Page 106 of Suddenly Dating
“Oh, you’re up.”
She jumped at the sound of his voice and whirled around. “I’m up.”
Harry smiled fondly. He slipped his arm around her waist and shook his head. “What a mess,” he said, and kissed her forehead. He let go of her and walked to the end of the kitchen counter where he began to stuff things into his pockets. “Okay, I’m out of here. I’m going to grab a coffee and do a little more work before my meeting.”
“Sure, okay,” she said. She was hugging herself, trying not to implode.
Harry smiled, but it was strangely distant. He’d given up. He began to walk for the door at the same moment her phone began to ring. “Harry?”
He turned back. “Yes?”
Lola’s pulse began to pound in her ears. Her palms were damp—it was just like the night she met Birta and couldn’t find her tongue. “Ah... I wanted to say something.”
He looked suddenly hopeful and took a step toward her. “Okay,” he said.
Lola’s tongue felt thick. She swallowed. Her phone stopped ringing, then instantly started ringing again. She was distracted by it—she looked at the counter where it was buzzing.
“Don’t answer it,” he said.
The phone stopped ringing again. A moment later, it was buzzing with a text.
“What were you going to say, Lola?” he asked.
She opened her mouth.I love you. I am falling in love, I love you, I don’t know what I am, I just want to be with you. I’m telling you now before you go to Melissa. I’m standing up for me, I’m saying what I have to say, I am speaking my truth. I am not afraid.
But her phone—the texts were coming one after another and she was suddenly filled with apprehension. She picked it up.
Mom seriously ill. Rushed to hospital. Come now.
“Oh my God,” she said.
“What is it?”
“My mom,” she said, and held up the phone so he could see the message.
Harry looked at the phone, then at her.
“I have to go,” she said.
“Yes, of course. I’ll give you a lift to the train station.”
“No, no, you go on. I’ll call Mallory. She’ll get me there.”
“Are you sure?” he asked uncertainly.
“I’m sure,” she said. “She’ll be happy to do it. Go, Harry. Don’t worry about this. I’ll, ah... I’ll call you later.” She turned back for her bedroom, but remembered something and whirled back around. “Good luck.”
Harry hadn’t moved. “Thanks,” he said softly.
He remained standing there as Lola turned around and hurried to her room.
Mallory was not happy with taking Lola to the train station. She insisted on letting her driver take her all the way to Long Island. “Seriously. It will give him something to do,” she said. “Take all the time you need.”
When Lola arrived at the hospital, her siblings were all gathered outside the same intensive care room. One of her mother’s lungs had collapsed.
“We need to battle an infection that’s cropped up, but I think she’ll pull through,” the doctor had said. “We’re going to have to keep her a couple of nights.”
“What are we going to do?” Kennedy asked. “I’m starting my new internship today. I have to show up.”
