Sparks the Matchmaker (Aaron Sparks Series) (11 page)

Chapter 12

The remainder of the week passed slowly for Ollie, but it wasn’t completely unbearable. He would walk the same general route to class each morning as he always had, and some things would get him to thinking about Anne while others would set his mind on a certain someone else. The big difference was that now he left an hour earlier so he could accompany her while she ascended the hill to class. He sat where he always had in history, only one row ahead, next to someone with curly brown hair. He spent a few hours a day studying like he always had when he was dating Anne, but this time it was because he was waiting on campus for someone to get off work so he could walk her home. Evenings were spent over dinner at that someone’s house because she loved to cook and he loved to eat.

His life went on exactly the same as before, only now it was completely different.

It felt nice to stand in old familiar corners and walk on top of the same sidewalks with a pretty new face, a fun new companion who seemed to enjoy his company as much as he enjoyed hers. Anne’s ghost still haunted the campus wherever he went, but she was now smaller than before.

One place he’d never taken Anne was the circus.

“You’re taking her to the circus tonight?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, but it’s not really a date,” Ollie said. “Technically I’ll be at work the whole time.”

“Dude, whatever,” Keith said. “You invited her, you’re paying her way. It’s a date. It doesn’t matter if others are going or if you’re on the clock.”

“All right, then, it’s a date. I’m not shy about it. It’s just not one-on-one like a real date.”

“You mean it won’t be a one-on-one situation, just like every other night you guys have spent together this week?” Keith asked, pumping his eyebrows up and down. “I thought you’d be sitting around moping and crying for months after the way you reacted to Anne giving you the boot, but you know what? I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Ollie said. “You know, you should come too.”

Keith made a face. “No can do, pard. D and I are gonna watch a movie with the girls in Ivy House down the street. If you’re looking for more bodies, though, I bet Richie’s not doing anything.”

“I heard that!” Richie’s voice echoed from around the corner.

“You were supposed to hear it,” Keith yelled back. “Get off your butt and go do something social. It’s Friday night.”

“I do social stuff,” Richie said. “I do social stuff all the time.” He came ambling into the room.

“Oh yeah?” Keith said. “When was the last time you took a girl out? And your sister doesn’t count.”

“Ha ha ha. I asked a girl out last weekend, smart guy,” Richie said. “It’s not my fault she shot me down.”

“Anne doesn’t count.” Keith said.

“Of course she counts. Why wouldn’t she count?” Richie said. “At least I asked someone out.”

“You’re crazy, man,” Keith said.

“What’s wrong with that? Ollie said I could!”

“Ya know,” Ollie said, “I had to ask Anne out a few times before she finally went out with me.”

“Really?” Richie said. “Then maybe I... aw, nah. She did make it pretty clear that she wasn’t interested.”

“Her loss,” Ollie said. “There’s someone out there perfect for you. I can’t seem to picture what that someone might actually be like, but she’s out there somewhere.”

“Maybe Keith is right,” Richie smiled. “That someone just may be at Ivy House tonight watching a movie.”

“Okay, you can come. But only if you promise to keep away from D’s girl,” Keith said.

“She’s not his girl,” Richie said, “they haven’t even gone out.”

“I knew it,” Keith said. “You’ve got a thing for other guys’ girls. Dude,” he put his finger in Richie’s chest, “keep away from D’s girl.”

“Okaaaay, realaaaax.” He turned toward Ollie. “Speaking of other guys’ girls, Ollie, how are things going with this new girl? You kissed her yet?”

“Do you honestly think I’d tell you if I had?”

“Why not?” Richie asked. “It’s not that personal of a question.”

“Because I know what you’re really asking.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Richie asked.

“You just want to find out if she’s available, don’t you?” Ollie said. “If we’re already kissing, then she’s off limits. If we haven’t been, you’re gonna try to make a move.”

“That’s not what I was thinking at all,” Richie said. “Not at all. I just wanted to know. I just wanted the scoop.”

“Yeah, like I believe
that,”
Ollie said.

“I wanna know too,” Keith said. “Is she into you?”

“I think so,” Ollie said. “Seems like it has lot of promise.”

“Yeah, but have you
kissed
her yet?” Richie said again.

“What is this? Are we back in middle school?” Ollie said. “Seriously. Why does it matter?”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d already kissed her,” Richie said.

“Good point, Richie,” Keith said. “When you do kiss her, just make sure it’s somewhere memorable. Don’t let your first kiss be on the doorstep as you say goodnight.”

“Why?” Ollie asked.

“It’s just a good rule of thumb,” Keith said. “It’s just too… I dunno… cliché. Like you’re kissing her because you can’t think of any other way to end the evening. Kiss her under the stars or in a light rain or something memorable. Just not on the doorstep.”

