The Doctor's Cinderella

by Susanne Hampton

  ‘It’s been like that from day one, but I must admit she is becoming increasingly anxious each month.’

  ‘She’s very lucky to have such an understanding father who just happens to be a doctor to help.’

  ‘I’m not so sure she’s the lucky one, but let’s not go there,’ he replied, then changed the subject. ‘So, you made it home and out of the terrible weather? Battened down for the evening with a roast in the oven?’

  Molly hesitated for a moment before she drew breath. ‘Actually,’ she began, ‘I have prepared Tommy’s dinner. Not quite a roast—it’s soup and shepherd’s pie.’

  ‘Sounds delicious. I hope you enjoy it.’

  ‘I’m not eating it...’

  ‘Not hungry?’

  ‘Yes, a little, but I thought, if you would like, I could accompany you to the AMA dinner.’

  Molly waited for a response but there was nothing. Ryan’s end of the line was silent. She suddenly felt very foolish. Perhaps he had already invited someone else. Her stomach dropped and she wished with her every being that she had not just told him she would like to be his dinner date. She thought she could hear the faint sound of his breathing but no words. She strained her ears but there was nothing. She had never felt that uncomfortable.

  ‘Of course, if you’d rather not go or you already have another date, I understand—’

  ‘No, Molly,’ his deep, suddenly serious voice cut in. ‘I would very much like you to attend with me. I just don’t want you to feel pressured because you work for me or because of the dress. It was a gift and accepting my invitation isn’t part of the working conditions. I want you to know that.’

  Molly was taken aback by the change. His mood had morphed into something professional and considered. While she thought it was also very gallant of him to let her know there were no strings attached, he seemed to be putting distance between them. Making sure she knew where he stood.

  ‘I was not accepting because you bought the dress...well, actually that’s not true. I mean, I have an amazing dress hanging in my closet and nowhere else to wear it and you bought it, so technically I suppose I’m accepting because you bought the dress, but mainly because I think you should attend to accept the award. Lizzy would want you to attend so we can make her happy together. I mean, you can make her happy by attending and I can attend with you.’

  Molly felt as if she was speaking at a hundred words a minute. And she was. It was her way to cover the nervousness and vulnerability she was feeling.

  ‘Then, you’re my date,’ Ryan answered, then quickly amended his words. ‘I mean, my guest.’

  Molly was relieved that Ryan hadn’t left her hanging again as she had initially felt borderline silly for calling and accepting his invitation, but she also picked up on his rapid correction from date to guest. ‘I’m happy to be your guest and step in for Lizzy so you can accept your award. I’m sure she will be thrilled to see it when you get home.’

  ‘No doubt. She’s quite the organiser of my life at times.’

  ‘Women can be like that,’ she answered, and then continued. ‘Speaking of that, I think it might be more time efficient for me to meet you at the convention centre. By the time you get through the traffic to me and then we get back to the venue, the canapés might be cold.’

  Molly wished she weren’t so self-conscious and embarrassed about her accommodation but she was and she didn’t want Ryan’s pity. The time was a factor but her suggestion was also to save face.

  ‘I don’t feel right about you finding your own way there. At least let me book a car to collect you.’

  ‘Truly, it’s not necessary. I will call a cab when I’m ready and meet you there.’

  Molly convinced Ryan to meet her at the entrance to the convention centre at seven, then she hung up and quickly proceeded to get ready. She had forty-five minutes to shower, do her hair and apply light make-up. Molly Murphy was determined not to turn up looking like a drowned mouse in a nine-hundred-dollar dress.

  * * *

  Ryan checked in on Lizzy. She was tucked up in bed, having soup that her grandmother had prepared. Ryan had given Lizzy analgesics and Ann was sitting in a large reclining armchair beside her as the two of them watched television. It was the way it had been for many years. Ryan had bought the very comfortable chair as either he or Ann would sit there and read to Lizzy when she was younger and then as she grew older they would sit and talk about their days. Her room was large and yet still cosy.

