The Jump
We did it. After six months of long nights, extensive research and precarious planning, we turned Evie’s infamous grounds into an almost unrecognisable water resort. The kind that brings ‘resort style’ into the glamour age.
‘I’m obsessed!’ a guest is yelling to her phone as she walks past me, livestreaming. ‘This whole place is incredible. Like and follow for a three-sixty tour!’
I cross-reference her with my guestlist, scribbling a wonky asterisk next to her handle so I remember to request the analytics from her livestream. I’m so engrossed in my clipboard I barely notice the two men who appear in front of me.
‘Great job, Maddison!’ The sheer volume from Maxwell makes me jump out of my skin and look up from my board. ‘And you scrub up well!’
I run my fingers over the beads of my dress. ‘Thanks, Maxwell. Really appreciate it.’
Evie insisted Anika dress me for the Summer Splash, stressing that it was mandatory as a ‘face of the event’ to put my best foot forward in the most fabulous pair of shoes.
Three mid-week consultations in Anika’s loft and many video calls with Evie later, and we finally settled on the winning outfit: a jewel-toned minidress with cutouts and the kind of intricate boning and beading that has me worried I’ll break something if I so much as breathe wrong.
‘Well done, Maddison – you really did Abbingtorn proud!’ Oliver adds.
I nod back at him, my stomach soaring at the validation before sinking with guilt at the knowledge I’ve just resigned. I wonder if Pippa’s already told them. Surely they wouldn’t be so kind if she had. Or maybe they would – maybe they’d try to guilt-trip me into staying.
A carriage loop-de-loops above us, carrying a barrage of screaming passengers and saving me from my guilt-ridden spiral. My breath catches as we all look up at it. I know this one well. I tested it myself. Tested it with Aiden.
They continue their compliments and run through their event highlights, but I barely hear a word. All I can think about now is him. I harken back to that day, to his hold, to the way he made my stomach fizz.
My phone buzzes in my clutch, giving me an excuse to walk away and be saved from the onslaught of small talk.
Need u upstairs, hurry pls.
I politely excuse myself and make my way upstairs to Evie Eesuola herself.
‘Oh, you look stunning!’ she shrieks as I enter the room, immediately running over and upsetting her full glam team. ‘Turn around – let me see! Anika was so right about the hair.’
Anika demanded that the outfit be worn with a voluminous high ponytail. I told her I didn’t have any hair that would work in such a ponytail, but I could make a sleek middle-part work. Next thing I knew, I was shipped a full range of extensions and clip-on ponies from Evie’s latest collaboration.
‘Are you excited?’ she asks, as her glam team come and join us to further fuss around her.
I nod along, despite being past the point of excitement. The party started an hour ago and I’ve been on my feet for the last four. Evie’s only so excited because she’s yet to make her fashionably late entrance.
‘What you’ve done here is amazing. You should be so proud of yourself.’ She places her hands on my shoulders. ‘I have told the board everything and I’ve already been inundated with emails since they’ve arrived. I cannot wait to announce you and Aiden as the heads of my new events team.’
‘The job is ours?’ I ask in disbelief.
There is no way that it’s taken less than an hour for the board of Evie’s whole company to see what Abbingtorn couldn’t see in my four years with them. But her smile stretches wide across her face, eyes squinting with unbridled glee as she nods and claps her hands with excitement.
‘It sure is – congrats, Mrs Head of Events!’ She brings me in for a hug, to the further annoyance of her glam team.
‘I am thrilled to have you on my team and I’m sure Mr Head of Events will be even more thrilled than I am.
’ She finishes the sentence coyly, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows knowingly as she waits for me to slot the final piece into the puzzle.
She’s not going to say it if I won’t, but she won’t stop staring until I do.
‘He told you?’ I ask, testing the waters.
Either that, or Aiden wasn’t as sure of those blind spots as he thought. If it were the latter though, I’m sure she wouldn’t be smiling. She’d probably be demanding some sort of cleaning fee.
‘He didn’t need to,’ she laughs, putting my chest at ease. ‘I saw the change in him from the second that you showed up. Five years with me and I’ve never seen him walk with so much spring in his step. You challenge him.’
‘He challenges me too,’ I say.
Or at least, he did, back when he would talk to me.
‘I know he challenges you,’ she continues, eyebrow raised yet again. ‘I told you already – when I see potential, I do everything I can to make it grow.’
