Page 58 of All the Right Words
Three rings and Harper picked up. ‘Olivia, hi,’ Harper said with evident anxiety.
Olivia, somehow, did not hear it. ‘Hey, how are you doing?’
‘Err…’ Harper began.
‘Great,’ Olivia said. She was laser-focused on the reason she’d called and went straight into it. ‘So I assume Gina told you we want a reading of those early chapters?’
There was a pause. ‘She did mention it.’
‘We’re thinking next week?’
‘Wow. That’s quick.’
‘Can you talk to Brenda today? Get her on board?’ Olivia asked.
‘She’s my next call.’
‘Great. I’ll be slammed with work until then, but I was hoping you and I could go out after the reading for a late dinner?’ Olivia said with a wink to Gina. Gina wanted to ram her head into a wall but opted to give Olivia a thumbs up.
There was a slight pause, and Harper said, ‘Yes, alright. Let’s do that.’
Gina thought that sounded shaky. Which tracked, Harper wasn’t a psychopath. What had happened had to have affected her. But she hadn’t confessed to Olivia last night. That much was clear. And today, she was saying yes to a date. She was moving past it. Gina didn’t blame her. It was a few minutes of lip-locking. A good compartmentaliser could erase that if they wished. Gina had been in possession of that skill until recently - able to separate desire from her life - so she could imagine how that could be done.
Maybe she still could.
‘That’s great. See you at the party,’ Olivia said.
‘OK, see you then.’ Harper hung up, not even a goodbye. Gina, again, thought that would have set off some alarms in Olivia. But she was happy as Larry. ‘See? I can do it. You’re officially released from all that.’ She smiled confidently. ‘It’s gonna be OK. Everything is going to be OK. The book is going to save the company and I’m going to make it work with Harper. Andyouare going to go far here. Everything is going to be alright.’
Olivia’s confidence in the future, her vows of a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end, it was hard not to want to believe it. So, Gina did. She decided to float with the tide. And who knew? Maybe she would find success here, which would fix what felt wrong inside her. The only problem was that she wouldn’t be able to avoid Harper as easily. She would be around. Gina would have to work not to see her. Maybe it wasn’t impossible, though?
‘Look, all this stuff with Harper, I can’t be involved any more,’ Gina said.
Olivia nodded. ‘Yes, I know, that’s already taken care-’
‘No, that’sit,’ Gina said decisively. ‘I don’t want to ever hear about her. And she makes her appointments directly through you,’ Gina said. ‘It’s gotten too awkward. I can’t look her in the eye anymore,’ she added, which was the truth.
‘I… Oh. Sure. I didn’t realise… Yeah. Of course,’ Olivia said dismissively. ‘So, after the party, I will keep you separated.’
‘After the party?’
‘It’s a big deal. I’m gonna need you. And Harper needs to be there too. Someone has to manage Brenda.’
For the love of fuck. Olivia had offered her a lot in the last five minutes. Gina had no choice but to give this little thing. ‘Yeah, OK. Sure.’
‘Fantastic. Let me get this book released, get Parker rock solid, and then we can sit down and talk about where you go from here. OK?’
‘Great,’ Gina said without enthusiasm. ‘So… I guess I’ll just go back to work.’
‘Awesome. Oh, by the way, can you let promotions know about the reading? Apologise for the last minuteness for me?’
‘Of course.’
‘Thanks, Gina. You’re a star.’
Gina went into her office to ring up the promotions manager, trying not to think about how relieved she had been to leave. How much weight it would have taken off her back to know she’d never have to think about or see or talk to Harper again.
Because she wanted to do those things so badly, it was almost a physical pain. One she would have to bear again at that reading.