  ‘How are you feeling, Lizzy?’

  ‘My tummy still hurts but not so bad as before.’

  ‘Good, I’m sure Sooty’s soup will help too.’

  ‘Mmm, it’s chicken noodle.’

  Ryan looked at his daughter, who was half-distracted by the television and the soup. The pain relief had taken effect but it worried him that each month seemed to be getting progressively worse. He knew that he needed to talk through the options with Lizzy after their consultation with her GP and the gynaecologist. They both needed to seriously consider the options. While a hysterectomy was radical and something he had been wanting to delay or avoid altogether, he wasn’t so sure now they could put it off for ever if the pain continued to be so debilitating for her. Together they had to make a decision that neither would regret.

  While she hadn’t mentioned getting married or wanting a baby in the future and her chronic pain was not going to improve, it still wasn’t easy as a father to make the irreversible decision to take away that option for her. At times like that, he wished that Lizzy had a mother in whom she could confide and he had someone to help him make an important and life-changing decision with his daughter. He could not get it wrong. While his medical expertise was leaning towards ensuring her physical health came first, his fatherly concerns were around the future should she change her mind and decide she wanted children. Just when he got it straight in his head, sorted, decided...he questioned himself and decided being a single father to a nineteen-year-old girl was not that easy.

  * * *

  ‘Molly’s agreed to accompany me to the dinner tonight if Sooty can stay and you’re all right with me going out.’

  Ryan watched as Ann nodded. ‘I’m happy to stay and happy to see you finally get out and enjoy yourself,’ she told him.

  ‘Good, you get your award. I want to see it,’ Lizzy said, then took another spoonful of the hearty soup. ‘And Molly can wear the princess dress. She looks pretty.’

  ‘And Molly is?’ Ann enquired with a knowing smile and a sparkle in her eyes.

  ‘My temp office manager.’

  ‘And a pretty office manager by the sound of it. Princesses are always pretty.’

  Ryan couldn’t help but agree silently. Molly was a very pretty office manager.

  ‘Then it looks like I’m going to dinner,’ he told the two women, choosing not to confirm or deny Ann’s statement or his own thoughts. Directing his attention back to Ann, he added, ‘I’ll leave the ibuprofen in the kitchen. Lizzy needs them four-hourly so another dose at eight o’clock and then hopefully she will sleep through the night. If you need me, don’t hesitate to call my phone and I can be here in fifteen minutes.’

  ‘Go and enjoy yourself,’ Ann said, waving her hand. ‘You don’t get out enough. Go have some fun with your lovely date. It’s about time you enjoyed company with someone closer to your own age. Lizzy and I’ll have some quiet time and with any luck she’ll be feeling better by morning and if not I’ll stay with her tomorrow.’

  ‘She’s my guest, not my date.’

  Ann raised her eyebrow. ‘Let’s not be pedantic, Ryan. A date or guest, it’s the same in my books.’

  Ryan chose to ignore her comment. ‘Remember, call if you need anything.’ His face was lined momentarily with concern. ‘I mean it, please call if you need me and I will come home immediately.’

  ‘Go, scat,’ the older woman
said with a grin. ‘You’re distracting us. We don’t know who she’s about to choose for her date.’

  ‘What do you mean, choose for her date? Who’s going on a date?’

  ‘The bachelorette,’ Lizzy said, pointing at the television with her half-eaten bread roll. ‘She’s pretty.’

  ‘Okay, you’re talking about a television programme,’ Ryan muttered to himself and nodded with relief. He had thought for a moment that Lizzy was planning a date and that Ann was in on it. And his daughter dating was the last thing he wanted to think about. Lizzy meeting someone and potentially falling in love was something he did not want to deal with for a long time. A very long time.

