Flight SQA016 (The Flight Series)

by A. E. Radley

Emily stretched to release some of the pressure in her neck before picking up the phone and making the next call. She was pleasantly surprised by the man’s nice manner. He asked a few questions, which she knew the answer to from listening to Olivia. The conversation lasted more than most of them but Emily was happy to have had a decent discussion rather than rabid shouting which, while understandable, was tiresome. The next call was also productive and Emily wondered if the list had been split up by departments as she was now talking to more rational people. Referring to the spreadsheets of data, she read some figures and answered some questions and was taken aback when she was even thanked at the end of the call.

  She dialled the final number on the sheet and waited while the phone rang out until, eventually, a voicemail service kicked in. She left a message and, with a relieved sigh, made some final notes on the spreadsheet before standing up and stretching her back out. It had been a long time since she’d had a job where she was on the phone all day and, while she knew how hard it could be, she was still surprised by how exhausted she was in just two hours.

  She walked into the living room “Well, the last three weren’t too bad—”

  “Shush, Mommy,” Henry hissed. Olivia lay on the sofa, fast asleep. He had put a hand towel from the bathroom over her as a blanket and tucked Tiny in with her. He now sat on the floor in front of the sofa watching the television on its lowest volume, guarding the sleeping woman.

  Emily felt her heart instantly melt. It was a relief that Olivia was finally resting. Emily sat in the armchair beside the sofa, picked up her book from the coffee table and quietly read while she gave Olivia some time to rest.

  CHAPTER 21

  An hour passed and Emily kept a watchful eye over an exhausted Olivia while half-heartedly reading her book. Henry sat in front of the sleeping woman, playing with toy soldiers and watching television.

  As the characters on the screen gathered for their goodbye, Henry got up onto his knees and leaned his face close to Olivia’s and whispered, “You’re missing the singing.”

  Emily tried to stop him but it was too late. Olivia’s eyes flickered open and she regarded Henry in confusion as he smiled at her before turning back to the television. Olivia blinked a few times to clear the confusion before sitting up and looking in bewilderment at the towel covering her.

  “Henry didn’t want you to get cold,” Emily said.

  “I…” Olivia started, clearly still half-asleep.

  “Fell asleep. Yes, I noticed,” Emily grinned.

  “I’m sorry,” Olivia said as she checked her hair and straightened out her clothes.

  “No need to apologise,” Emily replied. “You were clearly exhausted.”

  “I suppose I must have been,” Olivia watched Henry happily bouncing along to the song on the television.

  “Tuesday naps, you might start a trend.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Tuesday naps…” Emily began to repeat her statement.

  “It’s Tuesday!” Olivia interrupted with sudden realisation. She looked at her watch and sighed.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Should I have woken you? Do you have a meeting or something?” Emily asked, instantly feeling guilty for allowing Olivia to sleep for an hour in the middle of the day when she was clearly so busy.

  “No, it’s okay,” Olivia said. “But I can’t do lunch, I’m afraid.”

  “Oh.” Much to her chagrin, the disappointment was clear in her voice.

  “I meet someone for lunch every Tuesday and Thursday,” Olivia explained. “She’ll be on her way now and it would be rude to cancel at this point.”

  “Of course,” Emily said. “I understand. Maybe another day?”

  “Yes,” Olivia nodded as she stood up and pointed to her bedroom. “I’m just going to freshen up a little.”

  Henry watched as Olivia left and then looked at Emily thoughtfully. “Will you play with me, Mommy?”

  “Of course. What would you like to play?”

  “Jigsaw.”

  “Okay, go and get it from your bag.”

  On the sixth time Emily and Henry completed the twelve-piece giraffe jigsaw, Olivia emerged from her room in a tailored light grey dress. Emily tried to focus on the jigsaw as Olivia moved around the suite packing her laptop bag and handbag for work, but she found herself hopelessly distracted.

  “Mommy, that doesn’t go there,” said Henry with a sigh. He pulled the piece out of his mother’s hand and fitted it into the jigsaw correctly.

