by D. W. Cee
Emily now looked rattled. By the way she started stammering, I knew who this guy was.
“No… This is Max. Max…, this is Jake.”
I put out my hand. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you, Max.”
“Nice meeting you too.” Max sounded agitated. “And this is my girlfriend Jennifer.”
Emily was not included as Max introduced Jennifer to the people around him. I felt Emily grab my hand and stand slightly behind me. I knew she was hurting thinking about Jennifer who took over her position so soon after Emily had vacated it. Timidly she stayed behind me. She wanted to be protected and I would be her protector.
“Let’s go see where we’re sitting. We’ll see you all later.” I called out and took Emily away from the spotlight. Stepping away from the crowd I wanted to make sure Emily wasn’t tearing as she so easily does.
“Emily, are you okay?” Attempting to sound more comforting than annoyed, I saw her crinkled face change into a weak grin.
“Yes. I’m okay. Are you sorry you came tonight? Isn’t this what you didn’t want to see – me being rattled by the sight of Max and his new girlfriend?”
“You seemed more rattled by watching the rest of our reactions. Emily, seeing you anxious doesn’t make me happy and I have to apologize to you for my behavior last night. There was no reason for me to be so angry and I definitely shouldn’t have walked out on you and our dinner. I’m alright seeing you and Max together. Can we let this go for now and have a long overdue talk when this function is over?”
I assumed her responsive kiss was a yes.
“Let’s go meet some of my friends. I see them at our table.” She sounded happy again. “One more thing, Max and Jennifer are at our table. I hope that’s okay. Sarah and Charlie thought it would be funny to have us all together. I’m sorry.” I didn’t care who we sat with but Emily sounded annoyed.
In my meanest tone I told her, “I’ll have a talk with them later tonight.”
She giggled.
We went on to meet more friends. Emily let go of my hand and hugged one of her friends longingly. I could tell by her face that this was her dear friend, Peter. He too seemed to have missed my Emily very much. She tugged me over towards him.
“Peter, I want you to meet my date. This is Jake. Jake, this is Peter, my friend, my quasi brother.”
“It’s nice meeting you, Jake. When did you and Emily start dating? She never told us she was seeing someone.” He ended our conversation aiming the question at Emily. She answered with an innocent smile.
“Emily and I started dating a couple of months ago,” I answered.
“Oh, that’s not very long.” The way he said these words was a bit peculiar. I couldn’t grasp his hidden meaning.
“No, I wish we could see more of each other but due to my work schedule we date when possible. If I could, I’d spend every day with her.” I looked over at Emily and winked.
She shook her head and mouthed, “I don’t believe you!”
I forced another public display of affection on her and answered back, “I’d spend every waking and sleeping moment with you if it were possible.”
Peter looked uncomfortable. Emily turned red again and walked to the next table to talk to her friends, probably fearful of any more sudden attacks.
I found out tonight that Peter was a second year med student and Max was in his first year. We enthusiastically talked about the classes he was taking and the hardships of medical school. His bemoaning reminded me of those arduous years with no end in sight. Medical school faired easy when compared to residency. Looking at my life now, residency faired even easier when I thought about the long hours I worked – especially the hours that kept me away from Emily. Peter had no idea what he was in for after med school was done.
The emcee called for a first dance so I excused myself and went over to pick up my love. Charlie and Sarah waltzed over to us immediately.
“Hey, Jake!”
“I don’t know if I should be saying hello to the both of you for putting us at the same table as Max and Jennifer. Are you trying to help us or tear us apart?” Of course I was kidding.
“We are only trying to show you off to Max,” Sarah answered. “I want him to know Emily is doing very well without him.”
“Sounds great to me!” I answered enthusiastically.
Emily didn’t sound as happy as she squinted her eyes at her best friend and said, “Great. Thanks!” She then moved us away calling out, “See you later.”
