Chasing Rainbows (21 page)

You have alienated all your work mates and made me look rather stupid.

I suggest you keep very quiet for the rest of this trip.

You are nothing but a whore. You know what you have done so just go away now”'

George slammed the door in her face leaving Olivia to return to her room and cry for the rest of the night.

The next day the 'Into the Sun' group reached their next destination of Bremen.

Check in did not go without incident when Heather refused to share a room with Olivia.

This made things very awkward as the hotel was fully booked and there were no rooms left.

Linda stepped in and saved the day, she had a double room to herself. “It's OK”, she said, “I don't mind sharing”.

She smiled at Olivia, who was looking down at her feet in embarrassment.

“
We get on well, don't we?” Linda asked Olivia as she walked over to her.

She linked arms, taking her arm and leading her to the lift Linda said in a loud voice so that everyone could hear, “Come on we will have a right laugh together”.

Olivia was surprised by Linda's kindness, she followed Linda into the lift.

Once in the bedroom Olivia sat down on the bed and spluttered, “Thank you so much, I can't believe that just happened. It was awful. What have I done? Is Heather in a room on her own now then?”

Linda looked at her, “No of course not , she is sharing with Peter now”.

Olivia repeated, “With Peter?”

Linda put the kettle on a she said, “Are you on the same trip as the rest of us, haven't you noticed?

I thought maybe she might end up with George but she has always had a thing for Peter.

At work they got to lunch regularly, she really likes Peterl”.

Olivia hadn't noticed much since the night in Hamburg and she wasn't going to say much about that to anyone, especially after what followed and the humiliation of being thrown out of Georges room the day after.

Olivia shrugged her shoulders, “That is up to her what she does, Good luck to her, none of my business, she never said a word to me all the time we were together”.

Olivia picked up her towel and went to shower, she needed to wash the day off and prepare for the torturous evening.

The last two days went quickly thanks to Linda taking Olivia under her wing and never leaving her side.

Linda told Olivia she knew all about Hamburg; Jo told them all.

This surprised Olivia who had not breathed a word to anybody.

She hated Jo and realised that she was the one making trouble for her.

Olivia still kept her own counsel although was tempted to reveal all to Linda due to her kindness.

It was something that Olivia now wanted to forget, she needed to heal and move on.

Rachel and Garth also took Olivia under their wing and a small foursome developed that laughed its way to the end of the trip.

The three days that followed were quite terrible.

George stepped back from the group. He was frustrated as he could not ask Olivia why she told Jo about them.

He still wasn't sure if Jo had told the whole truth and it looked like he would never know if she lied or not.

George was not feeling too good about his behaviour towards Olivia. He was not one for saying sorry and in his book what was done was done.

George turned his attention to Heather and danced with her on the evenings they went out, only to find she was using him as a decoy.

Nobody was fooled as they all knew she was sharing a bed with Peter.

George began to feel that he was being used yet again.

On reaching Manchester airport George rushed out of the arrival's gate into the arms of his wife.  he lied  about how much he'd missed her.

Alice was always there after one of his trips. He knew she was trying to catch him out.

She might be a drunk but she wasn't stupid.

After a quick word with Kevin about when they would next be meeting, George left the airport without a backward glance.

Olivia was coming out with Linda and saw the back of George, she could not stop the tear that rolled down her face.

Olivia was relieved to get back, somewhat humbled by the whole experience.

She felt dirty and abused, took responsibility for what happened and decided that it would never happen again.

She felt like a trollop and didn't like it.

Olivia didn't stay long in the job. Jo made her life so difficult and when a tragedy hit Olivia's family Jo found it the ideal opportunity to sack her.

She never saw George or heard from him again until now.

Over twenty years had passed and she was older and wiser.

The question remained in her mind as to what actually happened for George to turn on her like he did.

She often remembered the night in the Reeperbahn when the words 'if they could see me now' reminded her of the way she behaved and she would smile.

Olivia only told a few friends about her time in Germany.

Olivia wiped her tears and began to think about Doug. She looked at the other passengers on the plane. She wondered what their stories would be like if they were to be written.

Everybody has a story to tell.

Olivia was still in the process of writing hers and she knew nobody would believe it.

.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Doug once again looked at the picture of Olivia in the magazine. He found unfamiliar feelings stirring inside. He tried to dismiss them with a big sigh. It didn't work.

Doug was back in the room with Olivia after being called down from his office.

He saw Olivia standing before him wearing a beaming smile that she carried with her all the time. His heart missed a beat.

He now knew how much he loved her.  How much he missed her.

He wanted to take her in his arms and give her the words of love that were bursting to come out, but he didn't.

Instead he sat down, putting the desk between them. Olivia sat opposite.

As she looked around the wood panelled room Doug's eyes never left her face.

“How have you been?” he asked. “I'm good,” she replied, “been keeping busy”.

He so wanted to ask her to meet him but was afraid of the answer.

