Holly toyed with her empty tea cup, slowly running her finger along the edge of it. Her gaze was fixed on the multiple doors to the Arrival office across the busy street. If she had Victoria’s schedule right, and she usually did, then Victoria would be leaving the building shortly for a meeting across town.
She hated what she was about to do, but felt it was necessary because she needed answers. She hated how she had acted around Victoria that morning. Being tired, confused, and hurt meant not being able to be as bright and happy as she usually was before Victoria left for work.
As soon as Victoria had left for work with a slam of the front door, Holly had regretted not speaking to her there and then. She tried to justify it to herself by claiming that Victoria was busy and didn’t have time to discuss the matter before a busy day at Arrival.
The truth was that she was scared, frightened that she’d been naïve and living a lie, even though the very idea seemed absolutely absurd to her. If she wasn’t going to speak to Victoria directly, then she needed to find answers some other way. Even if she knew it meant sneaking around behind Victoria’s back to get them.
The object of her thoughts walked out of the Arrival office, dark sunglasses firmly in place and her first assistant, Louise, barely able to keep up with her long strides. Within a matter of seconds, they were both in the Town Car and on their way to their meeting.
Holly knew she had about an hour to do what she needed to do. Not that she was entirely sure what that was yet. Her plan was half-formed at best.
She grabbed her bag and hurried from the coffee shop. A fortuitous gap in traffic meant she could cross the road immediately. She put her hand in her pocket and wrapped it around the permanent Arrival visitor pass she had. She may no longer have been a member of staff, but she still had access to the office whenever she wanted it. Access she was about to use for less than honest reasons.
“Afternoon, Miss Carter,” Bobby, the security guard, greeted her warmly.
“Hello, Bobby,” she replied with a smile.
“You just missed her,” he said apologetically.
“I know, I’m planning a surprise,” she explained with a wink.
“Ah!” He nodded knowingly and returned the wink.
She passed through the turnstiles and got into an elevator, selecting the top floor of the Arrival offices. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her palms were sweaty. She hoped she didn’t look too suspicious. Holly just wasn’t made for deception. She was inherently honest. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing that couldn’t be resolved by a conversation over a hot drink.
Except this. This was bigger than that. This was potentially the end of her happy life with Victoria, even if she couldn’t believe it. Her heart kept telling her why it was impossible, only for her brain to display an image of Victoria in a passionate embrace with someone else.
The elevator doors opened. She quickly stepped out and made her way towards the large corner office dedicated to the editor-in-chief. Claudia sat in the outer office, typing.
“Hi Holly!”
“Hi.” Holly held the shoulder strap of her bag tightly.
“Victoria’s not here.” Claudia looked apologetic.
“Oh, yes, I forgot. She has that meeting.” Holly bit her lip thoughtfully. “It’s fine, I was just passing anyway. Say, I’m writing an article, and it would be super helpful if I could speak to someone in the art studio. What floor is it on?”
“This one,” Claudia said brightly. “Literally down that corridor to the very end and then turn right.”
“That’s great. Thanks, Claudia. Oh, and don’t let Victoria know I was here. She’ll never let me forget that I don’t pay attention when she’s telling me about her schedule.” She laughed.
“No problem, we’re not exactly buddies anyway.” Claudia’s phone rang. “Back to the grindstone,” she whispered before answering the call.
Holly sucked in a deep breath and walked down the long corridor to the other end of the building, doing her best to smile at people who greeted her as she walked. Some of them knew her from when she worked there; some of them just knew her as Victoria’s partner. In any event, she had to keep a smile on her face despite the thundering of her heart against her ribcage.
She looked into Gideon’s office as she passed, her heart sinking when she found it empty. He’d have answers for her; there was nothing at Arrival that he didn’t know about. She’d call him later, once she’d spoken with Ashley.
Her heart was beating faster and harder as she closed in on the art studio. She still wasn’t entirely sure what she was going to say to Ashley when she saw her. She was hoping that the tall, long-haired blonde’s face would tell her everything she needed to know. Surely being confronted by Holly would be enough for her to know she’d been rumbled?
Holly entered the art department and approached the receptionist.
“Hi, is Ashley in?” she asked.
“Hi, Holly. Yes, she’s at her desk, you can go right in.” The receptionist pointed towards a bank of desks. Holly’s eye immediately found Ashley. She gave the receptionist a nod and walked towards the other woman, still not entirely sure what was about to happen.
“Oh, hi!” Ashley greeted her the moment she saw Holly.
Holly tried to return the bright smile but struggled. Ashley seemed genuinely happy to see her and without a single trace of fear or apprehension about Holly’s unusual presence in the art studio.
“Hi, Ashley,” she said. “I need to talk to you.”
“Sure, let me grab you a seat.” Ashley jumped up and brushed past Holly to get a spare office chair. She wheeled it over to the edge of her desk and gestured for Holly to sit down. “Can I get you a drink?”
Holly sat down, confused. This wasn’t the welcome she’d expected at all. She’d pictured Ashley blushing, running away, crying, begging forgiveness, or just denying everything before Holly said a word. A warm welcome and the offer of a drink hadn’t occurred to her at all.
“Tea? Coffee?” Ashley suggested at the prolonged silence. “Oh, by the way, I read your piece in the New York Lifestyle last month. You are so right about travelling versus ecological awareness. I feel that subject very deeply, especially with all my family being in England. Every time I fly home to see them, I feel like I’m personally poking a hole in the ozone layer.”
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. There was no way that Ashley was this good of an actress.
“Yes, it’s a real issue,” Holly agreed, realising that she needed to break her silence.
“And then you use technology, but are those companies telling the truth about their green credentials? How do I know that my voice app provider isn’t pumping out enough CO2 to match my plane and then some?” Ashley shook her head. “Anyway, I’m sorry. You wanted to talk to me? Oh, and did you want a drink?”
Holly stepped into the elevator and stabbed the ground floor button. She was even more confused now than when she’d arrived. Her brain was swimming with questions and half-baked theories.
The elevator bounced to a gentle stop almost immediately after starting its downward journey. The doors opened, and a man stepped in. He was in his forties, ruggedly attractive, and very well dressed.
“Holly Carter,” he announced with a smile. “So good to see you again. I heard you were back.”
Here we go, Holly thought, mentally preparing to go into her speech about her accident and her memory loss.
He selected a floor on the elevator panel and then turned back to face her as the doors slid closed. “Victoria told me about your memory, so I assume you don’t remember me?”
“Um. No…” Holly was stunned. It wasn’t like Victoria to explain anything. To anyone. Ever.
“I’m Steven Goodfellow.” He held out his hand.
Holly shook it. Victoria had mentioned him, but she was so shaken up, she couldn’t quite remember where or when.
“Is Victoria treating you well?” he asked, obviously aware of their relationship.
“She is,” Holly confirmed, not sure if that was entirely true or not. All she wanted to do now was get out of the elevator, out of the Arrival offices, to somewhere she could take a breath and think.
“Victoria invited me to dinner, but I’m so swamped with things at the moment. Please tell her that I’ll get back to her as soon as I can. I’d love to catch up with you both.”
“I’ll definitely pass that on,” Holly agreed.
“Love the new hair,” he said, pointing to her short cut.
“Thank you.”
The elevator doors opened, and he smiled amiably before stepping out. She tried her best to return the smile but was pretty sure she failed miserably. The doors closed and she slumped against the wall of the elevator cart, trying her best to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks.