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“Katherine?” I asked.
“Yes, sir?”
“Go back to bed. It’s fine. If anything, that gives me a few days to knock out work so I can actually enjoy the country while I’m there.”
“Are you sure? Because I can keep calling arou—”
“Go to sleep, Katherine. Thursday is fine. Make sure the pilots know I want to leave as early as possible, however. If we’re going to do it this way, I’d like to get there in time to see the sun rise over the city.”
“That would put you leaving around… one in the morning, sir.”
“Then make it happen. A 1:00 a.m. flight Thursday morning into Amsterdam.”
“I’ll make it work, sir,” she said.
“Go get some sleep, then you can make it work. Thank you for calling me,” I said.
“Of course, sir.”
I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the tray I’d made during the phone call. There was a mug of coffee, some sugar and creamer, and a plate of eggs and toast. I plucked an apple out of my fruit basket for good measure, then started back up the stairs with Olivia’s breakfast. I knew she’d be bummed, but hopefully this would work out in our favor. We got work done at work, and then I’d get to truly enjoy Amsterdam the way I wanted to.
The way I knew she wanted to.
“I was wondering where you went,” she said sleepily.
“I hope you’re hungry. I made some breakfast,” I said.
“Oh, thank you.”
But it wasn’t the type of thank-you I figured I’d get. It seemed more forced than anything. And I could have sworn I saw Olivia wrinkle her nose at it before she turned her head into the pillow.
“I’ve got some coffee for you as well, to help you wake up,” I said.
“Oh, I figured I’d sleep on the plane,” she said.
I walked the tray around as she sat up in bed and settled it onto her lap.
“About that. I’ve had to postpone the trip until very early Thursday morning,” I said.
“Uh-oh. What happened?”
“Some things didn’t pan out with a hotel I wanted, and the pilots are sick. But don’t worry. We’re leaving very early Thursday morning, which means we can get work done at work before we take some time for ourselves.”
“That actually sounds a bit better,” she said.
“I figured it would. Though I kind of liked the idea of rushing off into the world together.”
“It’s romantic, but not always plausible.”
“Since when did you ever consider the plausible?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Things change. People grow up.”
I furrowed my brow at her as she picked up her fork. She pushed the steaming eggs around, but she only took a small bite. I stood up from the bed and gave her space to eat, watching as her eyes darted to and from the coffee mug. I figured she would have started in on that first. Downed it to help her wake up. But she didn’t even fix her mug of coffee. No creamer. No sugar. No reaching for it to take a sip.
“Could I have a glass of water instead?” Olivia asked.
She set her fork down like she wasn’t hungry at all, and it struck me as odd.
“Are you feeling okay?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah. Just, you know, have this taste in my mouth,” she said, grinning.
But I wasn’t buying what she was trying to sell me.
“Yeah. Let me go get you a cold glass,” I said.
“Thank you so much, Brett. I’m sorry. I just really need some water right now.”
“No need to be sorry. But you get to eating. You still need your strength after what we did last night.”
“I promise I’ll take some bites,” she said, giggling.
I grabbed my cell phone off the tray and walked over to the doorway. I stepped out into the hall, but something prompted me to look back, to take one last look at Olivia just to make sure things were okay with her. I took one look over my shoulder at her and watched as she picked up her fork again. Only this time, I saw her wrinkle her nose in disgust. I saw her shake her head before she pushed the tray away. It wasn’t like Olivia to not be hungry, to turn down coffee that was presented to her. Hmm. Maybe there was something going around. A cold or a bug of some sort. I watched her set the tray onto the bedside table before she slithered back down into bed, pulling the covers well over her head.
Something wasn’t quite right.
As I made my way downstairs, my phone rang out again. Who the hell was calling me yet again this early in the morning? I ignored it and let it go to voicemail as I made my way back into the kitchen. I fixed Olivia a tall glass of ice water, then started back for the stairs again.
