Fight to the Top

by S. L. Gape

  ***

  Georgia heard her phone go. She was still laying on the floor in the hallway, having not moved past this area since arriving. She wiped her face, seeing the message from Julia.

  Hey, how is it? You get there okay? What’s your digs like? Hope you’re ok? Xx

  Georgia hovered her thumb above the keys uncertain whether to respond or not, and decided against it, well at least for the time being. She couldn’t let this control her. She always knew it would be difficult, and she needed to get a grip. It’s a month after all, only a month she said to herself over and over.

  “You will not get beat. You’re a senior director for Christ’s sake. You can do this. Plan one, get these sodding boots off,” she said, undoing them and sighing with relief.

  “Plan two, go check out your digs, seriously, you have a gorgeous house. A bloody hot house as well, she said, fanning herself with the envelope. Plan three, unpack. Plan four, get showered and changed into your running gear and go to the store,” she said.

  “Plan five and most importantly, stop bloody talking to yourself. You are in a different house, yes. But you aren’t unaccustomed to living alone. So, sort your shit out girl.” Oh Jesus, she was even sounding like an American.

  Georgia lifted herself up and dumped the envelope and keys on the hall table. She hung her jacket up and turned the lock on the door, looking to the staircase directly ahead of her. Georgia stared at the double doors on her left. Opening them she walked into the huge lounge, complete with an open brick fireplace and a mounted TV on the wall. She left and opened the door on the opposite side of the entrance hallway, which lead into a large dining room. She followed it around and walked into the extensive kitchen. “Wooooowww,” she said out loud; she walked around the island running her finger along it, there was a double oven, and an American fridge. She opened it and placed the bottle of water in as she noticed the six-ft. wine fridge. These people really did do everything bigger and better. She turned back around, noticing the back garden, she unlocked the door and opened the French doors. It was fully decked the full width of the house with a wonderful built in barbecue, complete with a fridge attached and a pizza oven at the end of it. Bloody hell, this was immense, but the best feature was the pool in the garden. There were three sun loungers next to the pool, that in this moment looked incredibly inviting, as the sun was reflecting off the water. The garden was private, yet huge, and she wondered how the hell you maintain a pool? She wouldn’t have a bloody clue what to do.

  Georgia finally was getting excited. She walked back inside, locking up behind her. She went to the door at the end of the kitchen and unlocked it, but she couldn’t find the light and it was pitch black. Unlocking her iPhone and switching on the torch, she found the hanging light switch and pulled on it. “Holy shit,” she thought, as she saw the ‘assumingly’ brand new electric blue Kia Sportage. She grabbed the key and went and sat inside it; it was beautiful, she thought. There was no requirement realistically to have a car when you live and work in a major city, so it was completely unnoticed that she didn’t have one. The public transport was completely reliable, so why bother paying for something she would use once a fortnight for shopping. But gosh it felt good to be behind the wheel again, and it felt massive. She felt so high up, and when she switched the engine on, it felt smooth. Laughing to herself, she wondered what that even meant. This was all real? She was sitting in her car, in her garage, in her big house, with her swimming pool, listening to a radio station with Americans talking. My gosh this is all so very surreal, she thought. Come on, this was it, this is what she needed to focus on. Be materialistic for a change, George, and live the highlife, she thought.

  Georgia walked upstairs and appreciated the humungous landing, noticing the large arched window on the front of the house with a built-in loveseat. She loved the idea of sitting in the window with a glass of wine, watching the world go by. But seriously, the size of it, it could have been an additional room. Georgia chose the first door and saw a double bedroom, a big one, and she wondered if this would be hers. She looked into the big walk in wardrobe, before opening the next door and walked into a bathroom, where she noticed the marbled double sink, with a toilet and shower cubicle. Walking through the symmetrical door in the bathroom, Georgia was faced with an identical room to the one she had just left. Amazing, she thought. A shared bathroom to co-joined bedrooms. Walking out of the second bedroom door, she left that open and arrived in the next room. She opened that to a family bathroom with a large bath, albeit a very short bath, with a large wet room style shower too. “Very nice,” she said to herself, looking forward to taking a shower in that shortly. There were two doors left, so she opened the first one, and it was a study. Good stuff, she thought. Lastly was the master bedroom. She opened it and walked in. That king-sized bed is far too big for my skinny little arse alone, she thought. Hmm, shame nobody to share it with though. It is definitely big enough to enjoy with a hot woman. Shaking the naughty thoughts from her head. She could do this if it killed her, she wouldn’t let that awful woman bully her out of her career.

