Page 7 of Reckless Intentions
When the door buzzed later, Olivia hadn’t realised how quickly the time had flown. She had been so engrossed in catching up on emails, completing several campaign documents and returning calls that the hours had raced by. She got up and went to the intercom by the front door. As she reached for the receiver, she caught sight of the black bin bags and her hand froze in mid-air. She had also forgotten about Nic until then. The buzzer went again, jolting her from her thoughts.
“Hello?”
“Hey, hon, it’s me and Eva.” Caro’s voice crackled through the intercom.
On autopilot, Olivia pushed the entry button and opened the main entrance for them, before leaving her own front door slightly ajar. She turned and went back into the living room, sitting down at the table pretending to work. A couple of moments later, Caro and Eva arrived. Her best friend held a massive bunch of flowers: tightly coloured orange and gold gerberas, with red and orange tulips.
“There are for you.” Caro thrust them towards Olivia and tried to envelop her in a hug.
“Thanks.” Olivia dodged out of the way and got up instead, taking the bouquet into the kitchen. “Do you two want a drink?” she asked, as she searched through the cupboards for a suitable vase.
“Please, tea would be great,” said Caro.
“Same, thanks, Olivia.” Eva nodded in agreement.
While Olivia fussed about boiling the kettle and brewing tea for the three of them, Caro and Eva settled themselves at the table. Each of them pulled out notebooks and pens, Caro adding a couple of architectural plans.
Trying to avoid the inevitable ‘how-are-you-doing’ type questions, Olivia tried to keep things as business-like as possible. “Right,” she said, as she set their drinks down on the table and joined them. “You said something about a delay with The Roca Bar project. What needs to happen?”
She noticed Caro and Eva exchange a glance but chose to ignore it.
Caro nodded. “That’s right. It’s looking a bit shaky, so it would be really helpful to have someone out there for a while, to make sure things get back on track.”
“I thought you were due to go out soon?” Olivia checked the project plan again, looking for evidence of site visits and finding none.
“She could be,” said Eva. “But we thought you might want to go.”
“Me?” Olivia looked between the two of them. There was really no need for her to be out there until the building work was completed and they were ready to start spreading the word about the reopening. Even the branding could be completed remotely. “Why would I want to go?”
Caro reached across the table and took her hand. “Olivia, you and Nic broke up last night. I thought it might be a good time for you to get away from here, take a break.”
Olivia snatched her hand back. “I don’t need to get away. I’m fine.”
“We saw the bags by the door, Olivia.”
Desperate not to lose her composure, Olivia held strong for about twenty seconds and then crumpled. Her shoulders heaved as she began to cry. Caro jumped up and hugged her, while Eva stroked her arm.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, let it out.”
For once, Olivia did as she was told, until after a while, the tears subsided. She took deep breaths and composed herself, wiping her face with the tea towel she’d left on the table. Caro let her go and then gently led her over to the sofa. The three of them sat down with Olivia sandwiched in the middle. “Have you spoken to Nic?” she snuffled.
Caro nodded. “Only briefly. From what I can understand from his side, it might be the right thing. You’re both my best friends and I want what’s best for you. Maybe breaking up is it.”
“What’s he going to do?” Olivia asked. Caro was right, although it didn’t stop it hurting like hell.
“I don’t know. I thought it might help if you weren’t around for a while, so you didn’t have to see him.”
Olivia thought about the suggestion again. Getting away for a few days could be a good thing. Sure, she didn’t know a great deal about building work and all the rules and regulations that went with it, but the builder would be able to control that. Caro only needed her to keep an eye on things, after all. She would be able to focus on the PR activities.
“What about my other OC clients though? I can’t abandon them.”
Eva waved a sheet of paper at her. “Already thought of that. We’re coming to the end of a few campaigns and I can pick up the slack on those. And we can get a temp to help with the admin, they’d just need to answer emails and doing the odd bit of social media. We’re always being asked for work experience.”
Olivia took the document from Eva. It listed each of their campaigns, with the remaining tasks to be done, plus a list of revenue that they were due to receive. Eva had also added the costs of the temp to it, leaving a small profit. “You pulled this together this morning?”
“Yep.” Eva blushed.
Olivia was impressed. The OC Consultancy would be in safe hands if she did go to Mallorca. She couldn’t up and leave like that…could she?
“I can tell you’re tempted.” Caro grinned. “It would only be for a week and I have no doubt Eva can manage while you’re away.” She kissed her affectionately on the side of her head. “Why don’t you give it some more thought and let me know for sure later? Maybe tomorrow after you’ve had some proper sleep.” She stood up and went to gather her things together. Eva followed suit. “Do you want me to take those bags for Nic? Saves you having to look at them until he comes over.”
“You really are the best, thanks, Caro. I couldn’t bear to keep looking at them.”
“No problem, consider them gone.”
The three of them hugged, then Caro and Eva left, taking the bags with them, leaving Olivia alone again. She went into the kitchen and was grateful to find a bottle of wine in the fridge. After pouring herself a large glass, she returned to the sofa, Eva’s proposal in one hand. As she scanned it, her thoughts cleared. Taking a break was exactly what she needed. What better way to forgot about a break up than spending a week in the sun?
