Looking for Love (9 page)

“
But the books.” Carol’s sleepy
expression changed with the lift of her chin and brightened green
eyes. “They relayed how people’s lives have been
changed.”

“
Did you read them?” Pauline asked Carol.

“
Every single one.”

“
Well, I’ve read through one of
them,” Ella said. “There just wasn’t much time with setting up the
business in like a month. Even with all your amazing
help!”

“
Don’t doubt it,
El,” Andrea said.
“This is your calling.”

“
I know.” She smiled wide. “I’ve got a new lease on life. Just
wish my guy friend could give me some support on this.”

“
Do you want me to call him?” Andrea said.

Ella
narrowed her eyes at her friend.
“Don’t you dare interfere. What diffs does it make to my life? I
have you girls. That’s all that matters.”

Through droopy
eyelids, their faces brightened.

“
But get on out of here. We need sleep! Or do you want to park
here for the night? I have enough sheets and blankets—we’ll all
sleep on the floor like we used to as kids.”

They rolled
their eyes at her and got up to stretch.

That didn’t go
down well.

“
Oh, heck, why not?” Carol
slumped back down on the couch.

“
As long as you make us
breakfast.” Pauline raised her cheeks in an attempt at a cheeky
smile. “Unless you want me to make my gourmet omelette
special.”

“
I’ll make breakfast. You’ve all
done enough.”

The thought made her want to
crawl under her duvet and sleep for days.
But she felt good. And grateful.
They’d done so much for her. They’d helped her get the whole ball
rolling. The ladies were her best friends.

While she set up their makeshift beds, the
tired, sick-of-a-long-day part of her felt a little blue. How would
she manage without Ross’s support in this? He’d always been there
for her when she nearly left her job a few years back due to
relationship problems with a colleague. Now, what if she hit a snag
in the road? She’d be all on her own.

Too bad. He
could be a stubborn mule. Forget him. Revel in the moment.

***

Monday evening, Ella had forgotten about
Ross and his new strange ways and had a new, very troubling
concern.

One of her
clients.

He sat before her in all his
masculine-infused glory
, and all she could do was swallow nervously and
nod, listening to his long explanation of his rocky romantic
history. Trying not to show her attraction to him could be a great
effort.

The poor guy. He’d been messed
around big time.
She could so relate. Hence the rather over-exuberant nods
and concerned frowns.

“
I’m sorry. TMI,” he said and
gazed at her with a piercing look that made her shudder
inwardly.

“
No, not at all. This is why
you’re here.”
Well, sort of.
Part and parcel of working with
The
Album
—she had
to give the impression that she needed to know all these things
about people to find a match. Yet, in the short time she’d dealt
with less than a dozen clients, she’d learned a hang of a lot about
human relationships. This part-time job and possible future career
sure piqued her interest.

“
Do you think I have a chance of finding the right woman in
this city? Or anyone in South Africa, for that matter?”

“
Here I am. Help yourself.” Get a
hold of yourself, El. You hardly know him. He’s cute, yeah, but
untouchable, being one of your clients.

“
There are always at least a
hundred almost-perfect matches for you somewhere in the
world
. Well,
that’s what I believe.”
The Album
had proven to her already that true love did exist
for some people—she’d matched up three potentially perfect couples
already. Hope had begun to blossom in her heart for her friends.
And herself. Maybe they could find love; it didn’t seem such an
elusive thing, after all.

Maybe love sat
right before her eyes.

He smiled at
her, an amused expression in his eyes and playing at his mouth.
What a sexy, pouty mouth for a man.

“
You seem far away,” he said.

“
Just thinking about my own misadventures in love.”

“
Oh, so you’ve had them, too?
Tell me about them. I’m keen to know.” He bent forward and placed
his forearms flat on the desk, his straight-jagged-cut hair
flopping onto his forehead and stealing her breath right out her
chest. She took in three calming inhalations.

“
Do you really want to hear my sad, sorry story?”

“
You gave me some sympathy. I’d like to return the
kindness.”

“
But I’m your…”

He merely stared at her and
electricity pulsed from his eyes into her body like a jolt of power
unknown to man, or rather, woman.
Whoa!

“
Oh, well, let’s start with my
first relationship after school. The guy ended up dating my friend
instead—after a painful break up. Then there was Patrick. He was so
pushy and wanted everything for himself but didn’t bother to give
anything back. Marius actually stole money from my purse. And
David, well, he got tired of me after only six months. That one
hurt—I really liked him.”

“
Loved him?”

“
I don’t know.”
What is love?
She’d better not say
that posing as a ‘love therapist.’

He stretched
out his hand and touched her palm. The fingers did a knee-jerk
reaction of curling inward, mirroring her toes and the sensation in
her abdomen.

“
Have you ever considered dating one of your
clients?”

She knew what he meant and
usually
,
she’d be seriously put off by such a forward guy, but the way he
said it—not in a pushy, lustful way, but a questioning, kind sort
of way, her tummy did a flip and landed into her throat so she
couldn’t speak a word.

“
I’m sorry. That was totally
uncalled for.” He pulled back and stuffed his arms around his
checked shirt which probably hid a six-pack inside, the way he
oozed power and strength from his every movement.

“
No…I, it’s okay, really. I don’t
normally get those requests. I…couldn’t really match you up with
myself because I wouldn’t be able to judge the whole scenario
properly—my subjective take on it would skew my perspective a
bit.”
And
The Album
wouldn’t allow it but we won’t divulge such
details.

