by A. L. Brooks
She’d found herself considering it, just for a moment, as they’d drawn closer working on the Catwalk rewrite. They’d connected well and had some fun, and it felt so good to relax with a colleague once more. But she’d soon dismissed the idea of opening up that far—as much as she found Jenny attractive, she didn’t know her and therefore didn’t know how likely she was to keep such a secret.
So she’d kept her head down and ignored Jenny’s searching looks until they became less frequent and Jenny retreated back into herself. There’d been a day or two of sullenness, and then resigned acceptance settled in. Now they were back to being polite colleagues. It was still better than when they’d first started working together, but it was a mere shadow of what they’d had working on Jenny’s presentation.
It’s for the best. The mantra had repeated in Olivia’s brain multiple times per day. Sometimes, she’d even believed it.
“So, you’re first.” Mallory led them to the spacious living room. “And that’s a first.” She smirked as she motioned them into the leather couch. She herself sat in a large armchair across from them.
On the coffee table stood the usual bottle of sherry and small glasses along with a bottle of sparkling water with a tall glass lined up for Olivia.
Broderick poured, expressing surprise when Mallory declined a sherry and pointed to her own glass of water. “I’m good. So, I hear Katherine is very excited about working on your project.” She grinned at Olivia. “Apparently, she’s dug out some of her old tapes and has been reviewing them, making notes on what she thought worked well from her performances and what didn’t. It’s very sweet how committed she is.”
“Oh, that’s cute.” Olivia shook her head. “But she needn’t worry. I’m sure she’s going to be fantastic.”
The door buzzed.
“That’ll be the star herself.” Mallory stood.
Katherine arrived in a swirl of hugs and kisses. By the time she’d sat on the couch next to Broderick, sherry in hand, Philip had also appeared.
He apologized for not being there to greet them, then took up position sitting on the arm of his wife’s chair. “So.” He lifted his glass of sherry. “Happy Thanksgiving!”
They toasted and sipped. Then Philip and Mallory shared an enigmatic look; Mallory nodded, and Philip leaned down to kiss her forehead.
Mallory cleared her throat. “So, we have a little announcement.” She smiled at them all. “I’m pregnant.”
Katherine moved far quicker out of her seat than Olivia would have imagined possible, and her cry of joy resounded around the large room. “Oh! Oh, that’s wonderful news!” She clapped her hands together, then rushed around the table to pull Mallory up—carefully—from her chair and into a close hug. Then she brought her son into the fold and hugged and swayed and cried with the pair of them wrapped in her slender arms. For some minutes.
Finally, it was Olivia and Broderick’s turn to bestow their congratulations.
“I bet you’re relieved I got in first.” Mallory smirked as she eased out of Olivia’s hug.
Olivia laughed, making sure Katherine was still focused on Philip as she said, “Absolutely. Thank you.”
Mallory snorted. “I’d say ‘anytime,’ but morning sickness is a bitch.”
Olivia didn’t think she’d ever heard her sister-in-law use such language, and her laughter made her stomach hurt.
Mallory winked, then stepped back.
Katherine wiped tears from her eyes with a proper handkerchief.
Broderick smiled with genuine warmth at his brother; Broderick had never wanted children, but Olivia knew he would be happy for Philip.
“This is the best Thanksgiving ever.” Katherine’s voice wobbled. “I’m so happy!”
So am I, but for entirely different reasons. Olivia breathed deeply. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mallory and Philip.
Of course, Katherine would still want grandchildren from Broderick and Olivia; that desire wouldn’t magically disappear with Mallory’s announcement. But for the next few months, Katherine’s entire focus would be on Philip and Mallory, and that definitely made Olivia’s life easier.
“Okay, let’s eat.” Mallory pointed toward the dining room. “Everyone, go sit and I’ll bring out the turkey.”
Chapter 21
“Okay, do we all have our final schedules saved to the SharePoint?” Olivia asked above the background noise of the office.