  ***

  Georgia’s lungs were burning when she arrived at the store, as she had done virtually nothing since all of this had happened last month. And bloody hell did it show. She could start swimming in the pool each morning before she went to work, and run in the evening.

  Georgia didn’t know how the hell she was going to get back with what she needed, guessing she could get just a few small bits and then drive back later. She didn’t even feel drunk; however, chances are she probably was still over the limit. And attempting to drive in a different place would only cause her to bring attention to herself. She got to the water, which was the main thing. But there were only huge five litre bottles, and she didn’t even know if she could drink the water from the tap. She looked around and saw a woman stood not far from her. She debated asking, but then recalled the complete lack of assistance she had been afforded earlier in the day.

  She grabbed a few bits, before making her way back home.

  Georgia arrived at her front door, putting down the shopping bags and opening the door to her home for the next month, stopping to look around as she heard the shouting behind her. Georgia noticed a woman probably around her own age, maybe a little older, walking towards her. “Hi, hi,” she said, quickening her pace to Georgia.

  Georgia didn’t know what to do, had she done something wrong? Shit, she looked like a right state, her hair would be resembling Bart Simpsons Sunday school, curtain-do right now, after that run.

  “Erm hi? Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, yes. I just wanted to come over and say hi, and introduce myself. I’m Emily Nottingham,” she said, shaking Georgia’s hand. “I understand you are here from London for a year, and I figured you wouldn’t know where anything was and probably have no groceries in the house. Plus, I figured you would be real tired. So, I brought this over. It’s a pot pie, it’s still warm if you want it now. Otherwise, just heat it at one sixty for twenty minutes. I made you some cookies, too. Although, I don’t know if you will eat anything like that from looking at you now,” she said enthusiastically.

  Georgia was taken aback. She had been wrong to tar all Americans with the same brush, based upon Erika’s actions. “Erm…thank you, Emily. Thank you so much, that’s ever so kind.” She liked the way she had accentuated the ‘H’ in her surname. Back home Nottingham, was just Nottingham. More of a silent H. But Emily had pronounced it ‘NottingHam.’ Note to self, remember that.

  “Ohhh, my, you have a super cool accent,” she said.

  “Touché,” she said. “Anyways, I’m Georgia Carson, and yes, I am here for a while. However, I’m not from London, I’m from Manchester,” she said, smiling kindly. “And this right here, oh, my word, smells divine. I’m not going to lie, I don’t have the slightest clue what pot pie is, but I have a feeling I’ll like it. Seriously, you are now officially my new favourite person here with cookies. Ye
s, I like to run but I also love cookies, so it’s all good.” She smiled.

  “You don’t know what pot pie is? That’s funny. Ohhh, shame y’all are from Manchester, I thought y’all may have known Prince William and Harry.” She smiled softly.

  Georgia smiled, unsure whether she was being serious or not. “Listen, this is so incredibly kind of you; would you like to come in for a drink? I have some beers or water,” she asked.

  “No, no I need to go get ready for my Pilates class, I just wanted to stop by and say hi. You need anything? I’m right across the road at twenty-one forty-two. Just there, and if you have any issues with the house, you let me know, and I’ll send John over to fix it for you. We will definitely have a rain check on the beer though,” she said eagerly.

  “Great! Hey, Emily?”

  “Yes?”

  “Sorry, to be cheeky, but, would you mind if I came with you one time to your Pilates class? Well unless I have to be a member. As you can see I like fitness, but it may give me a chance to meet some people,” she said embarrassed.

  “Helllllll yeah, of course. If you wanna come tonight, I can wait for you.”

  “No, I think I may fall asleep in it tonight. I’m jet lagged to hell, plus I have a hot date with some ‘pot pie’ and cookies,” Georgia said, winking to Emily. She liked this woman a lot, she was very easy on the eye, too, which was always an added bonus.

