Journey’s End

by A. E. Radley

  Olivia nodded and fell into step behind Natalie. “If it’s quite all right with you, I’d rather not discuss… any of it...”

  The last thing Olivia wanted was to dissect the evening. She was already very invested in pretending it had never even happened.

  “No arguments here,” Natalie said quickly. “The less said, the better.”

  “Agreed.” Olivia felt her frame soften in relief. She had been concerned that Natalie would wish to discuss the matter, or explain herself, or worse, have Olivia explain herself. Ignoring the whole matter and starting over was much better.

  “Are you all right?” Natalie asked, indicating to Olivia that she had been silent too long to be considered politely acceptable.

  “Emily has a stalker.” Olivia decided to break the silence with a new topic.

  Natalie stopped, and Olivia had to do the same so as not to run into her.

  “Oh my god, is she okay?”

  “She’s back in London,” Olivia said. “Which is where the stalker is.”

  “You must be beside yourself,” Natalie said.

  “I am. I wanted her to stay home, but she refused.” Olivia sniffed and shook her head. While she appreciated Emily’s independence, it was sometimes very irritating.

  “She can’t change her life because of some nut job,” Natalie said. “Good for her for carrying on. I’d probably be terrified to go out.”

  “She is stubborn,” Olivia confessed.

  “Does she have friends in London?”

  Olivia thought of Simon and Nicole. She knew that her friends would do anything to ensure Emily’s safety.

  “She does, good friends.”

  Natalie smiled. “That’s good. They’ll look after her.”

  “They will. It’s her opening night next week. She writes plays.”

  “Wow,” Natalie said in awe. “That’s incredible. Would I have seen anything by her?”

  “No, she’s still pretty new to the business.”

  “You’ll have to let me know when something is showing on this side of the pond. I’d love to go and see it.”

  Olivia nodded. “I’ll do that.”

  Natalie turned around, and they continued the walk to the office.

  Olivia smiled to herself. Despite the ridiculous misunderstanding, things seemed to be working out. She was actually talking to someone, making conversation with a new friend.

  It was a nice sensation.

  Maybe Monday was going to be a good day after all.

  27

  Monday was turning out to be horrible.

  Emily was staying with Nicole in her penthouse apartment that overlooked the Thames. Nicole was an excellent host, and her home was nothing short of beautiful. But that didn’t stop Emily feeling like she was intruding.

  After she unpacked on Sunday night and spent at least an hour apologising, they had sat on the balcony with blankets and a bottle of wine. Nicole had explained that the police investigation had, sadly, uncovered nothing.

  Extra security was put in place at the theatre as an extra precautionary measure. But, rather than making Emily feel safe, it made her feel guilty for causing such expense and trouble.

  And now Monday had arrived, and the thing that Emily was dreading most was about to happen.

  A team meeting for all theatre staff had been called for nine o’clock. Everyone was in attendance and wondering what the big announcement would be. They all gathered in the first few rows of the old-fashioned theatre, some standing and some sitting, all looking perplexed about the unexpected meeting.

  Emily stood to the side, under the royal box. She looked at her fellow employees, trying to remember names and positions and dig into her brain for anything untoward or out of the ordinary.

  From stagehands to set designers to box office staff to lighting technicians, everyone seemed so normal. She’d met most of them by now, easily able to put a name to at least three quarters of the people assembled. The rest were part-time staff or people she’d yet to come across. She assumed she could eliminate them from her enquiries straight away.

  “Hi.”

  Emily jumped and turned to see Carl stood beside her. She hadn’t noticed him arrive and wondered just how long he had been there.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Nicole said you had a family emergency and had to go home early last week?” Carl fished.

  “Yes. Everything is fine now,” Emily said without expanding.

  “Oh, good. Look, if you ever need anything, even just to talk, I’m here for you.” He placed his hand on her shoulder.

  Emily tensed up. “Thanks, Carl.”

  He smiled and nodded as he removed his hand. She let out a sigh of relief. His very presence set her on edge. While she still didn’t have any hard evidence, deep down she was sure that Carl was her main suspect. She hoped that the very public announcement that was about to happen would be enough to make him back off.

  “I’d like to think that we’re not just co-writers, we’re friends,” he continued, clearly unable to take a hint.

  “Sure.” Emily smiled tightly and turned her attention back to the stage, willing Nicole to hurry up and begin.

  Thankfully, Nicole appeared on stage at that moment and cleared her throat to get the room’s attention.

  Silence fell over the gathering, and everyone looked up in anticipation.

  Nicole stood in the middle of the proscenium. Beside her were two male police officers in uniform. Gathered near the wings were the senior management of the company and some financial backers that Emily recognised from their headshots on the company website.

  “Thank you for all coming here so promptly. I won’t keep you long,” Nicole began. “It’s come to our attention that a member of the company is actively harassing a member of staff. Now, I’m not going to go into details because this matter has now been handed over to the police, and I’m unable to comment on an active investigation. However, I’d like to make it abundantly clear that this company will not tolerate any form of harassment.”