“It’s true,” Richie said. “I had a girl turn her head away when I tried to kiss her on the doorstep once.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Keith said, sarcastically.

“No really,” Richie said, not getting it. “It happened.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it happened,” Keith said. “I mean that I doubt it happened just because you happened to be on her doorstep. I also doubt it’s happened to you only once.”

“Shut up,” Richie said.

Keith gave Richie a small shove as he laughed, then turned back to Ollie. “But how about this; let’s change the line of questioning. Have you even held her hand yet?”

“Soon enough,” Ollie said.

“Come
on,”
Richie said. “Sometimes you just gotta go for it. Just kiss her.”

“Richie, I’m gonna venture a guess and say that you’ve had a lot of girls refuse to go out with you because you kissed them too soon. Haven’t you?” Ollie laughed.

“Not a lot,” Richie said.

“That’s just because you haven’t kissed a lot of girls, Richie,” Keith said, laughing.

“Hey! When did this conversation start to become about me?”

“Fine, fine,” Ollie said. “I confess: I haven’t held her hand or kissed her or anything like that. We’re just spending time together. Trust me… I’ll know when the time’s right.”

“Somebody’s stalling,” Richie sang. “You’re just trigger shy.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“Richie.”

“What.”

“How ‘bout you shut up.”

“How ‘bout you shut up, Yankee boy.” Richie pushed him.

“Hey, yeah,” Keith said. “What’s with the Yankees hat you’ve had in your back pocket these last few days? Seems like you’re not telling us something. If Joy gave you that hat, you’d better run. Get away while you still can.”

“It’s not from her. It’s hard to explain,” Ollie said.

“Try us.” Richie said.

“How ‘bout you shut up.” Ollie pushed, laughing.

“How ‘bout you!” Richie pushed back.

“How ‘bout you
all
shut up!
”
D’s voice came from upstairs. “Tryin’ to study up here, ya buncha girls!”

Ollie looked at Richie and Keith. “Let’s get him?” he asked.

“Yeah,” they said, and ran up the stairs to D’s room for a beatdown. D screamed like a girl.

Chapter 13

Ollie drove over to Joy’s house. After he picked her up, he was expecting to just pop over to Marie’s apartment and then that they’d all head to the circus, but that wasn’t what happened. After he and Joy got to Marie’s place, nobody was home.

“Over here, guys,” Lynn said from behind them. She was standing in the doorway to another apartment. “Hey there, Joy, how are you?”

“Great,” she said, and they both walked across to meet up with Lynn.

“Who lives here?” Ollie asked. “I was starting to think you went to the circus without us.”

“This is Greg’s place,” Lynn said. “We may have some trouble getting to the circus today, though. His manager quit earlier today and Greg doesn’t have anyone to work the shift. So it’s you and me here today.”

Ollie’s heart sank. “Isn’t there somebody else that could come in or something? I mean, Marie’s pretty set on going to the circus.”

“I already talked to Marie about it all,” Lynn said. “She’ll be okay with going tomorrow instead.”

“How’d you swing that?” Ollie wondered. “She was pretty excited and she doesn’t back down very easily.”

“Well, I have a way with Marie,” Lynn said. “I just told her we’d order a pizza if she’d be willing to go tomorrow instead. That’s all it took.” She smiled.

“Genius,” Ollie said, returning her smile.

“Like I said, I have a way with Marie.”

“So...” Joy said. “Can I come back tomorrow and still go with you guys?”

“Oh, you don’t have to take off if you don’t want to,” Lynn said. “I mean, if you’re willing, Ollie could probably use some help today.”

“What are you saying?” Ollie squirmed. “What am I going to be doing?”

“I’d really
really
like it if you could hang out with Greg for the evening,” Lynn said.

“Oh,” Ollie sighed, a little relieved. “I thought you were gonna ask me to—”

“You thought I was going to what?” Lynn asked. “Ask you to hang out alone with Marie?”

“Yeah,” Ollie said. “I’m not quite ready for that yet.”

“Marie’s easy!” Lynn said. “Seriously, once you get used to her, you’ll just love her to pieces.”

“I know. You keep telling me that,” Ollie said. “I do think she’s great. I just don’t think I’m quite ready for a shift alone with her yet.”

“Well get ready,” Lynn said. “Greg is totally different than Marie is… not that that makes him easy.”

“Why’s that?” Ollie asked nervously. “What’s his deal?”

“He’s got quite the temper,” Lynn said, folding her arms across her stomach. “He didn’t have any special needs until he was a teenager… he had an accident that damaged parts of his brain. Unfortunately, one of the damaged parts was the part that helped him control his temper.”