  * * *

  ‘Molly, you look absolutely stunning. Lizzy was right, that certainly is a princess dress.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Molly replied as she alighted the cab. Ryan had not met her at the entrance to the venue, instead he had been waiting at the cab rank for her. The night air was bitterly cold but Molly was not about to cover the beautiful gown with a black woollen overcoat, so she had a silk wrap that had once belonged to her mother around her shoulders. It was one of the few things she had kept for a special occasion and that night suited the bill. It wasn’t the most practical accessory on a cold winter’s evening but that night Molly had decided to throw being practical to the wind quite literally. Her curly dark hair was held back on one side by an antique silver hair clip, also a gift from her mother, and she had small pearl earrings. They were costume as she had sold her real jewellery but they looked very pretty and nothing too elaborate was needed. The dress was a statement on its own.

  ‘Let’s get you inside, quickly. You look gorgeous but I don’t want you to catch pneumonia.’ He extended his hand and Molly didn’t hesitate to take it. It was a firm, warm hold as his fingers securely enveloped hers and it felt like nothing Molly had ever felt before. She swallowed nervously as her heart picked up speed. They didn’t need to rush inside, she thought, as his touch was warming every part of her body. And she suddenly felt safer and warmer than she’d thought possible.

  She lifted the hem of her gown with her hand that also held her clutch bag and the pair walked together to the entrance with all the other guests who had arrived like them right on the stroke of seven. Molly suddenly and unexpectedly felt at ease and as if she belonged there. Ryan had slipped his hand free of hers once she had both feet on the pavement but had offered his arm as her support and Molly had accepted. Her hand had rested there until they reached the doors. It all felt so surreal to Molly yet so surprisingly natural.

  Once inside Molly pulled her silk wrap from her shoulders. It was a Cinderella moment as she walked among the guests with her very handsome and wonderfully considerate dinner companion. The expensive dress was making her feel so special and with little effort Ryan was doing the same.

  ‘Would you like some champagne, wine or sparkling water?’ the black-and-white-attired waiter enquired of both Molly and Ryan.

  Ryan waited for Molly’s response, which was champagne. She watched as he took a flute filled with bubbles from the tray for her and a red wine for himself.

  He introduced her to a number of people as they made their way through the crowd. He didn’t say how they knew each other or that she was his employee. She was simply his guest. The noise was building as the crowd grew. The doors to the banquet hall were still closed and the guests were all chatting and greeting each other. Molly could hear many talking shop and others speaking of their last vacation, their children or their impending retirement. It was a diverse audience but each somehow connected to the field of medicine, some on the periphery and some right in the middle of it. There were pharmaceutical executives and heart surgeons, Theatre nurses and podiatrists, paediatricians and medical students.

  Ryan and Molly made their way to one of the large seating plans displayed on mobile boards. Ryan ran his eyes down the list until he found his name. Ryan McFetridge and Lizzy Jones were seated on table one. Molly saw it at the same time. It was the VIP table. Ryan’s award really was something quite special, she realised immediately. And she was so happy he would be there to accept the honour.

  ‘I just wanted to thank you again for accompanying me tonight, Molly,’ Ryan stepped closer to tell her before they moved away for other guests to find their names and table numbers on the lists. There were twelve hundred in attendance that night and thankfully more than half had already been seated by the roaming stewards with mobile seating apps.

  ‘My pleasure. And I wanted to thank you for...’ She began looking down at her gorgeous gown. She still felt a little uneasy that he had bought the gown and she wished she had been in a position to buy it for herself but she wasn’t about to allow regrets of the past colour that evening. She had a gorgeous gown and an equally gorgeous date for the night. And she would deal with the rest tomorrow. The way she always did.

  ‘Please, you have nothing to thank me for at all. It was my pleasure and I can see by quite a few of my colleagues in the crowd tonight it is their pleasure to see you in that gown.’ He had an impish smile that Molly had not expected to see but it was a pleasant surprise. ‘By the way, I have to admit I’m one of them. From a man’s point of view, it’s rare to find intelligence, humility and kindness in a woman, and for that matter the population in general, let alone all three qualities along with looking so gorgeous.’