‘The Summer Splash,’ I mutter.
‘And the overnight, and the co-head position,’ she says. ‘The second he told me he was interested, I realised you’d make the perfect pair. And I was right, obviously – you’re great partners. You should really look into why that is.’
She does pretty much everything she can do with her face but wink – I fear if she did wink, the woman doing her eyeliner would swing for her. But everything else is enough. Evie has many great qualities, but subtlety is not one of them.
‘You want us to date?’ I say.
‘I want you to get married!’ She throws her hands up exasperatedly.
‘But, I suppose, yes, you could start with a date. With the chemistry between you, I’m surprised you haven’t already explored something.
’ She laughs but stops quickly, catching my darting eyes before I have time to cast my guilt into oblivion, then shrieks in excitement. ‘Oh, you have! Recently?’
I nod, still stunned.
‘Well, good. It’s about time you two did this properly.’ She beams from ear to ear.
I sigh. ‘It’s not quite that easy.’
Thanks to me it may never be again.
‘His request to work separately,’ she says musingly, connecting the dots. ‘He said you didn’t need him in the office any more. I thought it genuinely came from a mutual place.’
I have spent the last few days desperately trying to avoid the creeping sadness I’ve felt loom every time I think of Aiden.
But as she shares her side of the story, I visualise his lone working request in 4K.
It’s too much – the image stabs me square in the chest and I feel a tear roll down my cheek.
Evie gasps and sends a glam team member to lightly dab it away with a cotton pad.
‘Come here!’ she says, shooing her glam team away and bringing me in for a big bear hug. ‘Go on, tell me what he did.’ She brings my face close, not afraid of make-up stains on her silk robe.
‘It wasn’t him.’ I sigh again, trying to keep my voice steady and keep the rest of the tears at bay. ‘It was me. I overthought things and ruined them before they started. And now it’s been weeks and he’s barely spoken to me.’
I hug her tighter as I speak, afraid to let go and return to facing the big, bad Aiden-less world of my creation. That’s when I feel the vibration ripple up through her chest to her mouth. A small giggle sounds as I pull away to verify it.
‘Oh, honey, if you think that this is your fault then you two are going to be absolutely fine.’
She pauses for a moment as she spots my expression and realises that she may have missed the mark just a bit. So, she readjusts, calms herself and ushers me over to her vanity to join her in the chairs before she continues.
‘Maddison. He hasn’t stopped talking about you this whole time. You may have set things back, but the ship is definitely still docked.’
My body goes still, time slowing around me as Evie’s words sink in.
I’d lost all hope but a tiny flicker of a light, nestled deep in the furthest crevasse of my heart.
As Evie speaks, I feel it flicker in time with her words.
Evie Eesuola, influencer extraordinaire and apparent fairy godmother, is convinced that the clock hasn’t struck midnight just yet.
‘You think I can save this?’ I ask softly.
‘Oh, absolutely,’ she whispers. ‘Go get him.’
I feel a glow within my chest, the small flame of hope burning brighter.
‘I will,’ I nod, giving her a fleeting smile. ‘But first, I’m so sorry – I need to talk to you about this job.’
She settles back into her chair and fixes me with one of her trademark, penetrating stares. So, I take a deep breath, nervously meet her eyes and dive into my pre-prepared speech.
I leave Evie’s room with a fire under me like no other, barrelling down the stairs, through the kitchen and back to the grounds.
I run across the green, barely dodging a tray of gourmet tacos and scouring the sea of people before spotting a familiar face.
It’s not the one I want, but one that could possibly help me.
‘Gus – have you seen Aiden around?’ I ask briskly.
He jumps as I grab his elbow, almost dropping his bespoke cocktail.
‘Maddison! I’m so proud of you!’ he says, loud and joyful, coming in for a hug that I assume is egged on by the drink.
‘You’re out of here and you should be! I never understood why you’ve stayed so long!
You’ve got something special, you know? You’re so good at this and Pippa knows it. It’s why she keeps you down.’
‘Really?’ I ask.
‘Yeah, I see it. And, honestly, it sucks. I’ve mentioned it to her in one-to-ones – tried to bring you into my projects, but she shuts it down every time.
I can’t stand it. It’s no way to grow.’ He pauses, taking another sip.
‘I’ve been debating leaving too. I just think, if she’s blocking you from progress, she’s probably blocking me too, you know? ’