Everyone was in full frantic mode; it was only twenty-four hours until Catwalk. The past four weeks had seen a gradual ramping up of activity, changes to schedules, complaints, and snags that needed to be dealt with, and with that had come an increase in everyone’s stress levels—and a decrease in their tolerance. One good result of it all was Olivia had no time to dwell on the sad state of her relationship with Jenny, nor had Chrissy had any time to make snarky comments about whatever Olivia worked on. Every cloud had a silver lining and all that.
Maxwell nodded but didn’t take his eyes away from his screen. “Got mine.”
“Yep.” Jenny spared Olivia a brief glance, then she too looked back at what she was doing.
“Of course.” Chrissy’s tone carried a hint of disdain.
Olivia knew Chrissy resented her for owning this part of their group work, organizing the SharePoint and the schedules they all needed access to. Despite what Chrissy might think, Olivia hadn’t done that as some scheme to curry favor with Derek. She was simply playing to her strengths, and it had been obvious from minute one none of the other three were as organized as she was.
“Great, thanks everyone. Any more changes from now on need to be checked with Derek and then passed to me so I can update the master schedule.” As she spoke, she saved the file. Later, she and Derek would agree on a password that would allow only the two of them to make changes to it, to avoid any confusion in the team over what had been changed when.
Around her, Maxwell, Jenny, and Chrissy all gathered their laptops and notebooks.
Olivia cursed under her breath; yet another progress meeting with Derek. She understood he needed to know where they were all up to, but he also needed to understand that progress meetings every two hours were ridiculously unnecessary.
Keeping her thoughts to herself, she hurried after everyone else as they headed to Derek’s office.
Broderick was still up when Olivia schlepped into their apartment at eleven that night. “Hey.” He paused whatever he was watching on his big TV and turned to face her. “You look exhausted.”
“I am.” Olivia eased her heavy purse off her shoulder and for the moment simply left it on the floor at her feet. Next were her shoes, and she groaned in blissful relief as she kicked off the pumps. “Remind me never again to work on a project that airs live the weekend before Christmas.”
“Bad?”
“Oh my God, you have no idea.” She gave him a weak smile. “But at least it’s only one more day, then I can collapse until Christmas Day.”
“And at least this Christmas you know my mother won’t even spare you a glance.”
Olivia snorted. “That’s true.” She padded over to sit on the arm of the couch next to him. “But she’s been wonderful on the project. So professional in all the rehearsals, and she’s charmed literally everyone. Even Chrissy seems to like her.”
“Wow, she must be doing well.” Broderick smirked.
“It’s been great to watch her at work. I think you’re going to be very proud of her when you see her tomorrow.”
“Well, I’m pretty proud of her already, but yes, I know what you mean. I’m not missing this for anything.”
“Still planning on watching it with Mallory and Philip?”
“Yes. Mallory’s insisted I come for dinner beforehand too.”
“Better than eating frozen pizza again.” Olivia tutted at him when he displayed mock outrage.
“Frozen pizza is the best and you know it. But yes, all right, I concede Mallory’s cooking is probably better for me in the long run.”
Olivia stood once more, her calves complaining after she’d been up and down all day. “Okay, I have to get to bed. I need to be up in…” She checked the clock on the wall. “Oh great, less than six hours. I’ll see you this time tomorrow night, I suppose.”
“Yes, sorry, my dear wife, but I’m not getting up at five a.m. to see you off.” He laughed when she slapped his arm.
“You always were the most charming of husbands.”
His laughter followed her down the hallway to her bedroom.
The Excelsior’s lobby looked wonderfully Christmassy, and the sight filled Olivia with joy just as it had each time she’d been here in the last two weeks, despite the awfully early start to her day. A big decorated tree filled one corner, and wreaths and glittery baubles bedecked each painting on the walls and the doorframes. It was a tad kitsch, she supposed, but she’d always been enraptured by Christmas decorations, so she didn’t care.
