Because She Could: The unputdownable debut novel that spans the globe (The Osprey Series Book 1)

by Kaylie Kay

Olivia sat in her car at the side of a nameless street swinging frantically through her emotions. Tom’s face flashed up time after time on her phone as he tried to call her but she couldn’t pick up, she had nothing to say. She didn’t want to call anyone as she didn’t know what to tell them; she didn’t know the full story herself yet, and she felt numb. She tried to replay what she had heard, hoping to realise that she had jumped to the wrong conclusion, but she knew there was no doubt. She kept hearing his voice. ‘I love Olivia.’ So why the hell had he slept with Sarah? The baby. Oh my god, was it his? she thought, realising how deep he had really been in. It wasn’t just a one-night stand, it had been much more.

  Please come home, we need to talk, I love you. Olivia read the text. Just words, his actions said otherwise.

  As Olivia sat there her thoughts turned to Sarah, how she had sat in the coffee shop just the other day and reeled her in, all the time knowing that she was talking about Tom when she spoke about her lost baby’s father. Anger came, replacing the numbness, and Olivia could feel her pulse speed up as she pictured Sarah’s smug face. Then the mutilated face of the bride figure came into her mind and she shivered at the thought of Sarah disfiguring it whilst picturing her own face. Fear came fleetingly, taking her back to the night before and how the box was delivered, knowing now that Sarah had been the one hiding in the shadows, watching her. The lies, how Tom had told her it was a clown, that it was kids, when he had obviously known it was her. What other lies had he told?

  Then came the sadness, and Olivia wept. She wept for what she knew she had lost and for the darkness that hung over her future. She wept for her memories that she was longer sure were real, and the tears flowed until she had none left. She couldn’t go home, couldn’t have that conversation, so she drove as the sun was setting and headed for home, to her mum, the only person in the world who she truly trusted right now to love her.

  The next few days were a haze. Olivia’s mum had opened her arms to her daughter and wrapped her up in a blanket of security, in the way that only mums could do. She hadn’t pushed Olivia to tell her everything, just being there ready to listen to the bits that she would let out here and there. Tom had come knocking but she had sent him away, knowing instinctively that her daughter wasn’t strong enough yet to face him, and telling him to be patient, that Olivia needed time. She slept a lot, trying to escape from reality, not wanting to think anymore, not knowing what to do.

  Eventually the whirlwind slowed down in Olivia’s mind and she started to see through the fog a little. After a week she knew she needed to go back, that she needed to face her demons, and she hugged her mum tightly as she said goodbye.

  Tom was at home when she got there; he looked like a shell of himself and Olivia was surprised that she felt sorry for him. She listened as he told her the truth about what had happened, warning him not to leave anything out if they had any chance of overcoming this. She knew Sarah had manipulated him, that she had set out to get him and wasn’t the sort to fail, but she couldn’t believe he had had so little control. She had come back not knowing whether she could stay with him or not, and when she went to bed that night in the spare room she still didn’t. She tried to process what he had told her, picturing them together in the den, and at Sarah’s flat whilst she was away, oblivious. The lies since hurt her the most, and the fact that Sarah had stalked her, made her afraid, it all made it too hard to just put it all behind her.

  When she got up in the morning Tom was out, and she sobbed again as she packed her things into suitcases, looking around at her home that felt so cold now, so tainted. She took off the engagement ring that had made her so happy such a short time ago and left it symbolically on her bedside table. She couldn’t see a way forward and couldn’t think here, she needed to be away for a while, to go through the grieving process.

  Chapter 56

  Over the next few weeks Olivia was thankful every day for her friend who had taken her in and given her her spare room without hesitation. For years she had been the one that Claire had leant on but now that she was the one who was broken her friend was there by her side, supporting her. Once the shock had subsided, and the pain had lessened, Olivia found herself consumed with anger. It was with her through every minute of her day, almost paralysing her as she thought of what Sarah had taken from her, and she couldn’t shake it off.

