Keeping the Peace (28 page)

‘Well, she’s a feisty thing, isn’t she?’ Ollie laughed. He winked at Pippa. ‘Strong-willed yet away with the fairies most of the time. And you, brave enough to take her on knowing she’s just a waitress –’

‘Ollie!’ Pippa exclaimed.

‘What?’ he said, raising his hands in innocence. ‘That is what you are, Pippa. You’d never worked in an office before a couple of months ago. I’ll bet she’s given you a few grey hairs since she joined the ranks, eh, Jack?’

Jack exhaled with difficulty.

‘Pippa is one of Aspen Valley’s best assets,’ he said, his voice straining to keep level. ‘She’s resourceful and hardworking. If anybody is to be deemed brave, then it’s her, not me.’

Melissa looked less amused.

Ollie snorted.

‘How so?’ he asked in a patronising tone.

Pippa gasped as Jack slammed down his drink. He leaned forward in his seat and glared at Ollie.

‘Because she’s taken on a new career, wanting to support her horse whilst juggling a massive renovation of her cottage. And what’s more she’s succeeding.’

Pippa’s discomfort over Ollie’s manners fell by the wayside as she stared at Jack in wonder of his rigid defence of her.

Ollie laughed, any caution now a distant speck of dust in the wind.

‘Ah yes, her horse. This whole racing venture isn’t brave, Jack. You, of all people, should know that. It’s foolish, plain and simple. Look at today, for instance. That horse, which Pippa is so convinced is going to win the Grand National, couldn’t even win some low class race out in the middle of the sticks.’

‘Enough, Ollie!’ Pippa cried. She snatched up her bag, but Jack was already on his feet, towering over the table and pointing a menacing finger towards Ollie.

‘The only foolish thing I’ve seen Pippa do is date you!’ he shouted, his body trembling with rage.

Ollie’s sardonic smile disappeared. A blaring hush fell over the lounge. All eyes turned on Jack, his fury sending shockwaves through the room.

The surprise on Ollie’s face altered and his wide-eyed gaze flickered between Jack and Pippa, a dawning. Pippa felt it too and by the not-so-amused-now look on Melissa’ face, she did as well.

‘It’s time we left, Ollie,’ Pippa said, her voice shaking. She leapt up and, grabbing a shell-shocked Ollie by the sleeve, pulled him after her.

‘What the hell is that guy’s problem?’ Ollie exclaimed, finding his voice as they burst out of the restaurant onto the harbour promenade.

Pippa whipped around and stared at him, incredulous.

‘You, Ollie!’ she said. ‘You are the problem! How dare you speak to me like that in front of Jack and Melissa!’

Ollie glared back.

‘What did I say that was so wrong? Or so inaccurate?’

‘In the space of five minutes, you managed to insult me, Jack and Peace Offering!’ she said, jabbing the air with her finger at every name.

‘Everything I said was true though!’

Pippa’s breath came in short shallow gasps that pooled in foggy clouds in front of her.

‘What gives you the right to dismiss me like that, huh?’ she said, her voice lowered to a steel iciness. ‘You sit there shamelessly flirting with my boss’ girlfriend in front of me –’

‘I wasn’t flirting!’

‘Yes, you were,’ Pippa snapped. ‘And to rub in that humiliation, you insult my secretarial skills and fob off my artwork.’

‘You never painted in London!’ Ollie said in defence.

‘I used to though, didn’t I?’ she challenged him. ‘Have you ever wondered why I stopped painting?’ A sudden urge to punch him swelled inside her as the bitter reason exposed itself to her.

‘It was a hobby. I thought you lost interest.’

‘No, Ollie!’ she cried, stamping her foot. ‘My art was
not
a hobby! And if you weren’t so wrapped up in your own little world, maybe you would’ve seen that, would’ve encouraged me rather than slagging me off the entire time! That’s why I stopped painting! I loved my art. I wanted to make a career out of it and
you
stopped me!’

Ollie glared at her, insult etched across his face.

‘I never stopped you from painting!’

‘No, not physically. But psychologically, that’s another story. You managed to make me think your career was more important, your happiness was more important.’ She gulped as a ball of tears rose in the back of her throat. She pointed at him accusingly. ‘And for three years, my life has been non-existent. It has merely revolved around yours.’

‘Well, if that’s the way you feel. Personally, I think you should take a good long look at yourself, Pippa. Look at reality, if you’ve got the guts to. You deserted me in London to live out some stupid fantasy. Don’t you think that was pretty fucking selfish of you?’

