Beyond Boundaries

06 | old macdonald

Hangover. No, that was an understatement. I woke up to the rays of sunshine kissing my eyelids open as the blinds were kept ajar. Pain shot through my head as I attempted to lift myself off the covers.

Memories from last night immediately flooded into my head; I was joined by the company of Oliver and Isla and admittedly, it was one of the best nights I'd had in a while. We ended up chatting for the rest of the night on the patio lounge about - life. And it felt completely human.

The house felt silent as always, that is, until my phone went off. The shrill sound made me cringe, nonetheless, I proceeded to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Hey Si!" Oliver greeted me. His voice was way too chirpy for the morning. I moaned, rubbing my eyes. "Looks like someone's really badly hungover." He chuckled on the other end of the line.

"I feel terrible. I haven't done this in so long. It feels almost foreign to be hungover."

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, Isla's still over-"

My eyes flew open, "You guys..."

"Shocker, eh?" He laughed, "She's really good."

I rolled my eyes, "I don't want to know, Oliver. Thank you very much. Now tell me why you've called, other than informing me of your news."

"Well..." He drawled, "I was thinking, why don't you take another day off today? Like, just me, you and Isla. We could hang out wherever we want and just have some fun!"

"Are you crazy, Oliver? I already skipped some work from yesterday night." I also remembered it was just about three days before I took over the company, "And I don't think it would be much of my dad's pleasure to find out I was spending the last three days slacking off. You know how much this company means to him."

Oliver sounded serious, "We're never going to be able to spend time with each other after you become CEO. Even you know that, Si."

It was something I had avoided thinking about, but I immediately felt guilt wash over me. Oliver, my best friend, was afraid of not being able to talk to me because I'd be too busy for him. "No, I-I don't know if it's possible to hang out with you two today. You know I really want to."

"Please?"

I gave in. "Okay fine. Tell me where we're going first though."

Oliver cheered, "I'll tell you when you get to my house. Just wear comfortable clothing."

Why was it that Oliver dictated what I was going to wear? I scoffed, saying goodbye, hanging up the phone and finally, calling in sick to my dad's office.

Besides, I had done enough work the last couple of weeks in order to earn a day off.

---

An hour and a half into the car ride with Oliver and Isla and I was bored out of my mind. Isla and I had gotten quite close together, and Oliver was driving the car at an appreciable speed.

"Can you guys please tell me where we're going?" I asked. We were quite far from the city now. And knowing that we were surrounded by farmland all around us, I couldn't help but question why we were here. Although I flew all around the world with my father, I'd never gone out of the urban areas of Manchester.

Oliver flashed a grin at me from the rearview mirror. "We're here!" He pulled up in a wide parking lot of a small ranch house with a barn behind it. The open field surrounded us, grass and various plantations towering over us.

"What the hell are we doing here?" I questioned in confusion as we got out of the car.

"My father lives here," Oliver said, "after my parents divorced nine years ago, he moved to the countryside and started farming. I haven't visited him in a year now, but I thought of doing it this time while taking you both," he nodded towards me. Oliver then looked at Isla, "It's gonna be so much fun!"