by Kaylie Kay
There it was again, out of its box in her mind, an image of Jez popped into her head and caught her completely by surprise. Suddenly she felt guilty, or that’s what she supposed that feeling in the pit of her stomach was, and she forced the thoughts away.
There was nothing to be gained by thinking about any of that, she told herself firmly.
Before she had realised it, she found herself standing face-to-face with Sarah again, but any animosity she had felt earlier had gone now and she was almost pleased to have a second chance to befriend the girl. Olivia was uncomfortable with bad feelings and always looked to find the best in people. Sometimes it could make her seem a little naive but she preferred to be like that rather than unkind and judgemental. She had learned that being kind to people made her feel much nicer than the alternative.
‘Hello again, Sarah.’ She smiled her friendliest smile.
‘Hi Olivia,’ still full of excitement and energy.
‘Are you having a nice time?’
‘Yes thanks, I’ve met some really lovely people.’
‘So do you think you will like it here? Don’t you miss your friends and family at home?’ Olivia couldn’t imagine moving so far away from those that she loved.
‘A little I guess but I was home schooled when I was a kid so I don’t have loads of good friends. I’m excited to make new ones here. Everyone has been so lovely to me so far.’
‘And what about work? Do you like looking after Fiona’s children?’
‘Oh they’re adorable, I love them so much, but I need to find another job and get some money soon. I want to visit Europe while I’m so close, I can’t wait to see Paris and Rome, and Berlin. There are so many places I need to go to.’
‘Well it would be a shame not to.’ Olivia was starting to really like this girl’s energy and wondered how she could help her achieve her dreams. Suddenly it dawned on her, just as Tom walked towards them.
‘Hello ladies. Sorry I’ve left you on your own so long, babe.’ He draped his arm around Olivia and nodded a greeting at Sarah.
‘No worries, I’ve been having a lovely time. Tom, Sarah’s looking for some work, weren’t you looking for someone to cover for Kiera?’ She remembered him saying a while ago that his receptionist was due to go on maternity leave soon, but he had been too busy to organise anyone to cover her.
He looked at Olivia and then at Sarah, but he seemed a little unsure, and Olivia suddenly felt bad for putting him on the spot.
‘Have you got any experience in building, Sarah?’ he asked doubtfully.
‘Actually, I do!’ Tom looked surprised, as was Olivia. ‘My father has a building company back in Oz and I’ve helped him out plenty, I can lay a damn good brick wall!’
Olivia and Tom both stood there speechless with their mouths open. This girl had just completely shocked them both. It was Tom who broke the silence when he laughed.
‘Well that was not what I expected.’ The girls both laughed along with him. ‘When can you start?’
By the time they left the barbecue later that evening Sarah had secured herself the job and was due to come in the following week to shadow Keira before she left. Olivia hadn’t forgotten that Sarah thought her boyfriend was hot but didn’t find her threatening now, and she was pleased with herself for being such a nice person, and for helping the young girl out.
As she fell asleep in Tom’s arms that night she had no doubt about his feelings, and knew that she didn’t need to worry about him being distracted by anyone else; he only had eyes for her. But wasn’t that what he had thought about her, and she had been distracted, hadn’t she? She hoped the memories of Hong Kong would fade soon as they were tainting her perfect world.
Chapter 11
Olivia’s three days off passed quickly as always, and by Wednesday night she was sat on her bedroom floor, surrounded by clothes and toiletries, packing her suitcase again.
‘I wish you weren’t going for so long,’ Tom complained as he watched her from the bed.
‘Me too,’ she lied, trying to look sad. Whereas usually she would feel the same, she couldn’t help being excited for this trip.
Bikinis, sun tan lotion, summer dresses, check!
She would need little else in Jamaica, and that was where she would be for the next four days and nights, with Claire, one of her closest friends, and Nicola and Ali. She and Claire had been friends since way before joining the airline and now that they lived on opposite sides of town, it was sometimes easier to get quality time together at work than at home. Claire, like so many other crew, had been unlucky in love. Despite being absolutely stunning with long chestnut hair and a model’s figure, and having the kindest heart of anyone else Olivia knew, she just couldn’t find a decent man. She had recently arrived home from a flight to find her latest beau in bed with another woman, and the one before that had been having an affair too. It was worrying how often Olivia had heard such stories from other crew members, how it only took a miscommunication about which day or what time they were landing for them to be caught out. Good job she trusted Tom as it was almost too easy for these men to lead double lives when the girls were away at work.
She could barely remember the flights that they had flown with Nicola and Ali that had cemented those friendships, but it was funny how you could simply click with some people and want them in your life. Nicola, with her English rose features and flame red hair, and Ali the little ‘pocket rocket’ as she heard someone once call her, all blonde and curvy and so petite she could only just close the hat racks.
They had all used their monthly bid to request this trip as it was Claire’s birthday. Why settle for a night out at home when they could have four nights in Jamaica?! The downside was that they would have to work the flight, and these were notoriously hard, but it was a small price to pay for the treat they would get when they arrived.
