Page 54 of All the Right Words
Olivia blinked. ‘You gave me ennui?’
‘I did, yes,’ Gina said, starting to panic. ‘I was spit-balling.’ She sighed. ‘I’m sorry.’
Olivia chewed the inside of her mouth for a moment. ‘OK, can I just see what you said?’
Gina handed over the phone without eye contact and waited.
After a few moments, Olivia said. ‘This is fine. I can work with this.’
Gina hiked up a very sharp eyebrow. ‘You can?’
‘I reckon, yes. I think you did a great job. This is… She trusts you. Me. This is good. This is progress.’
Gina was off the hook. She should have been relieved. She didn’t feel that way at all, though. ‘You can just make that yourown, you think?’ she asked incredulously.
Olivia shrugged. ‘I mean, why not? I can connect to it. I never expected to be here, trying to pull the company back from disaster. I never wanted to run this place. I think I’m doing OK, and I’ve adjusted, but there was a moment of transition. So, I don’t know where you pulled this from, but I think you found me in it,’ Olivia told her.
Gina nodded. ‘Yeah, OK. Good. Great. That’s… Yeah.’ She stood up. ‘I need to go. I’ve got to go. It’s lunch. I’m hungry. Hangry. Need carbs, protein, caffeine. Maybe some meth.’ She laughed semi-hysterically. ‘I’m just kidding. I can’t afford a meth habit. The start-up costs seem manageable, but I could never afford the dental repair needed in the long run.’
Olivia frowned. ‘Gina, are you alright? You seem a bit upset.’
‘Upset? No. No. I just need a sandwich.’ She walked out without another word. Shewasupset. Very upset. And very stupid. This had gone too far. She was putting Olivia together with someone she connected with deeply. In doing so, she’d revealed something she couldn’t deny any longer. Her life sucked. Now she knew that, she wasn’t sure how to keep living it.
Shit, man. Big realisations were so annoying.
Thirty-Two
Harper was jubilant. This connection was real. OliviaunderstoodHarper. She could feel that. Harper thought she knew Olivia too. They needed time, but love could bloom. They might just get there.
But there was something she needed to do to know for sure. She needed to take it to the next level in the physical department. She had to be ready now. She’d never been so bloody chaste before. Well, it was time to go there. They would have their big kiss, and it would be great this time; Harper just knew it. Hopefully, the chastity belt could be hung up shortly thereafter.
She would grab the bull by the horns today. No more hesitating. She would surprise Olivia at her office at the end of the workday and whisk her off for an early dinner. No time to worry or overthink. They were just going to jump in.
***
It was just gone five when Harper arrived at Parker, confident that Olivia would be working late because that was what she did. This would be a romantic shake-up, Harper hoped. She would turn up and be like, ‘Hey, let’s go,’ and Olivia would say, ‘Yes, there’s more to life than work.’ It was gonna be nice. Right? Yes, people did this, Harper thought. Olivia would love it.
When she arrived at the office, she put her head around Olivia’s office door, ready with a smile. ‘Hey, how do you fancy…’ She stopped, realising she was looking at an empty desk. ‘Oh.’
Gina’s adjoining office door was open, so she saw the whole thing. ‘Harper?’
Harper was mortified. ‘Um, I was just…I was just… Is Olivia around?’ she asked, walking properly into the office but staying on Olivia’s side.
Gina got up from her desk and came to stand in the doorway. ‘No. She’s doing a drinks thing, schmoozing some new author or something, I don’t know.’
Harper frowned, feeling stupid. ‘Of course she is. She’s a busy woman.’
‘Did you guys have plans?’ Gina asked.
‘No, I was gonna… I was just passing, and I thought I might as well swing by…’ She stopped. ‘That’s a lie. I came massively out of my way. I was hoping to surprise a date on her. What a tit.’
Gina half-smiled. ‘I’m sure if she’d been here, she’d have been pleased.’
‘I guess we’ll never know,’ Harper said. She shook her head at herself. Gina didn’t say anything. Harper was desperate to change the subject. ‘Brenda’s book is going great, by the way. The first few chapters are serious page-turners. And I checked out the outline. It’s gonna be a great book.’
Gina nodded. ‘I had a look myself. I was actually annoyed when I ran out of pages. Thank God she writes fast.’ She remembered something. ‘Speaking of which, I don’t know if Olivia mentioned it, but she wants to have a reading.’
‘Isn’t that a bit early?’ Harper asked.
