by A. E. Radley
Jessica took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze and smiled at her. “Things will work out, they usually do.”
“Thanks Jess, it’s good to be able to talk to someone. Someone who’s not five. Speaking of which I better wake him up.”
“Okay, I’ll get the menus ready,” Jessica said.
“Done it,” Emily called over her shoulder.
“Oh, great, the ovens,” Jessica looked up and noticed they were already on.
“I’ve been freaking out for about an hour and a half, I’ve done everything.” Emily laughed and left the galley.
Entering the cabin Emily could see the cabin lighting was still on its dimmest setting. She went over to Henry’s seat to find an empty bed. She quickly looked over at Olivia’s bed and saw Henry sitting on the edge of it playing with Tiny while the woman slept.
“Henry.” Emily hissed. He looked up and smiled.
“Henry, what did I tell you?” Emily whispered as she tentatively approached the bed.
“To not wake Olivia,” Henry repeated seriously and then turned to point at the sleeping woman. “I didn’t wake her, Mommy. She’s still asleep, see?”
Emily could feel her heart beating out of her chest as she tiptoed closer and picked him up and carried him back to his own bed. “I meant don’t go over there and bother her at all, Henry. Miss Lewis is very important and needs her sleep.”
“She’s a piggy bank,” Henry told her as Emily balanced him on her hip.
She crouched down to pick up the overnight bag which held his toiletries and clothes, as Henry continued, “And I told her she needs to get another job so we can all be friends in New York.”
Emily pressed a kiss to his hair.
“You’ll be the death of me, Henry White.”
“Why can I call her Olivia but you have to call her Miss Lewis?” Henry asked as Emily carried him into the washroom to get him ready, passing a sniggering Jessica on her way.
* * *
Ten minutes later Olivia woke up as the cabin lights started to come up and people started to move around the cabin. She sat up and pulled off the sleep mask and looked across the cabin to where Henry was in his chair with headphones on, watching the television screen in front of him. With sleepy disorientation, she began to remember the night before, the dinner she shared with the boy and then the middle of the night discussion with Emily. Sighing, she reached for her wash bag and clothes and smiled at Henry as she headed towards the washroom to get ready.
Another ten minutes passed before Olivia emerged in a charcoal grey pant suit with her hair and makeup prepared for the start of her work day. She returned to her seat, which had been stripped of its bed linen and returned to its upright position, sat down, and began to sort her belongings for disembarking the aircraft.
“Good morning, Miss Lewis.” Emily’s voice announced her arrival. Olivia sat up and smiled as Emily handed her a breakfast menu. She noticed Henry was looking at her expectantly.
“Miss White,” Olivia began. “Will Henry be joining me for breakfast? I believe he wanted to?”
Emily looked at Henry who still had his headphones on and was unable to hear what was being said but was still managing to smile pleadingly at his mother.
“You really don’t have to do that,” Emily said with a soft smile.
“I’d like to,” Olivia admitted. “And I did promise.” Emily hesitated, so she added, “I have no ulterior motive if that’s what you’re wondering?”
“What? I mean no, I didn’t think that even for a moment.”
“But you’re hesitating?” Olivia questioned with a frown.
“Are you sure you don’t mind him sitting with you? I know he can be a handful and, truthfully, he can sit on his own.”
“Mommy?” Henry took his headphones off. “Can I have breakfast with Olivia?”
“I’d enjoy the company,” Olivia addressed Emily.
“I’ll hand out the rest of these and then I’ll get you set up.”
Once the menus were handed out Emily whispered a few words to Henry. He nodded seriously before she released his seatbelt and held his hand as he walked over to Olivia’s chair.
“Don’t forget Tiny,” Henry reminded his mother as she sat him down and put his seatbelt on him.
“Yes, master,” Emily joked.
“A horse,” Olivia said to Henry.
“What?” Henry asked and then corrected himself. “I mean pardon?”
