I would always rather be happy than dignified
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Oliver was at his desk, speaking testily into his mobile. ‘I know the price is inflated. Just get the necessary drawn up. I want to acquire it before they do, you understand?’ Oliver paused. ‘Not my problem.’ He ended the call as abruptly as he did most things and turned to his laptop.
With a last look at the beautiful morning outside, Anna paused by his desk.
‘Morning.’
He grunted a response, as was his habit, and Anna sat at her desk, picked up the latest pile of amended notes and set to work.
Oliver had his head down, scribbling into his notebook, and apart from swearing under his breath every time the desk phone rang, said nothing for the first hour. When it rang for the fourth time, however, he dropped the pen on the desk and his head into his hands, and Anna got to her feet.
‘Perhaps if you answered it the first time, they wouldn’t keep trying to reach you. Don’t you have an answerphone you can set it to?’
Slowly he raised his head and turned to look at her. ‘If they leave a message, they will assume I have received it.’ Oliver gestured towards the desk phone. ‘I prefer it this way. Besides, if they don’t have my mobile number, they’ll be someone I don’t want to talk to.’
The phone stopped ringing again.
‘Yes, but surely…’
He raised a hand. ‘Fine, fine. You answer it next time. I’m not here.’
Anna turned her attention back to her typing, but she’d barely edited the next paragraph when the phone started up again.
A growling noise emanated from Oliver, and she hurried over to his desk and picked up the receiver.
‘Good morning, Anna speaking.’
‘Put him on the bloody line, whoever you are.’
‘May I ask who’s calling, sir?’ Anna assumed her best professional manner.
‘No, you damn well can’t. Now put him on.’
‘I’m afraid, sir, if I don’t know who is calling, I’m unable to put you through.’
Anna looked out of the window at the expanse of sea and sky as she tried to shut out the swearing on the other end of the line.
‘Goldsworth, okay? It’s Gerard Goldsworth, from Pattison’s Rural Estates. Now put him on. I know he’s there, and I want to know what the bloody hell he thinks he’s up to.’
Anna picked up Oliver’s pencil and scrawled the name on his pad, and he shook his head.
‘Sorry to keep you, sir. It seems Mr Seymour is unavailable.’
When the indignant man had finished his tirade and ended the call, Anna replaced the receiver, eyeing the connection point on the wall.
‘Would you like me to remove this?’ She studied Oliver’s untidy desk. ‘What about your mobile? Should we put that somewhere else too, so you don’t get interrupted when you’re writing?’
Expecting nothing more than another grunt, Anna started when Oliver tossed his notepad onto the desk and turned his head to look at her. Was he mad at her for the suggestion? He’d made it all too clear she was here to work on his manuscript and nothing more.
‘I’m not writing.’
Expansive as ever. However, Anna was relieved his grumpiness this morning didn’t seem to extend to her. After all, she didn’t know what had made him fire the previous typist.
Oliver tapped the notepad with his finger. ‘Making notes.’ He got to his feet and Anna took a step back. ‘Move the phone out.’
‘And your mobile?’
He picked up his jacket from the back of the chair. ‘I only switch it on if I think someone important might get in touch.’
‘But how do people contact you? I mean, you must have someone wanting to liaise with you over the book? Work and things?’
Oliver draped his jacket over his arm and turned for the door. ‘Not my problem. They’ll find a way if need be.’
‘But Oliver, you said you wanted to go through the next chapter. Where are you going?’
He paused, his back still to her. ‘I’m taking part in a flash mob.’
What? Anna opened her mouth, but no words came.
Glancing back over his shoulder, Oliver shook his head at her. ‘Do you believe everything you’re told, however unlikely?’
Anna smiled begrudgingly. ‘You were joking.’
He turned away again. ‘I’ve got an appointment in town.’
‘But when will you be back?’
‘When I’m ready.’
With that, he left the room, and Anna released a frustrated breath. He was a nightmare!
Despite his brusque manner overall, though, Anna continued to enjoy her afternoons working with Oliver. On the one hand, the typing didn’t really require her to use her brain too much, which meant she could be completely absorbed by the content. For all his abruptness, Oliver had a way with written words that astounded her.
His book could have been dry as dust, but somehow, he managed to present fact almost as though it were fiction, and Anna soon found herself looking for his previous works and lapping them up. She had no intention of telling him, of course. She’d either get no response, the habitual raising of one brow, or a snub.
When she walked into the office the following day, Oliver was on his mobile again, and Anna dropped her bag by her desk and walked over to stroke Thumper, Mrs Clegg’s elderly cat. Dougal, the resident dog, was nowhere to be seen.