It was autumn now and the sun still had the warmth of summer, the evenings were cool and carried the aroma of burning wood and leaves.

This was Olivia's favourite time of the month and he wondered if perhaps she might go for a walk with him one evening, but he dare not ask her.

They began to chat about nothing much. He told her that the boat was now in dry dock and he was going over regularly to paint it.

The conversation soon dried up and hung about in an air of embarrassing silence. Out of the blue Olivia said, “We had some good times on that boat.”

Doug replied, “Yes we did and I will never forget them; the times spent on the river together.”

“
Neither will I,” she said.

“
I might go over on Thursday and do some painting,” Doug mused and wasn't sure if he was telling Olivia this or talking to himself.

He was wondering whether he could now throw out an invite, but he didn't.

Olivia spoke in the same way as though to herself, “I think I might go to University and get the piece of paper for a career.

Children are getting older and no one seems to need me now. I have time on my hands and am getting rather bored with life”.

Doug was wondering why Olivia came to see him, this was going nowhere fast.

“
Would you like a coffee?” he asked. He spoke conspiratorially as though he was not supposed to ask her.

Olivia answered, “No thank you, it's fine, had one before I came out. I can't stay. I was just passing”.

They chatted a while longer and when Olivia rose to leave Doug wanted to pull her into his arms and feel the softness of her hair on his face.

He wanted to run his fingers through her crowning glory that always looked so inviting and made her look so sexy.

Olivia stood, awkwardly, before him, like a little girl.

She looked down at her black skirt and straightened the white frilly blouse she was wearing.

Neither of them knew what they were supposed to do next.

Olivia's hand shot out and Doug shook it as he spoke, “Well, err..... thanks for popping in, it's been nice to see you, perhaps we'll bump into each other somewhere?”

Olivia smiled, “Perhaps we will”.

She walked towards the door.

Doug felt an anxiety which was alien and the panic of maybe not seeing her again, grew.

Once she was out the door she might be gone forever.

Doug suddenly blurted out, “Olivia would you like to come to the boat with me next week, I have to do some work there. We could have lunch somewhere nice?”

He felt very stupid now. Why would she? They were over.

Olivia stopped and stood still. Doug could not read her back and became even more anxious.

She slowly turned, the smile was no longer there, instead there was a frown topping a serious look.

Olivia looked into his eyes as she put her hand on the door handle, “Yes that would be very nice, thank you”.

She turned on her heel and as she went through the door called back, “Call me”.

She was gone. Doug sat down, running his hand across his brow, lost in a turmoil of emotions that would not stay still long enough to identify them.

He sat down in the dark, cool room and stared at the picture of a boat on a stormy sea on the panelled wall.

He could not let go of this woman who awoke the sleeping feelings within.

He felt the beat of his heart as he realised that once more his head would be silenced and he would listen only to his heart.

In true man fashion he did not consider her but only thought of his own needs.

He was not a selfish man and knew how to treat a woman, knew the words they wanted to hear.

Right now he could only imagine what the future might hold.

Doug would carry the image of that beautiful face and that beaming smile with him until the next time he saw her.

The day they went to the boat the weather let them down. As they drove into Sam's boat yard, the heavens opened. Doug stopped the car and told Olivia how sorry he was that he could not control the weather.

He had some work to do on the outside of the boat and wondered if she would mind being on her own inside for a couple of hours.

“
Of course not”, she said, “I have my note book and I can catch up on some writing”.

Doug went off to get some tools from Sam's shed and Olivia climbed up the side of the boat and down into the cabin.

A few hours later Doug climbed down into the cabin to find Olivia curled up on the bench, fast asleep.

He saw the open book on the table and as he passed by.

The doodles around a page filled with words caught his eye and he sat down picking the book up. Doug began to read,

STOLEN MOMENTS
Ours is not to be together,
Ours to live our lives apart.
Living, loving with another,
You remain within my heart.
Stolen kisses in a moment,
Stole dreams and thoughts of you.
Wishing, hoping, never knowing,
Stolen moments all life through.

Doug began to flick through the pages that were covered in verse, until he spotted a title that made him smile and led him to read again.

SEA OF HOPE
What are we doing to one another?
Neither happy, nor sad.
Limbo dancing through this mess,
Trapped in a rhythm of going nowhere,
Cruising on a stormy sea of hope.
Exasperation, sorrow,
Sink or swim.
Dive deep for the treasure,
Bouncing with the surf until,
We drown.
Options are endless,
Relationships run aground
Trapped in a rhythm of going nowhere.
Trapped on a sea of hope.

Doug looked up to see an enormous pair of brown eyes staring at him.

“Hello you, “ he said” hope you don't mind?”

He held the note book up for her to see. As Olivia sat up she began to blush.

“
No it's fine,” she replied.

Doug went on, “These are really good you know. I don't understand some of them but I do know they are good”.

He smiled as her face turned a deeper crimson.

“If there is one thing I will always remember about you it will be you always having a pen in your hand, scribbling into a book.