“Good morning,” said a quiet voice behind her.
She turned to find Jenny stood close by with a large, takeout coffee cup in her hand. Her hair, a festive red on one side, was perfectly spiked and fluffed. It looked, even Olivia conceded, amazing. And for once, Jenny did not wear her usual jeans and layers of T-shirts. Today’s outfit of tight-fitting gray pants and a red Oxford shirt with the top two buttons undone looked delicious.
Oh my.
“Hi,” Olivia managed to say, while the majority of her brain focused on quelling her libido. This early in the morning? God help me.
“I’m not sure I’m actually awake.” Jenny raised her cup. “I’m hoping this will help.” Then she slapped her forehead. “Sorry, I didn’t even think, I could have brought you one too and—”
“It’s fine.” Olivia smiled, careful not to make it too wide or too friendly. “I had one on the way.”
“Oh, okay.” Jenny wilted.
Olivia inwardly winced. I did that, and I’m not proud of it. Not at all. “So,” she said, a little brighter. “Are you excited about today?”
Jenny gave her a wary look, as if unsure of this sudden change in energy. “Yeah, I am. I mean, it’ll be hard work, but I’ve done some big sports events before, so I kind of know what to expect.” Jenny’s gray eyes, as smoky as ever, locked with Olivia’s.
“Good. Me too. I mean, not sports events, but I’ve done some big theater work and I think this will be similar. In terms of the energy required, not the actual work. Although that might also be similar.” Olivia clamped her mouth shut in an attempt to cut off the verbal diarrhea. What the hell? It was those damn eyes, she knew. Every time she forgot herself for even a moment and let herself be pulled in by them, her brain short-circuited.
“Are you okay?”
Olivia willed her face not to break out in a blush. “Not awake yet. Brain not fully functioning.”
“Uh-huh,” Jenny said, far too knowingly. Then she finally released Olivia from her gaze and motioned toward the event rooms. “Shall we?”
Olivia dumbly nodded and traipsed after her.
Six hours later, Olivia was well and truly awake and her brain was completely focused on her work. All thoughts of Jenny and her smoky eyes and all-round gorgeousness had been thankfully shunted to the back of her brain.
Maxwell was out back working with the technical teams; Olivia had seen him running around carrying crates, lighting rigs, and other equipment. Each time he’d had a huge grin on his face, and she was pleased—she knew overall the project wasn’t his sort of thing, but it seemed the physical activity involved on the day suited him.
Chrissy seemed to spend most of her time glued to Derek’s side, being at his beck and call. While it made Olivia’s teeth grind to witness such sucking up, at least it kept Chrissy out of her way. Chrissy’s main responsibility was ensuring the catering teams had all the help they needed later on, so Olivia only hoped Chrissy could unglue herself from Derek when the time came.
Jenny’s current task was to assist with the setup of the greenroom and dressing rooms, and she also seemed to be spending a lot of her time jogging from one place to another with boxes in her arms.
Olivia had deliberately not allowed her brain to dwell on how stirring it was to see Jenny’s arms or legs in action. She’d managed to grab a quick lunch of a sandwich and an apple and was now out on a coffee run for five of the senior members of the production team. She finally reached the front of the queue in Starbucks a block away from the Excelsior and placed her order. As she waited for the drinks to be made, her phone buzzed in her pocket with an incoming call.
“Olivia, it’s Derek. How long are you going to be?”
“About ten minutes.”
“And can she go straight into the sound run-through?”
“What?”
Derek sighed loudly. “Katherine. Is she ready to go straight to—?”
“Katherine?” Olivia frowned. “Sorry, Derek, what are you talking about? Katherine’s not due in for another hour.”
“No, she isn’t; she’s due to be here in ten minutes. That’s what’s on the master schedule.” He sounded more annoyed than she cared to think about.