  Claire spoke to the airline and it was agreed that they could fly together for the next three months, a buddy roster so to speak, the idea of being on her own in a hotel room with nothing but her thoughts scaring Olivia. After two weeks off the girls chatted as they packed their cases for two nights in Los Angeles, and Olivia felt excited to be going away, leaving everything behind her.

  ‘Can we leave a bit earlier? I need to stop off somewhere on the way.’

  ‘Where?’ Claire asked, intrigued.

  Olivia couldn’t bring herself to actually voice her plan, knowing that it would sound completely mad.

  ‘You’ll see,’ she smirked.

  Claire was still looking perplexed as Olivia came out of the pet shop with two carrier bags, looking completely out of place in her smart uniform, grinning wildly. Olivia put her purchases into the boot and hopped back into the driving seat.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what you’re up to?’ asked her friend, still looking completely confused. Olivia just smiled and drove without saying a word.

  As she pulled up outside of Sarah’s flat she had a brief moment of uncertainty, quickly replaying her plan in her mind before deciding it was completely justified.

  ‘Come with me.’ Claire got out of the car and followed Olivia around to the back of the car. Olivia handed her one of the carrier bags and Claire recoiled when she looked inside.

  ‘What the hell?’ she exclaimed, Olivia just smiled again and walked quickly to the front of the building, pressing the tradesman button on the keypad to open the main door. Once inside she climbed the stairs swiftly, putting her bag down outside Sarah’s door and signalling for her friend to follow. From the bags she took out one container of insects at a time, emptying the contents quickly and quietly through Sarah’s letterbox. She tried not to laugh out loud at Claire’s shocked face as the crickets, and the locusts fell through into Sarah’s hallway. When all twenty-five tubs, each containing upwards of twenty creatures, were emptied the girls ran back out and jumped back into the car as if they had just robbed a bank.

  As they turned out of the road they howled with laughter.

  ‘You are absolutely mad!!’ shrieked Claire, trying to catch her breath, holding her stomach.

  Olivia explained how terrified Sarah was of bugs, and how it had come to her last night when she had spoken to her nephew on the phone about his gecko. The tears that ran down her face now were from laughing.

  ‘Don’t get mad…’

  ‘Get even,’ finished Claire.

  Chapter 57

  Olivia marvelled at how being busy at work made her feel normal for the first time since it happened. The flight was a typical LA, with its mix of hip music types, and the women whose faces were frozen with surgery, lips inflated, acting strangely as the champagne and Valium mixed in their systems. It was only as she lay in her bunk on her break that she shed a tear, getting up again when she realised that laying there was futile.

  ‘You’re back early,’ said Steve, loading up boxes of hot snacks in the galley.

  ‘I couldn’t sleep, too much going on in my head.’ Olivia tapped her right temple with her index finger.

  As Steve loaded the snacks she told him how she had split up with Tom, giving him a brief lowdown on what had happened. They had flown once before, although neither could remember where, but for this flight they were like lifelong friends.

  ‘Will you get back together do you think?’ he asked earnestly.

  ‘I don’t know. I still love him but I don’t think I can forgive him.’ Olivia looked at the floor sadly.

  ‘Time will make that easier, hun, it’s up to him to earn
your trust again though, but it sounds like he knows he made a big mistake so that’s a start.’

  ‘But how can I guarantee he won’t make another one?’

  ‘Haven’t you ever been tempted by anyone else?’

  Olivia shook her head mindlessly, but suddenly a brief memory of Jez flashed across her mind. She hadn’t thought about it for so long she had forgotten that she too had been unfaithful that time. It was nowhere near on the same level of course, but how could she sit so high and mighty, judging Tom, when she wasn’t perfect herself? She hadn’t been tempted since, so perhaps Tom would be the same, perhaps there was hope.

  ‘Olivia?’

  ‘Sorry, I was just thinking, maybe you’re right.’ Ding, a call bell went.

  ‘I’ll get it.’ Olivia poked her head out to see where the call was from, taking a glass of water with her in anticipation of the request.

