Sparks the Matchmaker (Aaron Sparks Series)

by Elkins, Russell

  “Well… maybe,” Ollie said, “he was just scared to lose something he really didn’t want to let go of. Maybe he knew you were something special and couldn’t bear to let that slip away—”

  “I wasn’t returning his phone calls,” Joy said, conversationally running him over. “I wasn’t popping in to see him at his work anymore. I was even leaving early for school so I could avoid walking with him to class. Is he stupid?”

  Ollie had let his words fly into the air, full of ignorance and a lover’s optimism, calling her “something special,” hoping she would be flattered, but instead she pumped a shell into the chamber and let fly the buckshot of her response, blasting his compliment right out of the sky. Like a bird. Like some poor dumb ignorant bird, too stupid to understand that women carried shotguns with them everywhere; shotguns that kill birdwords. He thought about scrambling for another flattering word, but his brain had sequestered them all for their own safety.

  “Well, girls aren’t much better,” Lynn said from the back. “The last relationship I was in, he was trying to break up with me, only I got the hint and asked him why. Still, he kept steering away from my question and I kept asking him until he finally said, ‘What do you want me to say, Lynn? Do you want me to point out all your faults or something so you can resent me? Or even worse, resent yourself?’ That really made me think.”

  Ollie and Joy sat quietly. He wasn’t sure how to respond. “So,” he said brightly, “what’s everybody studying in school?”

  “Psychology,” Lynn answered. “I’m studying for a career helping people with special needs.”

  Oh, crap. Ollie knew there was no use trying to dodge the inevitable: he was practically standing on top of one of those strings Sparks had attached to his help. “Oh, so do you, uh… already work with mentally disabled people?” he asked sheepishly. “Or are you just studying for it?”

  “Ya know what, I’ve never liked that term,” Lynn said. “I mean, what’s wrong with saying retarded? Why aren’t people allowed to use that word anymore?”

  Ollie shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “What do you mean?” Man, maybe I shoulda just stayed home. “I just thought that’s the correct term; you know, the respectful one. I thought people didn’t like the word retarded.”

  “That’s what I mean,” Lynn said. “Who gets to decide which terms are proper? Someone, somewhere, at some point in time decided that the word ‘retarded’ has a negative connotation to it. And somehow the word ‘disabled’ doesn’t. To me, it should be the other way around. To say people are disabled makes them sound broken, like they don’t have any ability to do anything at all.”

  “And retarded just means slowed down,” Joy added.

  “Right,” Lynn said. “See? That’s right. They’re not broken, they’re just slowed down a little bit. And I’d say pretty much all of them are superior to me in one way or another. Each person has their own strengths. Every one of the people I work with is exceptional in some unique way.”

  Ollie felt like he needed to apologize. “I didn’t mean anything by it,” he said. “I just—”

  “Relax,” Lynn said. “I wasn’t trying to put you on the spot. Actually, when I’m talking to other people, I often use the word disabled too, just because that’s what other people prefer to hear.”

  Wait, what? That’s even more confusing. And this new conversation was even more uncomfortable than the last. “So, um… are you working in that field already?” Ollie repeated his initial question.

  “Yeah. I work with a company called Ascend,” Lynn said.

  Ollie was officially nervous about the situation now. He could feel his life slipping away from him; he felt trapped. He didn’t know anything about that type of work. “Is it a big hospital-type building or something?”

  “No,” Lynn said. “The company has a bunch of apartments all around the area. The residents live just like the rest of us do. I go there when they’re home and help them with whatever they need. Some of them hardly need help with anything, so we’re only there a few hours out of the day. Others need help with almost everything, so they have people with them 24 hours a day.”

  “And you work one day with one person and then the next you’re with someone else?” Joy asked.

  “No,” Lynn said. “I only work with one girl. She lives alone and I just love her. I’m the manager there, so I’ve got a few people who work under me.”

  “How many?” Ollie asked, realizing as the words came out of his mouth that he had just opened the doors to the invitation he was hoping wouldn’t come.

  “Normally I have five,” Lynn answered, “but right now I’m short one. Are you interested in a job?”

  “Uhhh,” Ollie said.

  “Oh, I promise you, you’d love it,” Lynn said.

  Do I really want Sparks’ help this badly? Maybe he could take the reins from here with Joy. Then again, if he were to do something like that, Sparks would have probably foreseen it. If that were the case, what would Sparks do if he refused? Would he just take off? Or worse, would he send him down the wrong path, chasing after the wrong girl to teach him a lesson?

  “It’s hard for me to find good people,” Lynn said. “Especially the guys—they usually get snatched up by the other apartments; the ones with residents more prone to violence. Only males are allowed to work in those apartments, you know, for safety reasons. But I know my girl would love some attention from a guy like you.”

  Ollie was truly frightened. “What would I need to do, then?” Ollie asked. He looked over at Joy to see if he was scoring any points for considering the job.

  “How about you come in to the main office on Monday and fill out an application,” Lynn said. “I’ll let the human resources guy know ahead of time that you’ll be coming in so that nobody else can snatch you up.”

