Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Waking up the next morning, she shuddered at the thought of what the day may hold. Each day with Tyler Brown was completely different from the previous.

Stepping into the office, she first saw Tina who had an unfamiliar expression, almost like she felt sorry for Olivia and tried to ignore her before she might give something away. Olivia had thought the day would start better than this. Tina is normally the friendliest person in the building, always laughing. Something bad must have happened for her to treat Olivia this way. Why does it seem like all my days these days take a turn for the worst, she thought, waving at a frozen Tina.

When the elevator doors opened a thin figure stood in his office in front of his desk, talking to him. She was probably a new client of his, Olivia thought. The figure wore a tight, black skirt, red blouse, Louis Vuitton high heels and golden hoop earrings. Their conversation stopped as soon as Olivia entered. Usually clients did not seem to care when an assistant quietly entered the room; this lady certainly seemed to care.

“Uhm, Olivia, meet Blanca. Blanca, meet Olivia,” Brown said.

Olivia could smell Blanca’s expensive perfume when she moved closer to shake hands. Olivia’s hand felt cold in Blanca’s warm, pampered hand.

“She’s here to do an interview.”

“That’s great,” Olivia said, with a fake smile.

“Thank you, Blanca. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“No, thank you, Mr Brown. See you tomorrow,” Blanca replied.

Anger rose up in Olivia. The sight and thought of this woman made her furious. She could not admit to herself why she was angry.

Walking out the door, Blanca left a silence in the room. A strange silence. Olivia wanted to ask for what magazine Blanca worked for, but that thought was quickly driven away when Brown asked her to schedule meetings for the day. She noticed that he looked at her sideways, without turning his head. Feeling like a watched jewel, she didn’t want to ruin the feeling by looking up. She knew that he would only look away, pretending that he had looked out of the window behind her.

The rest of the day went by as usual. Meetings, greetings and a coffee break with Kate. When her day at the office was over, at the usual 17:30, she could not help but remember Tina’s sympathetic face when she walked by her empty desk. Ignoring these wild thoughts, she went home.