It was a welcome surprise when they arrived at the briefing room to find that Julie Margot was the manager on this flight too, since it was unusual to fly with the same crewmember two flights in a row. As the rest of the crew came in and took their seats she began to brief them on the aircraft and the flight.
‘We are on a Boeing 747-400, and unfortunately we are full to the brim today.’ Everyone groaned.
‘But with this lovely crew we can’t possibly have a bad day so let’s just try to enjoy it. Work hard, be nice to the passengers and we will be on that beach with a rum punch in the blink of an eye.’
Her positivity radiated across the room and the rest of the crew, fourteen of them altogether, all hoping that she was right!
‘We do have three deportees who are all escorted…’
I hope they are well behaved, thought Olivia. Some deportees were fine, being sent home for simply having the wrong paperwork or overstaying their visas, but these types were seldom escorted by guards. The ones that were escorted were usually prisoners who had finished their sentences and may have committed awful crimes, and most of them really didn’t want to go home.
Julie continued with a safety briefing, reminding them of the safety features of the aircraft and procedures they would follow in an emergency, and then they all left the room together and started to make their way to the aircraft.
‘I so need this break,’ Claire said as they walked side by side. ‘I can’t wait to spend time with my besties.’
‘Just gotta survive the flight first, hey?’ said Olivia, pulling a tortured face.
Chapter 12
Olivia and Claire stood at the aircraft door as the three prisoners shuffled down to the back of the aircraft. Handcuffed and swamped by guards, they didn’t protest too loudly and were soon firmly placed into their seats. No dramas were to be had today by the looks of things, that was a relief, sometimes they could really make a fuss. The rest of the passengers followed slowly after, with their abundance of hand luggage and lack of patience. The crew were soon busy sorting out seating problems and offloading bags to the hold. It was always a mystery how they made i
t to the departure gate with far more hand luggage than they were allowed, and on a full flight there certainly wasn’t room to store it all in the cabin.
‘Well good morning ladies and gentlemen, and a very warm welcome onboard this Osprey Aviation flight OS657 to Montego Bay…’ And so it began.
It was never going to be an easy flight, these never were, but this flight was exceptional! At the point at which they ran out of chicken meals with ten rows still to serve you would have thought they had run out of fuel by the shock and horror it caused amongst the passengers!
‘We want chicken, we want chicken,’ chanted the Jamaican lady in 53D, whilst banging her fists on her table.
‘We want chicken,’ joined in the passengers around her.
Olivia looked across to Claire and Ali who were on the cart in the opposite aisle and couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.
‘Ladies, please, if I could find any more chickens I would catch them and cook them for you myself!’
The ladies stopped their chant, realising the futility of their protest and found the funny side as the girls had done.
‘Now would you like the beef or the pasta?’ Olivia offered, trying not to sound too much like a school teacher scolding her children.
As she got to the rear of the aircraft she checked that the guards were all ok, and felt a tinge of sympathy when she saw the look of sadness on the face of one of the prisoners. How do people’s lives go so wrong when we are all brought into the world equal? she thought. When she and Tom had a child they would make sure it had all the best opportunities in life and they would guide them to be a good person and to always do the right things. Perhaps if these men had had a better start they wouldn’t have ended up here now, like this. The other prisoner on her side of the aircraft didn’t evoke the same sympathy, as he glared at her with dead eyes, and Olivia put down his dinner tray without a word and quickly moved on.
Apart from a brief hour-long break they didn’t stop all flight, and by the time the seatbelt signs came on for landing they all sank exhausted into their jumpseats, welcoming the excuse to sit down and not have to answer any more call bells!
The flight had passed in a flash, just as Julie had promised, and now for the good bit.
As their bus pulled through the gate of the Sun Palace they all looked toward the bright blue sea that glistened in the sunshine straight ahead. The colonial style main building stood proudly on the left, all whitewashed with its huge arched opening showing off its magnificent interior. A smartly uniformed man stood at the central table to greet them, with the promised rum punches poured ready. They couldn’t get off the bus quick enough, heading straight to him as the bus driver unloaded their bags.
‘Cheers,’ exclaimed Nicola, raising her glass triumphantly.
‘Cheers,’ replied the others in unison, raising their own and forgetting the stresses of the flight with their first sips of the local poison.
‘My room, 344, in an hour for bubbles, girls,’ called Julie as she glided past them moments later, a bellman following her dutifully, carrying her bags. Olivia doubted that they would all have the luxury of a personal attendant, but was not in the least bit surprised that Julie did.
‘Is that an order?’ laughed Claire.
‘Think so,’ said Nicola, equally amused by Julie’s parting comment and demeanour.
‘Well we had better get to our rooms and get ready then!’ Olivia declared, finishing her drink.
Chapter 13
Lying on her sun lounger the next morning, Olivia breathed in the fresh sea air and listened to the rhythmic sounds of the sea. Ali relaxed next to her reading her book and soaking up the first of the days rays. The others would be along shortly; they had gone to play tennis, but she and Ali hadn’t felt up to it this morning after the room party the night before.
