"Thank you, Mandy. I appreciate the sentiment. Let me know when you get that email out." I left the reception area to head back to my office, and I felt so refreshed. I felt that same elation as I had when I first walked into this space. My computer with my sign in information sat on the desk, right next to a picture of my sister. Flipping on the lights, I sat down in my chair without even taking my jacket off and sighed in utter satisfaction.
It wasn't until this morning that I'd learned that Eva had broken her lease, resulting in thousands of lost dollars because she's supposedly trashed her place in a rage. It wasn't until this morning that I'd heard the rumor that she'd been transferred with an extreme pay reduction. It wasn't until this morning that I'd learned she'd be on probation for three years, and any little thing could get her fired from the Boston hospital.
She'd lost her cushy job taking care of sunburns and kids swallowing sea water in the summer and no appointments in the winter. Now, Eva would be surrounded by truly sick kids and have to actually do her job. I feel a little bad for those kids, but...
Either she did her job and hated it, or she quit and couldn't work as a doctor anymore. The only thing better than this situation was the image of her in a green vest, bagging groceries, and being berated by middle-aged soccer moms.
As far as I was concerned, this was enough retribution for the Hell she put me through. When doing bad things, it will come back to bite ten times harder, and I was more than satisfied with this outcome.
"Ah..." Once Sahper got back to me about Melissa's referral, I was going to ask her on a date. Flopping my head back to stare at the ceiling, I smiled a secret smile at that notion, but it quickly faltered. I knew Melissa didn't want to have a doctor so far away, but it was obvious to us both that there was more than just a doctor-patient relationship budding. "I'm a piece of shit."
Referring a patient out to another doctor specifically so I could date her... while I wasn't doing anything unethical, it was still extremely taboo. If anyone at the hospital found out, I'd be facing stigma backlash for the rest of my career here. It wouldn't go in my file, but it would still follow me.
Dr. Sahper was a wonderful Pulmonologist, head over heels above me in experience and had a very successful private practice. I wasn't sacrificing Melissa's standard of care just to get in her pants. I'd read her file when she went to a closer office in West Greenwich, and he'd obviously not taken her seriously. Sahper was worth the drive, at the very least.
"I hope she doesn't think I want to date her for her money." I mean— I definitely didn't want to date Mel for her money. I made very good money myself. "The way she talked about her dad was so bitter."
If we'd met while I was in med school, Melissa may not have been so open to dating me. Easily, I could picture her worrying about paying for whatever we did but not having the spine to say 'no'. She wasn't a people pleaser, per say, but more anti-confrontational. Which explains why she had that panic attack at the tea shop. She's probably never told her dad exactly what she thought of him.
I reached to turn on my computer with a slight shake of my head. Melissa was sexy, with her glossy red hair and abundance of freckles. She wore pretty, sophisticated clothes that hinted and teased at her plump ass and thin waist. Bumping into her at the park in her sports bra and leggings, with her hair pulled high...
Before I got Melissa's attention, I honestly could not look away from her ass. At the time, I felt kinda guilty for ogling her, but then she flirted back. I still had a hard time figuring out when finding her pretty morphed into this ravenous desire for her. We'd only seen each other half a dozen times, but every time had been more impactful on me than the last. Clearly, she felt comforted by me, and if my being her pulmonologist was all that stopped us, there was nothing wrong with referring her out.
"I'm such a piece of shit." My mumble echoed in my office, and I stood up to shirk off my jacket. Pulling my phone out of the pocket, I hung the garment up and swiped open the screen to purse my lips. "Laurie? What's she want?"
Tapping the call button, I sat back down and held the phone to my ear and pointer-finger-typed my password into my computer with my free hand.
"Hey, Carl. Guess what! My professor was really impressed by my overview of your HR meeting, and that guy— Eric Dan or whatever— actually called my professor to compliment me!"
My brows rose, a smile stretching my lips as a proud giggle floated along the line.
"This is great! I actually got complimented for being a bitch!"
"That's awesome, Laurie! Congratulations! You did your first ever corporate smackdown! What did your professor say?" Great timing. Genuine happiness rang in my tone, and I sat back as my computer home loaded. "You deserve the praise. Seriously."
"Yeah— he said that I just did a great job expecting what was gonna happen, but to make sure not to show too much next time. Corporate law isn't the same as criminal law, and it's all about what you know and what you don't let your opponents know until the most advantageous time. That being said, he added two hours to my requirement for the time of the actual meeting." Excitement colored Laurie's tone.
I glanced at the clock on the screen to lick the roof of my mouth. I still had a good twenty minutes before we were set to open, and even then, my first appointment wasn't until 11 a.m. I could listen to Laurie until I had to hang up.
It was honestly better than contemplating my salacious relationship with Mel.
Chapter 14
Melissa
Eyeballing the absolutely pungent margarita that Terry had bought for me, I struggled to breathe from the alcohol wafting over the rim of the glass. My best friend stared daggers into my face, and I pursed my lips before reaching to swing the straw my way.
"I don't think this was necessarily the 'one drink' you should've got me, Terry."
His huge, shit-eating grin was contagious, and I reached to plug my nose before sucking on the end of the straw. This glass was bigger than my whole head, but I managed to take a few enormous gulps of the strawberry flavored beverage before I had to stop. The cold gave me brain freeze, and the alcohol burned my throat and made it hard to breathe.
Shaking my head viciously, I scrunched up my face and sucked in a sharp breath as Terry clapped overly excited.
"You're such a trooper, Mel! I knew you could do it, you teetotaler."
I didn't even know what 'teetotaler' meant, but I couldn't question it when I inhaled a deep, hot breath. The bar we were in wasn't all that busy considering it was Tuesday night, and I sniffled a little as I reached to rub my watering eyes. There's so much tequila in there.
"So, tell me about your hot doctor friend and what happened on Thursday. I'm so mad I missed it. Sometimes, having to travel for work sucks."
"I mean..." Rasping slightly, I grabbed my napkin off the table to wipe my eyes and nose, and Terry leaned in with a ravenous glint in his eye. I was most definitely not going to tell him that I was glad he was gone over the weekend. I needed that time to really process what had happened and figure out what I wanted to do. "He said he'd refer me out so we could go on a date. That's all. Every time I see him, I want to see him again more, and obviously he wants to, too. He shouldn't have to risk his whole life for a date, though."