Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Iwoke to Alfie’s lips brushing over mine as he kissed me goodbye.
Not seeing him every day was harder than I’d thought it would be.
I watched him leave, sighing as the door closed behind him.
While I’d slept, he’d somehow managed to fill the room with vases of bleeding hearts.
They weren’t enough to take his place, but they helped.
My phone buzzed with a text from Keira.
I managed to get time off for Natalie’s wedding! Can’t wait to see you! Mwah!
I breathed a sigh of relief. I needed my best friend. I had just hit ‘send’ on my reply to her when there was a knock on my bedroom door. Maia stepped in.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, someone from production is asking for you.”
“Already? I’m not late.” I glanced at my phone to double check the time. I didn’t have to be on set for another hour.
“Yeah, I’m not sure what the problem is. I’ll go with you.”
“No, it’s fine, it’s just work,” I said, knowing full well she would follow me anyway. She wasn’t taking any risks since Julia had her mini-meltdown.
My stomach rumbled, complaining that I’d skipped breakfast as I made my way across the grounds to the collection of white tents and scattering of people that were already at work setting up their morning shots. As I approached, an older gentleman spotted me and met me halfway.
He stuck his hand out. “You must be Lola O’Connell. You’re building the demo sculptures?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” No one else was here yet except for the film crew who were just setting up. The contestants hadn’t arrived either and I couldn’t see Sid. “What’s going on?”
“I’m Jeff, I’m taking over as producer. As I’m sure you know, Julia has been moved to another project.”
“Another project? Why?” I didn’t know but I could guess why.
“It doesn’t matter. I just wanted to touch base with you, I’m familiar with your role here already, is there anything else you need that I need to be aware of?”
“Um no. Everything’s running smoothly. I have two more projects to finish but Sid ? my assistant ? and I, we’re on track for that. Julia’s really gone?” I wondered what the rest of the crew would make of that. They looked nervous.
“She’s gone. You look relieved.”
“No, not at all, I—”
“I really must get on. It was nice to meet you.” He returned to his work, leaving me standing there, unsure whether I should feel guilty or glad.
I looked around for Maia and found her loitering. “What do you know about Julia Whitmore getting fired?”
“I know that she put her hands on you. I know that Mr Tell knows about it. I know that you aren’t naive enough to think he would just let it lie.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. Alfie was calling me.
“I told him you were finding out about Julia,” she said with a shrug.
Of course she did. I answered the phone as I stalked back to the house. I wasn’t dealing with drama without breakfast. “You got Julia fired?”
“Julia got herself fired.”
“Alfie, this is my work you promised you wouldn’t interfere.”
“This isn’t just work. She broke club rules, there has to be punishment.”
“We agreed her punishment was getting kicked out of the club.”
“And I decided she wasn’t sorry enough. Apparently, her using her position of authority at work to pressure women into sex, isn’t a new thing.
I wanted her punished professionally as well as personally.
She’s a Dominant, she understands consequences for actions.
” The line fell silent as I struggled to make a counter argument.
There was none. He was right. I was just annoyed that once again I was blindsided.
“I hear Jeff is very professional and also not remotely attracted to women.”
I rolled my eyes. “I could spank you right now.”
He chuckled. “I’ll see you this weekend.”
“For spanking?”
I heard a laugh in the background that did not belong to Alfie. “Am I on speakerphone?”
“No, Damien just has exceptional hearing.”
“Oh God,” I groaned.
“Good morning, Lola!” I heard Damien shout down the line. “Your little town is adorable! I’m looking forward to seeing you at the wedding.”
“The wedding? Natalie’s wedding? Why is he coming to that?” He’d never met Natalie and I was pretty sure that he and Riley weren’t exactly besties.
“He got wind that Keira was coming.”
“How?”
“I told him.”
“Alfie…”
“So he invited himself as my plus one.”
“He’s your plus one? And what am I? Your sidepiece?”
