Looking for Love (13 page)

“
Are you thinking of your folks?”

“
And Ross. And Carol. And millions of people who have lived
before them.”

Andrea smiled
and rested her forehead against Ella’s. “You can’t see it that way.
You’re helping the couples to be happy. Wouldn’t you have liked
your parents to be together still? To not have to have gone through
all that heartbreak?”

Ella nodded and swallowed the lump in her
throat. Andrea pulled away and gave her the kindest expression. As
bossy as she could be, she had a way with people that transcended
simple kindness. Her words, her gestures, her concern, could pierce
the most closed soul. That’s why she did so well in human
resources. She inspired people.

“
I want to help these people, I really do. I want to change
lives. It’s been a dream, like, for forever.”

“
Then do it. You’re not going to match up the whole world and
cause a population explosion.”

Ella laughed. “You’re right. I’m just
operating from a small corner of the earth, reaching a handful of
people, changing a few couples’ lives. It can’t be a bad thing
overall.”

“
It’s a good thing. Look at the first one you matched up—she’s
already written to the newspaper.”

“
What?”

“
That’s why I came here. To show you.” She took out a paper
clipping from her handbag resting on the chair.

Ella held the paper with shaky hands and
read. Her heart warmed as she discovered how much peace the match
had brought to Queenie’s life.

“
It’s awesome.” She looked up to
find Ross and Pauline in the room. Pauline shuffled from foot to
foot,
‘awkward’ oozing out of her. Ross’s expression resembled a
thundercloud.

“
What’s up?” she asked, her calm voice hiding the tremor
inside. She’d done the wrong thing bringing them
together.

“
We need your help.”

Andrea turned
to face them. “With?”

“
They’re helping me set up a website for the
business.”

“
Oh.” Andrea frowned. “Sounds good. Are you paying
them?”

“
A bit.”

Andrea waved
them. “It’s a good thing. We really need your help, Ross.”

He merely
nodded. Pauline pursed her lips, her blue eyes the colour of the
sea at night.

“
I’ll go see what’s wrong,” she said to Andrea. “Thanks for
bringing this.” She handed her the newspaper clipping.

Pauline
stepped forward. “What’s that?”

“
It’s our first glowing review.” Andrea puffed out her chest.
“Take a look.” She summoned Ross and Pauline with her hands. They
gathered around and soon the awkward atmosphere was
broken.

But Ross
didn’t stay long with all the girly talk. He excused himself to go
back to the computer. She considered joining him to find out what
the problem was but decided against it. Better keep her distance.
Wean him off of her and onto Pauline.

Andrea
received a call and Pauline pulled her aside, uncharacteristically
roughly.

“
Why didn’t you tell me
you
also
hired Ross for the job? I thought I was doing this all
alone.”

“
You needed his help. He has lots of website design knowledge
and a bit of experience. You’re only clued up on a design. You make
a perfect team.”

Pauline
narrowed her eyes at her and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Did
you only think of your business or did you consider what I told you
the other day?”

Ella shrugged.
Keep it casual. Break the tension.

“
A bit of both.” She grinned. “Aw, come on. It will be fun.
You’re cute together.”

Pauline dug her fingernails into Ella’s
arm flesh. “We’re so not! It’s freaking exhausting with him—he’s so
quiet and I can never think of what to say.”

Ella pulled away.
“Well, it always
takes time to break the ice. What better way than to do a task
together?”

“
I’ll kill you.”

Pauline’s face didn’t match her
words
,
though. She had a small grin which put Ella’s heart at ease. At
least, she seemed to be warming up to the idea.

“
What do you need help
with?”
Ella
asked.

“
Well, we’re setting up the application form on the website and
need you to answer some questions about it.”

“
Okay.”

She gestured to Andrea that she was going
to the office and then followed Pauline in. Ross seemed intent on
the screen, deep in thought. Pauline sat next to him and a strange
sensation swirled through her. She didn’t like it. He turned to
look at her friend, his face serious, his eyes broody. Pauline
blushed and her leg moved closer to Ross’s.

Suddenly
, she saw her guy friend through
Pauline’s eyes—saw how attractive he really was. Straight out of
high school, Ross had been quite skinny. At the time, he’d just
gone through a massive growth spurt and his legs and arms hadn’t
seemed to fill out enough. He’d always had an awkward stoop to make
himself appear shorter. Now, he held himself with a sense of pride
and Pauline watched his every movement. He’d filled out, built some
muscle, and developed a more mature look with his daily shaves and
older skin. Life experiences had changed his look. Made him yummy.
Why hadn’t she noticed how attractive he was lately?

“
Well, what questions do you
have?” Ella moved behind her desk—to create a barrier between
them.

“
I’ve done a form for you but I don’t know if I’ve covered all
the questions you want to ask the clients,” Ross said.

“
The most important thing is the photo. Everything else is just
filler.”

“
Don’t you think you need to ask
some questions to get to know the couples?” Pauline said. “I
mean,
The
Album
sometimes offers more than one match per
person.”

“
But
The Album
said we should ignore the outside
stimuli. It’s just to make my company look legit. It’s not to
influence my decision at all.”

“
I agree with Pauline,” Ross
said. “You can’t just rely on
The Album
. You have to use common sense, too. I mean, what
if
The
Album
gives
one of your clients three valid options? How are you going to
choose? Pick them out of a hat?”

She shrugged. She played god anyway. What
difference would it make? Maybe that way, she’d feel less like she
manipulated people’s lives around. Looking at them both sitting
together, opposite her, opposing her, she suddenly wished she
hadn’t manipulated their lives together so they would get to know
each other.

