Chapter 12: Chapter 12
Even months after Olivia had fainted, Kate still felt the need to remind her to go for a jog.
“Doctor’s orders,” she would say.
So the previous night, Kate reminded Olivia to set an alarm to go for a run. Olivia obliged, but, like every other morning she went for a jog just because Kate reminded her the previous night.
Like every other morning, it took a lot of will power to start but she enjoyed being refreshed by the cold air and feeling the fall breeze sweep through her hair. Her breath always became heavier as she came to the midway stop. Clearly a sign that it was time to take a rest. This was probably not a good thing and why she struggled to stretch her distance.
Olivia regularly saw Blanca at the coffee shop. This day was different though; Blanca was with a man. He was muscular and wore black clothes and sunglasses. Olivia struggled to see any more of his face, because the big windows reflected the little bit of sunlight there was outside. He was also standing with his back in her direction. Deciding to run further, because there was nothing else to see, Olivia continued on her way to her apartment block.
“Ping,” the elevator doors opened onto the city view top floor. As soon as she walked through the doors, Olivia saw Tyler Brown at his desk. Something inside her heart dropped and it felt like it was pumping blood in too many different directions. He held his head in his hands, trying to keep his cool. Usually when something bad had happened, he would quickly adopt his old professional posture as soon as someone entered. Not that day. That day was clearly different.
She walked closer and saw him try to wipe away a tear. She could see a paper full of numbers beside him on the desk with the ink smudged all over. Not knowing what to do with her hands, she placed one on his shoulders which shook as he tried to keep from sobbing. Olivia had only once before seen a man cry; her father had shed a few tears at his father’s funeral. She found it oddly attractive to see Tyler Brown finally showing his emotions, with his dishevelled dark brown hair and tears flowing down his tanned jawline. Never before had he been more attractive to her.
He looked up into her eyes and she could see the rawness of his emotions.
“Golden Holdings is bankrupt. In a few hours the whole world will know it too,” Tyler Brown said, another tear rolling down his cheek.
Olivia froze. Her heart nearly skipped a beat. She wasn’t bothered that the business was bankrupt; instead she was deeply moved by Brown’s sadness. He got up from his chair and stood in front of her, looking deep into her eyes with his misleading, green eyes.
“What now, Olivia? What am I going to tell the others? Most of them rely on their salaries here to feed their families,” he said. “And the person who stole the money is also an identity thief, which makes it more difficult.”
Olivia instinctively threw her arms around him, pulling him to her and resting his head on her shoulder.
“Everything will work out,” she replied. Where did she hear that one before, she wondered.
Pulling away, he continued, “You don’t have to feel sorry for me. You’re already out of a job, if that’s what you're trying to win back.”
“Nothing has changed. I was just ‘caring’, not ‘trying to impress my boss’. Mr Brown, I think you should change your view of people. I need to be somewhere,” she said, grabbing her water bottle and heading for the door.
“Wait, Olivia. I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry.”
Stopping in her footsteps, she turned around.
“What do you want Tyler Brown? You told me to stay and I did. You threw my whole world upside down, turned it right side up again and then flipped it all over again.”
“I know. These last few years nothing seemed to matter to me. No one’s feelings or even a million dollar deal. I appreciate you caring about me,”
“I’m glad that I’m somewhat more than just your assistant. What now,” Olivia asked.
A few minutes went by with neither saying a word. Neither had a solution for the problem. Each solution Olivia came up with in her head sounded more ridiculous than the previous. Suddenly, Tyler’s face lit up with an idea.
“This is going to sound strange, but let’s go to France!”
His face was filled with excitement, Olivia could only show uncertainty.
“France? You’re kidding, right? I thought when people said they’re bankrupt, they meant they have no more money. You sound like a child.” Only then did she realise that he had included her into his planned trip. “Why drag me along to a foreign country when your business is suffering from something this bad?”
“My family has a chateau in France. It’s where I escape to when everything falls apart. Running away isn’t the best, but it helps me clear my mind. There’s anyway nothing I can do here.”
She always knew that Brown had been forced by his circumstances to become CEO of Golden Holdings. He did not want to be the one to ruin the family business after it had survived many generations. So, it came as no surprise to her that he did not feel the need to sleep in the office when something did not go to plan, such as the company going bankrupt. This just was not his passion.