Alfie laughed. “I have to go. I love you. Spank you later.” He hung up. I stared at my phone wondering when I’d turned the cold grey billionaire into a man who said ‘spank you later’. It was probably around the time I tied a blue ribbon around his wrist and called his penthouse a shit hole.
Work was a joy, even more so without the threat of Julia breathing down my neck. Sid made a pointed comment about it but didn’t say more than that.
As I worked, I let my mind wander. My days were filled with roses, a sea of white and blush as I painstakingly constructed the beloved creation of Beatrix Potter.
Jemima Puddle-duck was unassuming, sweet, a gentle creature.
Under my supervision, Sid created a cunning Mr Fox from marigolds, using the red in french bolero varieties to give him depth and texture.
The next day, I watched from a distance as Imani filmed her segment, the contestants lined up, listening to her every word. Sid and I sat side by side, sipping on a diet coke and eating blueberry muffins as she presented the elephant. The more I watched, the more I wanted to be her.
“You’re either jealous or horny, which is it?”
“Huh?” I snapped out of my trance to see Sid smirking at me.
“Your face? I swear you have love hearts in your eyes right now. Are you and Imani fucking on the side or somthing?”
“No!” I gasped. “I’m just envious. It looks fun, doesn’t it? Presenting like that, explaining your work, showing it off, teaching people how.”
Sid sniffed and sipped his drink. “Not to me. I don't like being the centre of attention.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re wearing a tulle skirt over jeans.”
“It matches my eyeshadow,” he grinned. “I’m happy for my clothes to make a statement. When it comes to dirt though, that's a private thing where I get to be in my own world. I wouldn’t want all that noise.”
I understood that. There was something sacred about working with the earth but ever since Alfie had mentioned it, the idea of sharing my passion had become more and more enticing to me.
“I like it, it reminds me of my mum teaching me how to plant and propagate. I think it’s a gift, passing on knowledge.”
“Maybe you’ll have Imani’s job one day. You could be on ‘Gardeners’ World.’” I laughed. That would be the day. “I’m serious! You’re a good teacher.”
“Alfie said something similar. He thinks I should create my own show. Somehow.”
“You absolutely should do that! Can I help? Behind the scenes? I’ll be the Lola to your Imani.”
“Sure. I’ll pay you in blueberry muffins and Pepsi.” I knocked my can against his and laughed.
“I’m not kidding. I’d love to do that. We’re in the era of people starting their own businesses, own shows, own companies.
You don’t need to wait for someone else to say you’ve earned an opportunity.
Look at what you’ve built already.” He waved at the elephant.
“You think that no one would be interested in watching you explain how?”
I blew out a breath. I felt overwhelmed. My wedding, Natalie’s wedding, Carolyn, John, career…I had too many big things on my plate right now.
“One mountain at a time. Let me finish this show first.”
Our lunch break over, it was time to get back to work. The contestants got started on their own projects, their own interpretations of nature. I wished I could hang out in the tent and watch them but we weren’t allowed. That didn’t stop me from sneaking a peek at the end of each day though.
Sid and I went back to our own Beatrix Potter inspiration, prepping for next week's theme of literature. The next day I put the finishing touches to it, smiling up at its beauty.
This job was coming to a bittersweet end. I only had three weeks left and I didn’t have another job lined up after. Imani hadn’t approached me about more work and truth be told, I didn’t want another favour from her. I had earned her favours but I wanted to take the next step on my own.
I just wasn’t sure what the next step was.
Ever since Alfie had mentioned me having my own show I couldn’t stop picturing it.
I’d even sat in front of the mirror a few times, pretending I was talking to a camera, making a fool of myself probably, like a kid singing into a hairbrush.
It was a dream, a new dream, and I felt hungry for it the way I’d felt hungry to get into college and learn to create sculptures and gardens.
The way I felt hungry for Alfie. How had he known my dream before I did?
The more I thought about this new dream, the more afraid to reach for it I became. Just like when I was making the decision to leave my home town for London, I was afraid to jump.