Chapter 9: Lola Apologizes

For three days, Lola did nothing more than write, sleep, wash herself, and eat. She had to be out of the old house in two weeks, and she knew she needed to get a move on with the packing. The pain in her arm was decreasing, and she felt calm and rested. She dictated her stories into the little device that would then transfer it into writing on her laptop, so she kept herself busy, but her mind kept wandering back to Scott, and the way he had left her. She knew he had been angry, and had perhaps been humiliated by Jeff’s arrival and treatment of him, and she knew she had let it happen because he unsettled her. She was upset with him for putting her in the middle of things and with herself for letting it happen.

She also knew, somehow, that Scott would withdraw now and she would neither see nor hear from him again. Why that bothered her, instead of pleasing her, she didn’t know. She assumed it was because by nature she was a peacemaker, and the way he had left didn’t sit well with her. It made her feel dirty and mean. Still, she felt the anger rise in her. Scott had completely disturbed her and she didn’t like it one bit. Nor did she like that she felt drawn to him. This could not happen, but she knew she had to make amends for the way their last encounter had ended.

She had already looked up the number for the hospital, so she dialed it and waited, asking to speak to him and being shunted from place to place until his voice sounded on the line.

“McCallum!”

Lola hesitated, and he said again, impatiently, “This is Scott McCallum!”

“Hi, Scott, it’s Lola Cassidy,” she said, hurrying before he hung up in disgust.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line before he answered her and when he did, his voice was cool and distant.

“How can I help you? Has the arm gotten worse? Are you still in pain? Have you seen your own doctor?”

Lola felt her face heat at the coldness of his inquiries. Was this the same guy who had been all over her a few days ago? The same one who had followed her into the garden the first time they met and had kissed her hand like an old-fashioned courtier? The same guy who read her stories and left insightful and memorable comments about the things he enjoyed in them? The change now was marked. She made haste to answer his concerns.

“My arm is doing better, thank you. That’s not why I called.” She paused and took a breath before continuing. “I wanted to apologize for the other day.”

She stopped again, wishing she were anywhere but where she was doing what she was doing. She didn’t mind apologizing when she was wrong, but doing it to this man made her feel small and that bothered her.

“I shouldn’t have let you leave like that. Jeff didn’t mean anything. He was just concerned…” Her voice trailed off, and still he didn’t speak. “Anyway, please accept my apology.”

Another long pause, and then he said, “On one condition. But I can’t say it now…I need to free up the line. I’ll call at the end of my shift.”

Lola heard the sharp click that told her he had hung up on her, and she wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or annoyed. She put the receiver back in the cradle quietly and went back to her writing. She stopped for lunch, glad that she was able to use her arm a bit more. She rested it out of the sling and remembered to take her pain meds, which her own doctor had re-ordered for her. She had a feeling she would be seeing Scott again and she didn’t want him feeding her her pills a second time.

She answered the phone rather absent-mindedly a few hours later, and his voice made her toes curl.

“Hi. It’s Scott!” As if she needed to be told! “I’ll forgive you if you invite me over for coffee.”

Lola smiled. She knew why he hadn’t asked her out again and why he was insisting that she invite him over. He was making sure that the next time he was in her house, it was because she wanted him there. She couldn’t blame him. There was nothing for it but to agree.

“Okay. I don’t know when…”

He interrupted her. “I’m off tomorrow and Sunday,” he said. “So whichever day is better for you is fine with me.”

She thought for a moment and then said, “Tomorrow afternoon would be fine. Is two okay?”

“Two tomorrow is fine,” he said. “I’ll see you then.”

Again he hung up before she could respond and this time she let herself feel the pinch of annoyance. She understood he was upset but he could take his annoyance to the extreme. It wasn’t as though they were friends or lovers, so what was his problem? She slammed the phone a bit harder this time and set about looking after her evening meal. She couldn’t dismiss him from her thoughts as easily, though, and by the time she was ready for bed, her head was full of visions of him from their brief encounters.