‘It is indeed. Why? Do you have a problem with my plan?’
Where should she start?
‘I mean’ – she was trying to be as tactful as possible – ‘it’s all well and good now, but what happens when you get to eighty and you aren’t able to hop around from place to place so easily?’
‘And why do you care what I’ll be doing at eighty?’ He lowered his sunglasses and smirked.
‘I don’t care aboutyouspecifically. I’m just curious as to the logistics.’
‘Oh.’ He nodded smugly. ‘I see, the logistics.’
Olivia turned away and stared ahead at the ocean.
‘Why? What’s your big plan?’ He nudged her gently.
‘In life or work?’
‘Aren’t they one and the same?’
‘Not really. Not to me.’
‘OK then.’ Jacob turned on to his side. ‘Give me your high-level plan for the next ten years.’
‘You really want to know?’
‘I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.’
Olivia closed her eyes and brought to mind the handwritten plan she kept stuck to her mirror in her bedroom. It was something for her to look at every day. A constant reminder of the direction she was heading, and the hurdles she had to conquer.
‘Well, in the next three years I want to get promoted to be a director at work. Then I want to stay for a year before leaving to set up my own business. After that’s turning a profit, ideally within two years, I’ll get married and have my first child, followed swiftly by my second and third.’
Jacob let out a long, slow whistle. ‘Jeez.’
‘You asked!’
‘I know, and it’s my foolish mistake for underestimating your organizational powers,’ he replied kindly, softening Olivia’s defensive edges. ‘And I know you’ve thought these things through very,verycarefully, but I have a question …’
Olivia prickled once again. ‘What?’
‘Where’s the fun?’
‘Oi!’ She kicked him hard this time, causing sand to fly in every direction.
‘I’m serious. What about seeing the world? Or following a passion? Writing a book maybe? Don’t you want to do any of those things?’
‘My work is my fun; I’ve told you that.’
‘And yet you seem to have managed very well without it for the past couple of months.’
‘Only because I’ve had to.’
‘You know what I think we need to do?’ He started to draw a rectangular box in the sand. ‘I think we need to make you a living list.’
‘A what?’
‘A list of things to do that make you feel alive, thataren’twork related.’
‘If you want to do that, you go ahead, but you’re wasting your time.’ She folded her arms and turned her attention back to the horizon.
