Flight SQA016 (The Flight Series)

by A. E. Radley

  Henry’s face remained gloomy as he slowly turned his head to face the book Olivia held in front of them. She opened the front cover and waited as Henry analysed the page. Once he nodded his approval, she began reading.

  Olivia soon got into the ludicrous idea of Nibbles becoming president. As she finished the book, she realised that Henry’s body had become heavy against her, and that he had fallen asleep.

  She placed the book on the bedside table before gently manoeuvring off the bed. Henry was slumped onto the pillow and she wondered how to lift him and put him into bed properly. She’d always been very careful about how she had touched Henry as she was very sensitive about strangers touching her.

  She knew that Henry didn’t regard her as a stranger these days, but she still felt she had to be cautious and with a nod to her own ingenuity she pulled the bedcovers aside and gently dragged him down the bed by his ankles. His arms flopped above his head and she placed them by his sides before realising how stiff and uncomfortable he looked, so she placed one on his stomach and the other to his side. She sighed as she looked at the ridiculous pose before she noticed Tiny on the other end of the bed. She leaned over and grabbed the cuddly toy and wrapped Henry’s arm around it before nodding her approval and replacing the bedcovers. After a moment’s hesitation, she placed a small kiss on his forehead and left the bedroom, turning off the light as she went.

  Emily was flipping through television channels with a mug of coffee in her hand. Emily heard her approach and looked up. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes.” Olivia took a seat in the armchair beside the sofa.

  Emily looked at Olivia with a small smile. “Not very convincing. Do you want to try that again?”

  “He said he didn’t want to go home.”

  “Ah,” Emily nodded her understanding and took a deep breath. “And?”

  “He said he wanted to stay here with you and me forever,” Olivia said. “But I told him he couldn’t and that he had to go home to his own bed and his own toys. I said we both had to work.”

  Emily narrowed her eyes as she looked at Olivia.

  “And then?” Emily asked when nothing else was forthcoming.

  “He was worried about never seeing me again,” Olivia said. “I’m sorry, I realise this was what you wanted to avoid.”

  Emily chewed her lip and looked into the dark coffee in her cup. “I want to avoid him getting hurt,” she said quietly.

  “I know,” Olivia nodded. “What do I do to fix this?”

  Emily looked up at Olivia’s nervous expression. “Well, that depends on a few things.”

  Olivia nodded, anxious to smooth over any rough patches she may have caused.

  “Henry has clearly become attached to you,” Emily explained delicately. “We can’t go back now. You are, in some way, a part of his life. If you want to be, that is?”

  “Yes,” Olivia said quickly and then shook her head. “I mean…I’d like to…I, well, I…”

  Emily’s smile was comforting. “Just say what you want to say. Don’t worry about it coming out wrong We’ll get there together.”

  Olivia looked at Emily with utter relief as she nodded. “I…I like Henry. He’s become very special to me and I would like to spend more time with him. Though I’m not sure if a thirty-seven-year-old woman should necessarily be saying she wishes to spend time with a boy of five.”

  Emily laughed. “Well, as long as you don’t take him with you to strip clubs and casinos, and use him to pick up chicks, then I think we’re okay.”

  Olivia smiled and let out a small sigh of relief. “I—I’d still like to take you out for that drink sometime.”

  Emily bit her lip before replying. “I’d like to go out for that drink sometime, too.”

  “You would?”

  “Yes, but there needs to be some ground rules.”

  “Of course,” Olivia said, quickly agreeing.

  “Firstly, Henry is always going to be my priority. There may be times when I can’t be there for you because I need to be there for him. I need that to be absolutely clear from the outset,” Emily said seriously.

  “I understand.”

  “Secondly, I need my job. If we’re to explore this, then we have to be very careful that we are completely professional while I’m at work. No one at Crown can know.”

  “That makes perfect sense, too.”

  “Lastly, I—I need to get Henry home and safely settled before whatever might happen between us…happens. I’m only just kinda keeping it together at the minute with all the stress of his operation and his recovery, the ongoing care and the doctors. It’s a lot to deal with right now.”