  The lady sat in 47D scowled at Olivia, or at least she thought she was scowling, it was difficult to tell when her face didn’t move. Her coral lipstick was smudged, spreading outside of the lines of her overinflated lips, and her eyes had that look of being pulled back with the skin that had been stretched taut into her hairline. Her blonde hair was more than likely a wig, sitting too perfectly in a long bob considering how long they had been on the flight now. Olivia guessed she was about fifty, although the surgeries had left her looking much older, like someone seventy trying to look thirty again, the irony of a lot of the facelifts she had seen.

  ‘Can I help you, madam?’ Olivia asked, smiling, pleased that she could feel the movement in her own cheeks.

  ‘I can’t sit in this uncomfortable seat any longer, it is giving me back pain,’ she said in her California drawl.

  ‘Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that but unfortunately we are full today and I have nowhere to move you to, madam. Is there something wrong with the seat?’

  ‘Everything, it’s not fit for an animal,’ she replied loudly, attracting the attention of everyone around her.

  Olivia didn’t have the patience, and walked away. Sometimes she could humour these people but today was not one of those days. Perhaps the lady should have booked a seat in first class if she had wanted something bigger and more comfortable.

  Ding – the seatbelt signs came on.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen the captain has found it necessary to switch on the fasten seatbelt signs as we pass through this area of turbulence. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts,’ came Steve’s voice over the PA. The plane shook slightly.

  Olivia walked to the front of the cabin and started to check that the passengers had their seatbelts on.

  ‘Excuse me, I told you I cannot sit in this seat any longer, I insist you move me.’ Olivia had reached row 47.

  ‘Madam, I have told you I have nowhere to move you to, and since your seat doesn’t appear to be broken there is nothing else I can do for you.’

  ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Olivia.’ Olivia pointed to her name badge. Why did some people think that the fear of being reported would suddenly get them an upgrade or special treatment? Olivia carried on down the aisle.

  ‘Secure on the left-hand side, Steve.’

  ‘Thanks babe.’

  ‘47D wants an upgrade, she isn’t finding her seat comfortable enough.’ They both rolled their eyes.

  ‘No, missy, I am not.’ Olivia froze, reading in Steve’s face that the lady was stood right behind her.

  ‘Madam, the seatbelt signs are on, please return to your seat,’ said Steve firmly.

  ‘Not until I speak to the captain about this,’ she insisted. Olivia thought she detected a slur in her voice.

  ‘Madam, I have told you twice now, I have nowhere to move you to.’ Olivia had turned around to face the lady, trying her best to remain calm and professional.

  The plane shook and the lady grabbed at the galley side to steady herself. Olivia wondered how much she had had to drink.

  ‘I am sure you have somewhere in first class, you’re just lying to me,’ she spat, pointing her bony finger at Olivia.

  ‘No, madam, I am not. We are full, and even if we weren’t I couldn’t upgrade you simply because you don’t like the seat. Now please go and sit down.’

  ‘I told you I don’t like that seat and I will not sit in it any longer.’

  Olivia looked to Steve, unsure in that moment exactly what she should do, wondering if she could possibly force the lady to go back.

  ‘Madam,’ said Steve slowly, ‘I must ask you to comply with the captain’s command to have your seatbelt fastened, now please go and sit down.’ As he stepped forward to take her arm and guide her back she stepped back, looking as if he had just gone to attack her.

  ‘Get the hell away from me, I’ll have my lawyers on you if you so much as lay a finger on me.’

  Olivia had always prided herself on her ability to be in control of her actions, a skill needed in her job, so she was shocked when she heard herself responding.

  ‘Madam, return to your seat now and fasten your seatbelt, or we will have no choice but to have you met by the authorities when we land for being disruptive. There’s nothing wrong with your effin’ seat, now go and sit in it!’

  The lady’s jaw dropped, the most expression Olivia had seen on her face so far.

  ‘I’m writing in a complaint, I can’t believe you just said that to me.’