  “Georgia Carson, I think you and I, are gonna be really good friends,” she said earnestly.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “So, what’s she like? Is she pretty? What was she wearing?” Taylor asked her, grabbing a chip from the bowl and dipping it into the salsa.

  “What relevance does that even have?” Erika asked confused.

  “Well, sure it does. If she turned up looking like Mary Poppins, you know she isn’t gonna take no BS,” she said, laughing to herself.

  “You are strange, lady. So, how’s finals?” Erika asked her.

  “Fine. Stop changing the subject. So, what was she wearing? Is she nice or was she a bitch?” Taylor asked again.

  “I wasn’t, there’s really nothing to tell. We didn’t really talk. She asked who I was, and I said the woman you stole the job from,” she said pointedly.

  “You didn’t?”

  “Sure, I did,” she said, ignoring Taylor and taking some more chips.

  “This is your boss, you’re playing with fire!”

  “And…I don’t give a hoot! And ya know what else? She’s not really my boss, according to Mike. There’s no real need for her to manage me, and so I’ll do what I like. And say what I like to her.”

  “You think it was wise to accept it? I mean, I know you need a job and all, but with everything else that’s going on? This woman is going to come over and feel like shit anyhow and then you are going to make her life hell? Surely, if that’s how you feel, you maybe should have told them to stick it from the onset.”

  “Its fine Tay, I’m good. I’m not going to make anybody’s life hell. I need the job, and I need to at least give it a try,” she said sombrely.

  “Alright then, so what was she wearing?”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “I’m just intrigued, to see if she’s stylish or not. Look, my life is filled with nothing but studies, I just want some girlie gossip,” she said.

  “Fine already. Yes, I guess she was stylish. She had short hair, very short. Blond, styled up high on top. Ummm, a little like pink, only it was blond. She was incredibly tall, like 6 ft. maybe. Very slim, a real athletic body. She had white jeans on, high tan boots, and a dark shirt, tucked in. She clearly takes care of herself though. You could see that from her build. Enough for you?” she said, rolling her eyes at Taylor.

  “Sounds stylish. Uh huh, I’m good with that information for now thanks. How about her? Was she okay though?”

  “I told you already, we didn’t really speak. I di…it doesn’t matter.”

  “No tell me.”

  “Seriously, it doesn’t matter.”

  “Erika, tell me?”

  “Well, I do feel kinda bad. I won’t even call my mom. She’ll be really mad at me,” she sighed. “Geez, I’m a grown ass woman, and I sound like a fifth grader!”

  “How so? Seriously? Tell me already.”

  “I guess…she did just arrive, and had no food or drink, she smelled of liquor; I mean don’t get me wrong she wasn’t trashed or that, but you could smell it on her…”

  “Seriously, if the roles were reversed and you got sent to the other side of the Atlantic, you are honestly telling me you wouldn’t feel the need to hammer the complimentary booze? For real?”

  “Okay, like I said she wasn’t hammered, I just smelled it on her. The point was, I kinda feel bad that I did just leave her, and, do not be a jerk now. But I ignored her for the whole ride. Oh, and then we arrived home and she received a call, from…well, the screen saver was of two cute kids, and, well, she kinda looked pretty bummed,” she said sadly.

  “So, you left her? You made her feel shitty when she is all alone in our country?”

  “Cut it out, Tay, seriously, don’t start with me,” Erika said seriously.

  Chapter Thirty

  Georgia lay looking at her ceiling when her phone vibrated. It was two twenty am according to her alarm. Looking at it she noticed the text from Julia.

  Seriously, are you okay? I’m concerned? xx

  She forgot to message her back. Shit, it was late, but she was wide awake anyhow.

  Hey, apologies, I didn’t finish up until late and knew it would be too late. How are you? My digs are sweet, only thing though How are you? It’s ridiculously warm here and I have a pool, it’s stupid o clock and I dunno if it’s the jet lag, the time difference or the stress, but I’m wide awake x.

  Bloody hell, she’s alive!!!