Olivia smiled her appreciation at his correction. “If I could be any animal, I’d be a horse,” she clarified as Emily returned with Tiny.
“I like horses,” Henry said thoughtfully, much happier with Olivia’s revised decision.
“So do I.” Olivia smiled, happy to have something in common with the boy.
“I’d be an elephant,” Emily chipped in with a smile.
Olivia and Henry considered this as Emily unfolded the dining table between them.
“Mommy, you can’t be an elephant.”
“Why not?”
“Yes, how can you be completely happy with me being a horse but your mother can’t be an elephant?” Olivia placed a napkin on her lap.
“She’s too little.”
“Well, that is true.” Olivia regarded Emily’s slim frame out of the corner of her eye.
“Maybe I’ll eat more pancakes.”
Henry let out a small sigh. “I think you’re being silly, Mommy.” He turned his attention back onto Olivia. “You have a scar on your cheek.” He pointed out the faint mark on Olivia’s left cheek bone.
“Henry!” Emily reprimanded him and began to blush. “I’m sorry,” she said to Olivia.
“Why are you sorry?” Olivia questioned. “I do have a scar.”
“But he shouldn’t bring it up. You might be uncomfortable with it.”
“Oh. Well, I’m not.” Olivia shrugged.
“How did you get it?” Henry pressed. Emily rolled her eyes and headed towards the galley, obviously at a loss with the rules of the relationship her son and Olivia had formed between themselves.
“I fell off of my bike when I was a child,” Olivia told him.
“Did it hurt?” Henry asked as he looked at the scar.
Olivia frowned as she considered it, she hadn’t thought about the incident for many years and no one had ever asked her that question before.
“I believe it did,” she finally agreed. “But I forgot about it quickly.”
“I’ll have a scar,” Henry told Olivia distractedly as he played with Tiny. “But Tiny says it won’t hurt. What do you think?”
Olivia wanted to kick herself for her lack of forethought regarding Henry’s questioning. Her mind raced with the correct thing to say but she had no idea how to deal with this kind of conversation and she began to look helplessly around the cabin for Emily.
“I…well,” she strained around and saw Emily and the relief was tangible. Emily quickly approached the table.
“Everything okay here?”
Henry was preoccupied with Tiny and Emily looked at Olivia with a questioning glance. Olivia hesitated for a moment. “Henry was just saying that he will have a scar after his operation,” she said.
“Olivia said her scar hurt.” Henry looked up at Emily accusingly and Olivia shifted nervously in her seat.
“But her scar was caused by an accident, right?” Emily confirmed with Olivia who nodded quickly. “Your scar is going to be made when you’re sleeping and by people who are very clever.”
“Okay.” Henry considered the point and then nodded and shrugged, indicating that his interest in the conversation was waning.
“I’m sorry,” Olivia looked up at Emily apologetically. “I didn’t—”
“Oh, it’s fine.” Emily smiled sincerely. “Now, what about breakfast?”
“Toast!” Henry looked up at his mother with a smile.
“Toast, what?” Emily looked back at him with a grin.
“Toast, please!” He tried again.
/> “I’ll have the croissants and jam,” Olivia replied. “And coffee.”
“Can I have coffee?” Henry asked with a cheeky smile.
“No, you can have hot chocolate,” Emily ruffled his hair as she returned to the galley.
“When we get to London will you come with Mommy and me?” Henry asked.
“Oh, I can’t, Henry,” Olivia said sadly. “I have to go to work, I have meetings.”
Henry nodded his understanding and stared at the table. Olivia could sense the young boy had a lot of things on his mind and clearly was thinking about his upcoming operation. Over the course of breakfast, Olivia tried to make conversation but he steadfastly answered with one-word answers or a nod or shake of his head. She kept encouraging him to eat and even shared some of her jam with him to make the toast a little more appealing but Henry’s mood for the day seemed to be set.
When breakfast was over, Olivia said goodbye to Henry as Emily moved him back to his own seat. Once he was settled, Emily returned to clear the breakfast things away.
