Page 5 of Midnight

She chased after it. A little velvet black box.

Her fingers trembled as she opened it. Inside was a platinum sapphire ring, the central stone a vivid blue, flanked on either side by smaller but no less sparkling diamonds. It looked vintage – and expensive.

An engagement ring.

She snapped the case shut, her heart racing, adrenaline flooding her system. Her fingers fumbled as she slid the box back into Aaron’s jacket pocket and hurried to line their cases up with the others in the lobby.

It looked like everything was going to change in Antarctica.

3

Olivia swore everyone in the lift could hear her heart pounding as she returned to the hotel room. She’d smiled extra wide at the young couple who’d stepped in after her; they’d looked at her as if she’d lost her head. Oh well, she was happy. Aaron wanted to propose. Was he going to do it tonight, after their fancy dinner with all the VIPs on the cruise? It could explain why he was so nervous about it, and why he’d bought her a new dress for the occasion. Or was he going to wait until they were in Antarctica, out on the ice itself, surrounded by penguins?

It was so exhilarating. Wasn’t it? Her stomach flipped and it didn’t feel quite like excitement, but more like … fear.

She gave herself a shake. Not fear. Caution. That was far more likely.

After all, they’d been dating less than a year. When they’d first met, she could never have imagined it would last this long.

Their relationship had begun as a work assignment. Not a surprise, considering that’s where she spent all her time.

‘I have an exciting new project for you.’

Olivia had looked up from her morning cup of black coffee to see her boss Lisa standing over her desk, a thick folder of paper stuffed under her arm. Olivia prayedthat wasn’t part of the ‘exciting new project’; she’d been up all night finishing the last project Lisa had assigned to her. If the bags under her eyes got any bigger, she could use them to carry her spare change. The price of pushing to be the youngest ever partner in her actuarial firm.

Still, a quirk in Lisa’s smile had Olivia intrigued. ‘You know we’ve been delighted by your work on the LUJO hotel group pension scheme. And by the looks of it, we weren’t the only ones impressed. Do you want to come with me?’

Olivia jumped up to follow. Lisa was one of the senior partners at Pendle, and someone she needed to stay on the right side of if she wanted that promotion. She caught eyes with her best friend Tricia, Lisa’s PA, who mouthed, ‘What’s going on?’

Olivia shrugged in reply.

Lisa’s sun-drenched corner office looked out over the City of London, a sliver of the magnificent dome of St Paul’s Cathedral visible through the office blocks. She pulled up a file on her computer screen, turning the monitor so that Olivia could see. It was a reproduction of a piece of artwork, instantly recognizable by the multicoloured skull painted in broad brushstrokes at its centre.

‘Oh, Basquiat,’ Olivia said. ‘That sold for an astronomical sum, didn’t it? The return on that investment was huge. I remember I shared the news on the team’s WhatsApp.’ Even her messaging apps were filled with work chat; it helped that most of her colleagues were nerds for financial news as well.

Lisa nodded. ‘Which brings me to the assignment and Mr Lavaud’s rather unique request. He’s interested inacquiring art for investment purposes, and he’s asked for you personally to consult.’

‘Me?’ Olivia blinked back her surprise. Pierre Lavaud was the owner of LUJO, the luxury hotel chain whose pension scheme Olivia had been working on for years. She never expected that the French billionaire would have any idea who she was, let alone ask for her by name. ‘But why?’

Lisa shrugged. ‘No idea. Maybe he heard about your interest in art?’

‘I suppose so.’ She’d visited one of his hotels in London for a convention and admired the Jeff Koons in the lobby. Maybe she had commented on it and he had noticed? ‘Shouldn’t we send one of the CFAs? Art investing isn’t really part of my remit. He’d probably be better off with a financial advisor.’

‘I agree, but he wants you. Like I said, you must have impressed him. A bit different from advising on the pension schemes, I know. And if he wasn’t so important to us …’ Lisa smiled, handing over the documents that had been under her arm. ‘It’s only a consult, but if you think it’s too much I can assign someone else.’

Olivia shook her head. ‘No, no, I can handle it.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course.’ Olivia took the file and plastered on a smile. She knew better than to refuse a request directly from Mr Lavaud. He was the firm’s biggest client. And if she did a good job, she would have yet another string to her bow on her track to make partner. She only had one more exam left to pass in order to fully qualify as an actuary, and the partnership would be hers. The jump in salary would help her dig out from under the mountainof debt she’d found herself in – another bill had arrived from her mother’s care home that morning, with an increase in fees.

‘There is a little treat in there for you too – not just work,’ said Lisa.

Olivia opened the folder. On top was an invitation to a gallery exhibition calledINTO THE UNKNOWNin central London – Mayfair, according to the postcode – printed on heavy white card.The Hunt Gallery were presenting their artists of the future.

By the look of the embossing and gilded lettering, it would be a high-end affair. She would have to fork out for a new dress. Or at least, she’d have to do something about the dark circles under her eyes.

Lisa nodded her dismissal, and Olivia left her office in a daze. Maybe this was the opportunity she had been waiting for to make her mark.

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