The lavender was in her throat again and she coughed. She wondered if Angel had her ear up to the door.
‘So, could you start today? I have a prestigious client who needs a Diana at three this afternoon.’
‘I, er, well…’ The reality of the situation was finally beginning to hit home. She was about to accept a job with no paperwork or permissions. She had no childcare either.
‘Is there an issue?’
Hayley shook her head. ‘No, no, absolutely not. Today. Three o’clock.’
‘I’ll go get you a uniform and give you all the details you need.’ Rebecca smiled. ‘It’s like Christmas has come early. My first real English employee.’
Hayley smiled. Angel was going to murder her.
23
DRUMMOND GLOBAL OFFICES, DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN
‘I’ll get some more water.’
‘He doesn’t need more water. He’s drunk two glasses in the last half hour. He probably needs a Scotch.’
‘I think I should call the doctor.’
‘No!’ Oliver put his hands to his head. Kelly and Tony had been talking at pace for the last twenty minutes, and as well as the aching in his chest, his head was starting to throb. He opened and closed his eyes, concentrated on the infographic, ensuring the images were clear. He was going to improve on those percentages if it killed him. The irony wasn’t lost.
‘How you doin’?’ Tony asked, shifting nearer the sofa Oliver was resting on.
He sighed. ‘You shouldn’t have come over here.’
‘Hey, one minute I’m talking to you about the power of thought and the next I can hear Kelly here shrieking like she’s a victim onStalker.’
‘I didn’t know what to do,’ Kelly responded.
Oliver observed her pale skin and nervous stance. She couldn’t be more than twenty and this was not what she’d signed up for.She gets seconded to work for the boss for a day and he collapses right in front of her.
He swung his legs off the sofa, ignoring the woozy feeling as he sat up. ‘Go have a coffee,’ he said, addressing Kelly. ‘Then make a start on those dictations.’
‘But maybe I should—’ the girl began.
‘You heard the man,’ Tony interrupted. ‘He goes down again, he’s got fifteen stone of Italian stallion right here to pick him back up.’
Kelly nodded in an uneasy fashion and made for the door.
Oliver looked to Tony, shaking his head. ‘Was that your idea of flirting with her? You scared her half to death.’
‘Talking of that…’
Oliver attempted to get to his feet but sat back down when the effort overrode him. He crossed one leg over the other. ‘I’m fine.’
‘You don’t think you ought to see a doctor?’
‘What’s the point?’
‘Er, to stop you from dying.’
‘Will it?’ He let out a frustrated sigh. He felt so out of control in this situation and that scared him more than anything. It wasn’t the knowingwhetherit was going to happen; it was the not knowingwhen. He’d almost come to terms with knowing his life would be short, but the inability to schedule it in a calendar irked him. If he knew he had two months or two years, even if he knew he only had today, he could make plans. In this limbo, there was nothing to do but wait. It was time wasted. Time he probably didn’t have. And last night, he’d chased a woman through the snow and kissed her.
‘I picked up last night,’ he stated, sighing.