“Derek, I honestly don’t know what you mean.” Her heart thudded. “I double-checked this morning, and her arrival time was two o’clock. I don’t know about any change or—”
“You told Chrissy the sound manager wanted Katherine in a little earlier to have more time to go through sound checks.” His voice was an angry snarl. “I updated the schedule and I assumed you would do your job properly and make sure our host was on time, given she was your idea in the first place. Are you telling me you forgot what the sound manager said?”
Olivia’s stomach rolled even as her blood boiled. Chrissy. That bitch. Olivia sucked in a long, slow breath, knowing there was no way she could fight this right now. But later…
“Derek, I’m so sorry, I think there may have been a misunderstanding between myself and Chrissy.” It was the closest she was willing to go in criticizing Chrissy; Derek had a hair trigger today and she didn’t want to give him any excuse to fire her on the spot. She put every ounce of sugar she possessed into her next words. “But I will get Katherine here as soon as I can, okay?”
“You’d better.” He hung up.
Olivia immediately dialed Katherine’s number.
“Hello, darling. How are you? I’m so excited! Is—”
“Katherine, I’m so sorry to interrupt,” Olivia said as gently as she could. “But there’s been a last-minute change in schedule and I’m wondering if there’s any way you could come in a little earlier?”
There was a slight pause. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem. How much earlier would you like me?”
Olivia winced. “Now?”
Katherine took so long to reply Olivia thought the line had gone dead. “Now?”
“I’m so, so sorry. It seems there was a miscommunication and—”
“Olivia, dear, it’s quite all right.” Katherine chuckled. “To be perfectly honest I was ready half an hour ago. I was so excited, I couldn’t help myself.”
Oh, thank God. “Katherine, you are a legend.”
Her mother-in-law laughed loudly. “Hardly. Giddy as a schoolgirl is all. But yes, I can come now. Will you be sending a car?”
“I know that’s what was supposed to happen, but I’m sorry, there’s just no time to reorganize that. I hate to ask, but could you just get a cab?”
“Of course. I’ll ask the doorman to flag me one down. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“You are a lifesaver, Mrs. Sinclair.”
Katherine chuckled once more, said goodbye, and Olivia hung up.
“Olivia?” the barista called.
Olivia turned bac
k to the counter, grabbed the tray of coffees, and moved as fast as she could to the exit.
Chapter 22
Jenny had picked up on some tension between Olivia and Chrissy earlier that afternoon but hadn’t had much time to dwell on it. Now, however, an hour before the show started, she found herself with some unexpected downtime and took a moment to lean against a wall to the right of the stage and ponder her teammates’ situations.
Maxwell, she knew, was happily ensconced out back and wouldn’t come to the main floor at all during the evening. She herself had finished all she needed to in the greenroom and dressing rooms. The designers and sports stars had arrived and had been escorted backstage by the meet-and-greet team, as had the singing stars who would grace the stage through the evening.
The main room itself was filling up with the audience who’d paid a cool fifteen hundred dollars each to be seated at the tables surrounding the stage and runway. She recognized a few faces from the world of entertainment and business, people who regularly graced the covers of magazines and newspapers. Despite having worked with major stars for a few years now, this level of famous all in one room was a little overwhelming.
Olivia, who looked oh so good in her tight-fitting pants with a silky shirt, was in discussion with Derek on the other side of the stage.
He looked grim and barely glanced at her as they spoke.
Jenny had never seen him so rude to Olivia, and the sight shocked her. Then Chrissy sidled up to them from somewhere on the darkened, far left of the room. The smile on her face could only be described as smug, and Jenny’s senses went on full alert.
Chrissy had been perfectly civil to Olivia ever since Jenny had asked her that day they’d had coffee away from the office. Well, mostly civil. The last few days had been strained, but then they’d been difficult for everyone. But Chrissy had also been overly sweet with Jenny, and with Tamara’s warnings ringing in her ears, Jenny had been more than a little suspicious of Chrissy.