Sparks the Matchmaker (Aaron Sparks Series)

by Elkins, Russell

  “Hmmm. How do I explain this? Let’s just say I’ve gotten pretty good at tuning in to Ollie Radio, all Ollie, all the time. It’s not like I know where everyone in the world is at all times or what they’re doing, but I can focus on one or two people at a time.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “It doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that I can read you like a book. I know when you’re going to put that hat on and where you’ll be when you do it. I’ll show up, give or take a few minutes, of course.”

  “Can’t it be one of my other hats? Like, any of them?”

  “Nope,” he grinned. “Gotta be this one.” Sparks reached out and straightened the hat. “You look great, Bomber.”

  “Dude, don’t call me that.”

  “Really? You can call me Bomber, but I can’t say it?”

  “Seriously. Why a Yankees hat?” Ollie was whining. “My friends are never going to let this go.”

  “I know.” He turned to go.

  “You’re sort of a jerk. You know that, right?”

  “Oh yeah!” He pumped his fist as if he had just won a game. “Catch ya later, Bomber.”

  Ollie turned to look for Joy. She wasn’t coming yet. When he turned back toward Sparks, he was gone. He took the cap off and twirled it in his hands, waiting. Students continued to wander, milling about the campus in twos and threes, groups and gaggles of friends. He knew exactly why Sparks had chosen a Yankees hat over everything else in the world. Ollie would resist wearing that thing in public at all costs, like it was against every principle inside him to let something like that crown his head.

  “Hey there,” Joy said as she approached. “You come here often?”

  “No, not a whole lot. I don’t have many classes on this side of campus.”

  “Uh, that was a joke. You know, a cheesy pick up line.”

  “Are you flirting with me?” Ollie smirked, standing up.

  “Whatever it takes,” she said. “I need a big strong burly man to walk me home and protect me from the muggers in the dark.”

  “Muggers, yeah. It’s not dark yet.”

  “Hey. This is serious business.”

  “Oh, I know. That’s what I was about to say,” he said. “If it was dark I’d have to charge you my usual anti-mugger fee. But seeing as how it’s still light out,” he looked at the horizon, a fiery pink-orange band, “at least a little bit anyway, I guess you don’t really need my services. I’ll walk with you for free.”

  “Wow. You’re a heck of a guy.” She punched him in the shoulder.

  He smiled. “Shall we?”

  “We shall,” she said, starting to walk. “I walk pretty slowly, Ollie. So stick with me. Don’t leave me stranded, okay?”

  Ollie picked up on the joke. “I won’t. Muggers are like lions. Fierce and scary, but they always go after the easiest catch. In our world, that means they go after the girls who have overstuffed backpacks with broken zippers.”

  “I see. So with you around I’m safe? I’m no longer the easiest catch?”

  “Guess I asked for that one,” he said, smiling. He was surprised at how easily things were picking up between them. After having spent the afternoon with Marie though, everything was bound to be easy. Joy also didn’t seem intimidated or uncomfortable that he stopped by just to see her. She wasn’t afraid of his interest in her, and that encouraged him greatly, lifting his spirits.

  “Are you going to watch the World Series in a few weeks?” she asked.

  “Definitely. Don’t tell me you’re a baseball fan?”

  “No, not really,” she said. “I mean, I don’t dislike it, but I’ve never been able to watch it on TV— too boring. Dad used to take me to see the Rockies play once every summer when I was growing up, but that’s about it. It’s just different in person. When you’re at a live baseball game, you only watch the game about half the time anyway. I mainly loved it because it was one-on-one time with my pop.”

  “Hey, that’s cool. If he likes baseball, he’s all right in my book.” Ollie kicked a stone as he walked. “Yeah, I haven’t really decided who I’m rooting for this year in the playoffs, since my team didn’t make it.”

  “Wait, your team didn’t make it? I thought the Yankees were in the playoffs.”

  “Oh, this hat.” Ollie hadn’t thought about the cap in his hands. He quickly shoved it into his back pocket. “I know this won’t make any sense, but I can’t stand the Yankees. I’ll root for anyone over the Bronx Bombers.”

  “Yeah, it doesn’t make any sense at all. But then again, you’re a guy. Guys don’t have to make any sense.”

  “Yeah, and girls are so much easier to figure out.”

  She laughed. “So tell me about your first day at work. It sounds like a job that’ll keep you on your toes.”

  Ollie started with his experience at the office and continued all the way up to when he left. She laughed at all the right moments, hanging on every word, asking questions along the way. That was a good sign. She seemed interested, not just trying to make conversation.

  But now it was time to move the conversation around to the whole reason he had come to see her. He had a good feeling she’d accept his invitation to the circus— as long as she didn’t already have plans. “So...” Ollie paused, a little nervous.

  “Uh oh,” she said, looking over at him.

  “Uh,” he stammered. He’d taken the big step of visiting her at work, but asking her out on a first date was a big deal, even if he would technically be at work for the duration. Though Sparks assured him he had nothing to worry about, this could be one of those pivotal moments in life. He’d had enough rejection lately. He blurted it out. “We’re going to the circus this Friday, and Lynn told me I should invite someone to come along. You interested?”

  “Sure.”

  “What? Just like that? You don’t need to check your schedule or—”

  “Or what? Ask my probation officer?”

  “No! No. I just didn’t know if you had plans already with that one guy or not.”

  “Oh, that guy. Yeah, he’s gone for good.”

  “Gone, huh? Sorry to hear that.”

  She scoffed. “No, you’re not. You wouldn’t have stopped by to walk me home if that kind of news disappointed you. And,” she nudged him with an elbow, “you wouldn’t have asked me to go to the circus with you either.”

  “Okay. You’re right. Pretty forward, aren’t you?”

  “Sometimes. Sorry. My Dad always tells me to be a little less blunt. Then again, I let my last relationship drag out a little too long before I finally said something. I can be inconsistent.”

  “Well, you’re a girl.” He grinned at her.

  “You know what—”

  “Don’t get me wrong,” he said, trying to save the moment. “I don’t mind it. I guess it’s nice to know where I stand. It makes it a little easier to know you’re not playing games with me.”

  “See! That’s what I always say! Don’t you just get frustrated with people who let you go on thinking one thing while they’re on a completely different page, especially with relationships?”

  “Uh, yeah. Especially with relationships. Tell me about it.”

  “Oh, that’s right. You almost married that last girlfriend of yours.”

  “Oh yeah, thanks for bringing that up, Joy.”

  “Sorry. There I go again, being forward.”

  “Joking,” he laughed. “And in hindsight, I did almost marry her… but I don’t think she was very close to marrying me.”

  “Shocking insight. Maybe this is a little blunt as well, but it’s probably for the best in the end. You’ll see. You’ll find your match.”

  Ollie’s smile faded slowly with that. That’s an odd thing for her to say. It’s like she’s exempting herself from that list of potential matches. Still, he thou
ght he knew something she didn’t, and the weaker part of him wanted to just come on out and tell her he’d found his match, that all she had to do was open her eyes to it as well. But the stronger part of him knew that would definitely be too blunt, whether she preferred transparency or not.

  In any case, all of him was excited for Friday. They’d jump into the car and drive to the circus, on their first date. Still though. Why would she say that?

  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.