“
Um…okay. I see your point. Let me type up a form for you on my
computer. Can you work on something else in the meantime? I’ll do
it in my study. Or the dining room.”

“
You can stay here,” Pauline said
in a small voice. She shot Ella an almost guilty look. Probably
feeling bad for ganging up against her.

Ella shrugged.
“Don’t want to disturb you.”

She grabbed
some papers and her laptop and went through to the other room,
relieved to see Andrea still there. At least she had some
company.

Andrea still talked on her phone
so she set up her computer on the mini bar and set to work. How
come Pauline had bounced back from her relationship with Roan so
fast? Ready to go full on with Ross? What was her problem judging
her friend? That’s what she’d wanted the whole time, anyway. And
she really did want her friend to move on from idiot Roan. What
would she tell Dirk now?
Oh, no, I’m so upset I matched them together. It’s
made me jealous and realise just how attractive Ross actually
is.
They had
a date for tomorrow night. Should she even go through with
it?

Ella managed to concentrate on
her admin work and cut out her troubled thoughts. She’d always been
able to cut off personal stuff at work
—a good skill to have, especially through
all the horrible break-ups she’d been through. And her friends.
Every time one of them had had a bad relationship, she’d feel their
pain and worry about them constantly. They’d correspond through
every moment, every fight, every difficult decision involved in
conflicted relationships.

Andrea put the phone down and
came to her. “So, how
was your date with Dirk at the game
reserve?”

“
Good.” Suppose she hadn’t spoken
to Andrea in a while except for business-related things.

“
Anything else since?”

“
Tomorrow night, we’re going out
for supper.”

“
Think there’s any promise?” Andrea asked cautiously. She had
all reason to wonder.

“
I don’t know. I feel more
positive about dating since I started using
The Album
. It gives me hope and it’s not just
from what I’m seeing. It’s like it infused hope in me. Its magic
goes beyond just matching couples up.”

Andrea’s eyes
softened. “Cool. I could do with some of that hope myself.”

Ella dropped
her hands off the mouse and keyboard to give her friend full focus.
“Any interesting guys in your life at the moment?”

“
Only a colleague at work but he’d never look at
me.”

“
Why?”

“
He’s a newbie, a junior. Yet, there’s something about him. He
has a confident air about him despite his youth.”

“
Toy boy, hey?” Ella winked.

“
Not quite. According to his
file, he’s only a year younger than me and he’s been traveling the
world—working in Dubai, Taiwan, even the Philippines. But the jobs
he’s held have given him very little office experience.”

“
Sounds like he has itchy feet.”

“
Maybe it’s good he’s done all his traveling young and probably
now wants to settle down. Anyway, I’m assuming all these things
about him. I’ve hardly seen him. He’s cute. That’s what got me
interested at first.” Andrea smiled. “Not that I let that sway me
anymore. Been burned too many times.”

“
Oh, what about the pizza delivery guy?”

Andrea waved her hand down. “Argh, he was
nothing. Not my type.”

“
Too below you?”

Andrea frowned
at her. “Hey, that’s…. I suppose I do like a man with a bit more
ambition. I’m not a money-grabber, but I like him to have some
sense of pride.”

“
We never know where someone has come from.”

The frown gave way to a relaxed laugh.
“Oh, Ella. You always try to see the best in people. Always want to
help them.”

She shrugged.
At the moment, she’d made a dumb mistake helping Pauline and Ross.
Typical—messing up her matchmaking attempts. As if on cue, Pauline
came through. Her face was flushed more than usual. She walked up
to them and sat down.

“
He’s opening up,” she said quietly to Ella.
“Finally.”

Andrea stared
at Pauline and then at Ella. “Are you up to what I think you’re up
to?”

Ella shrugged, suddenly embarrassed.
Andrea always saw through her. “And what’s that?”

Andrea
narrowed her eyes at her but then addressed Pauline. “About time
you told Ella you had a crush on Ross.”

Ella gritted
her teeth. “You mean you knew before I did?”

“
Carol and I have known for years. We didn’t think it wise to
tell you for the very reason you may try to make something happen
and mess it up badly.”

Ella stood up.
“Hey, I don’t intend to mess anything up this time. It’s going to
happen naturally.”

“
You can’t force love,” Andrea added.

“
Well, I can certainly accelerate it,” Pauline said, her face
flushing a deeper shade of red. “I’m going to be a total
flirt.”

“
You are?”

Ella and Andrea looked at her
for a drawn-out moment. So unlike Pauline. Had her relationship
with Roan made her bolder, more go-getter with regards to
men?
A
horrible, sick feeling started in the pit of Ella’s stomach. Maybe
because she’d forgotten to eat breakfast. Or could it be a little
jealous bug eating at her again? Problem was, she was so used to
being the centre of Ross’s attention, she didn’t take too well to
the thought of him showering it on someone else. Especially someone
who’d lap it up and return it fully.

Not like her.
She pushed the
jealousy away. It didn’t make sense. In no way did she love Ross
romantically. About time she learned to let him go and stop him
from finding the right woman. Maybe she’d always stood in his
way.

And Pauline would be her top choice in the
world. Her gentle, kind friend would never break his heart. She’d
get used to the idea soon enough when she saw her two friends
become happy with each other. Inwardly steeling herself, she pasted
on a smile and went back to her work.

Ross walked into Ella’s home a
week later armed with all his ideas on how to finish setting up the
website. He wanted out as soon as possible
. He’d worked on it late every night
the past week so he didn’t have to sidle up to Pauline any longer.
And to see Ella again, knowing she was trying to set him up with
one of her friends, had made him want to pull out his hair and take
out all his anger on his stupid house.