“Lynn, I’m not trained for restraining people or anything like that. Maybe you’d better work with him and I’ll stick with Marie,” Ollie said.

“Can’t do that,” Lynn said. “Besides, you’ll be fine. You’re ready.”

“You really think so?” Ollie was more than a little reticent.

“Of course you are, Ollie,” Lynn said. “Besides… look at you. You’re tall, strong—”

“But why can’t I just hang out with Marie, I mean, if I have to work? I mean, not to sound like a sissy, but… I mean… you’re much better trained than I am at helping people remain calm.”

“Ollie,” Lynn said, touching his arm, “remain calm.” She smiled.

“You’re just proving my point,” Ollie said, feeling awkward and blushing a little, wondering what Joy might think of Lynn touching his arm like that. He cleared his throat.

Lynn crossed her arms again, but her expression remained benign. “Ollie, I’ve been training you to work with Marie, but there’s been a change of plans because this other guy, Greg’s worker, up and quit today. So the thing is, you can’t work with Marie today because we’ve only got you and me here as staff workers, and Greg’s not allowed to be alone with a girl. That means I’ve gotta be there for Marie, and you’ve gotta be there for Greg.” She looked at Joy and said, “It’s fine if Joy is here with you, as long as you’re
together.
You see, just like his brain was damaged so that he’s not able to control his temper, he also lacks any kind of filter between his desires and his actions. He’s been known to attack people on occasion, often for no good reason at all.”

“No reason at all?” Ollie said. “Great. So we’ll just be sitting on the couch watching a movie and all of a sudden he’ll smack me upside the head?”

“Not like that. There’s always a reason in
his
mind,” Lynn said. “Like if he thinks you’re making fun of him, or if you break something that belongs to him… you’d better watch out. But all you have to do is monitor his mood swings. You’ll be able to see it coming a mile away, and if he does get all riled up just head out the door. Leave him alone in his apartment for half an hour so he can cool down.”

“Just leave him alone when he’s on a rampage?” Ollie asked. “Are you serious?”

“That’s what’s written in his behavioral program,” she said. “Even if you were trained to physically restrain people, he’s not to be restrained.”

“Why’s that?” Joy asked.

“Yeah,” Ollie said. “Does it just make him angrier or something?”

“No,” Lynn said. “It’s because he’s massive. Staff workers would get hurt if they tried to wrestle him down.”

“Shouldn’t I be worried about Joy being here, then?” Ollie asked. “I mean, I’m worried about myself already.”

“Well, it’s not against the rules for her to be here,” Lynn said.

“I’m okay,” Joy said, threading her arm under Ollie’s. She looked up at him. “I’m a big girl.”

“Good,” Lynn said, looking at her. “And if you ask me, like I said, it would make the shift a whole lot easier if you stayed.” She looked back to Ollie. “I’ve seen him throwing things and yelling at his worker a ton of times, but he’s always on his best behavior when a girl is around.”

“Besides,” Joy added, “you know what they say… I don’t have to be able to outrun the bear—”

“You just have to be able to outrun me,” Ollie laughed.

Lynn looked back and forth between them for a moment. “Go ahead on in. I’ll be back in just a sec to give you some instructions.”

***

After he got the nerve to walk into Greg’s dark cave, Ollie then peeked inside the bedroom to see him hibernating on his bed, snoring loudly. A machine was humming on the nightstand, a long hose coming off it onto the floor.
Bears are still intimidating, even if they’re sleeping.

“What can I do to help?” Joy asked softly.

Ollie shut the door a little and backed away from the mouth of the bear’s cave. “I’m not sure. I guess we just wait until Lynn gets here and—”

Lynn walked in, trailing Marie behind her. “How are we?”

“Not dead yet,” Ollie said, exchanging a quick hello with Marie, and then introducing Joy.

Lynn smiled, indicating the loud snoring coming from the bedroom. She knocked on the door jamb and told Greg it was time to wake up. The snoring stopped, and she turned back to Ollie and Joy. “Greg’s got sleep apnea. He has to wear a mask, and he’s pretty good about putting it on when he goes to bed, but well… he’s a rough sleeper. It comes off pretty quickly.”

“Oh, okay. That was the machine hissing on the nightstand.”

“Yep. And the big hose.”

The door opened and an enormous human shape filled the void. “Who are you?” Greg said, focusing his gaze toward Joy.

Ollie stepped in between them. “I’m Ollie, and this is Joy.” Greg’s apartment suddenly felt like it was the size of an elevator.

“And who are you?” Greg asked Lynn, his grin broadening more.

“I’m Lynn, remember? I work with Marie in the apartment across the way.”

“Oh yeah,” Greg said. “That’s right. I thought I knew you.”

