I was thankful when the waitress showed up with my second drink. The last for the night, unfortunately.
“No. He blames me because it’s easy. She was in a car accident, and he thinks I should have treated her. But she was like a second mother, so the other doctor on duty did. I think Eli’s just pissed because I was the one by her side instead of him when she died.”
“He also doesn’t like your past with his sister.”
“No. I can hardly blame him for that. I do feel a bit like I betrayed him.”
“So, what’s with you and his sister? Does she blame you for the mom too?”
I shook my head. “No. She and I were close, but she was in grad school and I was in my residency when we were together. After we graduated, she went her way and I went mine.”
She looked at me with scrutinizing eyes that I suspected made her scary on the stand. “Now she’s here. And it sounds like it’s against the rules for you two to see each other. If she’s broken that policy, you’d have—”
“No.” I hoped I looked nonchalant. Instead, I was sick. I didn't want to lose my job, but I didn’t want to take Mia down trying to save it. If I thought I was weak already, the idea of outing Mia made me pathetic.
“So, if I invited myself to your place, there’d be no reason for you to say no?”
I jerked in surprise. “Ah … no.”
She leaned forward, close enough that I could smell her perfume. “So how about it. We’d be out of the prying eyes and eager ears of your neighbors.”
“To work?” It was strange how discombobulated I felt that she was hitting on me and I wasn’t taking her up on it.
“Or whatever. I don’t have to be in the office until after noon tomorrow.”
I took in her sharp, smart blue eyes, full pink lips, thin body with a nice set of tits, and couldn’t believe I wasn’t already escorting her out the door. “I’m okay with working, not with whatever.”
She sat back with a smirk, and I wondered if her moves were a test. A test that I just failed.
“You sure about you and Ms. Parker?”
“Mia and I can’t be together.”
“But you wish you could. You have feelings for her.”
I inhaled a breath, wondering if I could admit out loud to what I’d only thought before. “I’m not sure I ever stopped.”
“She doesn’t feel the same about you?”
“It wouldn’t matter. She’d lose her job.”
“There are other jobs.”
I shrugged, watching my drink as I swirled the glass. “We chose work when it ended, we choose work now.”
She sipped her water. “All that fairy tale stuff is bull shit anyway, don’t you think? Even when you think you have a perfect love, it’s not.”
“You sound like you’re talking from experience.”
She laughed. “Oh yeah, I have experience. That’s why I’ve given up on the idea of love ever after.”
“No wedding in your future?”
“No relationships.”
“None?”
“I can have sex without a relationship, if that’s your concern,” she said.
Wasn’t that what Mia and I had? “I think relationships are possible for some people. My parents are happy, living their best lives. I know Eli and Mia’s parents were happy.”
“And then his wife died. Who wants that sort of heartbreak? Nah, I’m happy with a few good lays to get me by.”
“I do see the wisdom of that.” To be honest, a few weeks ago, she’d have been perfect for me.
“And yet, you’re in love with Ms. Parker.”
I downed my drink. “Doesn’t matter. It was nearly perfect the first time we were together and it didn’t work out. There’s no way it could work now. I have my work. She has hers.”
“Well then. Let me work to make sure you keep yours and don’t lose this suit.”
I wished I still had some of my drink, as I’d have made a toast to that.
26
Mia
I enjoyed spending time with my father, but I wouldn’t deny that I missed seeing Nick. It was stupid, because there was no getting around the fact that my job prevented me from seeing him. So why pine for him? I needed to get him out from under my skin. The easiest way to do that was to keep myself busy. At work, I did that by reviewing contracts, dealing with insurance issues, and of course, working to show that the hospital hadn’t been negligent in Ms. Mason’s care. That was made slightly more difficult when the IT person I hired was able to confirm that Nick ordered the chest x-ray, but the order had gone to pathology and not radiology. That meant there was something with the EMR program, that the IT person worked on, but to be safe I talked with the administration about putting in safeguard follow-ups with emergency patients.
After work, I spent the evening with my father. I’d cook us dinner, and I had him teach me chess, but finally convinced him to switch to checkers, which he still beat me at.
Sometimes Eli would come over and have dinner with us, but with my being there, he could keep the store open longer, and often chose that so he could keep it going now that he had more support.
My father and I had just settled in to watch a nature show about sea turtles when Eli came in.
“You’ll never guess who I saw down at Toscano’s.”
“Nick,” Dad and I said at the same time.
“Jinx,” we said simultaneously again and then laughed.
“I hope you didn’t interrupt his dinner. You need to give that boy some peace,” my father finally said to a scowling Eli.
“He was with a woman,” he said to me. “A good-looking woman.”
My gut clenched followed by jealousy that another woman would be with Nick, and resentment at Nick for moving on. Granted, that’s what we agreed to do, but still. I hated that it was
