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I re-read the messages a few times. Cuddling with Ginny while we were both sick would have made this day tolerable. As it was, I didn’t feel like doing anything.
Then an idea came to me.
I got dressed, put on an N95 mask, and drove to the deli. Then I looked up Ginny’s address in the company employee records. The neighborhoods got progressively worse on the way there, until I was in a very shady part of town. But that tracked with what Ginny had said about needing to buy a house to get out of her crummy apartment.
There was a plaque on the wall outside the front door indicating that it was owned by the Trout family. I chuckled to myself. No wonder she had such an attitude about Sandra.
The front door of the apartment was propped open with a doorstop, so I went inside. A man was mopping the floor in the lobby. As soon as he saw me, he shifted his grip on the mop handle as if it were a weapon.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
“I’m visiting Ginny Hanover,” I said, raising my plastic bag. “I’m bringing her soup. She’s sick.”
His eyes narrowed. “Who are you to her?”
“A… coworker. I’m her boss, actually.” I still wasn’t used to saying that.
The man immediately relaxed. “If you said you were her boyfriend, I would know you were up to no good… Nevermind. None of my business. She’s a nice girl. Always pays on time, never complains. Go on up. But I’m going to follow you to make sure you’re telling the truth.”
“Fine by me.”
We took the stairs up to Ginny’s floor. When I knocked on her door, the janitor or whoever he was stayed twenty feet down the hall, close enough that he could interject if needed.
I saw a shadow cover the peephole. Then several deadbolts and chains unlocked, and the door opened. Ginny’s nose was red and her eyes bloodshot, and she looked absolutely shocked to see me.
Then she threw herself into my arms. “Hi!”
“Hi, yourself. I brought soup. I didn’t know what kind you like, so I got a cup of every flavor.” I hefted the bag for her to see. “I hope that’s okay. If you don’t want to be around anyone…”
“No! Of course it’s okay! It’s more than okay. Come in.”
I gave the janitor guy a wave, then allowed Ginny to pull me inside.
“That’s Mr. Fedener,” she explained. “He’s the building manager. Hope he didn’t give you too much grief.”
“Not really. He only wanted to make sure I was telling the truth. He seemed to know I wasn’t your boyfriend.”
“That’s weird,” she said, turning her back to me while she pulled containers of soup out. “Oh, broccoli cheddar! Dibs.”
“Then I’ll take the potato soup.”
Ginny fished out two spoons from a drawer. Even though she was wearing stained sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt, she looked more beautiful than ever. I didn’t even care that her hair looked like she had spent a few minutes in a wind tunnel.
Is that love?I wondered.Being attracted to someone when they’re at their worst?
“Want to curl up in bed to eat?” she asked. “We can get nice and warm under the comforter…”
“I’m fine eating wherever you’re set up.”
“Couch it is, then.”
She already had her laptop open on the coffee table, so I took mine out of my backpack and set it up. “What’s the Wi-Fi?”
“There’s two. Ginger-Web, and OF-Network. I don’t know much about technology, but according to the cable guy, the second one is faster?”
“OF Network?” I asked.
She shrugged, then cleared her throat. “I, uh, don’t know what it means. That’s just what the install guy named it. He let me name Ginger-Web though!”
