Love Online

I ran to the bathroom off the kitchen as fast as I could and hurled into the toilet.

Lorena followed. “Are you okay?”

With my hands on each side of the toilet, I looked up at her, dazed and confused.

“Is it stress?” she asked.

As I leaned over the bowl, I couldn’t help but laugh. All these years, I’d figured I was immune to throwing up. I just hadn’t met the right eleven year old with the right stomach virus.

I might have returned to L.A., but Ollie was most definitely still with me.***Although still nauseous, somehow I managed to keep from vomiting at work.

My father had brought a consultant in for the meeting this morning. The guy went on and on about the state of the industry. I didn’t appreciate having to come all the way home for this bullshit.

He just kept rambling. “Remember a time when people used to love going to the movies, and they would happily pay for it? The film business is sinking because, plain and simple, the movies suck. The only reason to take someone to the movies these days is if you’re a dude trying to get laid. Something’s got to change with the quality of movies being put out there, or the film industry is on its last leg.”

I scrolled through my emails while he was talking and saw that something had come in from Ollie.A message from Ollie Shortsleeve using VoiceText300:Dear Ryder,Testing. It’s me, Ollie.That was all it said.I chuckled to myself. That was freaking adorable. I discreetly typed a message back to him.Hey Ollie,Guess what? Been thinking of you a lot. Not just because I miss you guys, but also because I caught your stomach bug. It’s okay if you think that’s funny. Now that I’m not hunched over a toilet, I’m laughing, too.What are you up to this morning?RyderI returned to listening to the consultant, who continued to bore me. My father was pretending to be engaged, although I suspected he was regretting his decision to bring him in, since the guy had yet to offer any solutions to the problems he was so good at outlining.

A response from Ollie popped up in my inbox and once again stole my attention.A message from Ollie Shortsleeve using VoiceText300:Hi Ryder,I’m listening to some videos and emailing you. Eden is making breakfast.I’m glad you told me it’s okay to laugh, because it’s pretty funny that you threw up. I’m all better now. I hope you feel better soon.P.S. I’m talking into my voice to text app to write this. That’s why there are no spelling mistakes.

P.P.S. I miss you, too. So does Eden.I closed my eyes and pictured Eden in her kitchen, bending over the stove in her tight little leggings. Imagining the smell of her hair, I breathed in, once again cognizant of the fact that I was closing my eyes to experience feelings and sensations, something I was doing a lot more of lately.

After the meeting wrapped up, the consultant left the room, leaving me alone with my father.

“You seemed distracted,” he said.

“Was I supposed to be paying attention to that garbage? He was full of nothing but hot air. You seemed unimpressed with him, too.”

He changed the subject. “How was your trip?”

“It was really good.”

“I hope you got whatever it was out of your system.”

Far from it.

“Its name is Eden. And I did not get her out of my system. I’ll be going back at some point.”

He shook his head as if to totally disregard what I’d just said. “I really need you to focus. You can’t be taking weeks away at a time to visit women in other states.”

I didn’t expect him to get it. “What good is vacation time if I can’t use it? I never took time off up until last week. I’ve worked my ass off. Haven’t I accrued a shit ton of vacation time by now?”

“McNamaras don’t take time off. When I was your age, I wasn’t taking vacations. All of my time was spent building my career. And that’s exactly what you should be doing. You can relax when you’re my age.”

“That’s ludicrous because you haven’t slowed down one bit.”

“Yeah, well, it’s different now…without your mother. Things might be different if she were around to travel with me. But work’s been good for me. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Someday when you’re truly ready to take over my spot, I can scale back. That’s why I’m working you so hard right now.” He lifted his finger. “Speaking of which, I need to talk to you about the next leg of Operation Take Over the Global Market.”

I braced myself. “What’s the next step?”

“China.”

“China?”

“China, yes. You sound almost as excited as when I told you that you were headed to India.”

“Well, once again, you caught me off guard. What’s the deal with China?”