Her mouth was so dry, her body so hot.
‘Excuse me, young lady?’ A concerned voice rose from the now very blurry faces sitting in front of her. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Yes, you do look rather pale,’ another chimed in.
Olivia’s heart now felt too big for her chest. It was growing in size, and if only she could just find a way to catch her breath …
‘Olivia, do you need to sit down?’ Phil’s face loomed large in front of her.
Suddenly a loud ringing began to sound in her ears.
‘Liv, can you hear me?’ he began to shout.
Don’t call me Liv.
You aren’t allowed to call me Liv.
But before she could open her mouth to answer, the room began to spin, and then everything went suddenly and sickeningly black.
Olivia
‘You really don’t have to come inside with me, Kate.’ Olivia stopped outside her front door. ‘Honestly, I’m fine.’
She had insisted she was fine the second she came to, lying prostrate on the floor of the executive boardroom. Over and over, she parroted the phrase, desperate for everyone to get back to the meeting in hand and let her do her job. But no, apparently she had to be escorted downstairs and carted off in an ambulance in front of the entire office. The mortification was too much to bear.
‘Uh-huh,’ her friend pouted. ‘You can keep on saying it, Olivia, and I am going to keep on ignoring you. Besides, as your designated emergency contact, I have to fulfil my duties and make sure you’re OK. Now, open the door.’
If Olivia weren’t feeling so exhausted, she would have mustered one of her killer stares and sent it Kate’s way. Maybe Kyle would have been a smarter choice as her emergency contact; it was unlikely he’d even answer his phone, let alone dash halfway across London to sit in an A&E waiting room with her for two hours. But her family had alwayshad other emergencies –realemergencies – to deal with. The thought made her heart drop dangerously low in her chest.
‘But surely you need to be back at work? You can’t take the whole afternoon off for me.’
‘Keep those excuses coming. I’ve got all the time in the world to hear them’ – Kate leant against the wall, tapping her foot for dramatic effect – ‘but I’d much rather listen to them over a nice cup of tea and some Hobnobs, wouldn’t you?’
Olivia bit down on the inside of her cheek. She knew there was no way out – Kate was the most stubborn human being she’d ever met – but still … the thought of letting her inside made Olivia feel sick.
‘Comeon.’ Kate fixed her with a fierce don’t-fuck-with-me look. ‘I don’t want to have to rugby tackle you for the keys. You’re in a fragile enough state as it is.’
‘Fine!’ Olivia stuffed her key in the lock. ‘But I’m warning you, it’s kind of a mess in here.’
‘Whatever. We both know that your version of mess is my best attempt at being clean.’
Olivia held her breath as she felt the lock click. Her head was pounding as the blood rushed through her body. This was a mistake.
She pushed on the door and let it drift open.
A gigantic mistake.
‘Holy shit, what thehellhappened!’ Kate’s permanently enthusiastic face dropped as she stepped across the threshold.
Mugs of half-drunk tea and coffee were lined up like toy soldiers on every available surface. Dirty dishes were piled high in the sink, the remnants of meals glued in rings around the edges, as stubborn and persistent as the anxiety that now lived permanently in Olivia’s chest. Items of clothing were flung carelessly on the floor alongside empty packets ofcereal bars and biscuits, the crumbs leaving speckled imprints in the carpet.
‘Olivia, whatisgoing on?’
‘Nothing … I just …’
She stared around, as if only seeing it properly for the first time.
‘Work got so busy and … I guess …’ The emotion was building inside her, pressing against her skin, aching to burst free. ‘I suppose I’ve let things get a bit on top of me, that’s all.’