  He couldn’t believe he was saying it, but he said, “Okay.” He tried to concentrate on the road and not on his heart palpitations. “You’re just hiring one person?” Ollie was hoping that the job would somehow bring him closer to Joy. With only one spot available for hire, he certainly wouldn’t be working alongside her though, and she didn’t seem interested in working there anyway.

  “If that one person is a good fit, yes.”

  “Okay, then,” Ollie said. “I guess we’ll talk more on Monday.” Why do I feel like I’m going to die?

  Chapter 9

  Once Ollie was back home and unpacked Sunday night, he sat downstairs at Tall House with Richie and Keith, talking.

  “You seem different,” Keith said.

  “Yeah. Less weird.”

  “Nice, Richie,” Keith said.

  “Whaaaat?” Richie put his hands up defensively.

  “Thanks, guys. I’m recharged a little,” Ollie said.

  “I mean,” Keith said, “you look happier.”

  “Good thing,” Richie said. “You weren’t exactly the most exciting person to be around last week.”

  “Yeah, well,” Ollie said.

  “So how was the weekend?” Keith asked.

  “It was good. Nothing momentous.” Ollie was still thinking of Joy and dreading, at least a little, the wild unknown of the new job he would apply for tomorrow. The drive up into the Colorado mountains had been the best part of the trip. Not only did he get to know Joy a little better— with whom he was hoping to be spending his free time— but he also got to know Lynn a little better as well, and she was going to be around for a lot of his working hours. All in all, the trip was a success, but everything was changing, everything was new, and that meant that it was hard to tell where he stood, really.

  “I think I like this girl Joy,” Ollie said.

  “Yeah?” Richie and Keith said in unison.

  “She’s in my history class,” Ollie said. “That’s how we met.”

  “And that’s what you have in common,” Richie said.
“History class. C’mon, you just spent a few days in the car together and all you’ve got to build on is history class?”

  “That’s more than you’ve ever had in common with any girl, Richie,” Keith said.

  “I have girls in my history class,” Richie said.

  “Um,” Ollie said, standing up, “I’m pretty sure we all have girls in our history classes.”

  “Yeah, but Ollie,” Richie said, “did you, ya know, make a move? Or something?”

  Ollie looked at him blankly, shaking his head, not wanting to try to explain the impossible to him.

  “Richie, sometimes I don’t know how you survive in this world,” Keith said.

  “Oh, that reminds me,” Ollie said, “I’m gonna go tomorrow to this place called Ascend, and apply for a job.”

  “What for?” Richie asked. “I thought you earned enough last summer to cover your entire school year.”

  “I know. I did,” Ollie said. “It just seemed like it would be a good thing to do. I’ll be working with people who have special needs.”

  Richie and Keith stared in disbelief. Ollie was hoping they would at least look a little more excited, that they would find it interesting enough to ask a few questions about it. He was scared to death, and though he’d mostly kept his best friends out of his life for the last year or so, he suddenly realized how hungry he was for their validation.

  “Are you serious?” Keith said. “I don’t think either of us expected that.”

  “Yeah,” Richie added. “You don’t know anything about doing that kind of stuff.”

  “I’ll learn,” Ollie said. “The other girl who rode with us on the trip does it. She’s a manager there, and she’s gonna hire me. I’ll go in tomorrow to the office for an application.”

  “So…” Richie said. “You said you were interested in Joy, but it seems like you’re trying to impress this other girl. Which is it?”

  “If I didn’t know any better, Richie, I’d start to wonder if you were getting interested in Joy,” Ollie said. “Why, did you call Anne and she shot you down? I could give you Lynn’s number.”

  “That’s not it,” Richie said.

  Keith grinned mischievously. “Oh you gotta tell us about that conversation. What did Anne say, exactly? Word-for-word.”

  Richie looked back and forth between the two of them. “You guys are leeches. Ya know that? Get off me.”

  ***

  Ollie tapped his pen on the job application. For someone who was completely uncomfortable, wanting nothing more than to finish his stack of paperwork so he could get out of the Ascend office, he sure was taking his time. He was still weighing his options about whether or not he’d take the job, but every time he’d brought it up with Sparks, it was clear he’d be chasing Joy alone if he didn’t follow through with his end of the bargain.

  But was that really a bad thing? Couldn’t he get the girl on his own? He’d done it a handful of times in his life, but it seemed like a lifetime ago that he’d succeeded in catching Anne. He was out of practice, to say the least. He couldn’t deny that he could use a little help. He knew what he needed from Sparks and he knew basically what Sparks was asking in return. If he wanted the girl, he would have to take the job.

  Do I want the girl? Yes. He wanted the girl.

  “Marie, I’m not going to talk to you anymore,” a male voice said sternly from an office nearby. On the front of the door was a sign: Program Director.

  Marie was a large woman, easily over three hundred pounds. She was older than Ollie, probably twice his age; and she wore large glasses with thick lenses. She paced up and down the hall, favoring her left leg, walking with a heavy limp. Her size, her bellowing voice, her obvious appetite for attention— and seeing how she grew more flustered with every step— made it hard for Ollie to keep his mind and his pen on his job application.