  Emily casually turned to look at Carl, hoping to see a reaction on his face that would confirm her suspicions. But there was nothing. He looked up at Nicole with a neutral, though maybe concerned, face.

  Emily skimmed through the other members of staff, straining to see in the dim lights if anyone was having a nervous reaction. Or if anyone was looking at her. Still, there was nothing.

  “So, I would highly recommend that the person responsible for this harassment ceases immediately,” Nicole continued. “Because I warn you that this isn’t going to go away. Continuing your current course will only serve to make things much, much worse.”

  Emily looked around the audience seats again, hoping for a clue.

  “This matter won’t interfere with our opening night next Wednesday. As we always say, on with the show. But there will be increased police and private security presence over the next few days. You will notice that security will be tightened, and you will all be required to wear your badges and passes at all times. I want to underline how seriously we are taking this matter and to advise you all that we are keeping a very close eye on proceedings. If anyone wants to discuss this matter with me, my door is always open. And now I’ll let you get back to work.”

  There were a few moments of silence while people processed what had been said. A collective murmur bubbled up as people found their team members and left the auditorium.

  “This is so scary,” Hannah said as she made her way through a few people to stand by Emily’s side.

  “It is,” Emily agreed.

  Hannah leaned around Emily and looked at Carl. “Carl, could you leave us alone? Girl talk, you know.”

  Carl looked at them curiously for a moment before turning around and stalking away.

  Hannah shuddered. “He’s so odd. He doesn’t even walk properly.” She turned to face Emily. “Do you know what’s going on? It’s all freaking me out. I hope everything will be okay.” She shuddered again a
nd rubbed her arms. “It gives me the creeps. Will you buddy up with me when we go for lunch? Strength in numbers and all of that?”

  Emily nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

  She’d already been instructed by Nicole to not go anywhere without telling security and to certainly never go anywhere alone. She looked up and watched as people streamed towards the exits at the back of the auditorium.

  Somewhere in the room was her stalker. She just hoped whoever it was would heed Nicole’s warning and back off. She caught Carl’s eye, and he offered her a tight smile. She swallowed before turning away and making her way backstage to talk to Nicole.

  28

  Olivia sat at her desk with her mobile phone in her hand. She turned the device over and over in her palm, deep in thought.

  She looked at her laptop screen. The booking page of a flight to London looked back at her. Alone in the house for a couple of hours had sent her spiralling into a panic. She’d pictured some gothic, shadowy figure in the wings of the theatre, watching Emily. She cursed Nicole for ever taking her to see Phantom of the Opera.

  Now she was in a deadlock between her terror of flying again and her dread of something terrible happening to her wife.

  She unlocked her phone, scrolled through her recent contacts, and quickly made a call. Holding the phone to her ear, she waited.

  “Hi boss,” Simon answered.

  Olivia smiled. No matter how many times she asked him to no longer refer to her as boss, he persisted. For once, though, she was going to give him an order, so boss seemed appropriate.

  “I need you to keep an eye on Emily,” she said without preamble.

  “She already has a stalker problem,” he replied.

  Emily had told Olivia that she had sworn Simon and Sophie to secrecy on pain of death. So Olivia had called him over the weekend to advise him that she knew of the situation and to offer her eternal gratitude to him for caring for her.

  She stood and started to pace. “You know what I mean. You’re not a stalker, you’re a friendly face. Someone I trust.”

  “You trust Nicole. And the extra security. And the police. I’m not sure what good I’d be… Ah. I see.” Simon chuckled. “You’re banned from calling them anymore, aren’t you?”

  Olivia bristled at how quickly Simon had come to the correct conclusion.

  “No,” she lied. “I’ve… decided to limit my contact.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And I’d feel much better if you were there.” Olivia aimed for sweet talking.

  “Well, I have a business to run, remember? And I’m not in the same part of town. It’s not like she’s five minutes away.”

  Olivia paused in her pacing and pinched the bridge of her nose. She’d known that ordering Simon to the theatre wasn’t going to be viable, but something had pushed her to try.

  “I can’t stop worrying,” she admitted.

  “I know,” he sympathised. “I’m concerned, too. But I remind myself that she is surrounded by people. She’s smart, she won’t do anything stupid, and she has Nicole watching out for her.”

  “But, this person—”

  “Olivia,” Simon stopped her from continuing. “Listen. I know you’re worried, I get that. I’d be the same if it were Sophie. But the truth is that there is nothing you can do. You need to let the security officers and the police do their job. And you need to let Emily make her own decisions. This guy is causing a huge disruption for Emily and that must be making her feel awful. You need to make her feel better. That’s your job. Keeping her safe, that’s the security officers job.”

  Olivia leaned against the window frame and looked out at the garden. She hadn’t considered that before. As a wife, she had responsibilities.

  Just like at work. She had tasks she had to complete, some of those were obvious and some of them were not quite so.

  She remembered the dreaded annual staff evaluations. The computerised system produced several charts showing if people had met their objectives and asked Olivia to rank them on many criteria that she felt ill-equipped to distinguish. Working well with others, problem-solving skills, social skills, communicating with senior staff. It all seemed like such a mess of questions, and she often ended up leaving Simon to fill in most of the details.