“I’m sorry,” Olivia said. “I don’t think I was much help.”
Emily looked over at Henry who was drawing something on a piece of paper.
“He’s often a little shy in the morning. And he is nervous so I don’t think anything would help much today. But I know he appreciated your company, so thank you.”
“I wish I could do more but I’m not good with children.”
“You’re great with him, he adores you!”
Olivia looked surprised and looked to Henry who was fiercely concentrating on his colouring project. “Oh…I…” she drifted off, unsure of what to say.
“Thank you again, for everything,” Emily told her sincerely. “You’ve made a really stressful journey easier for him. And for me.”
Olivia smiled as Emily returned to the galley to prepare for landing. Not long after, both Jessica and Emily were checking window blinds and seatbelts. Emily took the temporary seat in front of her son and watched him as he leaned on the solid armrest and continued to colour. Absorbed in his colouring, Henry was unaware how close they were to landing and would have missed the experience if not for Emily shaking his foot to get his attention. Surprise filled his face as the aircraft came down and the gentle impact shocked him but after a reassuring smile from his mother he smiled back at her and looked out of the window.
Once the aircraft was docked at the gate, Emily and Jessica set about gathering the passenger’s belongings and, as Olivia stood up, she saw Henry beckon her over. He was still strapped into his own seat.
He held out a piece of paper and she took it with a smile. “Is this for me?”
Henry nodded. “It is you, me, Mommy, Tiny, and all his giraffe friends in the park.”
Olivia tilted her head but couldn’t really make out any of the figures that Henry was claiming he’d drawn. “Thank you, Henry, it’s lovely,” she said. Henry smiled up at her with pride.
Emily approached with her bag and coat.
Olivia was uncertain what to say. After a few moments, she spoke somewhat formally, “Goodbye, Henry, I hope to see you again someday.”
Emily nodded her gratitude and handed over her bag and coat.
“Have a safe onward journey, Miss Lewis,” Emily said politely.
Olivia nodded and took one final look at Henry before leaving the cabin wondering if she’d ever see the boy again.
CHAPTER 11
The next Friday, Olivia sat at the departure gate scrolling through email messages on her smartphone, but her mind was elsewhere. She had spent most of the week looking forward to the flight home, not because she wanted to go home and not because she enjoyed the flight. She was looking forward to seeing Emily White again, and to find out about Henry’s operation, or maybe even see him again. All week she had been kicking herself that she had not asked Emily if there was anything she could do for them while they were in London. She didn’t even know which hospital Henry was staying in.
She was unsure where to start that kind of conversation and reminded herself that she was practically a stranger in Henry’s life. Sure he had connected with her on the flight but he had been frightened and lonely and she figured that it probably meant little.
The announcement came for first-class passengers to begin boarding. She took a deep breath as she entered the aircraft and nodded politely at the cabin crew by the entrance. In the cabin, she saw a flash of blonde hair but quickly realised it wasn’t Emily. The stewardesses on this flight were Ashley and another blonde girl she didn’t recognise. With disappointment as she realised she couldn’t see either Emily or Henry anywhere, she moved to her usual chair.
It wasn’t until much later on in the flight that it occurred to Olivia that Emily would probably have changed her schedule to accommodate Henry. With frustration, she realised she didn’t know if the pair had already returned to New York or if they had remained in London. A thought she had been attempting to keep silent traitorously surfaced and she wondered if Henry had even survived the operation. This depressed her further as uncertainty tore at her.
She considered the appropriateness of asking the crew for information on Emily and Henry. But she was unsure of the social protocol for such things and wondered if they would be willing to divulge the information if they even had it.
Deeming the risk in asking was too great, and her mind now too confused to focus on work, she picked up the airline-issued headphones and plugged them into the armrest.
She pressed the touchscreen television in front of her and quickly scrolled through the enormous number of movies on offer, none of them catching her interest.
