by Kaylie Kay
‘Oh, I must’ve got it wrong, sorry, obviously we all had one cocktail too many. Anyway, I thought I’d just pop in and say goodbye on my way to work.’ She walked over to give Tom a kiss and could feel Sarah’s eyes following her. ‘I brought you some lunch.’ She put the bag on the table.
‘Oh, thanks babe.’ Tom got up and hugged Olivia, kissing her quickly back. Sarah didn’t make any moves to leave the room, and Olivia was still so unsettled by what had just happened she didn’t have the focus to ask her to.
‘Sorry, we were just in the middle of something important so I can’t leave it right now, have a good flight though.’ He looked at her earnestly, holding her by the shoulders.
‘Thanks, I will,’ she lied. This was becoming a habit now, leaving with this horrible feeling in her stomach. ‘I’ll let you get back to it, see you Wednesday. Love you.’ She didn’t care if Sarah was there, she did love him, and she kissed him again.
Sarah stood by the door still holding the handle, and closed it behind Olivia almost triumphantly, it felt. Olivia raged, not knowing what to do as she stood on the other side of the closed door. She looked at Sarah’s desk for inspiration and saw the pile of invoices stacked up ready to be sent out, next to her monitor. She thumbed through them, taking out random ones, walking over and putting them in the paid file of the filing cabinet. She didn’t know much about the business but she had done enough filing there to know where these things went. Obviously her first plan had failed miserably and she would need to up her game. Sarah needed to become less indispensable.
Olivia spoke firmly to herself on the drive to work. She had to stay calm, and she had to be clever. Getting herself worked up every time Sarah worried or annoyed her was hurting no one but herself. She had a job to do tonight and she was not going to endure another flight like before where she took her problems with her. She would leave them behind for now; nothing was going to happen in two days away and she was going to enjoy herself as she had planned to, then she would have something positive to tell Tom about when she got back.
Chapter 32
The self-counselling helped, and she felt almost uplifted by her decision to leave her worries at home. It didn’t matter how many passengers demanded tea whilst shaking their head at her, or how many times she had to put her gloves on to clean the toilets, she enjoyed the flight out. It was very much a case of cultural awareness on this route, and she laughed as the newer crew came into the galley time after time saying all of the things she had said herself when she did her first few Indian flights.
‘No please, no thank you just…’ Jamie bobbed his head from side to side mimicking the passenger who had just stopped him and asked for tea. ‘And those toilets are disgusting.’
Olivia laughed out loud and Avanash, one of the Indian crew members, pretended to look affronted.
‘Are you making fun of my culture?’ he said, with the same head movements.
Jamie looked embarrassed for a moment before Avanash and Olivia collapsed in fits of giggles.
‘Try not to take it personally, Jamie,’ Olivia said kindly. ‘It’s not personal, it’s just cultural, they don’t know you are expecting them to have the same manners as us.’ This was mainly true of the older customers who weren’t accustomed to the western ways as much. As for the toilets, this way was bad enough but the flight home carrying all those people with Delhi Belly would be much, much worse, she thought to herself, but she would let him find that out then.
The meal service filled the cabin with aromas of curry and despite no one wanting to go to sleep as she had hoped they would it was easy enough, perhaps because the crew were all such hard workers, and they laughed a lot. They even laughed as they laid cardboard boxes and blankets on the back galley floor for their rest. Sleep was sleep, even if you had to spoon with practical strangers on the floor like homeless people, because the stupid aircraft you were on had no crew rest area. Officially they were meant to take their breaks sat upright in their jumpseats in the galley on full flights, but that was torture, they didn’t even recline.
‘Right, keep guard, see you in an hour.’ Olivia pulled the curtain across, leaving two of the crew posted outside to intercept any passengers, or heaven forbid, the flight manager.
‘We will, sleep well,’ came the reply, and she did, despite the conditions!
It was morning in Delhi when they arrived and Olivia had slept so well on her break she didn’t feel the need
to go to bed. The layover was so short that she just wanted to make the most of it; this hotel was one of the best that they stayed in. It seemed that the poorer the country the more luxurious the hotel they were put up in, and The Grand was exceptional. Her room was huge, and the bathroom hosted a jacuzzi bath and a wet room. Olivia soon put the upmarket complimentary toiletries that she would not use into her wash bag ready to go into the guest bathroom at home. She showered and made her way down in the lift to the vast marbled reception area, with panoramic views out over the pool through the glass back wall. She walked carefully down the polished steps at the back and along the corridor, passing the small shops selling pashminas and jewellery, resisting the moustached local salesmen in their pressed white shirts who tried to stop her, and made her way to the salon at the end.
Jamie was there in a seat when she arrived, waiting for a massage.
‘I’m only here for the happy ending,’ he joked, and Olivia looked quickly around her to see if anyone had heard. It was rumour that the male masseuses would give the boys a ‘happy ending’ to their massage if they paid a little extra, and Olivia dreaded to think whether it was true or not. She never failed to be shocked by people’s things that she heard in her job, even after all these years.
‘Oh, well I hope you get what you want.’ What else could she say?
A small Indian girl came out of the salon and stepped behind the desk.
