Olivia and the Great Escape Read Online Free Page B

Kasha brightly. “Course.” He ended the call, sank down on the steps of the Swan and looked up at the sky.
    “What am I going to do?” he asked out loud.
    “About what?” asked a familiar voice behind him. “Was the workshop so awful you need celestial help?”
    Kasha looked round with a smile on his face. He always had time for Livy Marvell. She came and sat down beside him.
    “No, Livy,” he said. “The workshop was fine. In fact, Aeysha’s song was brilliant. That girl really can write. Not just tunes, lyrics too.”
    “She’s a genius, that’s why,” said Olivia. “But is everything all right, Kasha? You sounded a bit desperate.”
    “I was just thinking out loud,” said Kasha. “It was nothing really.”
    “Nothing will come of nothing,”
said Olivia lightly.
    Kasha frowned. “Wait, don’t tell me…” His face lit up.
“King Lear?”
    Olivia nodded. She read a lot of Shakespeare.
    Kasha sighed. “Well, the old boy was right about nothing coming of nothing. My record company just called and they want another song for the album. But they want it, like, yesterday.”
    “Surely that’s not a problem, is it?” replied Olivia. “You’ve always been so prolific. You used to be able to make up brilliant songs on the spot.”
    “Not any more,” said Kasha bitterly. “The gift has suddenly deserted me.” He looked at Olivia. “I am going to tell you something I haven’t told anyone else. I haven’t written a song for weeks.” He put his head in his hands. “I
can’t
write one. When I try, all that comes out is rubbish.”
    “But surely that happens to lots of writers,” said Olivia, putting an arm around him. “Isn’t it called being blocked? You’ll get over that, I know you will.”
    “Well, I’ll have to get over it pretty quick or it’s goodbye to my brilliant career,” said Kasha, and he looked so worried that Olivia hugged him.

Chapter Six
    “Georgia!” called Alex. Georgia whirled round. She bit her lip. She was in a hurry, she knew the others were waiting for her, but she couldn’t resist Alex, who was sauntering towards her as if they had all the time in the world and he only had eyes for her.
    “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” he asked.
    Georgia looked flustered. “Eh, nowhere,” she said, unconvincingly.
    “I’ve never noticed Nowhere on the London A-Z,” said Alex, with a devastating smile. “Can I come to Nowhere with you? Or aren’t I invited?”
    Georgia blushed. She had suggested to Olivia and Tom and the others that they inviteAlex along with them to Tower Bridge to see the progress that Jack and Pablo were making, but the others hadn’t wanted to. She knew that Aeysha and Katie found him arrogant, Tom hadn’t taken to him at all, while Olivia seemed entirely indifferent.
    In fact, Olivia was beginning to find Alex Parks a bit annoying. He seemed to have taken her gran’s suggestion as an invitation to hang out with them all the time, and he kept looking at her in a way that made her feel as if she had suddenly sprouted a second head. Besides, he wasn’t half as good at the high-wire as he seemed to think he was, and although, like a lot of the Swans, she was impressed by his mimicry, she was less impressed by the way he used it. She had recently walked into one of the music practice rooms with Aeysha to find him entertaining Eel, Emmy and some of their friends with a wicked impersonation of Alicia. It had made her feel uncomfortable. So when Georgia had mentioned taking Alex down to Tower Bridge with them, Olivia had frowned and shaken her head.
    Seeing Georgia’s disappointed face, Tom had said kindly, “Georgie, let’s go somewherewithout Alex for a change. We don’t really know him that well yet, and Jack and Pablo may not like it if we turn up at the river with someone new. Everything’s supposed to be under wraps until the announcement.”
    Aeysha and Katie had murmured in agreement and Georgia hadn’t pushed the issue. Now,