‘I’ll give you old and decrepit in a minute—’
‘Hey! Hold on a second …’ Andrea interrupted. ‘Did you say you’re seeing the Taj in the afternoon?’
‘That’s the plan, yes …’
‘Because I would recommend seeing it at sunrise if you can.’
‘Ooh yes, you’vegotto see it at sunrise,’ Angela chimed in. ‘It was amazing!’
‘They say it’s the only way to see it,’ Suki added.
‘I did read that.’ Olivia fiddled with her fork, trying to push away her building irritation. Didn’t they know how much time had gone into meticulously scheduling every detail of her day to perfection? ‘But I also wanted to do the furthest thing first and work backwards. Logistically, it made more sense.’
‘Screw logic, it’s a Wonder of the World!’ Tracey threw her hands in the air.
‘We’re heading there first thing tomorrow morning if you’d like to join us?’ Betty chirped.
‘No, no, don’t be silly. I don’t want to hijack your plans.’ Olivia tried to hide the mounting tension in her voice, but she could feel the words straining as they came out.
‘Honestly, you’d be doing me a favour, dear.’ Betty jerked her head towards Peter, who was still troughing his way through more servings of food. ‘Company would be a welcome addition at this stage. Helps dilute his moaning.’
‘I may be old, but I’m not deaf.’
‘No, that much is clear,’ she sniped back. ‘Come on! It will be fun. Besides, you don’t want to be looking around by yourself, surely?’
Olivia felt the entire table’s eyes on her face and the flush of heat creep up the back of her neck.
Betty gave her hand a little squeeze. ‘It really is the best way to see it, dear. That’s what everyone says.’
Before she knew what she was doing, Olivia’s head gave a small but definite nod. Her resolve buckled under the weight of their stares.
‘Oh hell, why not.’ Tracey slammed her fists on the table. ‘I’ll come too! We can make a real adventure of it.’
‘Wonderful!’ Betty cheered, before Peter could even think about uttering a retort. His face, however, said exactly what Olivia was feeling. ‘Shall we all meet down here at half past five?’
‘Sure.’ Olivia nodded, her mouth suddenly very dry and her stomach extremely tight. ‘That sounds good.’
‘Good? It sounds better than good, Livvy.’ Tracey raised a piece of paratha in the air triumphantly. ‘It soundsgreat!’
Olivia
Despite her entire body aching with exhaustion, Olivia found herself tossing and turning for most of the night. Her brain was too full of thoughts and her stomach too full of food to settle. For the first couple of hours, she’d managed to convince herself that it was the change in schedule causing her restlessness, but soon even she had to admit a large proportion of her brain was still being consumed by Jacob and his infuriatingly arrogant smile. She’d tried everything to help her sleep, but in the end, she decided the only way to silence her brain was to take action.
Subject:Hello
Hi Jacob, it’s me Olivia. How are you? I wanted to let you know that I arrived in Agra safely, if not a little delayed. I hope you’re keeping well?
Olivia stared down at her phone screen, anxiety spiking as she reread her pathetic attempt at a message. Why was she being so formal?
This isn’t a work client you’re emailing.
She rolled on to her front and started again.
Hey Jacob, I thought it was only fair to make use of the address you so kindly scribbled on my hand and drop you an email.
OK, that’s a bit better.