‘I want the contract signed by the end of this week or I’m pulling out.’
Anna rolled her eyes at Thumper, who ignored her and tucked her head back down, and she walked back to her desk, unbuttoning her coat.
‘So, get it sorted.’
Oliver ended his call and dropped his phone onto the desk. He ran a hand through his hair, not recommended for someone with such a short cut. He looked like a disgruntled hedgehog.
Hiding her smile, Anna dropped into her seat and picked up where she’d left off the day before. Oliver tapped away on his keyboard again, and she was soon lost in her work, and before she knew it, Mrs Clegg had come in with a tray of much-needed coffee and the post.
‘Now you make sure you drink that while it’s ’ot, Master Oliver,’ she chided him as she poured him a drink. She walked over and placed a saucer of water next to Thumper, who raised her head briefly, ignored it and went back to sleep.
‘Shall I give the post to Anna?’
Anna walked over to help herself to coffee from the tray, holding out her hand for the post as she passed, but Oliver swung around in his chair and eyed Anna with surprise, as though he hadn’t realised she’d arrived.
‘No, I’ll take it.’
Mrs Clegg handed it to him, winked at Anna and left the room. Returning to her desk, the warm mug in her hands, Anna read through what she’d typed. She sipped at her drink, conscious of Oliver opening his letters. It would be nice if, now and again, he shed his cloak of inscrutability. Anna choked back a laugh. It made him sound like a moody Harry Potter!
‘Did you say something?’
Anna turned around in her seat. ‘No, nothing.’
A grunt was the only response. Oliver’s attention was on the letter he held, and he got to his feet, reaching for his mobile, and left the room.
The rest of the afternoon fled by in a similar pattern, with Anna making great strides in her typing and Oliver seemingly exasperated by someone who wasn’t sorting a contract as quickly as he’d like. Was he signing up for another book deal?
Anna glanced at her watch soon after five, then started as Oliver loomed at her side.
‘You’d better go. You’ve been staring at the screen for too many hours as it is.’
Surprised, Anna looked up at him. ‘But it’s what I’m here for.’
‘You’re not here to ruin your eyesight. Go and get some fresh air. I need to go out.’
‘Can I do anything to help?’
Anna gestured towards the pile of post on his desk, only some of which he’d opened. Oliver said nothing for a moment, and she fidgeted under his scrutiny.
‘I doubt it.’
No ‘thank you for the offer’ then? Anna blew out a frustrated breath as he turned away.
By the time she’d logged out, donned her coat and said goodbye to Thumper, who’d now been joined by Dougal, Oliver was still staring at his cluttered desk.
She should simply say goodbye and leave. So why hesitate? There was a hint of dejection about his shoulders, something not quite right with his demeanour, and Anna stepped towards him.
‘Er, Oliver?’
She’d expected zero response, but he swung around to face her. ‘Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?’ His expression wasn’t encouraging, but Anna drew in a quick breath, then let her words out in a rush. ‘I have plenty of time on my hands. If you need help with anything else… I’m good at admin, and it would free you up to focus on your work more. I don’t know how you find anything.’ She gestured at the chaos on the desk, then raised her eyes to his. ‘I don’t mean to interfere.’
‘You don’t?’ Oliver raised the habitual sardonic brow, and Anna wished she’d left when she’d had the chance. The man was impossible!
‘Sorry. Just thought I’d offer. I’ll leave you to it.’
She hurried from the room and sped down the stairs, grateful to soon be outside and inhaling the cool March air. Clouds had built up over the afternoon, and it looked like rain, so she turned her steps towards the town and was soon on the ferry bobbing across the cove. Not really the weather for a walk; she’d curl up with her latest read and Heathcliff, and try to forget the assessing look Oliver had thrown her as she left the room and why it had made her feel flustered.
Oliver was at a meeting in Bristol the following day, and Anna continued with her work, methodically transferring his edits to the file, typing up a new chapter – Oliver preferred to write longhand – then sitting back to enjoy reading the text. She chattered intermittently to Dougal and Thumper and welcomed the interruption of Mrs Clegg with some afternoon tea and biscuits around three. It was peaceful now the phone had been moved out and Oliver’s mobile wasn’t going off all the time.
Anna mulled over what Oliver had said, that he only switched it on if he expected a message or call from someone important; it had been on a lot this last week. Was it to do with this contract? He’d mentioned his agent. Perhaps it was her, trying to contact him. Poor woman.
Her phone rang.
‘Hey, Nicki, hi!’
‘So sorry to call you at work, Anna, but I need to ask a quick favour. Any chance – and please say if you can’t – you could have the boys one weekend in May?’
