Stop gawping, you fool!
‘I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel awkward,’ Caleb said, frowning and shaking his head, then closing one eye and squinting as if the movement had caused him great pain.
She went to put out a hand to touch him, then withdrew it. ‘Is your head hurting?’
‘Like crazy.’
‘I’ll get the doctor.’
She started to walk away, then paused and turned back to face him. ‘Is there someone else you want me to call to be here with you?’
He looked at her in surprise, before frowning. ‘No, I don’t think so. To be honest, I can’t think of who I would call.’ He looked so uncomfortable she couldn’t help but feel a rush of sympathy for him.
She was just about to offer to stay until they were able to contact a friend in Barcelona for him when his expression cleared and he said, ‘Could you ring my office and ask my PA to come here?’
‘I’ve already called her,’ she told him. ‘She’s on her way over. I asked her who your emergency contact is but she wasn’t sure. Apparently she hasn’t been working for you for long.’
‘No. My regular PA has just had a baby.’
‘It’s not yours, is it?’ she quipped, then regretted it when she saw a look of panic flash across his face.
‘I’m just joking, Caleb. Sorry, that was tasteless of me considering your state of mind at the moment.’ She squeezed her eyes shut and wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m still a little shaken up after what just happened.’
But, instead of giving her a piece of his mind, he gave her a slow, wry smile instead, like the ones he used to give her back when they were friends. It was such an incredible sight and something she’d not seen for such a long time it stopped her in her tracks.
‘I’ll...er...go and find a doctor,’ she said hurriedly, swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat.
Turning away, she strode out of the room on rather shaky legs, relieved to be able to get away from his befuddling presence for a moment so she could figure out how the heck she was going to handle this situation from this point on.
Just as she reached the nurses’ station Caleb’s PA hurried around the corner and, spotting her, gave a little wave of recognition.
‘Benita, thank you for coming,’ Elena said as the woman came to a breathless halt in front of her. ‘Caleb’s okay, but he’s banged his head and is having trouble remembering which friend to call to come and look after him. Has he mentioned anyone to you that he’s close to?’ she asked.
Benita shook her head, biting her lip and looking a little anxious. ‘I’ve only been working for him for a few days and he never talks about anything of a personal nature. I checked his computer and his work mobile—which he’d left on his desk,’ she added a little defensively, as if Elena might accuse her of snooping, ‘but there was no one obvious I should call.’ Turning away, she began rifling through her bag, her movements becoming increasingly desperate as she failed to locate what she was looking for. ‘Caramba! I forgot to put his phone in here.’
Elena put a steadying hand onto the woman’s arm. ‘It’s okay. He’s in no state to be using his phone right now anyway. In fact, it’s probably better if he doesn’t have it right away. Less stress.’
She nodded, though the expression in her eyes reflected her worry. ‘I’ll drop it round to his apartment later.’
‘I’m sure that would be fine,’ Elena said in an attempt to soothe the poor woman.
Sighing, Benita shook her head. ‘Carla would never have forgotten it.’
That gave Elena an idea. ‘Hey, would Carla know of a friend of his to contact?’ she asked hopefully.
Benita shook her head again. ‘I called her but she said the same thing. He never gave away much personal information about himself. He had a few girlfriends over the time she worked for him but she never met any of them and he’s not seeing anyone now, as far as she knows. He doesn’t have any family left either, now his mother’s passed away.’
Elena experienced a pang of sorrow on his behalf. She knew from their time at university that he’d always been a bit of a loner and that his mother had been his only family, not that they’d been particularly close. He’d been angry with her for continuing to have a long-term relationship with a married man. He didn’t know who his father was either; his mother had refused to tell him, saying he was just a man she’d met in a bar one night. Unfortunately for Caleb, that had been a well chewed over piece of gossip in the town where he’d grown up, which had followed him round like a bad smell.
It was really no wonder he was so keen to keep his private life private these days.
‘When did his mother pass away?’ she asked.
‘About six months ago, I think. Carla mentioned something about it because he’d actually taken some time off work for once to be with her in the hospice. It was cancer, apparently, that took her.’
The two women stood quietly for a moment, reflecting on this.
‘Well, I’d better get back to the office now I know he’s okay,’ Benita said suddenly, smiling, as if Elena’s presence there had released her from her own duties to Caleb. ‘I’ll let the other managers know what’s happened and that he won’t be in work for the rest of the week. Please tell him everything’s under control. I know he’ll worry otherwise.’
‘Don’t you want to go in and see him?’ Elena asked, a little shocked by the woman’s intention to withdraw without even saying hello to Caleb.
Benita shook her head, taking a step backwards. ‘No, no. Just tell him I hope he feels better soon.’
‘Well, perhaps someone else from work could come over and sort out who can look after him—’ Elena said rather desperately, but Benita was backing away now, clearly keen to get out of there and return to the sanctuary of a Caleb-free office.
‘I doubt anyone there will know any more than me,’ she said, giving one last tight smile, then turning and rushing away.
Sighing, Elena rubbed a hand over her face, her insides sinking with a mixture of sadness for Caleb at his apparent lack of close friendships and nerves about exactly what she’d got herself into here.
The sad fact was, it looked as though the only person available to take care of him right now was her.
As she thought about this a crazy idea began to form in her head and her stomach gave a nervous little flip. Maybe if she could show him she was happy to be here for him, and prepared to help in any way she could, it might go some way towards rebuilding their friendship—without the prejudice and anger he seemed to be holding on to from the past getting in the way—and help her reconnect with the man she knew was in there, hiding behind that hard shell she’d seen earlier. Otherwise, once his memory came back she might never have the opportunity to speak to him again, especially when he remembered why he’d been crossing that road, but if she could be a good friend to him now and prove how much she cared about him, perhaps he’d think twice before pushing her away again.
It was worth a try.
Anything was worth a try at this point.
But if she did stay to look after him there would be no more kissing, she told herself firmly, setting back her shoulders and heading towards the desk to ask the staff there to contact his doctor.