‘How can I help you, madam?’
Olivia woke up to the girl calling her softly.
‘Madam, you are finished.’
‘Oh, thank you.’ Olivia pushed herself up slowly from the massage table and sat for a moment rubbing her eyes. ‘Sorry, I think I fell asleep.’
‘No problem, madam.’ The girl smiled. Pretty much every crew member that came in here after their flight did the same.
She paid for her treatments and left the salon feeling more relaxed than she had done for a long time. A few hours by the pool would pass the time until dinner, she thought, and she quickly went back to her room to get her bikini on.
The weather at home was turning autumnal and it was nice to feel the sun on her skin once again. She turned the pages of the magazine she had brought from the plane, lazily looking at the lives of people she didn’t know, and scrutinising them. Several of the other crew lay on the beds alongside hers, and she caught snippets of their conversations that made her feel better about her own problems. She could have brought it up, seen what opinions the girls had about Sarah, but she didn’t want to think about it now, she wanted to stay in her happy, relaxed bubble a little longer.
‘Right, I’m going up to get ready.’ Olivia looked up at Sophie who had stood up and was putting her beautiful green kaftan on over the top of her swimsuit. ‘See you girls in reception at seven.’
They howled with laughter as the three yellow and green tuk-tuks carrying the crew raced along the highway. Thankfully there was little traffic as it was now eight o’clock, although with a four-and-a-halfhour time difference Olivia was never quite one hundred percent sure of the time here. The trick was to turn your watch upside down but then the hands never seemed to be on one hour or another so you still had to guess a little.
Back home everyone was at work or driving their sensible cars around but in another brief moment of ‘I love my life’ she appreciated everything. The streets were dark and she watched as they passed a world that was so different to hers at home. Carefree and without a thought to seatbelts and safety they whizzed past, whole families piled onto scooters a
nd cows roaming across the street. Stalls selling their wares were lit up along the sides of the street and people gathered around them after a long day at work. Some would go back to the new apartments that housed those that had found success in New Delhi, others would return to their makeshift shelter with their families, here from the countryside to find work. Such was life here; some had it all and some had nothing.
A swarm of children surrounded them as they pulled up at the restaurant, hands stretched out begging for money. Their white teeth contrasted with their dirty faces as they smiled and chattered away in their mother tongue. It was so hard to know what to do for the best. The government said not to encourage begging, and they knew that the money would go straight back to the man hiding in the shadows, but what harm could a few pounds do? It was worth so much more here. Thankfully one of the crew had prepared for it and pulled out pens and notepads from her bag. They grabbed eagerly at the gifts and ran off happily to try out their new toys.
‘Good thinking,’ the other crew congratulated her, all making a mental note to bring similar things next time, although most would forget despite their good intentions.
The restaurant was dimly lit, with wooden floors and candles flickering in lanterns on long wooden tables. The captain had reserved a table here at The Copper Chimney for ten and the Indian waiter led them up the stairs to their seats, coming back immediately with local beers and bottled water.
‘Anyone for antibac?’ Kim, the flight manager asked. She passed a small bottle of antibacterial gel along the table, as it was more often the bacteria from things that they touched that would upset the stomach here than the food. Olivia squirted a generous portion in her hand and passed the bottle to Sophie, rubbing her hands together vigorously.
She handed her phone to the waiter when he came to take her order and smiled as he took a photo of them all enjoying themselves. She would post the pictures from here as soon as she got back to her room; she felt like she needed to move the ones from Saturday night into the archives and move on. She hated that her life had been hijacked, she wanted to go back to this, the happy life she had before, the good trips and happy home life. If she wanted it then she needed to make it happen, no more hoping or trying to be nice.
Chapter 33
She couldn’t have hoped for a better result. Olivia sat at her desk the following week pretending not to notice the drama that was unfolding between the bookkeeper, who was in on his fortnightly visit, and Sarah.
‘I have no idea why, Adam. You must have added it up wrong, don’t look at me.’
Olivia could see Adam’s neck flushing red around his collar and the normally quiet and placid man was looking at Sarah with wide eyes.
‘Right, I’m going to have to get Tom out here, this needs sorting out.’ His voice was tight, as if trying to hold in what he really wanted to say. Sarah barely looked up; she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong, and geek-type men like Adam couldn’t ruffle her feathers.
Adam disappeared into Tom’s office carrying the books under his arm, closing the door behind him.
‘What’s all that about?’ Olivia asked innocently.
‘Damned if I know, guy can’t add up I reckon. I’m sure it’s something simple but he needs to calm down. Last thing Tom needs though, he’s stressed already.’
‘Sarah, can you come in here please?’ Tom’s shout startled both of the girls, and Sarah looked sharply at Olivia, pushing her seat back quickly.
It seemed like they had been in there ages. Olivia wished she could be a fly on the wall, imagining the moment when they worked out that Sarah’s incompetent filing had caused all the trouble. She wanted to save them the time of trying to work out where the discrepancies laid but obviously couldn’t if she didn’t want to be found out.
