Chapter 9: Chapter 9

She woke up at 7:00 when her alarm went off. She intended to go jogging that morning; unfortunately, she hated working out, especially jogging. It took a lot to convince herself to set the alarm early for a morning jog. She told herself that, even though she despised doing it, she always loved the feeling of accomplishment whenever she had finished. Running about a mile is also not much and she needed to run off all the spreads and homemade bread she ate back home. Pulling herself out of bed, she tried implementing positive thoughts rather than thinking about the hardest parts of the route.

She got dressed and started her route. She ran around a big block of apartments and past a few shops and restaurants. In the middle of her run, she stopped for a few seconds to take a breath. She always aimed to run without stopping once, but this had never been achieved. As usual, she ended her route in front of a coffee shop, where she bought herself a cup of coffee. It’s the only coffee shop she visited besides Rose’s Coffee Shop. Something to spoil myself after a long run, she thought.

When she entered the shop, a familiar figure turned around and looked at her. The previous day she hoped that she would never again have to see the figure again, Golden Holdings’ offices were quite large, after all. But, here Blanca was, at the front of the ordering counter.

“Olivia, nice to see you again,” Blanca said sarcastically. “Do you maybe know what type of coffee Mr Brown prefers?”

“He loves a latte,” Olivia quickly responded, knowing that Tyler Brown despised lattes. She had made that mistake once, and never again. “Why,” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Uhm, you know, it’s my way of thanking him. And I want to keep a good impression,” said Blanca.

For an interview for your fancy magazine you probably work at? Or is it only to get your hands on him? Olivia wanted to ask.

You sure do make an impression, Olivia thought. Her skirt was even tighter than the previous day and her blouse’s V-neck got even bigger; she clearly undid a few more buttons.

“I hope I see you around. Enjoy your day,” Olivia replied, too consumed with her own thoughts to even buy a coffee. That rarely happened. To be precise, it never happened.

Later that morning, Olivia walked into Brown’s office. Not again, she thought. There sat Blanca, in the left leather chair. Olivia’s chair.

As Olivia walked closer, Brown looked concerned.

“Before you sit, I need to officially announce something,” he said, before pausing for a few seconds. “Blanca Williams here will be my assistant too. You two will be working together. She’ll take all the important calls, while you, Olivia, will manage my schedule. She’s had many years’ experiences, working with people like Jack Roselli.”

Silence fell over the room. Just seeing the woman made Olivia uneasy and the fact that she had worked for other important people, assuming Jack Roselli is a millionaire too, just added to it.

The one person I wished never to see again I now have to work with? He doesn’t think I can handle this job on my own? Wasn't she just an interviewer from a magazine? Her mind raced as the puzzle pieces started falling into place. That’s why Tina couldn’t even look at me yesterday. That’s why he wanted me to “take a break”. To give her a chance. Why is this surprising me?

Seeing that she was about to run out of the office as she normally did, he offered her a seat by pulling out the right leather chair in front of his desk.

“No. I prefer my usual chair where I take your notes,” said Olivia seriously, looking over to where Blanca was sitting. Olivia couldn’t control herself, she threw her shaking hands in the air like a dear that barely dodged a bullet.

Blanca quickly jumped out of the chair, declaring, “There’s some calls I need to make. Mr Brown, if you will excuse me.”

Nodding, Brown said,“Dismissed.”

Blanca walked out of the room like a Victoria Secret model, swaying her hips way too much from side to side.

Something about Blanca didn’t seem right. Olivia had never met an assistant with expensive shoes and perfume like that before. Assistants usually couldn’t afford such luxuries and never wanted to attract too much attention to themselves. That was clearly not true about Blanca. She didn’t seem to care; her whole outfit was most likely more expensive than Tyler Brown’s suit. There was something strange about her; something Olivia couldn’t place.

By the time Blanca had exited the room, Olivia was already sitting in her usual leather chair. She felt she had at least gained ownership of it. Brown was leaning against the front of his desk as usual.

“You know that chair is still my property,” he asked.

This was enough to make Olivia burst.

“Well, this chair seems to be the only stable thing in my job here, Mr Brown,” she said, trying to keep her voice low. “Now I finally know the real reason why I was sent on a ‘vacation’. I thought I could trust your honesty, sir.”

Brown was clearly shocked. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could see a latte at the corner of his desk. It seemed to be untouched.

For the rest of the day, she tried avoiding Brown. Around every corner, she first looked before she made a turn. She knew he wanted to apologise to her, but she just didn’t want to hear it. Just as she was called into his office to hand over the next day’s schedule, a moment she was already dreading, she received a phone call from her mother.

Renee was hysterical. Throughout the stream of unintelligible crying and pointless explaining, Olivia managed to make out three words. Three words that made her heart sink.

“Gran passed away.”

Nothing could have prepared her for hearing those three words. Not even the demotion.

Those three words made the phone slide out of her hand and fall to the floor. Those three words changed her life in an instant.

“Hello! Olivia,” her mother’s voice came over the speaker of her phone on the ground, as Brown walked out of his office to look for her.

Frozen, Olivia just stood in front of Tyler Brown. He could see her distress and, unsure of what to do, held Olivia close to his strong chest. Professionalism be damned. Tears rolled down her cheeks, wetting his white buttoned shirt. It felt like everything stopped. She was only aware of the warmth of someone’s embrace.

The sadness quickly turned into anger.

“I'm done,” she said as she was walking out.

“Olivia. Stop! Don’t do this,” he said, trying to catch up.

“Do what? You just lied to me to get rid of me. For what?”

A sob escaped her and tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt lightheaded. Her legs couldn’t keep up with her speed, and her mind stopped focusing. Soon, everything turned black, as she fell into Tyler Brown’s arms. Unaware of her surroundings.

“Oh no! Oh no,” he screamed, as he laid Olivia on the ground, shaking her.

When that didn’t work after a while, he grabbed a glass of ice water from the nearest desk and threw it in her face. Gasping for breath from the shock of the cold water, Olivia tried to come up, but was soon pushed to the ground by Brown.

“Stay down. I’m calling an ambulance.”

Looking up into his face just felt natural. Something she hadn’t much experience with.

“I only passed out. I didn’t have a heart attack. I'm leaving, Mr Brown!”

She tried to fight his unbreakable grip on her arms.

“Your pulse is exceptionally low, and you were out for almost a minute.”

“Yes, doctor,” she replied, sarcastically.

He smiled.

While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, he stayed by her side in silence. It felt like the longest time. Only when the ambulance finally arrived and they were inside did he decide to confess how he really felt.

“I want you to stay. Olivia I...”

Her heart still felt numb, even after hearing something she had wanted to hear for a long time. Her grandmother’s death took a big piece of her heart. A piece of true love and caring that needed to be replaced soon or there would always be a void in her heart.

“I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye,” she said, suddenly bursting into tears again.

For the first time, she shared her feelings and realised that trying to stay strong on her own won’t help any more.

He took her hand in his as he sat beside her in the ambulance, trying to help her carry life’s emotional weights.