‘Yes! Yes, of course!’ Anna smiled widely. Nicki’s boys were lovely. A tad mischievous, but good company. ‘Where are you going?’
‘One of my oldest mates is getting married. Wasn’t sure we could go, but Hamish reckons he can risk a couple of days off, and I can rearrange my shifts, but there are only two rooms left in the hotel we want to stay in, so I need to get it booked.’
Anna was about to respond when the door opened and Oliver walked in.
‘Oh! I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.’
‘Change of plan.’ Oliver threw his coat on a chair and sat down, pulling the post towards him, and Anna walked over to the window, lowering her voice.
‘Sorry, Oliver just came back. Go for it, Nic. Let me have the dates when I next see you.’
‘What if you’re full with guests?’
Anna shook her head even though Nicki couldn’t see it. ‘I’ve not made much progress yet – I doubt I’ll be up and running until summer.’
Pocketing her phone, Anna glanced over at Oliver. He was engrossed in his post, and she settled back at her desk, excited already for May. Having Liam and Jason to stay would be fun.
By the time the Easter weekend arrived, Polkerran Point bustled with activity. With the schools already on holiday across the country, the visitors had begun to arrive, and all the small businesses were putting finishing touches to their hanging baskets and window displays.
Anna awoke on Good Friday to cloudy skies. A hint of spring lingered in the air, and she walked out onto the terrace with her mug of tea, warmly wrapped in her dressing gown, and padded over to stand near the wall. The view of Harbourwatch from here was quite stunning. Although the exterior from this distance merely looked much as she had known it – dark and forbidding – the improvements to the interior had much influenced her impression of it. Not to mention her job there had become important to her, and either Oliver’s abruptness with her had eased further, or she had developed an immunity to it.
A sudden gust of wind swept across the terrace, and Anna wrapped the gown closer across her front and turned away. Her mobile rang as she entered the house, and she snatched it up. Phoenix.
‘Hey, what’s up?’
‘Anna, my lover.’ Phoenix’s tone wheedled, and Anna smiled knowingly. ‘They’ve asked me to do a shift in Karma this afternoon as they’re so busy. Mum’s away and Dad’s on a job up country. I don’t suppose you could—’
‘Of course I can. What time and for how long?’
‘Just before two, for about three hours? You’re a gem. See you dreckly!’
Anna grabbed the last piece of buttered toast from the plate, along with her half-finished mug of tea, and took the stairs two at a time to the bedroom. Verity Blue was adorable, mischievous, a little out of control, but she was a salve to Anna’s need for children in her life, and she appreciated any opportunity to look after her.
The afternoon was fun but messy. Conscious she had finger paint on her shirt and several locks of hair stuck together with the glue Verity Blue had so generously shared with her, Anna welcomed the clearing skies to wrestle the child into her pushchair and go out for a reviving walk. They were due to meet Phoenix outside Karma, and that would leave Anna free to go home and shower and feel sticky-finger free.
A half hour later, Verity Blue sat contentedly on her lap, munching her way through a small ice cream, spreading much of it on Anna’s jeans. With a contented sigh, she looked out over the cove, her heart full.
From this vantage point on the harbour wall, she could see both Westerleigh Cottage and Harbourwatch, each perched on their respective cliffs, with the lighthouse out on the far point. She must walk out there one day.
Anna adjusted Verity Blue’s position on her lap, dropping a kiss on top of her burnished curls, her mind returning to work.
She looked forward to getting back to it on Tuesday. The book was coming along well, and Oliver seemed confident of getting it in by the deadline. Would he have any need for her after that? There must surely be edits to come back? But what then? Disappointed at the thought of her job coming to an end by the summer, she looked around at the bustling town, filled with Easter visitors. There were plenty of opportunities in the shops and cafes for seasonal workers, but that wasn’t going to fill the void of not working for Oliver.
Anna blinked. A void? Really?
Brushing the thought aside, she reached for her tissues as Verity Blue turned a beaming face to her, her mouth liberally spread with ice cream. Perhaps the B&B was the best option to look into going forward. Time she made some proper enquiries.
‘You’re beautiful,’ Anna whispered into the child’s ear as she tucked the damp tissue back into her pocket, and Verity Blue chuckled and leaned back against Anna.
‘Birdies! Birdies!’ She pointed at a couple of cormorants near the shore, and Anna clapped her hands.
‘Well done, sweetheart. Birdies indeed.’
A sudden breeze came in across the cove, and Anna swept her hair out of her eyes, conscious of the sticky mass of glue again, but then something caught her eye and she almost gasped: Alex Tremayne was barely steps away from them.