  Olivia stood in the sitting room with her bags in one hand and her coat draped over her arm. “I’m sorry, again, about lunch.”

  “Oh, it’s fine,” Emily said kindly. “I understand.”

  “I’ll see you this evening, hopefully not as late as last night,” Olivia said apologetically.

  “No problem, I’ll be up late.” They said their goodbyes and Olivia left the suite.

  “She works hard,” Henry said as he turned a jigsaw piece over and over in his hand.

  “Yes, she does.”

  “Like you,” Henry added.

  “Yes, a little like me.”

  “Did Olivia save the business?” Henry asked as he forced two pieces together that clearly didn’t match.

  “No,” Emily said as she took the pieces apart again and turned them over so they would fit. “It was very hard and it couldn’t be done.”

  He nodded and changed the subject to talk about the disturbing lack of giraffes on buses outside the window.

  * * *

  Nicole was looking at her lunch companion with surprise. “So you went from never seeing each other again to living together?”

  “It’s not like that.” Olivia huffed.

  “When you called me last, you said you’d called her a bad mother and she kicked you out! Now you’ve told me she’s staying in your suite, helping you with work, and making you sandwiches. Sounds like you’re married.”

  “I would hope for more than sandwiches from a wife,” Olivia said in a low tone, keen to not be overheard in the busy restaurant.

  “Ah.” Nicole nodded her understanding. “So you’re no further with her in that regard?”

  “No,” Olivia admitted. “And I don’t know what the situation is. I can’t get a read on whether she’s being nice or whether she’s interested in me.”

  “Have you tried asking her?”

  Olivia shook her head. “I don’t want to make things uncomfortable. Everything is going so well. It…it’s not awkward, as it has a tendency to be when I’m involved. I’m pretty sure I said something wrong this morning but she appeared to gloss over it.”

  “Well, that’s good. She’s clearly making allowances for you being…well, you.” Nicole winked and Olivia let out a small laugh.

  “Which I appreciate,” Olivia said. “But it doesn’t help me to figure out our relationship.”

  “And you don’t want to make assumptions,”

  A waiter placed two plates on the table. The two women voiced their thanks and he left them in peace again.

  “I want more,” Olivia stated.

  “You haven’t even eaten that yet,” Nicole said as she poured dressing onto her salad.

  “I’m not talking about lunch.”

  Nicole grinned knowingly. “Oh, I see. It’s like that is it?”

  “I’d like to see if it could be.”

  “Then you have to go for it,” Nicole shrugged her shoulders. “You can either wait and see what happens, which might be nothing, or you test the waters.”

  “But how do I test the waters?”

  “Come on, Olivia,” Nicole looked up from her salad. “It’s not your first date. You’ve asked women out before, you’ve dated, you’ve…you know.”

  Olivia sighed. “But this feels different, I don’t want to…” She drifted off as she considered what she was about to say.

  “You don’t want to?”

  “I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Olivia admitted. “Emily, Henry, or me. Not to mentio
n I have to fly with her twice a week. Any kind of falling out between us could mean I’d have to change my schedule.”

  “Perish the thought.”

  “You know what I mean,” Olivia sighed. “I don’t want there to be any awkwardness.”

  “Yes, I can understand that. But clearly you have feelings for this woman, or you’re starting to develop them. Isn’t it worth the potential fallout?”

  “I don’t know.” Olivia grumpily stabbed a piece of cucumber and then looked at it fondly, remembering Henry’s first foray into green foods.

  “Olivia,” Nicole sighed. “You’ve always dated the same kind of women, vacuous airheads with killer bodies who you don’t have to talk to. This woman seems different, very different. And I think that’s good for you. I think you need someone in your life who you can converse with. Someone who can make sure you eat breakfast and almost makes you forget about long, long-standing lunch engagements with your best friend in the world.”

  “It’s just easier to date those women.” Olivia pointed out.

  “I know you think it is.”