‘Selfish to want to live my own life?’ She shook her head. ‘No, Ollie. I think it’s selfish of you not to have let me.’

Ollie opened his arms wide.

‘So where does that leave us? You’ve said some pretty unforgivable things to me, Pippa.’

The swelling in her throat subsided and she couldn’t help uttering a short burst of laughter.

‘It leaves us with nothing, Ollie. I have no wish for your forgiveness because quite simply, I don’t respect you anymore. You’ve done nothing to earn it.’

He gaped at her.

‘
You’re
breaking up with
me
?’

‘Yes, Ollie,’ she laughed. ‘This useless away-with-the-fairies waitress girlfriend is dumping her hot-shot Hollywood-here-I-come actor boyfriend.’

‘Well, you beat me to it then because don’t think anybody can talk to me like that and get away with it!’ Ollie replied, folding his arms across his chest, his rigid stance making her think of someone with carrot stuck up their arse.

‘I can’t believe your arrogance,’ Pippa snorted in disbelief.

‘I’m not arrogant!’ he retorted. ‘I know when I’m right, I – I just have difficulty proving it sometimes, that’s all.’

‘Go on then,’ she said, gesturing him away with her hand. ‘Go back to London. I’m not what you need nor do I want to be that person anymore.’

Ollie nodded and took a hesitant step away.

‘Fine, I’m going. Have a nice life, Pippa.’

‘Bye, Ollie. Have a good one too.’

In the amber lighting along the quay, she watched Ollie stride away without a backward glance. She turned to go in the opposite direction, hugging her coat around her as she became aware of the icy wind coming off the water. Like a popped beach ball, her almost hysterical triumph of finally breaking up with Ollie started to deflate, replaced with a pitiful low. Pity for herself and pity for him as well.

As she wandered aimlessly and alone along the row of restaurants and nightclubs, she realised that she was stuck in Bristol. Ollie had been her lift home.

‘Oh, fuck,’ she muttered. ‘You and your big mouth, Pippa. Why couldn’t you have broken up with him tomorrow or something? Now you’ve got to get a taxi all the way back home.’ This rather conniving thought brought a smile to her face as she realised that now she really was on her own. Ollie was no longer a part of her life. Her smile widened and her step quickened.
Oh, the relief
!

She passed the fountains and headed for a long queue by the taxi ranks. The boisterous shouts of drunken Saturday nighters bounced off the stone Georgian buildings leaning over the steep cobbled streets as she took her place at the back of the line.

She supposed about a quarter of an hour had passed, shuffling along the barrier on cold aching feet as the taxi queue wobbled forward, when she heard her name being shouted. She looked up.

‘Do you need a ride?’ Jack asked from the open window of his Land Rover.

Pippa didn’t think twice. Flashing him a grin and amidst the jovial shouts of ‘Ey there, love, give us a ride too! I’ll give you one in return’, Pippa ducked beneath the metal railing and pulled wide the passenger door which Jack had pushed open for her.

‘Thank you,’ she gushed. ‘God, it’s freezing out there.’

She rubbed her hands together and blew on them as they set off down the street.

‘Where’s Ollie?’ Jack asked, his expression grave.

‘On his way back to London, I expect. Where’s Melissa?’

‘She had her own car with her.’ He paused. ‘Pippa, I’m sorry for my – my outburst. It was completely out of line and totally unprofessional.’ His frown deepened as he stared resolutely at the road ahead and gripped the steering wheel for emphasis on each word.

‘No, please. Don’t apologise,’ she said, full of remorse. ‘It was Ollie who was out of order. I’m sorry he was so rude.’

‘I hope I haven’t caused any long-lasting damage by what I said.’

She looked ahead again, unsure how to answer him without making him feel even guiltier.

‘Ollie and I have decided to call it quits.’

Jack’s head snapped sideways in surprise.

‘Jesus, Pippa! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go that far. I just saw red and I couldn’t stop myself. You know how I can get like.’ He shook his head and banged his palm against the wheel. ‘Me and my bloody temper. I’m sorry.’

Pippa ventured out a placating hand to his arm.

‘Don’t be,’ she said. ‘It was already on the cards.’

‘Are you – um – are you okay?’

Pippa shrugged and let her hand drop away.

‘Well, I don’t feel great, but on the other hand it’s actually quite a relief now that it’s over.’

