Page 24 of Special Delivery
‘Then why the hell are you asking about books?’
‘I’m trying to make conversation.’
Poppy huffed. ‘Then be a normal person and comment on the shit weather.’ She added in an undertone, ‘You really are a robot.’
‘What was that?’
‘Nothing!’
The corner of James’s mouth twitched. ‘I actually heard you. I wanted to see if you had the guts to say it to my face.’
‘Fine!’ She swivelled to look him dead in the eyes. His irises were dark as coal and she could tell he was laughing at her. This was all a game to him. ‘You. Are. A robot. An annoying one.’
‘What makes you say that?’ he asked.
‘For starters,’ Poppy said, gripping the pram with an unnecessary force, ‘you have zero social skills, which indicates a distinct lack of emotional intelligence. Second, you are unable to deal with any display of human emotion, which indicates a clear lack of empathy. And finally, your taste levels are clearly subhuman, as evidenced by the fact you named your dog Eileen.’
James shrugged. ‘I thought it would be funny. Like the song. “Come On Eil—”’
‘I got it,’ Poppy bristled.
The soles of her sneakers were going to wear thin with all this stomping. Trust him to likebad music. Bad music which was actuallyexcellent musicbut most people were too embarrassed to admit it. He probably only liked it in an ironic way; he’d probably never had a genuine emotion in his life. And now he was asking about books when he should know new mums never had time to read, apart from that one book she’d read in those early weeks which had turned out to be surprisingly addictive and she’d had no-one to discuss it with since her mum only readCountry Styleand Dani hadn’t read a book since first-year uni.
Poppy gritted her teeth. ‘If you must know, I just read the one about the girl with the dragons and it was brilliant and—don’tlook at me like that, it was really good—and now I’m not talking anymore.’
She marched down the footpath, resolutely ignoring the flicker of a smile she could see growing in her periphery.
By the time they’d finished the walk, Poppy estimated she’d spent thirty per cent of the time devising ways to publicly embarrass him, thirty per cent praying Maeve’s nappy held up, and the other forty per cent trying not to breathe too loudly in case he used it against her in some way.
‘Bye,’ James grunted when their paths diverged.
‘Nrrrhmph,’ Poppy replied to the footpath. She still hadn’t worked out how to engineer a public shaming, so communicating via gorilla sound effects would have to suffice. It was all he deserved.
CHAPTER 12
‘Come On Eileen’ was still stuck in Poppy’s head when Henry appeared to pick up a takeaway coffee later that morning at The Bustle. At least she’d been prepared for this. He looked more prepared too. She wondered whether he’d considered avoiding the cafe like she had. Or had he come hoping to run into her?
‘Hi again,’ he said, smiling. ‘I like your dress.’
‘Oh, er, thanks.’ Poppy flicked a muffin crumb off her lap. He’d always liked polka dots. ‘Is this your regular place?’
‘Pretty much,’ Henry said. ‘Our office is—’
‘Around the corner, I know. I mean, I remember.’ She’d been to his dad’s office countless times as a teenager to drop off schoolbags so they could roam the streets of Orange unencumbered. The receptionist used to wink at them as they’d leave, tugging each other by their school shirts.
Henry nodded. ‘I’m here a fair bit. I like the country mum vibe of the place.’
Poppy smiled. ‘I’m sure you do.’
His eyes still twinkled like a joke was on the tip of his tongue. Knowing how his brain worked, it probably was. He’d never been the class clown, or the biggest star on the sports field, but everyone knew Henry Marshall hadgood chat—and for a boy who was polite and past the acne phase, there could be no higher praise.
‘How’s your week been?’
‘Busy,’ he replied. ‘Dad had all these ways of filing that are so archaic, I’m trying to get up to speed. I want to start trying some new things to increase our activity levels, get more money coming through the door. With the current state of the stock market, there are so many opportunities to make better investments for our clients.’ He paused and laughed. ‘Sorry for the finance babble; I get a bit excited. It’s so good to finally be here and actually be able to put my ideas into action.’
A hollow feeling swelled in Poppy’s chest, but she smiled over it. ‘Sounds like all your dreams are coming true.’
‘Oh.’ Henry looked to his coffee, his ears turning pink. ‘Something like that, I guess.’
