Page 25 of All the Right Words
‘Sorry about that, folks!’ said the operator. ‘Slight technical hitch.’
Olivia shot him a look but said nothing.
‘Come on, let’s get a hot chocolate,’ Harper suggested.
Olivia nodded. ‘That sounds nice.’
Fifteen
‘Oh my god, she’s coming!’ Olivia said to Gina.
‘Relax,’ Gina told her. The woman sounded ready to have a heart attack.
‘I have to say something in a second. Help me!’ Olivia said, sounding like she was talking from beneath gritted teeth.
‘Well, hi’s a good start,’ Gina said. Jesus Christ, this woman.
Hi,’ Olivia said.
‘Hello,’ Gina heard Harper respond warmly. And then? Big old silence.
‘Compliment her, Olivia,’ Gina instructed, rolling her eyes.
‘I like your, erm, your jumper,’ Olivia stuttered.
Harper said something about being cottage-core that Gina thought was amusing. But Olivia was quiet again. Gina sighed and prompted again. ‘Ask her favourite ride.’
Olivia did so and they decided on the Ferris wheel.
‘What are your thoughts on candyfloss?’ Harper suddenly asked.
‘Who doesn’t like a cloud made of sugar?’ Gina said without thinking. She wasn’t necessarily feeding Olivia a line. As far as she was concerned, she was prompting, nothing more. But she heard Olivia repeat the line verbatim, making Harper laugh. Gina felt a little off about that. It was Gina’s joke. But maybe this was how she could help Olivia. Get her loose enough to talk for herself.
Gina listened to the sounds of candyfloss being purchased and Olivia eating noisily. It reminded Gina that she was bloody starving. While Olivia made her way to the Ferris wheel, Gina minimised the call, returned to her burger order, and tapped the order button.
Gina could hear some stuff down the phone about Olivia and Harper being work addicts, though she was only half listening. She was dreaming of her burger. It had a hash brown in it. She checked the progress of her order. A delivery guy called Juan was headed to the restaurant.
Something caught Gina’s ear.
‘Oh god. You hate heights, don’t you?’ Harper was saying.
‘No, no, not at all,’ Olivia said. Gina could hear the lie quite clearly.
‘Olivia, I can hear your candyfloss stick splintering,’ Harper said, and Gina resisted the urge to laugh. ‘Olivia, just admit it if you don’t like heights,’ Gina advised. ‘Sounds like she knows anyway.’
Olivia took her advice. ‘OK, sorry. I do,’ she said. ‘Hated them since I was a kid.’
‘You should have said!’ Harper cried.
‘It’s your favourite ride,’ Olivia replied. ‘I wanted you to have a good time.’
Gina thought that was about the nicest thing she’d ever heard Olivia say. She must have liked Harper a great deal to battle a phobia in the name of a good date. Gina couldn’t imagine saddling up a giant spider to impress someone.
‘I’ll get you through it,’ Harper told Olivia. It was starting to make Gina feel kind of lonely listening to this. She was on a date. Only she wasn’t.
Gina listened to some reassurance from Harper while she had a quick check on her phone order. Juan had the grub, and he was on his way. That was good because Gina had a few feelings to eat.
‘From this point, it’s down. They’re probably just letting people on,’ she faintly heard Harper say.