With no one else to bother us, I pulled Emily into my body as close as possible. Six weeks of dating coupled with my hectic schedule and Emily’s demure nature, I hadn’t done more than kissed this girl. Bewildered I couldn’t figure out whether our lack of physical progress was due to Emily’s innocence, her lack of desire or maybe even her lack of experience? She and Max had dated for four years so it couldn’t have been a lack of experience. I shuddered at the image of her and Max. Possibly we could talk about this tonight as well.
My lips started on her ear slowly nibbling their way to the back of her neck then across the cheek and to her jaw. When I stopped at her lips she let out a quiet moan and her lips quivered as I covered them with my own. This was the passion I’d wanted to share with Emily and the reaction I’d been looking for. I showed her my plan of attack. She did not retreat. Enjoying her complete participation, our kiss deepened when my pager went off and broke our embrace.
“Damn! Not again!” I declared.
I looked guilty; she looked critical, but soon started to laugh. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll meet you back at the table,” she spoke shaking her head. As she walked away I noticed Peter taking her back to the dance floor.
“Hey, Linda, did you page me?” I prayed Linda wouldn’t tell me I had to return.
“Dr. Reid, I thought I’d let you know your patient, Adam Chen who got discharged this morning, came back in with chest pains.”
“Has Dr. Carter seen him?”
“Yes, but Mr. Chen has been asking for you. What shall I say?”
“Call me if the situation gets more serious. Otherwise, he’ll be in good care with Carter.”
“Okay.”
Hopefully I wouldn’t be needed any more tonight. I walked back into the ballroom and found Emily in Max’s arms. Hurt and angry, I had to calm myself before going back to Emily. I couldn’t understand why she would be dancing with him. Last I saw, she was with Peter. What had happened? I needed to go to her and get an explanation.
“Ahem. May I cut in?” Max jerked away and Emily panicked. Instead of a guilty look, she had a look of fear in her eyes I had never seen before. My heart sank. She was afraid of me.
Her words faltering and her face filled with anxiety she tried to explain herself. “Peter danced with me after you left and made me switch partners and told us to talk it out and … and…”
At this point I didn’t care if Emily still had feelings for her ex. I just wanted to comfort her and let her know I wasn’t upset with her.
“It’s okay, Emily. You don’t have to explain,” I answered pulling her into my chest.
“I promise I wasn’t trying…”
I cut her off. “Shh. Emily. It’s alright.”
She still couldn’t let it go. I saw the tears swell. She looked like a little girl caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Even this look was lovable.
“Nothing happened, I promise. I’m sorry.” Her voice was defeated.
“Emily. I wish I didn’t make you so anxious. It’s okay. I’m okay. You don’t need to apologize. Let’s go back to the table.” I did my best to reassure her but she didn’t look comforted. I couldn’t tell whether her sadness was caused by me or Max. I didn’t know which would be worse. I did need to let her know that there was a possibility I may have to leave. That’s the last thing I wanted to do but it was my reality.
“What will happen if I have to leave you early tonight?” I feared her answer.
“Do you have to leave?” Her visible di
sappointment was a happy response this time.
“No, not yet. There’s a chance but I think it will be okay.”
We were about to sit down when the pager went off again. I kissed Emily on the forehead and walked out to make my call.
“Dr Reid, I think you need to come back. Your patient needs you.”
“Alright. I’ll be there soon.”
I made a quick call to Uncle Henry. “Chief?”
“Yes, Jake.”
“I’m being called back into the hospital right now even though I’m not on call. I need you to give me the rest of this weekend off. ”
“Alright. I got it. I’ll make sure nobody looks for you this weekend. Now go see your patient. Obviously they really need you or else they wouldn’t have contacted you.”
“I’m holding you to it.” I trusted Uncle Henry would keep his word. Next I needed to call Uncle Dave.
“Uncle Dave? This is Jake.”
“Hey, Jake. What’s going on?”
“I have a favor to ask of you.” I prayed he could help.
