Page 20 of All the Right Words
Harper snorted. ‘So, could you send her this afternoon? Is that too soon?’
‘Yesterday is not too soon.’
‘Great. And how about tonight for our date?’
‘Tonight?’ Olivia asked.
‘Yes. There’s something on tonight I was hoping to take you to.’
‘That’s, err, yes. Absolutely,’ Olivia agreed.
‘Great, I’ll text a time and a place. Oh, and it’s pretty casual.’
‘Casual. I can do that,’ Olivia said, though she didn’t sound so sure.
***
Harper was pretty busy around the time Gina was scheduled to be at Brenda’s house, up to her ears in manuscripts in her office. But she never stopped thinking about what might be happening at the meeting. She hoped Gina was coping alright. Brenda was a lot. She half expected to get a call about ten minutes in from Gina saying, ‘Fuck this.’ Or a call from Brenda saying, ‘Fuck this and fuckyou!’ But no one called and said fuck anything.
Three o’clock came and went. Four o’clock passed. Still no communication. She wondered if she should call to check-in. But in the end, she decided to relax her grip on the situation and let it play out as it would.
At four-fifty, Brenda’s name popped up on the phone. Harper took a deep breath and accepted the call. ‘Hi, Brenda. How’s it going?’
‘Gina just left,’ Brenda said.
‘She did? And how was that?’
‘You don’t worry about the extension.’ She sounded like someone dreading some test results only to find out she was okay.
Harper’s relief was bone-deep. ‘Really?’
‘Yep. I just started talking, and everything resolved itself,’ Brenda said.
‘As easy as that?’
‘I guess you might have had a point. I just needed someone to listen while I talked through the problem,’ Brenda admitted irritably.
Harper thought it interesting how Brenda gave Gina zero credit for the breakthrough. She wondered how it hadreallygone. ‘That’s great news, Brenda. I knew you could work through it.’
Brenda sighed. ‘I think I’ve earned a glass of wine and a lamb vindaloo.’
‘You certainly have. Enjoy your evening.’
They put the phone down, and Harper wanted to ring Gina and get her side. But she didn’t have her mobile number. She supposed she’d have to wait and ring her at the office tomorrow.
But tonight? She had a date to plan and get ready for.
Thirteen
Gina knocked on the front door of Brenda’s tatty old semi at three on the dot. Brenda answered so quickly that it seemed as though she’d been waiting by the door for the knock. ‘Well, here you are,’ she said, looking Gina up and down. Gina didn’t think the woman had ever looked at her thoroughly before. Brenda tended to see around her. To get the full glare was a little disconcerting.
‘Here I am,’ she said.
‘I suppose you’d better come in,’ Brenda said.
Gina had had better welcomes in her life. But she’d had an idea it would be like this, so there was no shock to it.
Gina followed Brenda into her dark hall. ‘I’m set up in my study. It’s small. But it’s the only place I can think,’ Brenda said over her shoulder, leading her up the stairs.