  “You don’t even care about me!” Marie yelled into the Program Director’s door. “I’m just going to run away!”

  Ollie raised his eyes from his paperwork again to see her limp heavily toward the front door of the office. She stood staring out the glass front door with her hand on it, scanning the parking lot. She was waiting for something.

  As the seconds ticked by in tension, it became clear to Ollie that she was waiting for the Program Director to come out and stop her attempted escape. She was waiting for any kind of attention at all.

  Finally, without ever opening the front door, she hobbled her way back toward the office door and stuck her head back in. “I really am. I’m going to run away,” Marie yelled into his room. “I really am!”

  “You already told me that,” he said. “You’d better get going then, before your manager gets here to pick you up, or you’ll never get away in time.”

  “I’m never coming back!” Marie said as she stomped back toward the front door again.

  This time she went farther. She made as much noise as possible marching through the door and out into the parking lot. She stood there, one step on the pavement, glancing around at the free world.

  Ollie felt pretty sure the director would have never let her out the front door if she was really going to take off. He was right.

  She lasted only a few seconds before barging her way back into the building, barking into the director’s door again. “You just don’t want me here!” Marie yelled. “You just want me to run away so I’ll get hit by a car again and maybe die this time.”

  “What I want,” he replied, “is to be able to get my work done. Maybe tomorrow you’ll go to work during the day like you’re supposed to. Perhaps then you won’t be so bored here at the office.”

  Uh oh, Ollie thought, Marie’s getting attention, but it’s not quite the kind she was hoping for. He cracked a little smile as he continued to try to concentrate on the job application.

  As Marie turned her back on the office, she just caught Ollie’s smile fading. Then he became her new favorite toy.

  She planted herself in the only open seat in the office lobby. Right next to him. “I’m Marie.”

  Ollie really wished he had Sparks with him. All he wanted to do was run screaming for the exit. “I’m Ollie,” he said politely, hoping she wouldn’t extend the conversation beyond that.

  “Maybe you should take me home, Ollie,” Marie said.

  “I think your manager is coming pretty soon. I bet he’d be happy to take you.”

  “But you’re here now and my manager isn’t. I don’t know when my manager will get here. Maybe my manager forgot about me.”

  “You’d probably better wait.” He was almost done with his job application, but the job had already proven itself to be stressful before he was even hired. Lynn had told him she was going to meet him at the office to help him finish up the paperwork that followed the application, but she wasn’t there yet. Ollie wanted her to arrive so that they could leave and go wherever it was Lynn worked. She had spoken so highly of the girl she worked with. Sure, she told a few stories that increased his anxiety about the job, but it was clear how much she loved her job. That made it easy for Ollie to deduce that the girl Lynn worked with was going to be much easier than Marie.

  “Where’d you park?” Marie asked.

  “Just out there in the parking lot.”

  It took her a good amount of time to get up from the couch, but she succeeded and then made her way toward the front door. She scanned the cars in front of the building. “Is yours the silver one?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, come on then.” She walked out the door and limped, favoring her left leg, all the way to his car.

  Ollie quickly put the clipboard and pen down on the sofa and scurried out to where Marie was standing next to his shiny silver set of wheels. “Why don’t you come back inside? I bet that’s what your manager wants you to do.”

  “I need to get home. I have chores I need
to do. I need to clean up the kitchen and get my laundry done. I need to get home and do it before I get in trouble.”

  “I’m sure your manager will understand if it’s not done until he can come pick you up. So just come back inside. I need to finish my paperwork.”

  “You just don’t care about me. You just want me to walk home and I’ll get hit by a car again.”

  “That’s not true. I just know that your manager would want you to—”

  “You just don’t care. I got hit by a car once. I spent almost two weeks in the hospital and I got a big cash settlement.”

  “Your manager is coming to get you. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

  “My manager isn’t a he. My manager is a girl. Her name’s Lynn.”

  Ollie froze. “It is?”

  “Well, of course it is.”

  “Yeah. Of course it is.” Why is it that life always gives you the opposite of what you want?

  Chapter 10

  Ollie was a walking tower of reluctance. He went through the motions of the paperwork with Lynn, watching himself give in, kneel down, take on burdens that weren’t his own. Once they arrived at their destination— Marie’s apartment— he blurted out, “Lynn, are you sure you really need me for this job?”

  “Oh, stop being so dramatic,” she said. “Marie’s easy to work with once you figure her out.”

  “Well, I hope so. The episode at the office was kind of crazy. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about this job.” As the words came out of his mouth, he realized something about Lynn: “You know, there’s something calming about your presence. With Marie, I mean.” It was one of the first times lately that he had tried to compliment a girl without also trying to pick up on her, and it felt good.

  “Thanks. Some days I don’t know why I stay with the job, and other days I can’t believe they pay me to do it,” Lynn said.

  “I’m hoping for the latter, in my case.”