“Okay. What do you need?”
“Can you get me a table for two at French Laundry, tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? Do you think I’m a miracle worker?”
“Please, Uncle Dave. I’d like to take Emily tomorrow for lunch. Please!”
“I’ll try. I won’t know till tomorrow morning. I’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you.”
“When do we get to meet this girl, Jake? You’ve said a whole lot but haven’t shown us anyone.”
“Christmas. You’ll meet her then. Thanks, again.”
So far, all has gone according to plan. I needed to go back to Emily with a plan. Using my phone I booked two seats on the 8:30am flight out of Burbank, then I called Jane.
“Jane, do me a favor.”
“Well, hello to you too big brother.” I ignored her sarcasm.
“Are you still up North?”
“Yeah. What do you need?”
“I’m bringing Emily up tomorrow and I need you to get me seats at the Opera House. I believe they’re playing Carmen. I’ll give you my credit card number. Reserve the best seats you can. Also, can you go out and get her something to wear? If you’re busy, I can have concierge do all this for me.”
“No, I’d love to do it for you. Can I come too? I can’t wait to meet her.” Jane had always wanted a sister. Knowing how lonely Emily had been for a good part of her life, she and Jane would grow to love each other like sisters. They complemented each other well.
“That would be nice. Emily has been asking about you too. Make dinner reservations also. We’ll probably get to the apartment around 3:00.”
“I’ve got plans all day tomorrow but will meet you and Emily for dinner. I’ll email you all the information. I can’t wait to meet her, Jake. By the way, what size dress and shoes do I get for her?”
“I’m not quite sure but you and Emily are about the same size. She’s a bit thinner and much prettier.”
“Great, thanks. You’re always so encouraging.”
I chuckled and got off the phone. Now it was time to face Emily. I walked in the ballroom hoping not to find her in Max’s arms again. The sight before me made me laugh. This time she was talking to Jennifer, Max’s girlfriend. What a night for Emily. I was only about to make it worse.
My sweetheart looked at me with hope and jitters. “Hi. Done with your call?”
I confirmed her fears as I let my sentence trail. “Yeah…”
“Oh, that doesn’t sound good.” She let out her cute whine.
“Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?”
“The bad.” She was always the pessimist.
“I have to go back to the hospital,” I said as quickly as possible.
“No!” she protested. “Not again. I thought you had the whole night off. Jake we hardly ever get to see each other. I think I’ve seen you once a week in the last couple of months.” Her protest was completely founded and I had stood her up too many times. I also didn’t want to leave her tonight of all nights as she appeared so fragile, so unprotected – like a raw wound flinching at the sight of pain.
As an apology I uttered, “I know and I’m sorry. I thought we’d be together tonight but my patient came back with complications and I might have to go back into surgery.”
She unhappily shrugged her shoulders and submitted to our reality. “Save another life tonight, Dr. Reid. I want to stop you but I can’t… I won’t.”
I loved this girl for always understanding my crazy work schedule. Tonight would not be the easiest night for her but she was letting me go without much fuss.
“But,” I told her, “the good news! Chief gave me the whole weekend off so I’m taking you on a surprise trip. We’re going somewhere far where no one can call me back to the hospital. Can you be ready by 7:00am? I’ll pick you up at your house.”
“Ok…” She still sounded glum. “Where are we going?” I was taken aback that she didn’t sound more excited. “How shall I dress? Is it going to be very cold?”
“It’s always cold up there,” I slipped hoping to generate more excitement.
“Up there?” I got her attention. “When will we be back? I assume we will be back tomorrow night?”
The enthusiasm in her voice gave me hope that we could finally spend a night together. Two months and very little intimacy, this was long overdue.
“Do we have options? Can we stay the weekend? Would that be okay?”
Her silence was uncomfortably long. Maybe she felt self conscious answering in front of eight pairs of eyes waiting for her to speak. They all appeared way too interested in our conversation. Max definitely couldn’t hide his interest.
