Page 24 of Hit For Six
‘I don’t. There’s nobody. Which makes me sound a bit desperate, but I don’t mind admitting that I am.’ Lola sighed. Monty retracted his earlier thoughts about the confidence boost. Way to deflate a guy’s ego. ‘My friends are always too busy, my mum’s not in great health, my dad can’t handle more worries, the neighbours steal my parcels, and my colleagues are… Well, they’re just colleagues.’ And arsehats, thought Monty. ‘I know Icould get a cat sitter but that would defeat the whole point of the pay rise. They’re not exactly cheap in this city.’
‘Seriously, Lola. The offer is on the table.’
Monty placed his mug on the table, as if it was a metaphor for a contract. And then he remembered the time he’d gotten randomly attacked by his school friend’s kitten who’d jumped on his lap and gone on a scratching frenzy. But he couldn’t let Lola down now. And he’d probably even babysit a family of tigers if it prolonged the excuse to meet up with her.
‘Okay, then. It’s a date… I mean, a deal,’ said Lola, visibly relaxing, much to Monty’s delight. ‘If it doesn’t sound too forward, would you be free tonight? Just to check if you and Squiffy get along?’
‘There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Lola
What a weirdbut wonderful day. Of course, Lola wouldn’t have been thinking so if Fumiko hadn’t footed Squiffy’s annual check-up, which had come with a typically astronomical Bath price tag. Thankfully, the little cat was given the paws up and Lola had dropped her off at the flat with a brand new catnip-infused toy mouse to celebrate.
Harry, in his permanently guilt-ridden state, had suggested that Lola roll in any time after eleven so she’d decided to treat herself to coffee and cake. The last thing she’d expected was a run in with the man she was trying– and failing– to get out of her head. He hadn’t even seen her in that queue when they’d both reached for the last cinnamon roll.
Would she have fled in the opposite direction before he’d turned around if she’d realised who he was? She wasn’t so sure now. And that threw her after her determination just a few nights ago. Lola also doubted that Monty read romance novels so he wouldn’t be aware of the significance of the cinnamon roll trope boyfriend. This was weird enough, but that all of it should happen on the blimming sixth of the month was alarming.
Try as she might to ignore the plethora of signs, it was no longer possible. They were flying at Lola from all directions. Once they’d gone their separate ways and she’d wished Monty luck with the contract, Lola ran to the nearest bench and hit the Google search engine on her phone, terrified to look up six’s value in numerology. She wished she hadn’t bothered. Amongst other things, apparently it stood for unconditional love.
She mustered up the energy to stand and carried on walking to the office in yet another daze, unsure of what had happened this morning or how her feet had carried her to her desk. She’d been going to Roly Poly ever since it had opened its doors a few years ago and not once had she bumped into Monty. Not only had she shared breakfast with him, but now she’d poured her heart out and accepted his knee-jerk offer to cat sit Squiffy. This was bonkers. Especially since he had no experience! A couple of hours was one thing but three nights was quite another. Fumiko would evict her if she found out.
Or would she?
It was weird and Lola shouldn’t need an affirmation of her worth from anybody else, least of all a male, in light of recent events, but ever since Monday’s meeting with Harry, her confidence had grown.
Weirder still was Suzy depositing a tray of giant chocolate pretzels on the filing cabinet next to the water dispenser and making a song and dance of it the moment Lola entered the building.
‘To buoy you up for your Frankfurt trip!’
‘Danke schön,’ Lola replied, crisply and clearly this time, maintaining steady eye contact, not a mumble in evidence.
***
Monty rang thedoorbell at seven on the dot that evening. But Lola had already been watching out for his legs through the paint peeling railings from the kitchen window in the basement. Which was a bit silly because now she needed to pelt up two mini staircases to open the door; a feat which would leave her gloriously sweaty and out of breath since it also involved a long hallway that could almost rival The Shining’s– thankfully minus the scary carpet.
‘Hey!’ she tried to sound casual as the godly vision of him in jeans, a polo shirt and a preppy sweater bombarded her senses. He looked like a male catalogue model for Beau-re-mi.
Lola had to admit that Monty dressed with far more style than Orlando. Then again, by his own admission, he was apparentlyonly nouveau riche. He smelt divine too. An earthy punch of sandalwood and pheromones helixing into the hallway. Then this was a good time to remind herself that theirs was simply a friendship. She’d never have accepted Monty’s invitation to come here otherwise. Lola lived in a dive and her flatshare was no way to impress a guy. Not that those were the sole reasons for putting his visit back into perspective, of course. There were myriad grounds to keep him off Fumiko’s property in normal circumstances.
‘Hey back! You look radiant.’
Lola ignored the compliment, knowing full well that she looked a hot mess.
‘You found it then?’
Durr. Obviously! No need to babble on for the sake of it. Give him a conveyor belt tour, reel off the instructions, then show him the front door again, and close it firmly with lock and bolt.
‘I did. Great part of the city… curiously nowhere near the university, though.’
‘It’s okay.’
Lola shrugged and decided to pretend she hadn’t heard Monty say that last bit.
‘It’s more than okay. You’ve got a pub just a few metres away, a cute little park further along, and I’m very partial to the deli around the corner.’
She had once stepped inside said foodie emporium and right back out. You’d need to come from new money like the delectable Mr B-C to be shopping there. Lola still couldn’tbelieve Monty was standing in front of her. She closed her mouth and opened it again, remembering she ought to be polite whilst simultaneously batting away her curiosity over his exciting international career prospects. It was just a bit thrilling to think that she might have a future Olympian standing on her doorstep, even if that fluffy-headed granny in the park’s newspaper had dropped a giant hint that Monty was hot stuff.