She watched the two young children playing on the sand. The waves gently glided back and forth, just wetting their feet before retreating again. Several people were in the sea and she could hear their conversations if she listened hard enough, but she preferred to imagine what they were talking about as it was always much more interesting when she made it up.
She had seen the older couple that were treading water in the distance in the hotel bar the night before. They were clearly wealthy, the lady’s jewellery sparkled too much to be anything but real diamonds, and she had the tell-tale signs of a face that was fighting the ageing process. As for the man, his choice of white linen trousers and tailored shirt on a slim body that belied his years, was something no man without a tan and perfect teeth like his could pull off, and it suited him perfectly.
She imagined they were called Barbie and Ken and that they were oil billionaires from Texas.
‘Shall we go to the yacht to Cannes next week, Ken?’
‘Why sure, Sugar, we’ll take the Gulfstream over, I’ll get Jackson to book it in.’
Olivia was so caught up in the imaginary conversation she didn’t hear the other girls arrive. They were all hot from playing tennis and eagerly undressed down to their bikinis before dashing to the sea.
‘C’mon Olivia,’ called Claire over her shoulder.
Olivia put down her phone which she had been holding idly, and covered it with a towel before joining them for a swim. The sea was almost warm, although it still took her breath as it passed her waist as she walked in. Ali joined them a few minutes later with a glass of champagne for each of them and they toasted Claire’s birthday, whilst marvelling at their surroundings and laughing about the night before.
‘I’m sure Julie and the captain were getting together,’ speculated Nicola.
‘Oh my god, me too!’ agreed Olivia.
‘Did you see how close he was to her?’
‘I know!’
‘Was he still there when you left, Ali?’ Ali had been the last one of their group to leave.
‘Yep, but there were still a couple of the others there too.’
Olivia loved a bit of speculation, it was just harmless fun and provided amusement.
As she dried herself off and lay back on her sun lounger she noticed a notification on her phone’s screen.
Sarah Fischer has sent a friend request.
Who? She couldn’t think who Sarah Fischer was, and mentally tried to recall the names of the rest of the crew, thinking that it may be one of them. She opened the app and selected the notification. A picture of the Australian girl from the barbecue smiled back at her.
‘Oh!’ Olivia hadn’t meant to say this out loud but her obvious surprise had made Claire look over at her questioningly.
‘What’s up, babe?’
‘Oh, um, nothing!’ she replied unconvincingly. She had almost forgotten about the girl, although Tom had mentioned something about her starting at the office soon. Something urged her to look at her profile and she found herself scrolling down through pictures of Sarah’s life. Only there weren’t really pictures of her life, just pictures of her. Where were her friends? She looked at one staged selfie after another, finally coming across one of her with her parents.
Happy Birthday darling, love Mum and Dad, it said. March 12th. A few obligatory Happy Birthdays followed, but none of any substance. More selfies and poses.
‘Who’s that?’ asked Claire, who was now sat on the end of her lounger looking at her phone with her.
‘Oh, a girl we met Sunday, friend of a friend. She’s going to be working for Tom.’
‘Oh, are you sure that’s a good idea?’ She looked concerned.
It was funny, she couldn’t put her finger on why this girl’s profile made her uneasy, but Claire saw it too. There was nothing to tell you anything about her, just that she had parents, but where were all her friends?? Her nights out? Holidays? Just one beautiful and posed photo after another, as if she thought that should be enough information for you.
She looked at her friends list; there were a few, not that they seemed to converse, only to say happy birthday, but that meant
nothing about the depth of friendship.
1 mutual friend, it said – Tom. The unease in her stomach made her feel strange.
Well at least she could monitor her on here, she thought. She tried to brush off Claire’s concern, it was probably borne from her own experiences, and she had no reason to feel worried. It was just a profile, maybe she didn’t like posting much about her life. Some people were just private like that, weren’t they?
‘Champagne.’ Ali arrived back from the bar with more glasses and Olivia put down her phone. Nothing would be gained from thinking too much about that.
Chapter 14
As she sunbathed that day Olivia couldn’t help thinking about Sarah, picturing the girl in the photos installed in Tom’s office, flirting with every man who walked through the door, including him. Whilst she was enjoying her time away with the girls the niggling thoughts in the back of her mind just wouldn’t go away. She was sure, well almost, that she could trust Tom; he would never be tempted by someone like Sarah, would he? It would be better if she was just a brainless airhead though, and not one that could lay a brick wall! She had never felt insecure before, always confident enough in herself to know she was enough for him, and she just couldn’t understand why she felt like this now. Then it hit her, it was because of what had happened in Hong Kong. As she had heard that daytime TV host say so many times, people who cheat are distrustful of their partners. Sure, it had only been a kiss, but she had been tempted by another man, why wouldn’t Tom be tempted by another girl? If this worry and paranoia was a result of what she had done then maybe she deserved it. It was her punishment, she concluded. She had to let it go and stop judging Tom because of her own mistake; he hadn’t done anything to deserve it, but maybe she would just have to keep an eye on Sarah.