Jump Start

6. Six

Six

Thomas

“ W e have to do something for her. She’s put so much effort into getting to know everyone and what goes on here,” I mentioned to Holly.

“Well, I agree with you, Thomas. I thought that you hated Harper, though. What’s changed? Don’t tell me you have the hots for her now?” Holly rolled her eyes at me like this was a regular occurrence. I shook my head.

“I don’t know. I just think we should throw something for her. No, I don’t have the hots for her…” My sentence ended in the most unconvincing tone.

“Well, I have enough shit to deal with here. I’ll send the email out about the morning tea and you can go and get the stuff for it, okay?”

I looked at her with my eyebrows squished together. “What the fuck? How am I supposed to know what to get?”

She laughed. “Please tell me you did not just ask me that. Go to the shop and work it out yourself, Thomas.”

She then promptly left my office.

What had I gotten myself into? I walked down the hall to Chris’s office and popped my head in.

“Mate, what do girls like to eat for morning tea?”

Chris looked up from his diary, said, “I don’t know, fairy floss and sugar plums? Just buy something normal,” and went back to ignoring me. I rolled my eyes and stormed out of his office into the canteen. It looked like Will was about to ask me a question, but promptly changed his mind after seeing my face.

I blew past Harper, who was coming through the front door of the building on my way out. “Hey, Thom—”

Her words cut off when she saw the look on my face. I tried to suppress it and waved to her.

“Oh, hey there, Harper!” Perhaps a little too friendly. I shook my head as I walked towards my car, hopped in, and looked up where the nearest grocery store was.

I drove to the grocery store in complete silence, not even my favourite music was playing. Why was I going to all of this effort? Who was I kidding? I knew exactly why. I was trying to make up for being such an asshole to her. She’d been nothing but sweet and brutally honest, the perfect combination in my opinion.

I needed to remember to take a deep breath before I spewed more stupid shit to her the next time I saw her. But she made my breath catch. Her face was like truth serum, and I just spat out whatever I was thinking.

I needed to get better at that.

As I sauntered down the fresh produce aisle, I realised I would not find anything useful for Harper’s morning tea, except maybe strawberries. I hoped she wasn’t allergic to anything. I stood next to an older lady who was already debating which type of croissant to purchase. There were so many sweets in the deli window to choose from and I had absolutely no idea what to buy.

Settling for mini croissants, strawberries and a few packets of Tim Tams, I decided that would do along with the snacks we already had in the canteen back at the office.

My phone rang as I was getting back into my car, a call from my father. I’d answer that later. My father was probably calling to update me on betting odds and things I couldn’t give a shit about. I guess that was his way of trying to connect with me, but to me, it felt odd, like it was forced or something. I couldn’t really connect with the money side of horse racing. I loved the horses and living on the farm, but that was as far as it went for me.

***

On my return to Echidna, I was greeted at the door by Holly.

“Hey, what took you so bloody long? I can only keep Harper away from the coffee machine for so long!”

I smiled, watching Harper make her coffee had become my favourite time of day.

Thankfully, Holly took charge of the morning tea, set it all up, and gathered the staff together.

I found a spot towards the back of the room and caught Harper standing at the front with Holly and Chris. Her eyes were fixed on a poster to the back of the room.

Chris addressed the staff. “We want to thank Harper for her time here. She has quickly become one of our favourite guests in the headquarters. Now, I have seen some of the notes on the piece Harper is writing on Thomas and it’s fantastic. Too bad she had to spend a week with him.” He winked at me, and his joke made the room erupt in laughter. I didn’t laugh along. Great to know what they all thought of me.

Once the couple of speeches were over, we all tucked into the sweets I bought, which evidently were not enough for the number of people present. Holly walked over to me as I shoved a large strawberry in my mouth.

“You’re fired from morning tea duties,” she informed me. “Absolutely woeful.”

I smiled at her, showing my teeth with mangled strawberries in them.

“You’re disgusting,” she replied and swiftly walked away from me.

I noticed Harper standing off to the side of the room, having just finished a conversation with Chris. I walked over to her, trying to chew the rest of my strawberry before reaching her, unsuccessfully.

“I’ve been watching you chew that strawberry from across the room.” She gestured to my mouth as I approached her.

I gulped loudly. “It was really big and juicy.”

She crossed her arms and snorted. “You’re feral in so many ways. Can’t wait to be rid of you,” she said, her words were mean but the look on her face was the opposite.

“Don’t worry, Harper, I will miss you too.”

Her face blushed, giving her away.

“Whatever,” she replied sarcastically, turning to walk away. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to me.

“You wouldn’t leave without giving me a hug, would you?” My voice broke on the last syllable as I noticed how nice she felt pinned against my side.

“Of course not!” Her light laugh made me smile widely, as she put her arm around my waist.

I caught Holly’s eye as we stood there together and winked at her, which was met with a monstrous eye roll.

Harper pulled herself away from me, her face red. “Well, I better go and pack my stuff, long drive back to the big smoke from here,” she blurted out before she turned to walk back to my office. I found myself staring after her for minutes after she’d left.

Having her against my side, feeling her soft skin, was addictive and I had to find new ways of being close to her again. If she’d let me.

***

Darwin. Thirty-nine degrees. It was hot. I preferred the races in the southern states because it was less hellish in the cockpit. But with my cool suit on, hydrated to the shithouse, I was ready as I’d ever be.

I climbed into the driver’s seat and waited for the techs to buckle me in. Dry ice would be our saviour today. While I waited idly, Harper’s face flashed beneath my eyelids for a brief moment. It was weird, but not unwelcome. Her blonde hair always reflected the light no matter where she was, bright and beautiful.

I had to face facts. I always liked her, but I was just being stubborn. Her news article on me was coming out today and I guess I was nervous. I hadn’t been very accommodating to her— understatement of the century — so I was keen to see what sort of light she would paint me in. At the end of the day, Harper was a professional and, despite my problems with the media, I knew she was honest. Whatever she wrote about me, good or bad, I probably deserved it.

“Alright, Thomas, practice lap should tell us if the front steering has been fixed or not. Keep us updated,” Tony spoke calmly through the radio.

“Understood,” I replied and placed both hands on the steering wheel, keen to find a distraction from the flowing blonde hair and hazel eyes still firmly planted in my mind.