  Olivia was confused. “Of course it is. I date them because it’s easier. They don’t ask about my complicated work, they don’t want to talk, they don’t care when I’m not paying them enough attention, or when I say something wrong—”

  “They don’t care about you,” Nicole added. “They just want you to wine and dine them and take them to great parties or to the theatre. You don’t care about them either, you just want an escort to the aforementioned parties and productions. And to, well, to warm your bed, if we’re going to be plain about it.”

  Nicole chewed a mouthful of chicken thoughtfully, then added. “But the real reason you date those women is because you are afraid of getting hurt. You can deny it all you like but you know it’s true. You think that if you date a certain kind of woman, you won’t care when it’s all over because you never invested that much into it in the first place.”

  Olivia fiddled with her cutlery and avoided Nicole’s gaze.

  “Emily White seems to be different, she has a brain and a child” she pointed out. “She’s a mature, responsible adult. There’s a chance that if you fall for her, you could get hurt.”

  Olivia angrily chased a crouton around her plate.

  “Am I close?” Nicole pushed.

  “Maybe.” Olivia admitted. “But I’m concerned she just sees me as…” she struggled for the word for a moment. “That she sees me as simple. I’m being extra careful in what I say to her, so I don’t offend her, and I think it’s coming across as insecurity and looking…simple.”

  “Yes, I noticed your hand,” Nicole said, her gaze dropped to Olivia’s left hand.

  Olivia noticed the beginning of a bruise on the skin between her thumb and index finger. “It helps,” she said softly.

  “I know,” Nicole said. “I was just saying that I’d noticed it. Anyway, I’m sure she doesn’t think you’re simple, but if you’re worried about it then you need to prove otherwise.”

  “How?”

  “By being brave,” Nicole said. “You need to talk with her. You need to get to know her. And let her get to know you. And yes, there is a chance that you will say the wrong thing, but Olivia, darling, that is a part of who you are and she needs to know that. Have you spoken to her about it?”

  “No.” Olivia quickly shook her head.

  “Maybe you should?” Nicole offered. “Better to have these conversations now, that way you’ll know sooner whether you have a chance with her or not. Before anyone develops strong feelings.”

  “You’re just fed up with going on double dates with me.”

  “No, I love some of the women you bring along,” Nicole deadpanned. “My favourite was the one who thought that tuna was part of a dolphin rather than a fish in its own right. Or maybe the one that didn’t understand why there was so much singing at the opera. No, no, actually the one who thought that the Middle East was a country, she was my favourite!”

  Olivia picked up a crouton and threw it.

  * * *

  Olivia entered the Applewood Financial reception and walked down the corridor towards her office.

  “Simon,” she called. He got up from his desk and followed her in. “Get Bob to have another look at those final figures for the property in Wales. I’m sure we’re a little out on that.” She hung her coat on the coatrack. “And speak with the mailing house and ensure that all the employee letters will definitely go first-class post today. Then can you cancel my meeting with Vanessa Ludgate? I’ve been looking for an excuse to move that and the insolvency is perfect.”

  “No problem,” Simon said as he made notes in a tatty notebook. “Anything else?”

  “Yes, I’ll be leaving the office at five this evening so please make sure that my calls are held fifteen minutes beforehand. I don’t want to get caught in some endless conversation,” Olivia said as she sat down at her desk and moved her mouse to wake her computer.

  “Will do. I was thinking, should I change your car on Friday morning to a larger vehicle?” Olivia frowned at him in confusion. “I assumed you’d be travelling to the airport with Emily and Henry plus luggage?” Simon explained.

  “Oh.” Olivia suddenly realised her usual car would be too small for the luggage. “Yes please, well done, Simon.”

  “No problem. Anything else?”

  “Yes,” Olivia nodded as a thought abruptly occurred to her. “Do you know what day the journalist is due to take Henry’s story?”

  “I do. Thursday morning,” Simon replied. “Henry has his last check-up then and hopefully will be given the all clear to fly that day too.”

  “Clear my schedule for the afternoon and contact Tom Perthshire from ZSL,” Olivia instructed as she looked at her emails.

