The Introvert's Guide to Speed Dating (The Introvert's Guide, #2) Read online

  It was amazing how quickly your feelings for someone could grow when you spent enough time together.

  I went into the office, dipping my head as I walked to my own space. I no longer had need of an assistant, so Mandy had moved back into the intern’s room, which meant the space outside my office was now filled with plants.

  I guess Mr. Chester had found it to be too empty.

  I sat down at my desk and pulled my laptop and phone from my bag. My phone showed unread messages—one was from Tori asking when the paper would be sent over for her, and the other was from Ollie.

  OLLIE: Did you get it finished yet?

  ME: Almost. Mocking up the draft and handing it in today. Just got to the office.

  OLLIE: Brilliant. Still good for today?

  ME: Leo bounced into school this morning.

  OLLIE: Don’t tell the others, but he’s my favorite kid.

  ME: I bet you say that to all the moms.

  OLLIE: Only the one I kiss ; )

  I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling. Darn it.

  ME: Go and do something useful. I have to work.

  I put my phone face down on the desk and opened my laptop. I wasn’t too good with design, but I knew enough about Photoshop that I could use Tori’s templates to move text and add images.

  In theory.

  In reality, it was a whole lot harder than you’d think.

  “Oh, go away!” I snapped at the computer, tapping at the trackpad. “No, no, no! I don’t want you to do that!”

  The text box I’d been painstakingly trying to get in the right place flew across the screen and disappeared.

  “Oh, bollocks!” I yelled. “Come back! Undo, undo!”

  Two knocks sounded at my door and one of the young interns poked his head through. “Are you okay, London?”

  I smiled, embarrassed. “Technology,” I said by way of explanation.

  He grinned. “Do you need a hand?”

  “No, no, it’s fine. I’ll just turn it off and back on again.” Jesus, I sounded like my grandmother.

  “Are you sure.”

  “If I yell again, I’ll need help.”

  He closed the door as he laughed, and I scowled at the laptop.

  What did I do to deserve this technological insolence?

  I shut the program down and restarted it again, but it didn’t work. My trackpad was sticking for some reason, and I didn’t have an external mouse here, so this wasn’t going to work right now.

  I picked up my phone and dialed Tori’s number. It rang three times.

  “What’s up, buttercup?” she sang down the phone.

  “Hey. Can I send you drawings of the layout?”

  She giggled. “Aw, are you having a domestic with Photoshop again?”

  I groaned. “My trackpad and clicky key is sticking. I need to get it cleaned out. I think Leo ate at it when he played Minecraft last night.”

  “Bleck, kids. Yeah, draw it out on some paper and send me photos. Might be easier than trying to decipher your graphic design anyway.”

  “Rude,” I replied.

  Rude, but not wrong.

  “All right. I have a client call in a couple so I gotta go. Are you sending tonight?”

  “Yeah, you have everything else, don’t you?”

  “Sure do.” She hung up on that note, and I blew out a long breath.

  Well.

  I was out of things to do.

  I supposed I could read through the interviews I’d already done. They’d been through two rounds of edits in-house, but I was waiting for the layout to be ready before I did so.

  Looked like that was my mission now, so I opened one of my documents and got stuck in.

  Three knocks sounded at my door half an hour later.

  My God, it was like a merry-go-round in here today.

  “Yes?” I called.

  “These just arrived for you.” A different intern pushed the door open, holding a bouquet of flowers.

  Oliver!

  “Oh, okay, thank you. Can you just put them there on my desk, please?” I motioned to the spot where the first bouquet had been put. The intern carefully put them down and then left, once again closing my door behind her.

  Right.

  I reached over for the card. These flowers were beautiful, but I didn’t recognize any except the lilies—they were pink and orange this time.

  London,

  Congrats on being done! You worked hard on this. I hope you steal Ebony’s job.

  Ollie

  Xx

  I burst out laughing. I couldn’t believe he’d written that in a card, and I hoped nobody else had read this before it was delivered here.

  Oh, my God, I would be in so much trouble if they had.

  I reached for my phone to message Ollie and stilled. There were nineteen missed called, six voice messages, and eight texts. My heart thundered against my chest as I fought to unlock my phone, but I mistyped my pin code three times and had to wait thirty seconds to try again before I finally got it right on the fifth attempt.

  They were all from my aunt and my cousins. I didn’t need to check the voice messages because the texts told me everything.

  HOLLEY: Answer your phone!!!

  IVY: Where are you????

  AUNT JASMINE: London, are you at home?

  IVY: LONDON PICK UP!!!!

  HOLLEY: OMG ANSWER

  AUNT JASMINE: Sweetheart your grandma has been taken to the hospital, we’re on our way there now, can you meet us there? We’ll be at the ER.

  My heart stopped.

  Grandma was in hospital?

  When were these messages sent?

  In the last fifteen minutes.

  Oh, God. If I left now I could get there in ten and—

  I couldn’t.

  I had to get Leo from school.

  I had to pick him up.

  But Grandma was in hospital. I had to go. Could I pick Leo up early? No. I couldn’t. I couldn’t take him to hospital.