She noticed the dried tears on his cheek and wanted to support him. She would not know how to support herself through such a situation, but she wanted to help him. Except, she wouldn’t run away with him, she thought.
“What’s my role in all this? I trust you don’t need an assistant on a break-away.”
“You’ll be my…housekeeper.”
“Housekeeper! Just tell me straight that I’m just going so I can do your odd jobs here and there.”
Tyler Brown remained quiet.
Noticing the time on the wall clock, Olivia burst out, “It’s nearly 13:20. Kate is probably waiting.”
She grabbed her handbag beside his desk. A strong arm pulled her back. Standing just a few centimetres apart, they looked deep into each other’s eyes.
“You’ll make a very good housekeeper, Olivia,” he said, smiling broadly and showing the contrast between his tanned skin and white teeth. That smile could make her legs turn to jelly. His hands moved from her elbows up to her face. He pressed his thumbs on her cheeks. Her heart raced. She was afraid that he might notice her face turn red.
“I like that your whole body turns red when you’re embarrassed,” he said, moving closer.
“Oh, I wonder how you noticed,” she said, smiling.
He moved even closer.
Her head told her to run and push him away, but her heart refused.
His warm lips touched hers. In an instant, everything around her seemed to disappear. Even the air in her lungs seemed gone. With a single kiss, her heart lost its rhythm. He made her truly feel precious and worthy.
Pulling away, he noticed her big smile. But before he could give her another kiss, she turned and walked out the room, glancing over her shoulder with a smile. A little bit of hard to get will always bring him back for more, her grandmother always told her. She never put that advice into practice till that day.
“Bye, Housekeeper Acker,” he joked, forgetting about his own problems for a while.
“Blanca is at the accounting offices. She will be here soon. Pamper up,” she replied, closing the door behind her and wondering whether he was just using her to forget his problems or sadness.
Kate was already waiting outside for Olivia. Olivia knew she was late, but that didn’t bother her at all; she couldn’t help smiling. Everyone at the office will probably suspect something had happened, because no one had ever walked out of Tyler Brown’s office with a smile. Kate seemed to notice the smile too.
As they walked to the coffee shop, Kate said, “Someone seems happier than she was this morning. That never seemed to happen before. What could’ve changed, I wonder.”
“Kate, let’s not talk about my wonderful day. Did you find something,” Olivia said, blushing.
“Yes, sooner than I thought, but it’s not nearly as interesting as the news I suspect you have to tell me.”
“It’s actually nothing to laugh about. You probably know that Golden Holdings is bankrupt.”
“I saw. I doubt he mentioned that to you or did he,” Kate continued with her teasing.
“Yes. And, yes. He invited me along to his chateau in France as his housekeeper.”
“Housekeeper? I’ve never heard a better excuse to bring someone along to France,” Kate laughed so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. “Is there something else I should know?”
“No, no. I only told you that so you’d tell me what you found out,” Olivia replied as they entered the coffee shop. “Go find a table, I’ll get our orders.”
Kate set off into the back of the shop where Olivia found her when she had bought the coffees.
“Okay. I’ll take you up on your deal. There’s been money transfers into Blanca’s bank account over a regular amount of time and the amount. These fast days it was rapidly increasing. I can promise you that not even a billionaire's assistant gets paid that much.”
“Have you found out who paid her the money?”
“My turn. Do you know when you’ll be back?”
“No, I haven’t thought about that yet. I suspect he’ll want to wait for all the mess to settle down and then disappear. Do you know what Tyler wanted to do rather than work at Golden Holdings?” Olivia asked. Kate looked at Olivia with her arms crossed and one eyebrow lifted above the other. “Oh please, Kate. I need to know this kind of stuff before tagging along with him to some place in France.”
“Well, I suspect you probably already kissed and will be dating soon. So, he might have told you all this himself, but Tyler was a surfer and sailor. He wanted to travel the world. But under the circumstances, his dreams were crushed.”
Olivia felt his pain in a sense. Giving up on your dreams for others must be tough. In her case, she gave up her own love for landscape architecture for something she thought she wanted. But, if he had chased his dreams and I did so too, we would never have met and I would not have met Kate, she thought. It blew her mind that she was already thinking in terms of them being soulmates, when they have not even gone on a date.