Beneath The Surface

Chapter One

Olivia stood open mouthed as the bus driver carelessly tossed her suitcase into the undercarriage.

"Hey, be careful with that bag—it's a genuine Sofia Sanchez," Olivia shot as she retrieved her mobile phone from her handbag.

The plump man blinked blankly at her.

She sighed. "It's expensive and the contents are probably worth more than your house." She was referring to her patent nude Louboutin pumps and her cheetah-print Jimmy Choo's, among her other designer clothing.

The bus driver gave an apologetic nod of the head and proceeded to load the other passenger's bags. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a few of those waiting to board the bus looking her over apprehensively. She turned her nose up and kept her eyes straight ahead.

Most of them dressed sloppily and probably didn't even have anything of value in their old, worn-out suitcases. This was her first trip to Perth and she was beginning to think that maybe all West-Coasters were less refined than their East-Coast cousins—the sophisticated Sydney-siders.

Olivia made her way onto the bus, being careful to avoid having to touch the handrails. From the looks—and smells—of it, many of the passengers were unacquainted with soap and sanitiser. She found a spot near the window and placed her handbag on the empty seat beside her in the hopes it might deter any other passengers from trying to sit beside her.

She sent Matt, her boss, a quick message:

Arrived in Perth safely.

Bus has been delayed by five minutes.

Will text you again when I arrive in Worremba.

Olivia placed her phone in her bag and stared out the window.

What was taking everyone so long? The passengers were dawdling along. Didn't anyone else care that they were running late? She spotted a couple hugging by the side of the bus. The woman was crying and the man was stroking her cheek and talking to her all doe-eyed. Olivia pressed her fingers to her temples as the couple kissed. She was tempted to stand up, yell out the window, and tell them to get a move on, but instead she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

It's only five minutes. No big deal—unless something else goes wrong and then they get delayed further. She tapped her fingers together. This was ridiculous.

Olivia grabbed the headrest of the chair in front of her and braced herself to stand up, march down to the bus driver, and demand that he start the trip, but the young woman finally boarded the bus. The brakes huffed as the driver closed the door, and the bus jolted forward.

"About time," she whispered.

She settled back and clasped her fingers on her lap. It had been a four-hour flight from Sydney and now she had a six-hour bus trip ahead of her heading north along the Western Australian coast. In all of her six years at Mega-Energy Olivia had yet to actually be involved in the face-to-face land acquisitions process.  Her role was primarily working with state government to apply for the licenses for their coal seam mining team to conduct the necessary survey and drilling explorations of the areas.

She was supposed to be travelling with an older gentleman, George, but unfortunately he had been struck down with the flu. When Matt had reluctantly decided to postpone the deal, Olivia volunteered, but now she was beginning to wish she hadn't.

Matt Blowes was the kind of boss that made coming to work a pleasure. He was slightly taller than Olivia with dark hair, big brown eyes, and a smile that would liquefy titanium. For the entire eight years that Olivia had worked at Mega-Energy she had a crush on him. She had tried to make it more than just friendship, sadly he hadn't returned her affections.