Tom emerged some time later and stomped loudly across to the filing cabinet, opening the same drawer that Olivia had done last week and extracting several files, slamming it shut again. He looked at her as he walked back, lips pursed, rolling his eyes upwards.
‘Can I do anything to help?’ She at least had to offer.
His face softened slightly and he shook his head before disappearing back into the room.
Another hour passed slowly before the door opened again. Sarah came out first and she seemed different from the person she had been when she went in there. Her posture, normally so perfect, was now slouched, and a furrow had formed between her eyes. She looked confused, and Olivia could almost read her thoughts, trying to work out how she could make such a big mistake.
Adam came out shortly after, and turned at the door to shake Tom’s hand.
‘Right, glad we got to the bottom of that, see you in two weeks.’
‘See you then,’ replied Tom as he walked towards Sarah’s desk, putting a pile of files next to her. ‘Can you please put these away, in the right place this time?’ He sounded exasperated, and disappeared again quickly to resume the work he had been doing before all of the drama.
‘I know I wouldn’t have done it, sure I wouldn’t have.’ Sarah looked at Olivia for reassurance.
‘We all make mistakes, hon, don’t be so hard on yourself.’
‘But I’ve never done anything like that before.’ She held her head in her hands.
Olivia could see her trying to work out what had happened and hoped she wouldn’t remember the details of the day that those invoices had been on her desk before.
‘Why don’t you get out of here for a bit? Go and get some fresh air.’
Sarah looked at her gratefully. ‘Yeah, that’s a good idea, thanks.’
No sooner had she left Tom came out holding his jacket and car keys.
‘Where’s Sarah?’ he asked, noticing the empty desk and the files still where he had left them.
‘I told her to go and get some fresh air, the poor girl was so upset.’
‘Well hopefully she won’t be long, she needs to sort out the mess she made.’
‘Ah, don’t be too hard on her, Tom.’ Olivia wondered if she was being too nice now. ‘She won’t be long.’
‘Easy for you to say, she hasn’t just caused you a bucketload of trouble.’ He smiled and his shoulders relaxed somewhat. ‘Anyway, now thanks to her I’m over an hour late, I should’ve been at the Ludlow site ages ago.’ He bent down and kissed her before heading out. ‘I don’t suppose I’ll be back before late now so tell Sarah to lock up. See you at home.’
‘I’ll make us something nice for dinner,’ she called after him.
It must have been because she was thinking of Sarah that Olivia slipped into her Australian accent as she answered the phone. She was getting quite good at it now with all the impressions she had done of her to Claire lately.
‘Of course, I’ll get him to call you first thing in the morning when he’s back in the office.’ She hung up and wrote down the name of the man from the council that needed to speak to Tom as soon as possible. He could wait until tomorrow as long as it was first thing, she mustn’t forget to tell him. Although, she thought, it wouldn’t strictly be her that forgot would it, it would be Sarah. She screwed up the memo and threw it into the bin.
Chapter 34
Sarah closed the door of her apartment behind her and walked solemnly along the hallway to the living room. She dropped her handbag onto the floor as she sat heavily on the sofa and put her face in her hands, staring at the grey carpet through her opened fingers. Life had been so calm and good up until recently but she could feel things unravelling and worried that the good times may be coming to an end as they always seemed to.
She had sworn blind that she hadn’t taken the phone call, of course she would have passed the message straight on, she always wrote things down. The man who had phoned though, urgently needing to speak to Tom, had been quite sure that he had spoken to an Australian girl and she was the only one around.
There were the misplaced invoices too. She knew she hadn’t done it, she was too organised, too good at her job. Why would she have put them in th
e paid file before she had even sent them out? She thought hard, going over everything that had happened since she had printed them up, but it was well over a week ago now and she just couldn’t find the answer.
Sarah knew that she wasn’t perfect, and sometimes she might make a small mistake, but never any this big, and never this many. She could tell Tom didn’t believe her though, that he thought she was incompetent, and she worried that he might be starting to think she wasn’t the right person for the job anymore.
She clutched at her hair with clenched fists. Was she going mad? There must be an explanation. What tied the two things together? She knew she hadn’t done either, so who had?
Of course! It was like Big Ben was striking the hour in her head as she realised the connection. Olivia! Olivia had been there last Monday when she was sorting the invoices, and she had been here ‘helping’ again yesterday, the day of the phone call. She must have answered the call in that phoney Australian accent she had heard her use once when Keira was here, and either deliberately or not, forgotten to pass the message on. But the invoices, she wasn’t working that day, so she would have had no reason to file them. She must have seen them on the desk when she dropped in on her way to work. So it had all been deliberate.
Sarah felt her senses wake up. She knew Claire had tried to make her look bad, but now it seemed Olivia had too. Why, oh why did she have to do that? She had tried so hard to be good. Olivia had been so kind to her in the beginning that she had resisted all of her urges to pursue Tom, despite her feelings for him. Now though, she had made it personal. She wasn’t a friend anymore, and she had suspected that for a while, so she no longer had to consider her feelings as her counsellor had told her she must.
‘You want to play like that, you’d better be prepared for the consequences,’ she whispered. If Olivia had really tried to frame her then there would be a price to pay. She wouldn’t get away with it.