  At that moment, the doors opened and the crowd slowly moved en masse in the direction of the banquet hall. It became quite congested, and without warning Molly felt a warm hand in the middle of her bare back, gently guiding her into a clearer pathway.

  ‘Over here,’ she heard him whisper in her ear. His breath was warm on her neck and she felt a little shiver run all over her body as she followed her escort for the night down a different route to their table. His flattering comment seemed genuine and, she trusted, without an agenda, and it made her feel special. And it had been a very long time since a man had truly made her feel special.

  ‘You’ve navigated this room before, I assume?’ she asked with a smile as they avoided the crowd and headed to the front of the room. Her heart was beating so fast and she hoped her face wasn’t flushed by the effect he was having on her. Silently she admitted she didn’t want the feeling of his hand on her skin to end. She would have gladly walked around the room twice just to have the feeling continue.

  Alarms should have been ringing but they weren’t.

  Part of her still wanted to fight her feelings but a bigger part wanted to give into them.

  ‘Maybe once or twice,’ he replied with a wink.

  Molly’s heart picked up more speed as he looked at her so intently she felt as if he were almost touching her soul. The skin around his dark eyes wrinkled softly and a sparkle emanated from somewhere deep inside. Suddenly she was the furthest thing from the damp mouse. Molly Murphy felt like a desirable woman on a date with a chivalrous man. An extremely handsome, chivalrous man who was taking control of the situation, and her feelings were at odds with everything she had thought for the previous twelve months.

  And she liked the feeling very much.

  And she liked him.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THEIR BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED table was positioned directly in front of the large stage and lectern. The stunning centrepiece of sharply angled frosted glass panels surrounding a tall vase of white lilies was lit by a dozen small tea lights. Molly had noticed one arrangement on each table but as she drew closer she appreciated the detail and effect, and thought it was the most spectacular centrepiece she had ever seen.

  Ryan pulled out her chair for her to sit before seating himself, and immediately began introductions. Molly quickly found out he knew everyone at the table.

  ‘I’m so glad you could make it, Ryan,’ said one of their fellow table guests, who Ryan had introduced as Martha Zontos. Molly imagined the beautifully groomed woman to be in her early seve
nties. Her powder-blue satin dress was the perfect soft contrast for her short silver-grey hair and the delicate crystal necklace and earrings completed the look.

  ‘The board of St Clara’s are so grateful for what you have given to the young women and I know acknowledging you is very important to them.’

  Ryan nodded. ‘It’s a good cause, Martha, and I’m in a position to support them.’

  Molly watched as the woman cast her eyes around the room. ‘Many in this room could provide support, Ryan, but they don’t, and that sets you apart. You are one in a million.’ She patted his hand and then turned back to continue her conversation with her husband.

  Molly eyed her boss curiously. She realised that there was even more to appreciate about Dr Ryan McFetridge. Including the fact that he was philanthropic as well as gallant.

  ‘So,’ she began as she reached for the glass of water in front of her. ‘You’re a sponsor of St Clara’s.’

  ‘Of sorts.’

  ‘It’s a great initiative.’

  ‘Couldn’t agree more. Young women need to have a place after they give birth for a few days, a week or even longer, and a place they can call in at any time for advice. There are so many pressures facing a single mother, like family opinions, immediate financial issues, not to mention the fear of the future and the unknown. St Clara’s helps them to navigate through what they will face with assistance from professionals instead of their peers, who generally know very little and sometimes add to the overwhelming fear some young women face or make light of very real struggles that someone their age without a child can’t fathom. The objective is to prevent them from finding themselves at that point where they feel that they have nowhere to turn and have to consider giving up their babies.’

  Molly couldn’t help but notice Ryan’s demeanour become more serious and a little distant after he spoke. His attachment to the words was palpable. She could sense immediately that there was something very personal in what he was saying.