Page 57 of One Day and Forever
Ollie sat back in his chair. ‘What does that mean for you?’
Her phone began ringing and Josh’s photo flashed up on the screen. It was her favourite pic of him. On the beach last year in Greece, after they’d had the most amazing lunch in a little taverna and then walked for miles along the golden sands, hand in hand, totally in love. If someone had told her then that she would call off their wedding, she’d never have believed them.
‘I’ve no idea. But I think he’s probably calling to tell me.’
29
OLLIE
‘Are you going to answer it?’ Ollie asked, his heart beating just a bit faster than usual. What the hell was going on with him today? Okay, so his marriage had fallen apart, he’d been globally humiliated, and he’d realised he was going to have to rethink his whole life, but still… This was more than that. He hadn’t been able to get what Drea said out of his mind. Him and Kara. Getting together. Could that work?
‘No,’ she said, jolting him, and he had to rewind to clarify what she was objecting to. ‘I’m not picking up. He’s got nothing to say that I want to hear.’
Ah, okay. She wasn’t going to answer Josh’s call. He was still in the game.
‘Kara, do you ever wonder…’
Her damn phone started ringing again.
‘Will you tell him to fuck off!’ he said, just a little too loudly, and an elderly bloke at the nearest table gave him a raised eyebrow of disapproval.
Kara was looking pretty confused too. ‘It’s not him. Look.’
She turned her phone around again so he could see what it said on the screen.
Casey Lowden. FaceTime.
Kara was looking at him questioningly, as if undecided on whether to answer this one too, but before he could respond, she took the call.
‘Hey Casey,’ she was saying into the phone now, her eyes darting to make sure no one was close enough to overhear. She was safe. Even the old bloke with the disapproving eyebrow wouldn’t be able to pick up her words unless they were shouted.
Ollie stayed quiet, picking up his phone to check on his emails. Kara nudged his leg, gesturing to him to listen in, so despite her often-repeated doubts that he could manage it, he proceeded to multitask.
From his side view, he could see Casey Lowden’s face on the screen. Predictably, the press always went for the obvious, dubbing her the ‘new Jennifer Aniston’, but actually in this case they weren’t far wrong. There were definitely similarities, in her looks, her quirky mannerisms and her absolute genius for comedy. According to Kara, she’d not long joined the cast ofThe Clydeside, but Ollie had a feeling she wouldn’t be there long, because she had three movies already in the can and scheduled for release over the next year. Word on the inside was that they were fantastic and that she might just be the next big thing. He was reserving judgement, but it was great to see another Scot getting a bigger platform in the industry.
‘Thanks for taking my call, Kara. I want to apologise for not getting in touch before now. I was in deep with the lawyers and the chiefs at Clydeside, and my team insisted I maintained total confidentiality until we’d reached a conclusion. Have you seen the news?’
‘I did. Jacobs is gone. I’m guessing now that’s down to you and your team? You did every woman in that studio a service.’
‘Not just me. Josh Jackson from the PR company was a big help too. Although, I still think he might have played both sides at the start, but he soon realised who was winning the battle.’ Ollie knew that Kara kept her personal life out of work and the public eye, so it wasn’t surprising that a fairly new addition to the cast wasn’t aware of the connection with Josh. ‘And Abigail in HR was fricking mighty,’ Casey said, with a wide grin. ‘She’s got the best poker face ever, but as soon as she knew the whole story, she held his feet to the fire. Or at least, the one good foot he had left. Sorry. Sometimes things just come out of my gob.’
‘I know that feeling,’ Kara agreed, and he could see the weight lifting off her shoulders with every second of the call.
‘So anyway, two things – first, I just wanted to let you know that the studio are going to call and beg you to come back. It’s not a good look for them that they didn’t support you right from the outset.’
Kara nodded and he could see she was taking it all in and processing what that meant for her.
‘And the second thing is what I’ve been dying to say to you for days now – thank you. Thank you so, so much. The way you stepped in and defended me… It was hardcore fricking epic, and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate that. I’m so sorry too, for all the stress it must have caused over the last few days. We just needed to get everything in place so that we could get the right outcome. Please, please come back to work, and thanks again, from the bottom of my heart. You’re 100 per cent my kind of lady, Kara McIntyre.’
‘I really appreciate that,’ Kara responded, with a typically bashful smile. ‘But no thanks are necessary. I’ll wait to hear from the studio before I decide what I’m going to do.’
‘They’ll be in touch tomorrow. But, you know, with those reactions and that attitude, you should really consider a role in an action movie…’
That made Kara laugh, and when she did, the phone momentarily tilted in Ollie’s direction.
Casey responded immediately. ‘Wait, are my eyes playing up or did I just see Ollie Chiles?’
‘Your eyes are fine,’ Kara assured her, laughing. ‘Ollie’s my best mate – we’re just heading off to Hawaii for my sister’s wedding.’