“Greg, will you do me a favor and take your meds?” Lynn said. “Ollie will get them for you.”

“Sure,” Greg said.

Lynn showed Ollie how to administer the medications. “See? Easy as that,” she said. “We need to head back to Marie’s now. Call me if you need anything.”

“What? You’re taking off? I thought you were going to give me more instructions,” Ollie said.

“It’s all right there in the staff notebook,” Lynn said. “If you’ll read the behavioral plans and instructions, you’ll know more about him than I do.”

“Bye, Ollie,” Marie said as they walked out the door. “Come back and work with me another day.”

Ollie looked at Greg standing there. His size was intimidating enough, but Ollie was catching on to a number of his other charming features too. His smell, for one. As soon as he’d walked into the room it was easy to see that bedwetting was right up there next to sleep apnea on Greg’s list of sleeping problems. The smell of his whole apartment told the story. There were obviously many nights he’d find himself drenched on his plastic-covered mattress. Even more intimidating than his aroma, though, were his eyes. The eyeballs themselves were normal enough, but the skin all around them was smoother than usual. His eyelids were smaller than they should have been; Ollie wondered if they worked well enough to muster a simple blink.

“Excuse me for a second,” Greg said, closing the bedroom door.

“Says here that he had a really bad ATV accident when he was seventeen,” Ollie said, flipping pages in the staff notebook. “He just turned thirty.”

“His accident… is that why his eyes are all… the way they are?” Joy asked.

“Yeah. Skin grafts. Check out this list of medications. He takes seven different meds to help him balance his mood and behavioral problems. Four different ones for his heart condition. Then these five meds and vitamins are just to balance out the side effects of the other ones. It’s practically a full meal’s worth of pills three times a day.”

“Poor guy. I don’t think I’ve ever known someone so young to have such a serious heart condition.”

“His behavioral program seems pretty simple. Just gotta watch his mood swings. Any little thing might set him off without notice, and if we see him starting to get even a little upset, we just ask him if he needs time alone. If he asks us to stay, that means he’s calm, but if he doesn’t we gotta just tell him we’re taking off and that we’ll be back in half an hour.” Ollie read a few more lines and then flipped to the back of the notebook where some blank forms were located. “If we do end up taking off, we just fill one of these out when we come back, to keep track of the incidents.”

“Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen,” Joy said, half joking and half serious.

“I know, right?”

“Would we need to at least keep an eye on the apartment to make sure he doesn’t leave?”

“I would have thought so, but it says here to just leave.”

“What about regular routine stuff? What’s he do all day?”

“He’s supposed to go to work in the mornings. Chores. Groceries once a week. Laundry three times a week.”

“Hey, Greg?” Joy asked. “How long has it been since you’ve done your laundry?”

“I’m not sure,” he said from the other side of the door, “but I don’t have any shirts left to wear.”

Ollie took a step toward Greg’s room, took one whiff, and decided he’d see about hunting down a box of rubber gloves. There weren’t any in the closet, nor were there any in the locked box with his meds. Under the sink he finally found a stash that would probably last most households a decade.
In Greg’s house, maybe about a month.
Ollie also grabbed some trash bags.

By that time Greg was clean and dressed, and Ollie braved the bedroom, filling the trash bags with soggy laundry while Greg watched. Ollie made several trips to the laundry room, loading all three machines full, pouring in the soap from the hall closet while Greg stood behind him watching.

“So,” Ollie asked, “what do you want to do while those are washing?”

“I don’t know,” Greg said. “Do you like to lift weights?”

“Sure,” Ollie answered.

The weight set took up more than half of Greg’s tiny living room, so Ollie figured he spent a lot of time benching and curling, piling on even more size. He made Ollie look boyish he was so big, and that was no small feat. Greg lay back on the bench and began doing reps, moving the very heavy bar with ease.
Well, at least he’s good at keeping himself occupied
. Ollie’s relief was short lived. After just five reps on the bench press, Greg announced that he was bored.

“Which one of you is my staff worker?” Greg asked.

“Me,” Ollie held up a hand.

“So what do ya wanna do?” Greg asked. “Wanna go to the store?”

“Do you have any money?” Ollie asked.

“No, not that I know of.”

“Sorry,” Ollie said, closely monitoring his facial expression for any sudden shift in temper. “I don’t know anything about your finances.” Ollie looked at Joy. “Got any ideas? Because I’m fresh out.”

“What’s in your hall closet here?” Joy asked, opening the closet door. “You look like you love to skate.”

Greg’s eyes lit up as Ollie pulled his skateboard out of the closet. They walked out to the parking lot and Greg scooted around slowly on his skateboard. He grew gradually braver until about five minutes later, when it shot out from under him, throwing him down hard on his back.