  Olivia nodded, deciding to remain silent in case she said the wrong thing.

  “What about you?” Emily asked. “Any ground rules from your side? I don’t want to be laying down the law here.”

  Olivia’s hands instinctively drifted together and she started to pinch her hand. “I…” she stumbled to say what she wanted to say.

  Emily leaned forward and put her hand on Olivia’s to stop what she was doing. “Say what you’re thinking.”

  Olivia separated her hands and held Emily’s. “I would like you to… try.”

  “Try what?” Emily frowned.

  “Try to…hear me out,” Olivia said. “I…I will say the wrong thing…I will make mistakes. I will probably hurt you. And Henry. But I don’t mean to. So, I’d like you to try to give me a chance when I do.”

  “I can promise you that I will definitely try,” Emily said sincerely. “And I will try my best.”

  Olivia took a deep breath and chuckled. “If we don’t change the subject, I’m going to break your third rule by kissing you right now.”

  Emily blushed and sat back with a smile. “Shall we watch a movie then?”

  “Yes,” Olivia agreed quickly. “Yes, let’s do that.”

  Emily found a movie channel and they mindlessly stared at the screen.

  CHAPTER 26

  Olivia left for work early on Thursday morning, leaving a note for Emily to call her with a time to meet in the park for lunch. Once in the office, she raced through her workload.

  She looked at an email that popped into her mailbox with the obligatory and overly dramatic red exclamation mark that always accompanied a communication from Marcus Hind, one of the long-serving senior partners at the firm.

  She read, then reread the email before pressing the button on her desk that alerted Simon that his presence was required. A moment later he walked into the room with a smile and a raised eyebrow. She swung her monitor around one hundred and eighty degrees so he could read the email for himself. With a roll of his eyes Simon shook his head and said, “Dick.”

  “Agreed, but I’ll have to attend. Can you call Emily and advise her that I won’t be able to make lunch?”

  Simon straightened up and nodded. “Sure, but are you really going to let him summon you like that?”

  Olivia shrugged. “If I let him stew all weekend, he’ll be unmanageable next week. No, I can take a quick journey upstairs and smooth his ruffled feathers.”

  “What’s he so stressed about?” Simon asked. “I thought that stuff with TD Medical was all sorted and he was happy?”

  “Oh, it is. This is because I gave James and Stuart the engineering insolvency without consulting with him first.” Olivia sighed as she got a compact mirror from her bag and analysed her makeup and fluffed her hair. “You know how he hates it when I trample on his fragile masculine pride.”

  “But you’re the boss.”

  “And he is a senior partner with a say in how this business is run,” Olivia replied. “Always make sure your stakeholders are happy, Simon. Even if they happen to be dicks.”

  “I’ll call Emily and tell her you’ll be delayed.”

  * * *

  An hour and a half meeting with Marcus Hind left Olivia with a headache and a bad mood as she marched through the office. Members of the staff hurried to get out of her way. Taking t
he stairwell rather than the elevator, she clomped down each step, mentally counting them as she always did. She thrust the door open to her floor and walked towards her office. She scrolled through the messages on her mobile phone and angrily tapped out one word replies where needed, until she heard a familiar noise that was out of place in her workplace.

  Entering her office, she was surprised to see Simon standing in the middle of the room holding Henry around the middle and spinning him around while Henry giggled loudly. She was confused to see a red and white checked cloth placed on the meeting table and Emily in the process of laying out food and drinks.

  “Oliviaaaaaaaaa!” Henry cried out through a laugh as Simon spun him around.

  Emily looked up and smiled. “Hi,” she said and indicated the table. “Simon said you couldn’t come to us for lunch so we came to you. Inside picnic!”

  Olivia stepped further into the room. “You…came to me?”

  Simon stopped spinning Henry and placed him on the ground and the two staggered around with dizziness.

