to look after each other.”
“In a way, yes.”
Olivia waited for further questions, but none arose. As the silence stretched on and Henry continued to look out the window, she thought about the idea of marriage.
She’d been married before. She hadn’t hesitated to make that commitment. But she had no idea what Emily’s feelings were on the matter. She wished she had taken the opportunity to ask when it had come up before. She looked at Henry and smiled to herself. She’d like nothing more than to solidify their family with the act of marriage.
Essentially, she knew that marriage was a piece of paper and a promise. Of course, she also knew that there were certain tax benefits to being a married couple. But taxation aside, she wondered how much her life would change if she and Emily were to marry. If Emily would even say yes.
“Why are you smiling at me?”
Olivia blinked and shook her head. “I was lost in thought. Henry, do you think your mother wants to get married?”
“Yes.” He nodded his head. “She always talks about it with Lucy.”
Olivia swallowed and looked nervously around the restauran
t. She knew it was wrong to quiz a child about something so personal, but somehow she couldn’t help herself.
“Oh, yes?” She tried to sound casual.
“Can we buy my shoes now?”
Olivia looked at him in exasperation. “I thought you didn’t want to buy shoes? Now you suddenly want to?”
“Yep.” Henry shrugged.
Olivia decided it was probably best that she didn’t have the chance to pump Henry for more information. She’d learnt early on that Henry was not to be trusted with secrets and would blab them to Emily with no warning at all.
They finished their meal and left the restaurant in search of shoes that Henry liked, that Emily would approve of, and that Olivia felt were ergonomically suitable. Luckily, a sales assistant helped out, and within fifteen minutes they were leaving the children’s department and heading to the ground floor.
As the escalator slowly carried them towards the exit, Olivia looked at the huge sales floor. She looked at the perfume, make-up, and jewellery counters, and the people excitedly buzzing around them. An idea came to her, and she pressed down the little voice that told her it might be a bad idea.
“Henry, would you like to help me with an extra-special project?”
CHAPTER 42
Emily used her key to unlock the front door. She was a little surprised that neither Henry nor Olivia was at the door to greet her. But then, her flight had landed early and the taxi journey took less time than expected due to the suicidal driver who had never once dipped under the speed limit.
She put her suitcase in the hall, then closed and locked the door. The sound of Henry’s feet running through the house had her smiling as she turned around. The moment she saw him, her breath caught. He wore a tiny, fitted tuxedo, complete with shiny, black shoes and a black bowtie. His hair was slicked back, and a curly black moustache was drawn on his upper lip.
“Welcome to Amor Restaurant. Your chair…” Henry paused and frowned. “Your table is ready.”
“Why thank you,” Emily said, holding back her desire to scoop him up and hug him tightly. Clearly there was a plan, and she didn’t want to ruin it.
“May I take your coat?” he offered.