She sighed deeply and scrolled through the television offerings stopping when she came to a documentary about giraffes. With a sad smile, she selected the show, took a sip from her water glass, and settled down to find out more about Henry’s favourite animals.
* * *
Olivia appreciated and required order in her life. So the fact that her entire weekend schedule had been completely wrecked by her incessant worrying about Henry was not a welcome change. She had tried to call Nicole but belatedly remembered that her friend was on a weekend break, leaving her to fret alone.
No amount of distraction seemed to be able to take her mind off of the questions her brain continued to present regarding the whereabouts and well-being of young Henry White.
Two days later and Olivia anxiously waited to board Flight SQA016 to London Heathrow. She gripped her smartphone firmly in her lap as she looked around the terminal for Emily but didn’t see her. Over the last few days, she had made the decision that she would ask Jessica, a member of the cabin crew she felt she knew well enough to speak openly to, if she knew anything.
Olivia also hoped that Doctor Harvey would be on board. Although, she by no means knew the man well, she had made small talk with him a few times in the many years they had flown together.
She looked longingly at the coffee shop where she usually sat and ate an afternoon snack following her priority check-in. Instead, she now sat in the front row of the departure gate waiting for the arrival of anyone she knew who may have some information. After an uncomfortable hour of waiting, the gate staff finally arrived and, thirty minutes later, the cabin crew. She looked for Emily but couldn’t see her in the crowd. She did see Jessica Martin talking to Iris Winter. Olivia continued thinking about how she would phrase her question to Jessica once they boarded.
Boarding was finally announced and Olivia felt emotionally drained by all her worry. Worry that she didn’t really understand. She barely knew Henry or his mother, but in a short amount of time she had become very attached to them both. Olivia’s life was restrained and orderly, and the change to her personal schedule caused by Emily’s absence unsettled her. Couple that with the fact that she had no idea what had happened to the little boy and her anxiety levels were peaking to unacceptable levels.
Upon boarding the aircraft, Olivia quickly made her way to first-class and was surp
rised to find Iris Winter and one of the male cabin crew from the premium cabin greeting her.
“Where is Miss Martin?” Olivia asked Iris with a frown.
“Miss Martin is working upstairs on this flight,” Iris answered with a polite smile. “We have a full house upstairs today and only half capacity here, so that means that Sean will be looking after this cabin.”
The change was one that Olivia hadn’t planned for and she glanced at the nervous looking man for a few moments before taking her seat. Realising that her opportunity to question Jessica about Emily was gone, she clenched her fist in frustration and angrily berated herself for her cowardice in not questioning Iris when she had the chance.
* * *
“What has that salad done to you?”
Olivia looked up with a frown. “I’m sorry?”
“That salad,” Her friend pointed to the plate in front of Olivia. “You’ve been stabbing at it for the last fifteen minutes.”
She looked down at her meal and laid her fork down. “I’m sorry, Nicole, I’m a little distracted.”
“I know.” Nicole picked up her wine glass and took a sip. “You were distracted all last week and this week is shaping up to be the same. So, something is obviously bothering you.”
“I’m sorry,” Olivia repeated as she picked up her tumbler of water and sipped the lukewarm liquid, the ice long-since melted.
“Don’t be sorry. Just stop telling me that everything is fine and tell me what’s up.”
Olivia regarded her friend thoughtfully. She had been deliberately avoiding telling her about her latest social faux pas, hoping that the feelings of inadequacy would pass as soon as she saw Emily again. But Emily’s prolonged absence meant that she continued to feel distracted and out of sorts.
While Nicole was her best friend and her go-to person for advice, it often took Olivia a little time to open up. It seemed that the greater her distress, the more susceptible she became to Nicole’s investigative behaviour. It was always easier to talk about the little things.
She looked around the busy restaurant which was located off Southampton Row and directly opposite Olivia’s London office. They lunched there most Tuesdays and Thursdays for as long as either of them could remember.