  “The Zoological Society of London?” Simon grinned knowingly.

  “Yes, Simon.” Olivia looked up at him. “ZSL.”

  Simon wrote in his notebook and smiled. “Any particular reason why you want to speak to London Zoo?”

  “To find you a suitable home with the monkeys. Oh, and contact the airline. I want to book another seat for Friday.”

  “Tell me you’re not actually going to buy a giraffe and fly it to New York first-class, because it ain’t gonna fit.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “I’ve checked and personal giraffe ownership is frowned upon. No, I want to ensure that Henry has a seat in with me. The return journey can sometimes become rather busy. He was only in first-class on the way over because of an empty seat. We cannot take the risk that they’ll put him in economy.”

  “Heaven forbid.”

  “He’ll be away from his mother,” Olivia explained.

  “Or you could go and sit with him in economy,” Simon suggested with a wry grin.

  “Please, Simon, we’re not savages.” She dismissed him with a small smile.

  “Of course.” Simon paused at the door on his way out. “Can I get you a coffee?”

  * * *

  At four o’clock, Olivia picked up her office phone and dialled the hotel suite and nervously fidgeted with the stress ball on her desk until Emily answered. “It’s Olivia, I was wondering what you and Henry have planned for dinner?” Olivia got straight to the point, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.

  “Oh,” Emily sounded momentarily flustered. “I hadn’t really considered it.”

  “I was wondering if you’d both like to join me at an Italian restaurant just down the road?”

  Emily paused for a moment. “Yes, that sounds really nice, but I warn you that someone has been a bit of a handful this afternoon so I can’t guarantee good behaviour.”

  “I’m sure I’ll find a way to keep you in order, Miss White.”

  “Ha ha! I meant Henry, as you well know. I’m perfectly well behaved all the time.”

  Olivia swallowed at the flirty comment before finding her stride again. “Well, as it happens, I might just have some good bribery material where he
is concerned but I wanted to run it by you first.”

  “Okay?”

  “I’ve spoken with an acquaintance at London Zoo and he’s arranged for Henry to visit the giraffes, to feed them, and all that.” Olivia rushed over the details as she nervously waited on Emily’s reaction.

  “Oh my God, really?” Emily squeaked. “That’s amazing, he’d love it!”

  “Obviously we’ll accompany him and make sure he doesn’t overexert himself,” Olivia added quickly.

  “Olivia, thank you so much. That’s…that’s amazing,”

  “So, that’s a yes?”

  “Yes, it’s absolutely a yes.”

  “Good,” Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought we might go on Thursday afternoon, once he’s had his final appointment.”

  “That sounds great,” Emily said, her wide smile detectable through the phone. “Oh, but don’t you have to work?”

  “No, I’m taking the afternoon off. What’s the point of being in charge if you can’t take an afternoon off to feed giraffes now and then?”

  “Absolutely! Well, he’s going to be over the moon when you tell him.”

  “Me?”

  “Of course. It’s your gift, you should tell him,” Emily explained. “Just don’t do it when he’s holding anything breakable. Or eating. Or drinking.”

  “I’ll confirm with you regarding timing. What time is dinner usually for you two?”

  “Around five thirty or six,” Emily said. “So Henry can get to bed at a decent time.”

  “Understandable, I’ll be back around five.”

  “Looking forward to it,” Emily replied.

  Olivia hung up and pressed the intercom button on her desk for Simon to come into her office.

  “Yes, Olivia?”

  “Did you get the other ticket for Friday?” Olivia asked as she typed on her keyboard.

  “Yes, 10K as you requested. I had to have the airline move someone but it’s all sorted now,” Simon said.

  “Good, and the car?” Olivia asked.

  “Booked, however it will be an earlier departure than usual.”

  Olivia frowned as she looked up at him. “Why?” She was extremely fussy about her schedule.

  “Because Emily will need to be there earlier than you for briefings and such. You have a two hour check in but she probably needs to be there an hour before that.”