  You want me to call, I’m in work. You aren’t my boss anymore, so I can call the states without you worrying, he he. xx

  No, it’s too late, you should be doing stuff. xx

  Okay, seriously, get a grip. I’m at work, and it’s early, so there’s not much going on right now. There’s no big deal and I can sing you to sleep, haha xx

  Okay.

  Georgia felt the bed vibrate as she turned and saw her office number appear.

  “Hey.”

  “Hi you, how’s it going? I didn’t expect your phone to be on this late.”

  “Don’t worry it wasn’t. It’s on silent, but I was awake. I dunno if it’s the time difference, or just the fear of what I will be walking in on tomorrow,” she sighed.

  “Don’t panic. Seriously, they will love you, just like we do. It’s completely weird with you not being here though,” she said.

  “Well, if they are all like the woman I’m supposed to be working with, then that’s doubtful. And I will be potentially returning home in a couple of weeks.”

  “Wait, what? You’ve met her? What’s she like? What do you mean by that statement?”

  “Yeah, I met her. She picked me up at the airport today. She was…um…in a word, a bitch! So I get here after I’ve been on a flight for like twelve hours, and she’s steely like you wouldn’t believe. I asked who she was and she snapped that she was the woman I’d stolen the job from and left me. She dropped me off at the house, with a key and address to the office in the morning. She told me where the supermarket was, but didn’t offer to stop or show me, despite implying I was a drunk. So no, it’s really not looking good,” she sniffed.

  “Hey, George, come on. You can do this. You are ridiculously intelligent and awesome at this stuff, which is why you have been given the opportunity. Come on, she will come round. Look, it must be like two am there. Go to sleep and don’t panic, and then as soon as you get a break, lunch or something, call me. You can let me know how it goes and we can chat properly?”

  “Okay, thanks for the call, Jules, have a good day.”

  ***

/>   Georgia woke at around five-thirty am, so at least she had gotten a few hours’ sleep. But in reality, it probably wasn’t far off what she had back home anyways. Getting up and changing into her bikini she went to her pool. If all else in her life was shitty, this was actually pretty amazing; it certainly beat getting up and running through the rainy streets of Manchester each morning.

  She really did need to find out from someone today what to do about pool maintenance though. She could probably ask Emily, since she seemed nice enough. Her house was huge, so she could only assume that Emily would definitely have a pool, too. Georgia stepped into the pool, gasping as she did so. It was fairly cold, but it wasn’t completely light as yet, so it wasn’t surprising. She somehow needed to make sure she didn’t adjust too much to the weather, or this would be too cold before long, she was sure. It was only because the UK was so bloody cold in comparison to everywhere else in the world.

  Georgia managed thirty lengths, which wasn’t great, but she could still go for a run this evening. Plus, she wanted to test the car before going full steam ahead into the rush hour traffic.

  Unlocking the garage, Georgia got into the car and switched the sat nav to Walmart, as that’s what Erika had told her the name was. She figured she could kill two birds with one stone; have an early drive close by to get her ready and additionally, go and get some shopping in. It was still early so she would have a bit of time before having to go to work. If she was late, so what? She could blame it on the fact she was not given any assistance upon arriving yesterday.

  Georgia reversed the car out of the garage and her driveway. So far so good. However, she hadn’t ever actually driven an automatic, something else to add to the traumas she thought. She made her way down her road, following the sat nav; and aside from the beeps because of how slow she was going, she was actually doing okay. It said it was only 10 minutes away, so she could totally manage this. She was still pissed off to hell that someone was such a knob. Seriously, who would actually do that to another human, and to a colleague no less. But that was exactly the point. She wasn’t a colleague, she was a nobody to her. This woman despised her, and she was never going to make things easy for her. She sighed loudly, before being snapped out of her thoughts by the beeping behind her. What the hell? She was at a traffic light, why were people beeping at her? Fuck, they were all doing it, the car behind her, and the car behind that. What was wrong? She looked up to the ten ft. traffic light and saw that it was still on red. What the hell was going on? “Oh no, are you kidding me?” she said to herself, as she saw the police motorbike pointing for her to pull over. The lights turned green and she turned onto the street and pulled up behind the policeman.