Harker smiled and leaned closer to whisper in her ear. ‘It’s a basic rule of storytelling, kiddo – the longer the audience is made to wait, the better it feels when the characters finally get what they want.’ As he straightened, he gave her an approving nod. ‘But you’re not the audience. Go get him!’
‘Thank you!’ Olivia breathed a sigh of relief as the studio boss made way for her with a dramatic, sweeping gesture.
Smoothing down her skirt, she started towards Jackson. At last! He was so focused on his tablet, he didn’t see her approaching.
Olivia pasted a confident smile on her face. I will make this happen. I will –
‘Aaah!’ She let out a cry as the ground moved beneath her feet, throwing her forwards. The yacht had lurched back into motion again at just the wrong time!
She landed straight on top of Jackson, knocking the tablet from his hand. As it crashed to the ground, she cringed. Smooth move, Olivia!
‘Sorry!’ She scrambled off him and reached for the tablet.
‘No!’ Jackson lunged forwards, almost knocking her aside. ‘Don’t!’
He grabbed the tablet from the deck and Olivia tried not to feel hurt. ‘I wouldn’t have dropped it,’ she told him. ‘I’m not that clumsy.’
‘That’s not what I . . .’ Jackson inspected it hastily, then clicked the power off and hid it behind his back
Olivia blinked. What is he trying to hide?
He collected himself, taking a deep breath and flashing his megawatt smile. ‘Anyway,’ he said, and gestured down the deck in front of them with his free hand. ‘Now that we’re moving again, do you want to have a last look at the view?’
Are we already that close to the end of the trip? Olivia fought down panic as she followed him around the weather deck. Up ahead, she could see the dock that signalled the end of their boat ride, coming closer and closer with every moment. Jackson pointed out landmarks, talked charmingly about the weather and the film . . . but he didn’t say a word – in any accent – about them.
Am I the only one being driven mad by this? Olivia wondered, forcing herself to smile and keep up her side of their conversation. All she could see, though, was the dock ahead of them. Look at it, she thought grimly, all beautiful and opulent. She had never before wanted anything so wonderful-looking to drift further and further away instead of closer!
Jackson was frowning at her. ‘So you think it’s a bad idea, then?’
‘Huh?’ Olivia snapped back out of her thoughts. Uh-oh. Jackson must have seen the look on her face, and thought it had been in response to something he’d said. But what had he been saying? She’d been so distracted she’d zoned out!
‘Um . . . I’m not sure,’ she hedged. ‘What do you think?’
‘Well, he seems OK to me,’ Jackson said slowly. ‘But I guess what I really wondered was, what you thought of him.’
Olivia’s mind was blank. Who are we talking about?
Then she followed Jackson’s gaze to where Will, his body double, stood at the other end of the deck, watching them.
‘Oh, Will!’ Olivia almost laughed with relief as she found her way back into the conversation. ‘What do I think of him? Well . . .’
She remembered knocking him over in her hoop-skirt, when she’d thought that he was Jackson. Her face burned with renewed embarrassment.
A crease appeared in Jackson’s brow. ‘Why are you blushing?’
‘Oh . . . no reason,’ Olivia mumbled. ‘Really. It’s not worth explaining.’
‘No?’ Jackson’s frown deepened. ‘I’d really like to hear it, though.’
Silence pulsed between them as the dock grew closer and closer. I can’t tell him what happened, Olivia thought. It’s too embarrassing! But she had to say something to break the odd tension that was growing between them at that moment.
‘Um, he’s very convincing,’ she said, ‘as a body double, but . . .’
‘But . . .?’ Jackson asked.
‘Well, he’s nowhere near as kind and thoughtful as you are,’ Olivia blurted. ‘Who could be?’
Jackson let out a half-laugh, stepping back. ‘You don’t have to say that. Seriously –’
‘I mean it!’ She frowned at him, putting her hands on her hips. ‘Honestly, who else would hire a boat for the entire crew?’
‘Olivia . . .’ Jackson shook his head, flushing. ‘You know I like to do nice things for people.’
Olivia stepped forwards, closing the distance between them. ‘I know, but even so . . . it’s pretty awesome . . .’
Her words dried up as embarrassment hit her. Am I really lecturing Jackson about himself ? ‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled. She felt her face flush again. ‘I’ve been talking too much, haven’t I?’
‘No,’ Jackson said gently. He grinned, and this time it wasn’t the smile from the posters and magazine covers. It was a smile Olivia knew from their time as a couple.
A personal smile, just for her.
He took her hand, looking straight into her eyes. ‘Everything you say is absolutely perfect,’ he said. ‘In fact –’
Bump!
The yacht had hit the dock with a thud. Jackson’s mouth snapped shut as he looked around nervously.
Suddenly, there were people streaming towards them from every direction, talking and laughing and eager to disembark.
Jackson let go of her hand. ‘I guess it’s time to go,’ he said.
Olivia nodded. But as she looked at her ex-boyfriend-now-something-else, she felt an ache burn deep in her chest. ‘It was a wonderful afternoon,’ she said softly.
It was true.
But why was she now feeling anything but wonderful?
Chapter Eight
Ivy’s stomach felt tight with dread as the line of skater-girls shuffled forwards, bringing the black leather hairdresser’s chair closer and closer. Sophia’s really going to go through with this!
They were fourth in line now, and the team of hairdressers was working fast – too fast! Ivy watched the latest identical blonde skater-girl emerge from the salon, beaming and stroking her identikit haircut. It’s like watching a parade of clones! Can’t Sophia see that?
The big, black chair looked ready to swallow up the next unique, individual girl and spit her out as yet another copy of SkaterGirl 2.0. If Ivy didn’t think fast, the same thing was about to happen to her best friend.