Page 20 of The Payback Plan
Paige worked for a couple of hours, methodically answering emails then running through her daily to-do list before she tackled the proofing of some audio file transcriptions from one of her oldest clients who worked in pharmaceuticals. They’d recently switched to AI for the actual transcription but with a lot of technical medical jargon her client preferred to have an extra set of human eyes to double-check everything was correct.
It was much slower going than usual because the view was exceptionally distracting. There was something soothing and… elemental about the ocean. Even on a grey day with the wind whipping occasional flurries of raindrops against the glass, knowing that the great expanse of water had been around since the very beginning of time was incredibly reassuring.
Life changed but some things didn’t.
One day things could be fine, the next they could be tits up. But some things were constant. Like the ocean. The horizon. Paige had been keeping her head down for so long, she’d forgotten to look up. To fix her gaze on a point in the distance and steady herself. Like now, staring at that moody flat line in the distance.
She was still working as the grey leeched from the sky and the view slowly dissolved into the night. The room dimmed around her, the only light coming from her screen and bathing her face. Due to her ear pods, she didn’t hear Oliver approaching but a strange prickle at her nape alerted her a second before the fancy light above the table flooded her in a pool of warm yellow.
‘You’ll go blind in that light,’ he said as he strode into the kitchen.
Paige pulled out her ear pods, watching him as he grimaced at the crumbs and the dirty dishes in the sink. ‘Thanks.’ She smiled at him. ‘I lost track of time. The view is very distracting. You’re lucky.’
Pausing at the sink, he also stared out over the ocean that was barely visible now. The horizon had long since vanished into sea mist. ‘Yes. I am.’
But it sounded kinda bitter and Paige had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. How awful to be forced to live in Daddy’s Cornish beach-side cottage while his ex-fiancé is picking up the pieces of her broken heart.
Cry me a river, dude.
Switching his attention to the hamster cage, he stared at the rodent. ‘I don’t think Pavarotti has used that wheel once.’
Paige was pretty sure he hadn’t either. In fact, if he’d moved more than the length of the cage, she’d be surprised. ‘I think he’s intimated by it at the moment. Give him time.’
Oliver put his elbows on the bench, peering at the hamster, his expression clearly indicating that he didn’t think Flower had time to just fanny around getting used to it.
‘Maybe he needs a little push?’
For somebody who had clearly not been impressed with having a rodent in his house, Oliver seemed unusually invested in his health.
‘Maybe.’
He glanced at her. ‘Do you mind if I…?’
‘Sure.’ Paige waved her hand. ‘Have at it.’
Permission granted, Oliver addressed the rodent as he reached into his cage to give the wheel a push. The strip lighting around the outside flashed as the wheel turned. ‘See,’ Oliver crooned. ‘It’s fun, my guy. You’re going to love it.’ And he pushed again for good measure.
Paige’s irritation at his poor little rich boy act vanished as Oliver coaxed and cajoled, his voice low and friendly. As he picked up Bunky’s pet and placed him onto the wheel, Paige reached for the burner phone in her bag. Suppressing a grin, she shot him another text.
Here is your latest from HAMSTER FACTS! Did you know European hamsters are critically endangered? Press 1 if you’d like to know what you can do to prevent this unfolding tragedy of extinction. Standard messaging rates may apply.
Without taking his eyes off Flower, Oliver reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. Paige had to bite the inside of her cheek when he scowled at the screen and muttered, ‘For fuck’s sake.’
‘Problem?’ she asked as she placed the burner in her lap.
Withdrawing both hands from the cage, he shut the door. ‘This bloody hamster comes into my life and suddenly I start getting messages from an organisation called Hamster Facts.’
‘Hamster Facts?’ Paige feigned surprise. ‘That’s random.’
‘Uh huh.’
‘But you know what they say about our phones and tech, right? Bots and the like spying on us and all that.’
‘Yeah, well…’ Oliver’s thumbs stabbed at the screen, and, in her lap, the phone buzzed. It killed her not to open it immediately. ‘This one just got its ass blocked.’
Throwing his phone down in clear disgust, he returned his attention to Flower/Pavarotti who was now sitting in the wheel where he’d been plonked having not moved one iota. As if he was expecting to be given a ride.
‘C’mon dude.’ Oliver shook his head. ‘It’s not the sodding Falkirk Wheel. You gotta do the work.’