  “Yes,” Emily stepped around the two stumbling males and approached Olivia. “That is okay, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Olivia said quickly. “Yes, sorry, I…just had a difficult meeting.”

  “Simon told me about the jerk,” Emily whispered. “He also told me you like potato salad.”

  “I do,” Olivia smiled as Emily took her hand and pulled her towards the table and pulled out a chair for her.

  “Henry, come and sit down,” Emily said as she and Olivia looked at the boy who was still giggling loudly as Simon pretended to fall to the floor.

  “Simon, would you like to join us?” Emily asked him as Henry tried to help him to his feet.

  “Thanks but I better get on with some things,” Simon said as he got up.

  “Join us,” Olivia said with a smile. “You clearly played a part in this set up so you should enjoy it too.”

  “Sure, okay, if you don’t mind?” Simon scooped Henry up into his arms and carried him to the table before taking a seat next to him.

  Emily pointed out the different foods available at the indoor picnic and served Henry some breaded chicken bites. Olivia absentmindedly stared out of the window as the others served themselves food and started to talk. After a while Emily placed her hand on Olivia’s forearm. She turned to see Emily watching her with concern on her face.

  “Are you okay? You looked miles away.”

  “Yes, I’m fine.” Olivia began serve food into her plate. “I’m sorry, I was just distracted. How did Henry’s appointment go?”

  “Really well. He is cleared to fly tomorrow. All the medical files are being sent over to his doctor in the States and he was discharged from Great Ormond Street.”

  Olivia could see the relief and joy etched on her face. It was completely infectious and she smiled too. “That’s wonderful news.”

  As they ate, they spoke about Simon’s girlfriend and his looming date with her. Olivia and Emily both jokingly provided him with terrible advice on how to behave. All of which he laughed at and said he would ignore.

  Emily told of her relief to be going home knowing that Henry was recovering well, and that hopefully this chapter of their lives would be over. As she began to get teary-eyed, Simon reached across the table and comforted her, and they shared a smile. Henry and Olivia sneaked a peek at each other clearly confused as to why Emily was crying and gave each other a miniscule shrug as they continued to eat their lunch.

  When Henry finished eating, he slid from his chair and walked over to the window and looked down at the street below with interest while the three adults continued to talk. After a while, Olivia stood with Henry and listened as he pointed out each and every red double decker bus and black taxi that he could see. Suddenly, he waved straight ahead and Olivia looked curiously as she followed his line of vision.

  “Who are you waving at, Henry?” Olivia asked him as she looked across the street at the net-curtained window.

  “Tiny,” Henry said. “He’s by the window where Mommy always sits.”

  “Oh really?” Olivia turned to look at Emily with a raised eyebrow. “And what does she do when she sits there?” she asked him.

  “Sometimes she reads but mostly she watches you and Simon,” Henry said with a shrug before looking down at the street and pointing. “Bus!”

  Emily lowered her head to the table and gently thumped it on the wood as Simon laughed.

  “You little spy!” he accused.

  Emily sat up. “I don’t spy it’s just…boring and the window faces right over here. It’s hard not to look!”

  Olivia chuckled. “That is true. Which is why I have this,” she said as she pointed to a little button by the window.

  “What’s that?” Emily asked.

  “Henry,” Olivia said. “Could you press that button for me?”

  He reached up and pressed it and, in a flash, all the windows became frosted.

  “Wow!” Henry said as he jumped back in shock.

  Emily and Henry looked at the large windows in surprise as the view disappeared and was replaced with an opaque cloud.

  “That’s impressive,” Emily said. She stood and approached the glass to see if she could see out of it at all.

  “Privacy glass,” Simon said. “Privacy at the flick of a switch without the loss of light.”

  “Olivia, can I press it again?” Henry tugged on her sleeve.

  “Of course,” Olivia said and Henry tentatively reached out his index finger and pressed the button. He jumped back when the windows became transparent again.

  “The best thing ever!” Henry announced with a big grin and pressed the button again.

