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‘Hector,’ Galen said, ‘you will be able to announce a date by the ball.’
‘Really?’
Even Dion looked up.
‘Yes,’ Galen said. ‘There are a few glitches to iron out, but we’re on them.’
And on Friday he met with the development team, and thanked the very efficient Dion, who would be taking his diverted calls all over the weekend.
‘Soshe’sback on Monday?’ Dion pouted. ‘The one with all the personal issues?’
‘Yes,’ Galen said, ‘to the former. I would never discuss the latter.’
Dion flounced off, and although Galen still sat in his blacked-out world, it didn’t feel the same. Yes, Dion would take all the calls from the care home, but... As much as he might have resisted her invasion, blocking out the world had felt a little safer to do, knowing Roula was fielding those calls...
Saturday he was productive. Sunday not so much.
He found himself checking the news instead of his charts and looking for updates on her—in Roula’s words—‘murderous brother’.
Nothing.
‘Hey, Leo...’ Galen called his friend, oh, so casual, when he never called anyone casually. ‘How are you?’
‘Hungover.’
‘Oh?’
‘Galen, you know I don’t rise before midday—especially on a Sunday. What do you want?’
‘Did...?’ He halted, stopping himself from asking if Roula had kept her appointment—because Galen didn’t snoop, nor delve into other people’s lives. ‘I just called to see how you are.’
Leo had already rung off.
Mondays were never his sunniest days, but Galen found himself awaiting the arrival of this one and wondering if his ultimatum had worked. If Roula would return.
It wasn’t the scent of sunshine that cut the stale office air, though, instead it was Dora. And she seemed to have caught Roula’s hovering habit when she brought in his morning coffee and thanked him profusely for the flowers.
Galen held in a tense breath and pushed out a smile. ‘How is...?’What is the dog’s name?‘How is your lovely dog?’
‘He’s doing very well.’ Dora smiled, but still hovered. ‘I thought Roula was supposed to be back today?’
He said nothing.
‘She’s not?’ she asked.
‘No,’ Galen said. ‘She’s not.’
It was after nine when finally he addressed it—the first ever meeting foreveryone—and they all gathered rapidly, agog for updates on the news they already knew.
‘Roula is taking some more time off,’ he said, when he knew he should just take her off the books. ‘Also,’ he added, ‘Dora’s dog continues to do well.’
‘Should we send Roula some flowers?’ Nico suggested. ‘And a card?’
‘And what do we write?’ Galen fired back. ‘“Sorry to hear your brother killed your husband”?’
‘We could just say that we’re all thinking of her,’ Dora suggested.
‘No flowers,’ Galen said. Because presumably her absence meant Roula was in Anapliró, and the thought made him feel ill.