‘You deserve better than him. Does he always treat you like that?’

‘It hasn’t always been this way,’ she reasoned. ‘I guess it’s been a gradual thing, kind of like wrinkles. You don’t notice them until one day you have a particularly bad hangover and then they’re glaring at you from the bathroom mirror. It’s only lately that I’ve come to realise just how much of a wrinkle Ollie is.’

Jack gave a mirthless chuckle.

‘There’s a lot more appropriate and less complimentary words I can think of to describe him than
wrinkle
.’

‘He’s not entirely to blame though. I’ve pandered to his every need these past few years to avoid his temper tantrums. I’m just as much at fault.’

‘I doubt that. You never stood up to him?’

‘No, it was easier not to.’

‘That surprises me. You don’t think twice about standing up to me.’ He shot her a wry smile.

‘Well, you’re different. Ollie’s ego is a lot more delicate than yours. And contrary to what you might think, I
do
think twice before standing up to you.’

‘Really? Why?’

‘I don’t know. You can be a bit intimidating.’

They pulled up at a stop light and Jack’s frown returned.

‘Can I? You’ve no reason to feel intimidated by me.’

‘When you’re angry with me it’s hard not to be a bit frightened,’ she said diplomatically.

Jack looked at her for a long moment, his expression a mixture of offence and distress.

‘I’ve never been angry with you, Pippa,’ he said quietly. ‘Maybe I’ve been angry at circumstances involving you, but I’ve never been angry at
you
.’

‘
T
hen what happened?’ Tash asked, as captivated by Pippa’s recount of the previous Saturday’s events as a five-year-old with her first picture book.

‘Then nothing. Someone hooted at us because the light had turned green and we just carried on home.’

Pippa wiped her brow and moved to the opposite end of the Welsh dresser in the lounge.

‘You must have spoken about something after that. What else did he say?’

‘Lift on three?’

‘That’s an odd thing to say.’

‘No, the dresser, doofus. One, two,
three
!’

The girls staggered under the weight of the cabinet before half-carrying, half-dragging it towards the dining room to join the rest of the living room furniture.

‘Really, all that happened after that was Jack got all impersonal and started speaking about the horses and Cheltenham Festival in March. And then we were back here and he left.’

‘You didn’t give him a kiss to say thanks for the ride?’ Tash grinned. ‘I would have.’

‘No – ow, fuck. Mind your fingers going through the doorframe there. No, even if I’d wanted to, Jack would probably have sprinted in the opposite direction or more likely, fired me. He’s very against relationships in the workplace.’ With a sigh of relief, they lowered the Welsh dresser to the ground. Pippa sprawled out on the sofa, also randomly positioned in the dining room. ‘Shall we have a break before we start ripping up that carpet?’

‘Sounds like a plan. I’ll go grab some of that wine I brought along.’

Tash reappeared a couple of minutes later, her fingers wrapped around two wine glasses, a corkscrew and a bottle of rosé.

‘Sounds to me like your Jack Carmichael doesn’t know what he wants,’ she said, joining Pippa on the sofa. ‘First he insists you and he are purely employer and employee, the next minute he’s springing to your defence and by the sounds of it, ready to clobber your boyfriend. Although I’m rather pleased somebody stood up to Ollie for once. No offence, Pip, but I’ve been driven crazy by the amount of times I’ve wanted to shout at you ‘strap on a pair, will ya?’.’

Pippa curled up in the corner of the sofa in a chuckle-attack.

‘Hmm. Always wanted to do that,’ she giggled.

‘What – strap on a pair?’ Tash passed her a glass of wine.

‘Yeah.’

Tash laughed.

‘Really?
Why
?’

‘Well, it’d give you something to do when you’re standing in queues.’ With a grin she rescued the wine from Tash’s hand.

‘One thing’s for certain though,’ she said. ‘Jack doesn’t go for the whole mixing business with pleasure. Finn took me out for a drink on Wednesday to cheer me up and Jack wasn’t terribly happy about that.’

‘Poor thing,’ Tash said, reaching out to hold Pippa’s chin with her thumb and forefinger. ‘Get this down you. Here’s to a new chapter in your life, filled with freedom and irresponsibilities – or should that be no responsibilities? Rest assured, there is life after Ollie Buckingham.’

They clinked glasses and Pippa took a slug, half in need to quench her thirst, the other half in reinforcement of Tash’s toast.