Chapter 31
It was ten o’clock. In three hours, Olivia would give one of the most important presentations of her career. It wasn’t the content but the audience. Three of the five people who’d be interviewing her and deciding the next CIO would be watching.
At the tap on the door, she looked up to find Meera. “Just came to wish you luck.” Her gaze dropped to Olivia’s desk and the single cupcake topped with a swirl of vanilla buttercream, dotted with raspberries, and proudly displaying a glitterGood Luckcake topper. “I see someone got here before me.”
“He hid it in my bag. I opened it last night when I unpacked. It was probably left over from Ellie’s party.” She didn’t know why she was trying to dismiss the gesture. The cake topper had been bought specially. And with everything he’d had going sorting out his daughter’s party, the man who claimed to be disorganized had spared a few minutes to do something sweet for her.
“You realize he’s utterly besotted with you, don’t you?”
Thatwas why she wanted to dismiss it. She knew Connor was falling for her, and being entrusted with his heart terrified her. She’d hurt men before, and it had been awful, but how was she was supposed to live with herself if she hurtConnor?
“I love you to pieces, Meera, but now isn’t the time for this chat.”
Meera grimaced. “Yes, sorry, my bad. Go and do what you do best and dazzle the socks off the bastards.”
“You can bet I’ll try.”
Meera waved goodbye and Olivia focused on her presentation again. She was still on the first slide when her phone rang. She frowned at the caller ID and answered it. “Everything okay?”
“Honestly, no. I’m sorry, but I’m in a bind.”
Jessica sounded both stressed and worried. “What is it?”
“The school phoned to say Mia’s been sick and they think she’s got a stomach bug. Nick’s in Edinburgh and I’m down in Brighton visiting a friend for the day. I’m trying to get back, but the bloody trains have a signal problem and everything is showing delays. I hate to ask, but can you go and get her? I know the school will take care of her until I get there but it’s not the same as being at home with family.” Her voice caught. “She’s a tough cookie but she’s going to be feeling miserable.”
Olivia stared at the presentation waiting for her on her computer screen. “Is there nobody else who can help? Ashley?”
“Ashley is in Paris with Aaron. I suppose I could try one of the other mums, but—”
“Mia’s ill. She needs to be with family.” God, she was Mia’saunt. What was she doing, trying to push her sick niece onto someone else? “Of course I’ll pick her up. Is your spare key in the usual place?”
“Yes. And thank you so much, Liv. It means a lot, knowing she’s with someone I trust to take care of her.” She heard her sister’s voice crack. “I’ll be there as fast as I can. I hope you’re not in the middle of anything important.”
Again her gaze landed on the presentation. “Nothing that’s more important than Mia.”
After hastily saving the presentation to a flash drive, she hurried down the corridor to Simon’s office and knocked on the door. He raised his head and waved her in.
“Sorry, I hate to let you down, but my niece is sick and my sister is struggling to get back to pick her up. I need to go.”
He frowned. “Can’t it wait until after the presentation?”
Leave Mia at the school for another four hours, at least? “Can we push the presentation back until tomorrow? Or later this afternoon?”
He stared at her as if she were stupid, and okay, she knew how difficult it would be to ask important clients, the media, to change their schedules, but clients canceled on them. And the media would turn up where the news was. “If that’s not doable, I’ll get someone on my team to cover it.”
“We need someone senior.”
“I could ask Stuart.” Damn, it hurt to say it.
Simon inclined his head sharply. “You do that.”
If suggesting to Simon that her rival give the presentation hurt, it was nothing compared to the pain of asking the man himself. The gloating smile, the overly sweet concern Stuart showed, all stuck in her throat. As did handing him the flash drive with the slides. Her damn slides, all those hours she’d put into perfecting what would now be seen asStuart’spresentation. Stuart, the man who saved the day.
It was exactly why she didn’t want kids, she reminded herself as she dashed to the tube. They deserved to be put first, and she didn’t think she could do that. Not at the expense of taking a step back in her career.
The frustration of missing out on the presentation and the humiliation of asking Stuart to deliver itas a favorcontinued to burn in her stomach right up to the moment she pushed open the door to the school.
But when she saw Mia, eyes closed, looking so fragile huddled on the sofa in the school reception area, all thoughts of work vanished. “Mia.”