  “Actually, that’s not quite the best thing ever,” Emily told Henry with a smile before looking meaningfully at Olivia.

  “Oh,” Olivia said as she realised her moment had arrived and she was expected to tell Henry the good news about their afternoon trip. She paused for a moment as she considered how to tell him. Henry looked from Emily to Olivia with a questioning gaze before finally following his mother’s pointed finger and focusing on Olivia.

  “Henry,” Olivia said as she folded and then unfolded her arms and held them loosely by her side. “Um, you like giraffes, right?”

  Henry nodded and smiled up at Olivia.

  “Well, I thought that…I thought that…” Olivia suddenly had a flash of inspiration. “As you have been so good with your operations, and getting well, and the doctor’s appointments and everything, that maybe you would like to meet a giraffe?”

  Henry frowned. Her words not immediately sinking in. Then slowly his mouth dropped open and he stared at her with shock. “A-a real one?”

  Olivia nodded. “Yes. Several in fact.”

  Henry slowly turned around to look at his mother to get confirmation that such a thing was even possible. At Emily’s smile, he quickly spun back and launched himself at Olivia’s legs and pulled her into a surprisingly tight hug. Olivia put one hand to his head and one hand behind her to steady herself on the edge of her desk and smiled down at the happy boy.

  “When?” he asked.

  “Well, soon,” Olivia said. She quickly calculated what she needed to do in order to leave.

  Henry’s face fell. “Oh,” he said as he took a step back.

  “Not my soon,” Emily said with a smile, understanding Henry’s fear that soon meant weeks or even months. “Olivia means soon as in within the next hour or so.”

  A smile took over Henry’s face again as he looked from Olivia to Emily excitedly. “Really?”

  “Really,” Olivia walked around her desk and started to tidy up some final items.

  It only took Olivia, Emily, and Simon fifteen minutes to clear the lunch items and finish up some last pieces of work, but clearly Henry thought it was taking far too long. He spun around in Olivia’s office chair making an indistinguishable noise similar to a siren.

  “So,” Simon said once they had cleared everything aw
ay.

  Emily made a sad face. “I suppose this is goodbye?”

  “For now, at least.” Simon stepped forward and hugged Emily. “Keep in touch or else.”

  Emily laughed. “I will. I need to know what happens on your date.”

  Simon stepped back and looked down at Henry. “Henry, it’s been a pleasure.” Simon held out his hand formally and Henry took it with a giggle.

  “You’re silly,” Henry told him.

  “And you have an awesome giraffe hoodie that I’m extremely jealous of,” Simon shook Henry’s hand and winked. “Right, I’m going to do some of that work stuff that keeps appearing on my desk. Have fun at the zoo,” Simon paused in the doorway and turned to Emily one last time. “Take care of yourself. Remember all the wise things I said.”

  “I will, I promise.”

  They stepped out into the busy London street and Olivia raised her hand. Seemingly out of nowhere a black London taxi performed a U-turn in the road and came to a stop in front of them. Olivia opened the back door and indicated for Emily and Henry to get in before climbing in herself. “London Zoo, please.”

  Henry looked excitedly out of the window as the driver pulled out from traffic. Olivia attempted to distract herself from the heat building where her thigh pressed against Emily’s.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Emily said softly. Her lips were close to Olivia’s ear and her breath stirred her hair. Olivia shivered with delight.

  She opened her mouth but found she couldn’t think of anything to say so she simply smiled, though she knew it was unconvincing.

  “After your meeting,” Emily clarified, still leaning in close, her hand gently resting on Olivia’s thigh. “You seemed very distracted. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes,” Olivia said. “The senior partner, he…he is hard work. He knew my father and didn’t think I should have been given the London office. Now we have frequent battles, I…find him very difficult to read.”

  Emily nodded her understanding. “So, there’s a bit of a power struggle?”

  “Yes, I suppose you could say that. I’m sorry if I seemed off.”

  “It’s okay,” Emily squeezed Olivia’s thigh and then removed her hand. “We all have those times when work gets to us.”