  Olivia took a deep breath and said slowly, ‘And neither will the airline, madam.’

  Steve pulled the curtain across the galley as they lady walked back to her seat, speechless. The shocked look on his face was replaced by a smile, followed by hysterical laughing.

  ‘That is quite possibly the funniest thing I have heard anyone say to a passenger, ever!’

  Olivia was caught between laughing and shock that she had said it herself, hoping that no one else had heard.

  ‘Oh my god, you will tell them that I never said it if she writes in, won’t you?’ She looked at him pleadingly.

  ‘Of course babe, it’s her word against ours. Don’t worry, she deserved it!’

  ‘What’s going on?’ It was Claire down from her crew rest.

  ‘I think I may have come back to work before I was ready to deal with these people,’ Olivia replied, looking at Steve who was still pink-faced from laughing.

  Chapter 58

  The next day Olivia felt the happiest she had done for a long time. She, Claire and Steve hired out rollerblades and cruised along the path that ran along Venice Beach and up to Santa Monica. They took a break to admire the view at Muscle Beach, as the oiled and tanned weightlifters showed off to their audience, and again to watch the basketball match being played further down. They passed the vendors selling their indie wears from the stalls that lined the promenade, and the people sat outside the cafés and restaurants, all hoping to spot someone famous. Performers showed their skills, with crowds forming around the young boys spinning on their heads along to the music coming from their tinny speakers. For a long time she was so far away from home that it was like another universe, and she wasn’t in it.

  They arrived at Santa Monica Pier feeling a little weary, taking off their blades and putting their flats back on.

  ‘Let’s get lunch,’ suggested Claire, not needing to persuade the others.

  They walked up to the main street of shops, finding their favourite Italian restaurant, and requested a table outside. Despite it being late November the sun was still shining and the air was warm.

  ‘Just popping to the loo,’ said Claire, putting her bag on the seat.

  ‘Me too,’ said Steve. ‘Are you ok to watch our stuff?’

  ‘No probs,’ said Olivia, sitting down in the seat next to the railings that separated the restaurant from the 3rd Street promenade.

  She reached into her bag and took out her phone, taking the opportunity of being on her own for a moment to check it. Despite living apart she still needed to know that Tom missed her, that he still wanted her b
ack, and his daily messages full of remorse and emotion helped her feel less alone with her pain.

  As she looked at the screen she saw that Lindsey had tried to call her five times, and sent a message telling her to call her back urgently, all in the space of the last hour. Olivia tried to guess what on earth had happened as she dialled her friends number.

  ‘Olivia, I’ve been trying to get hold of you!’ Her friend sounded almost panicked. ‘Someone set light to the office and they’ve lost everything.’

  Suddenly Olivia was back in that world that had been so far away just moments away.

  ‘Oh my god, are they ok?’ Olivia tried not to panic.

  ‘Yes, they are fine, there was no one in the office, it happened a couple of hours ago after they had shut up.’

  Olivia looked at her watch; it was two o’clock in the afternoon in California, so ten o’clock at home. She felt relieved that no one was hurt, but couldn’t imagine how this would impact Tom and Pete.

  ‘Is Tom there now?’

  ‘Yes, they’ve just got back, do you want to speak to him?’ Olivia wondered if Lindsey knew what had happened, she still hadn’t told many people, holding back until she decided what to do. Her friend didn’t wait for an answer.

  ‘Olivia?’ Tom’s voice sounded shaky. ‘Is that you?’

  ‘Yes, are you ok?’ Olivia asked softly. Despite everything she still cared deeply.

  ‘Yeah, but it’s all gone, all the paperwork, all the files, there’s nothing left.’ She could hear the despair in his voice.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘We don’t know yet, the inspectors are coming back tomorrow to have a proper look over it and see where the fire started, I just hope we are insured, and that everything was backed up.’

  ‘Surely Keira was doing that?’

  ‘Yes, but I am more worried about before she came back.’ He didn’t need to explain further, he meant Sarah, and it would mean getting back in touch with her to find out.