  Oh, my God. What was wrong with her? What was happening?

  My eyes landed on the flowers.

  Ollie.

  Would he—

  No. I couldn’t ask him, could I?

  I reread the message from Aunt Jasmine.

  I didn’t have a choice. I had to ask him.

  Frantically, I dialed his number. “Pick up, pick up, pick—”

  “Hey! Did you get the flow—”

  “Ollie!” I yelled. “Are you busy?”

  “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”

  “Are you busy? Are you working? I need your help.” I tucked the phone between my shoulder and ear, shoved all my things in my bag, and ran out of my office. “Please, I’m desperate.”

  “No, I just got done with a meeting. What’s wrong?”

  “My grandma has been taken to the ER. I don’t know what’s going on, but I need to get to her—” I broke off as my voice grew thick. I couldn’t cry now. I had to drive.

  “Oh, shit. What can I do? London, what do you need? Do you need me to take you?”

  “No, I need—” I ignored the stares of my coworkers as I ran out onto the sidewalk and toward the parking lot. “Leo.”

  “You need me to get Leo?”

  “School. I can call them now.” I could barely breathe. “I can’t take him there with me but I have to go and see her and I have no one else to ask and—”

  “Calm down. It’s fine. It’s okay. I’ll get him, okay? I know where the school is. What time?”

  “Half—half past,” I choked out. “I’ll call them. Tell them. They know Seb, can you take Seb? He won’t know. Can you—”

  “I’ve got it. I’ll go back and get Seb, get Leo at half past, and we’ll tell everyone, okay?”

  I got into my car and took a deep, shaky breath. “Th—thank you. Thank you.” A tear rolled down my cheek.

  “I’ll take him home, okay? Do you have a spare key?”

  “M—my neighbor. To the left. Mrs. Cooper has one.”r />
  “Okay. I’ve got it. It’s fine.”

  “Thank you.” I hung up before I burst into earnest tears. I had to get my crap together and I had to do it now before I called the school.

  I did that quickly, explaining that I had a family emergency and a friend would be picking Leo up. They understood, especially when I said Sebastian would be there, and I tossed my phone to the side.

  The hospital.

  I had to get to the hospital.

  Now.

  I started the car and threw it into gear to pull out. I tore out of the lot and onto the main road, turning in the direction of the hospital. I drove faster than I had in my entire life, and there would probably be a ticket showing up on my doorstep soon, but I didn’t care.

  I had to get to the hospital.

  I arrived in record time and parked in the huge parking lot. I got out of the car, barely remembering to grab my purse and phone, and ran toward the building. The emergency room was clearly marked, and I ran as fast as I possibly could toward it, around the side of the monstrous hospital.

  I slowed as I approached and pushed my way in. I scanned the room desperately, and my eyes finally found my family.

  “What’s happening?” I asked, rushing to them. “What’s going on?”

  Aunt Jasmine looked at me with red eyes. “We don’t—”

  “We don’t know,” Ivy said, her voice a little stronger. “Mom got a call from the senior center that she’d been complaining of really bad chest pain on the left side.”

  “They rushed her here.” Holley sat back in the metal chair. “Mom called us, and we tried to call you.”

  “I was at work. I—”

  “Oh, my God, Leo!” Ivy exclaimed.

  Aunt Jasmine looked at me with horror. “Oh, no!”

  “It’s fine,” I said quickly, sitting down with them. “I called Ollie on my way out the door. He and Seb are going to get him from school.”

  They all sagged with relief.

  “So… What happens now?” I asked.

  Aunt Jasmine looked down. “We wait.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN – OLIVER

  RULE SIXTEEN: DO ANYTHING YOU CAN TO HELP.

  EXCEPT COOK. DON’T DO THAT.

  “Will she be okay?” Leo looked at me across the dining table.

  “I’m sure she will, mate,” I replied. I felt awful saying that because I just didn’t know. It’d been four hours since I’d collected him from school and brought him home. In that time, I hadn’t heard from London or anyone else and I hadn’t wanted to text her.

  I’d also managed to burn frozen chicken nuggets, so we’d settled for takeout pizza instead.

  We’d promptly agreed that London’s pizza was better.

  “I hope so.” He stared at his plate. “Ollie, are you my momma’s boyfriend?”

  “No,” I said honestly, sitting opposite him. “But I’d like to be.”

  “Oh.”

  “Would that be okay?”

  “Will you play lots of soccer with me?”

  “Soccer. Mario. Even FIFA.”

  His eyes lit up. “FIFA! Really? I don’t have FIFA. Momma said it would be too difficult for me.”

  “Maybe, but I can teach you. Would you like that?”

  “Oh, yeah!” He smiled for the first time since Seb had told him his great grandma was in the hospital. “Can you try and call Momma?”

  “I can try, but she might still be in the hospital, okay?”

  He nodded, and I reached for my phone and dialed London’s number.

  It rang.

  “Hello?” she said. “Ollie?”

  “Hey,” I replied, giving Leo a thumb’s up. “Leo wanted me to call.”

  “I’m so sorry.” The connection wasn’t very good. “They’re running some tests. Ivy had to get back for Tegan so I didn’t want to leave Aunt Jasmine and Holley since Ivy drove.”