“Um…”
I didn’t like the sound of this…
“No. I don’t think it’s wise for us to spend the night.”
No matter. I would convince her otherwise when we got up there. Excited to spend an entire day with her, I gave her an intense kiss while my pager beeped endlessly.
“Bye, I’ll miss you.” I then added, “And please, don’t fall back into your ex’s arms after I leave.” We both got a good laugh.
With Emily being alone, I hoped Sarah and Charlie would take care of her. Peter would drive my girl home so that was one thing off my mind, but I wasn’t sure what frame of mind or better yet, what her heart would look like when I picked her up tomorrow morning. After seeing Max tonight, hopefully she’d put everything behind her and start new with me without any baggage.
Chapter 8 You’re a What???
Even with only three hours of sleep, the thought of being with Emily all day woke me with a frenetic energy. I showered and went to pick up breakfast for my girl and got to her door exactly at 7:00. I rang the doorbell.
She opened the door wearing a knitted dress with knee high boots. The dress clung to her body and as always she looked stunning. I leaned in to kiss her lips.
“Good morning. Are you ready to leave?”
“Not quite. Come in.”
I handed her the croissant and latte while surveying the house. “Whoa, what happened here? Slumber party?” Peter and Jeff were asleep on the floor.
Emily explained that these guys drank too much to drive home and they ended up sleeping here.
“I think they’re getting up now.” She looked over at them. “Good morning. Did you sleep well? Are you backs okay?” While she talked to them I could only think that I hadn’t even spent the night here yet and these random guys were lucky enough to be with her, though they weren’t exactly with her.
“Jake? Do you still have my spare keys? Can I have them back?” She held out her hand. I didn’t want to give them back but I had no choice.
I watched her throw my keys at Peter so I picked up her coffee with one hand and held out the other for Emily so we could leave. A guilty look dawned on Emily’s face and I quickly followed her eyes to see Max come out of the guest bedroom. He had
spent the night as well. Outraged but trying to keep composure for Emily’s sake, I didn’t say a word. Emily looked worried again.
Peter broke my angry mood and asked about going on a road trip with Emily and all of her friends. Knowing Max would be there with her I didn’t want her to go alone but I knew I couldn’t get any more time off after Hawaii.
Hawaii. I forgot to tell Emily about Hawaii.
“Emily, what are you doing next Monday thru Thursday?” Emily’s rattled look turned into a blank stare. “My mom called this morning to tell me we are all going to Hawaii right before Christmas and she wants me to bring you along. You know my family’s been dying to meet you. She’s reserved a seat for you on the plane and you can room with my sister, Jane.”
Flustered, but with a smile, she asked, “With your whole family?” She thought about it some more and then questioned, “How did you get four days off?” This one really stumped her.
I guess I had never told her about Uncle Henry. “Well, the Chief of Staff at the hospital is my dad’s brother. Mom reminded Uncle Henry that I haven’t had a vacation since I got there. It also didn’t hurt that she promised him four tickets to the Rose Bowl game.”
“I see. Are you sure you want me there for four days with your family?”
How could she possibly ask this after my many heartfelt confessions to her? I suppose another reassurance was in order. “I couldn’t think of a better Christmas present than to have you spend four days with me and my family.”
There was a glint in her eyes. “Okay, then. Tell your mother I said thank you and that I’d love to go.”
Emily grabbed a coat and said goodbye and we headed out the door. No more than a few steps out, she stopped me.
“Jake, I’d like to explain about the guys you saw this morning, especially Max. I know that was really uncomfortable and I’m sorry.” It wasn’t so much guilt I saw in her face, but it was more a voice of penitence. She feared hurting me.
“Emily, you don’t have to explain anything.” I tried but couldn’t hide the awkwardness.
“I do. Peter and Jeff went out to the bar with our friend and they got so drunk, they couldn’t drive home. We found them lying on my doorstep and they asked to spend the night.”