6. Errol

Chapter 6

Errol

Things are doing better.

I was able to go back to my house, with Grams assuring me she had just been in a bit of a mood, which I wasn't sure I believed. It was the same thing I told the social worker, and I'd been lying to her. Maybe Grams was lying to me? Nothing indicated I had to be at her house, and she wanted me not to hover, so at least for now, I was going to choose to believe her.

When I drove her to her doctor later that week, I did tell them that she had been acting not quite herself. It hadn't been her normal doctor, but they seemed nice enough and like they were listening. They said it was probably a missed medication, and that made sense given how she had been organizing them. The fancy pill box I bought her should take care of that, I hoped.

Only time would tell, but for now, being back home was great. I got to sleep in my own bed, listen to my own music, and talk freely with Davien without worrying that I was being rude to Grams and without her listening and commenting, which was a bad habit of hers that she always had.

My communication with my knight in shining armor had started with texts. He always seemed so concerned about Grams, like he really wanted to know. I appreciated that. He had no reason to have a vested interest in her. Heck, he still hadn't met her. But no conversation ended before he inquired about her.

He asked about me, too, of course. Davien was fun, sometimes funny, and had a lot of empathy for people he didn't even really know. So many green flags. I liked him… a lot. Texting turned into phone calls, and they became the highlight of my day. It was funny to think about because people didn't really talk on the phone much anymore, at least not the people I associated with. And here we were, our first contact via landlines, of all things, and now we were chatting on the phone like teens in the 80's.

There was something about hearing his voice that made me feel like everything was okay. I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was that made it such a balm. It was rich, but so were many other people's. There was a quality about it that was simply Davien, and I loved it.

I got home from work, threw my frozen dinner in the microwave, and called him.

Earlier that day I was talking to Frank at work and telling him I met someone, and he'd asked me, "Oh, wow, where'd you meet?" I told him I called the wrong number, which was true. I left off the part where the wrong number happened as I was trying to get my absentee uncle to send my money for Grams, but that was fine. Frank didn't need to know that level of detail. He kept asking questions, loving the tea, and I filled him in on how Davien made me feel and the things we talked about.

"Ah, you got a unicorn there. You need to keep him."

I laughed. Frank had always been the dreamer of the office. He was sure there was the perfect person out there for everyone and that we'd find the one, fall in love, and live happily ever after. Easy peasy. I didn't argue that if it was so easy peasy, why was he single.

Davien picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, you just getting home?" His voice washed over me.

"Yeah, is it too early to call?" His schedule wasn't the same as mine, and I tried not to bug him while he was working. Usually, I'd text to ask if it was a good time to talk, but today I needed to hear his voice and skipped that step.

"Nope, just taking care of folding towels. So really, you saved me from boredom."

"So, see, you saved me, I saved you, we're all good."

"You know, I wish you wouldn't always be thinking about the money. Trust me, when I'm talking to you, I'm not."

He was wrong. I didn't always think about the money when I was imagining him. Not that I was going to tell him what I usually did think about, which was him using his tongue on me doing unspeakably dirty things. It was a little too soon for that—or maybe it would always be too soon for that. Maybe he was just a nice guy helping me out, being a friend, waiting for his money.

I didn't think so. It felt like we had a connection, a real one, one I wanted to take further. I'd been wrong before when it came to matters of the heart, though. I'd just have to wait and see.

What I would've loved to do was arrange some big, fancy date for us where we could go out, and I could wine and dine him—where I could woo him like in the days of old, if the days of old permitted the omegas to take the lead, that was. After dinner, he could take me home and make me come undone, calling out his name as he filled me with his knot. It was a great dream, but far from reality. The best I could offer him was hot dogs at the park. I really wasn't going to be able to take him on a decent date for quite a while, and I hated that.

"Errol, you got quiet there." His voice cut through my wanderings.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Do you need to go?"

"No, no, I wasn't—no, it's fine." Great. He thought I was too distracted by life to focus on him. What a way to get an alpha's attention. "Okay, but it sounded like you were in the middle of something."

"Actually…" I could do this. "I was thinking about something I wanted to ask you."

"Ask away."

What was the worst he could do? Turn me down? It would suck, but it wouldn't be the end of the world or anything. It was time to shoot my shot.

"I was thinking… I know it's probably weird given, you know, I have no money and am an omega, and how we met…" I was hardly making a strong case, "but I wanted to ask you on a date."

"That doesn't sound weird at all. It sounds like a fabulous idea, and I'd be honored."

"Are you sure?" What kind of a question was that?

"Yeah, I'd love to go out with you."

I'd love it too.

We made dinner plans, and my landline started ringing while we were talking.

"Can you hold on a second?" The only people who ever used it anymore were salespeople and Grams. Salespeople could pound salt, but if it was Grams, I wanted to be sure not to miss it.

"Sure."

I set the phone down, hit mute, and answered the other call. It was Grams, like I suspected. She had set off the fire alarm again and was asking about wire cutters. Those two things should not go together in the same sentence. She was off again. At least her voice was hinting that she was. It was hard to tell based on what little she said, but I was going to err on the side of caution. That was for sure.

"Hey, Grams, I was thinking maybe I could come and stay for a few days." If I acted like it was for me, she'd definitely be more amenable to me coming back. She really had an aversion to being treated like, quote, "a child." "There's an issue with my plumbing, and I need to wait till it's fixed," I lied.

"Sure, dear." She went on to tell me about the new pillows she got for the guest room and then described the one she bought a few years ago. I'd made the right call.

I hung up the phone with her and grabbed mine, embarrassed to realize I hadn't, in fact, hit mute.

"Sorry about that. Looks like I'm going to be spending a few days with Grams."

"I heard. Plumbing, huh?"

I told him why I made the choices I did, including the lie about the plumbing.

"If we need to reschedule, that's fine."

"No, we don't need to reschedule, but I'll send you her address, and maybe we can eat at the diner. It's pretty close to her house, and they make really really good pie."

"Sounds like a plan. See you soon."

I packed my bag, making sure to bring my great-ass jeans for my date. We wouldn't be able to stay out long, and the food would be hardly woo-worthy, but it was a date with the man I was crushing on hard. Patiently waiting was going to be rough, that was for sure.

Bag in hand, I headed over to my new temporary home.

Grams was happy I was there and she wasn't great, but she was holding her own. We fell into a pretty good routine, and more often than not she was coherent, especially in the morning. Maybe I hadn't been far off when I said it was sleep deprivation to the social worker. I needed to suggest asking about a sleep study for her when the time felt right.

Finally, after what felt like forever, it was date night. Grams insisted Davien come in like a proper gentleman, and the two of them hit it off right away. She made him promise to have me back by ten—the curfew I had the summer I lived with her when my parents decided to do a month-long cruise. Some things never changed.

"Ready for our date?" I reached for his hand, and instead of taking it, he pulled me in for a hug.

"Now I am." He stepped back, took my hand, and off to the diner for meatloaf specials and amazing conversation it was.