  “No, it’s fine. How is she?”

  “She’s awake. We don’t really know much, but they found something with her heart, so they’re probably going to keep her overnight until they’re done. I think we’ll be back soon.”

  Bloody hell. “Are you guys okay? Do you need anything?”

  “Can I talk to her?” Leo whispered.

  “No, we’re fine, we got some food here. Is everything okay there? Is Leo being good?”

  “He’s been perfect. He wants to talk to you.”

  “Pass him over.”

  I handed Leo the phone with a smile.

  “Momma!” he all but yelled. “Is Gamma okay?”

  My heart panged at that nickname.

  “Oh, okay. Is she going to die?”

  God bless kids.

  “That’s good, right? She’s not going to die? … Okay… I am listening. I’m being very good…”

  I smiled. He really was.

  “Momma, Ollie said he’d teach me FIFA. Can he do that?”

  I was so in trouble.

  “Oh, okay. I’ll go take a shower. Can I play Mario after? … Thanks, Momma. Love you.” He stretched his arm out. “I’m going to take a shower. Can you make the water for me?”

  “Give me two seconds to say bye to your mum and I’ll be right there.”

  He sped off.

  “How do I make the water?” I whispered into the phone.

  London laughed. “Just play with the dials. He can’t reach them. He can get himself in and out. There are towels in the bathroom and pajamas in the bottom drawer of his dresser. If you put them out he’ll get himself changed, okay?”

  “I know this was an emergency, but you owe me dinner for this.”

  “Done. Just be thankful he isn’t arguing with you.”

  “Always am. Let me know when you’re on your way back, okay? What time is his bedtime?”

  “Seven-thirty. I hope I’ll be back by then but it depends how long the tests take or when they send us home.”

  “Nah, we’re fine. Don’t worry about us.”

  “Ollie!” Leo shouted from upstairs.

  “I’m being yelled at,” I said with a chuckle. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “Okay. Ollie? Thank you so much for this.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “We’ll talk about FIFA la—”

  I hung up.

  Yeah. I was so in trouble for that.

  “Ollie!” Leo yelled again. “Momma shouts if I don’t shower!”

  Laughing, I put down my phone and headed for the stairs. “I’m coming!”

  ***

  “Heartburn!” London shoved the fridge closed and put the wine bottle on the counter. She reached up to the top cupboard for a wine glass and pulled it down, then cracked open the bottle and poured a large glass. “Heartburn!”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  I didn’t know what was going on.

  She’d only walked through the door thirty seconds ago.

  “Heartburn!”

  “I know you’re stressed, but I’m going to need a little bit more than just, ‘heartburn!’” I said slowly.

  London glugged down half the glass and looked at me. “She had fucking heartburn.”

  I frowned. “Didn’t that happen in—”

  “Schitt’s Creek? Yeah!” She finished her glass and poured another. “She had us all panicking, me crying and breaking about fifty road laws, and all for heartburn. No more Netflix for her!”

  I took the wine bottle from her before she caused any real damage. To what, I didn’t know.

  The counter.

  Herself.

  Me.

  “So they run all these tests, right? And we’re sitting on these goddamn fucking stupid metal chairs for hours after eating cardboard in the cafeteria and drinking coffee with the consistency of urine, and we know she’s dying. We just know she is because it’s taking forever so they must be running one million tests and she’s dying, they told us she’s okay but she’s definitely dying and—”

  “Breathe.”

  She d
rew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The doctor comes out at eight-thirty and tells us they’ve administered a strong antacid and nausea meds because she had severe heartburn, but she apparently also has high blood pressure and an issue with her heart they need to monitor that they think is just something minor.”

  “At least they found that out,” I said, looking on the bright side. “That’s good.”

  “Is it? I’m going to kill her anyway.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “No, I’m not, but I want to.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “You underestimate how irritated I am,” she muttered, sipping her wine. She sighed and set down the glass. “I’m sorry. Thank you for getting Leo, and feeding him, and showering him, and putting him to bed. I really, really appreciate it.”

  “Well, Seb helped get him. Feeding him took a detour when I burnt the chicken nuggets—”

  “How do you burn chicken nuggets?”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “Mario Kart.”

  “Of course. What a silly question.”

  “Anyway, we had pizza, and he insisted we save you some.” I motioned to the box. “The wedges probably taste like rubbish, but cold pizza is always good.”

  Her expression fully softened, and she opened the box, smiling when she saw the three slices we’d saved her between us. “He’s a good kid.”

  “I didn’t even suggest it,” I admitted. “He stole my last two for you.”

  London dipped her head and laughed.

  “As for the shower, I just turned it on, did the water, and turned it off again. Brushing his teeth took two attempts because his first one was rubbish.”

  “Sounds about right.”

  “As for bed… He took himself right off. I wasn’t sure if he was allowed to watch anything, but I didn’t want to bother you and he insisted he could have forty-five minutes with his tablet.”

  London stared at me.

  I held up my hands. “I thought he was lying, but he was really worried about your grandma, so I didn’t think you’d mind.”