  Now the whole thing was starting to make a little more sense. The ability to produce a flawless set of tax returns wasn’t the only task that she expected her taxation manager to be able to complete. There was a complicated web of interpersonal skills and tasks that went hand in hand with the job.

  She wondered how she had missed out on such an obvious thing during her years of management. It was only now hitting her in the face as a wife and mother. She needed to view the things she did as tasks and objectives and evaluate herself. If she was failing in an area, she needed to figure out a way to improve.

  “Olivia?” Simon asked at the long silence.

  “You’re right,” she agreed. “It is my job to make her feel better. And I’ve probably been making her feel worse. She not only has the worry of the situation, but she has to worry about my own fear.”

  “Exactly. Honesty is really important, but sometimes it’s important to be strong for your partner, even if you don’t feel it.”

  “You’re right,” she repeated.

  “When is she home this week?”

  “Friday evening.”

  “That’s not long, it’s Wednesday already.”

  “I just don’t like her not being here,” Olivia confessed. “I know it’s necessary. But I don’t like it.”

  “Mm,” Simon said noncommittally.

  “What?” Olivia asked.

  “Nothing. You’ll figure it out.”

  Olivia frowned. She wasn’t sure if he meant that she’d figure out a solution, or if she’d figure out what he was discreetly referring to.

  “I have to go,” he said. “I have a telephone conference to prepare for.”

  She decided she would have to figure it out, whatever it was.

  “Okay, thank you for the pep talk,” she said. “It feels like old times.”

  “It does,” he agreed. “I miss them.”

  “So do I,” she said.

  They said goodbye.

  Olivia walked over to her desk and put her mobile phone in the giraffe-shaped holder that Henry had got her for her birthday. At least, Emily said that it was Henry’s idea. Olivia was fairly sure that it was Emily’s idea of a joke, but the joke was on her. The giraffe’s arms held the device perfectly.

  29

  “So, this is where you and Olivia used to have lunch?” Emily asked Nicole as two waiters pulled out their chairs and invited them to sit down.

  “Yes, more Olivia’s style than mine, I do admit.” Nicole sat down. “But it is delightfully out of the way of the theatre. We can talk freely here.”

  Emily looked at the array of cutlery and glassware on the thick cloth-covered table in front of them. It was very Olivia, all the luxuries that she assumed she wanted but didn’t actually enjoy.

  “I take it that there haven’t been any further incidents?” Nicole asked as she picked up the linen napkin and placed it on her lap.

  Emily repeated the move and shook her head. “No, nothing. Part of me is relieved, but part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

  “I don’t blame you. It would be nice to think that it’s all over with, but until we can identify who it was and speak directly to them, I won’t feel comfortable.”

  “Neither will I,” Emily agreed. “Just because nothing has happened this week doesn’t make me feel any safer. And I feel so bad about putting you out.”

  Nicole waved away her concerns. “You’re not putting anyone out.”

  “I’m staying in your apartment,” Emily pointed out.

  “I love company.”

  “You hate company,” Emily countered. “Remember that your best friend is my wife.”

  “Well, that’s true. But I like having yo
u staying over. You haven’t mocked my Netflix list, you like cooking shows, and you clean before the cleaning lady comes… which is adorable, by the way.”

  “I spilled toothpaste on the sink,” Emily said for the third time.

  “Adorable,” Nicole repeated with a grin. “But seriously, I like having you stay with me. I’m not doing it because I feel I must, or because Olivia will garrotte me if I don’t. I’m doing it because I am responsible for you, and you don’t seem to be safe at the two hotels we’ve picked so far. If I really didn’t want you to stay with me, then I would have shipped you off to a private apartment with a chap from security to watch over you.”

  Emily looked at her and could see the truth in her eyes. It didn’t stop her feeling guilty about putting Nicole out and the extra cost to the theatre company.

  “Good afternoon,” the tuxedoed waiter approached their table and addressed them. “Would you like to see the wine menu?”

  “Yes, please,” Nicole said.

  “Just water for me,” Emily replied.

  Nicole looked at her. “Actually, you’ll want a glass of wine with lunch.” She turned to the waiter. “We’ll have the Château Pesquié, please.”

  He nodded, took the menu back, and turned away to fetch the bottle. Emily furrowed her brow and looked at Nicole with concern.

  “Why am I day drinking?” she asked. She’d had to cancel lunch with Hannah once Nicole had asked to speak to her. Hannah’s disappointed reaction had made her feel guilty and now she was certain that she was about to feel much worse.

  “It’s nothing terrible,” Nicole attempted to reassure. “But it is something I need to make you aware of, something we need to discuss.”

  “You’re not reassuring me.”

  “When we first talked about you coming to work for us, we agreed to employ you as a writer to help you see how things work, so you have more experience of the industry.”

  Emily could feel the room heating up and started to panic. “Am I fired?”

  Nicole blinked in surprise. “I literally just said it’s nothing terrible.”