“
Let me put it this way—forget the match. I’ll pay for this
consultation, but rather, will you go out with me tonight? Right
now? Do you have any more appointments?”

What? He wanted her? This gorgeous
specimen of humanity thought her potential fodder? There was no way
she could decline. No appointment, no shocked response from her
friends, nothing would stop her from saying, “Yes. That would be
great.”

And she actually said it! She put on an
easy, confident smile while her insides turned to jelly and she
flung her knee painfully against the inside of her desk. She
squeezed the edge of the wood with her hand until the pain passed,
hoping he wouldn’t see how watery her eyes had become and think she
was so desperate for a man, she cried at a simple date
request.

“
I’ll pick you up in an hour. We
can go out for supper. That okay?”

“
Yeah, that would be great. I’m famished.”

He smiled and her tummy fell over and
plunged right down into her core, tightening every female organ to
its max. Imagine kissing him.

He left, leaving his scent behind, and she
sat in the chair where he’d sat the last hour and absorbed the
residual body heat still in the fabric, closed her eyes, and
dreamed. The office phone broke her erotic dream.

Carol.

“
How’s it going? Got any appointments for tonight?”

“
I just helped my last and only one.”

“
Mind if I bring a work colleague over?”

“
Right now?”

“
In about thirty minutes.”

“
No, it’s not going to be
possible.”

Silence.

Of all her friends, Carol was
the most passionate about
The Album
. It’s like she clung onto it desperately because
it had miraculously cured her of her cynicism. She hated
disappointing her friend. “Can they not come tomorrow
night?”

“
Oh, all right. What’s up? You okay?”

“
I…” She had to tell her friends, but how? “I have a
date.”

“
With one of your clients?”

“
He asked me first. Well, I
wouldn’t have asked him but he’s so cute. Oh, Carol, he’s the
hottest guy I’ve ever been asked—”

“
You can’t do that.”

“
But I don’t want to miss out on going out with
him.”

“
As a part of this business, I won’t allow it.”

“
Carol, please.” She balled her
fists and wanted to scream. She did feel guilty about the whole
thing but she enjoyed being naughty and doing something reckless
and crazy for a change—in the love sense, of course. And Carol
wanted to stop that.

“
I’ll call you back.”

She hung
up, leaving Ella wondering who of the
Famous Four she’d call first and get on her side. At least Ross
would understand. He’d been bugging her to go on a date for over a
year because she’d backed off from dating altogether, deciding it
was too stressful, and there was no point doing it until she’d
found someone worth going out with.

Should she call him? Ask his
advice? He’d been anti-
The Album
for so long. This time, she wasn’t using
The
Album
. It
really had very little to do with it. Without thinking too deeply
about it, she called Ross.

“
Hi.” He sounded so quiet, so
serious.

She nearly dropped the
phone as if it were
a hot coal.

“
Ella?”

He knew it was
her. How did he?

“
Yeah, it’s me.”

“
Oh, I’m so glad. Been worried about you. Did you survive
Saturday with all those people in your house? Were any of them
chancers or losers come to take advantage of you?”

“
Ross, none of them. They were
all legit and very good clients. Talking about clients, one of them
asked me on a date today.” Her voice came out fake upbeat. “Can you
believe it? At last I said yes.”

“
You what?”

Not the
response she had expected.

“
He doesn’t mind not being my
client. I mean, I can forego one payment. It’s going well. Anyway,
I’m not doing this for the money. I’m doing it to help my
community.”

“
I knew you’d get sucked in by
these creeps. They’re guys who can’t find a decent girl, so
they
—”

“
Ross, come on. He’s really nice.
We had a long chat. He’s a lot like you—had some bad luck
relationships. We have that in common. Maybe there’s a
chance.”

Silence.

She should have kept her mouth shut and
not told a soul. Seemed like no one wanted to share in her
joy.

“
I can’t say I trust this. I
can’t tell you what to do, but I just don’t feel right about
it.”

One up on Carol. But still
bossy.

“
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told
you—”

“
No, El. You must tell me. I
suppose.”

He sounded so sad.
Her insides lurched.
Suddenly, the date with Dirk didn’t seem so exciting
anymore.

“
It doesn’t mean our friendship is over. You know that. We’ve
always made it clear right from the beginning to our dates that we
have this friendship between us.”

“
I know.”

Her heart churned inside of her. What was
up with him? She didn’t like him to be sad. It kind of burst the
bubble of happiness since she’d said yes to her date.

“
Are you okay,
Ross?”

“
I don’t know. Let me come over.”

“
Right now?” She looked at her
watch.

“
Just for a few minutes.”

“
Oh, okay.”

She put the phone down and rushed upstairs
to her bedroom to dress for her date. At least that would make it
less of a rush when Ross left. She put on her favourite smart jeans
and a new blouse she’d splashed out on for a work dinner which
she’d only worn once. She took about five minutes to straighten her
hair and apply a fresh coat of make-up. She spritzed her Egyptian
perfume on and rushed to brush her teeth. While the electric
toothbrush droned on, she used her free hand to strap on her heeled
sandals. The doorbell rang. She rinsed and spat and hobbled
downstairs in her strappy shoes with the one buckle
undone.

She flung open the door.
Ross stood there,
biting the inside of his cheek.