Not My Type : Golden Girls 1

by Veronica Adler

  “Yeah, I moved back about six months ago. What about you? Have you always lived here?”

  Megan shook her head, her gold earrings catching the light and glittering.

  “Originally from North Carolina. I moved here about six years ago.” She laughed. “I just came out to visit a friend and never went back. My parents were furious.”

  “I can imagine. Are you an only child?”

  The waiter walked up to our table before Megan could reply.

  “My name is Eric and I’ll be your server tonight. Would you like to start with the drinks menu?”

  While Megan perused the drinks menu, I looked around the restaurant. It was the sort of place I wouldn’t mind coming back to.

  I was about to turn back to Megan to check if she had selected a drink when something behind Eric caught my eyes.

  Her.

  Head thrown back in laughter, body relaxed, one arm on the table and the other wrapped around the back of the chair. She was sitting a few tables down, but I still recognized her. The Cupcake Queen. Eve Darling. The woman I had spilled my coffee on a few nights ago. The woman I found myself thinking about at the most inopportune times throughout the day.

  Tonight, her blonde hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a lavender dress that hugged her body. She was probably also on a date.

  When she stopped laughing, her eyes met mine briefly and she gave a polite, distant smile before looking away. She didn’t recognize me and I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t disappointed.

  “You know what? I’ll just go with a margarita,” Megan said, handing the menu back to our waiter. I chose to stick with water since I was driving and after dropping off a dinner menu, he walked away.

  “To answer your question,” Megan said. “Yes, I am an only child. What about you? Is it just you and Emily?”

  “No, I have two more sisters.”

  “And you’re the oldest?”

  “Yes.”

  Behind her, I saw Eve turn to look at me, her eyebrows dipped in a frown. I could tell she was trying to figure out if she knew me and how. When she saw me looking, she looked away quickly.

  Then she looked at me again and looked away. I looked back at Megan until I felt Eve looking at me. Again. This time when I looked at her, her eyes widened and her cheeks colored red, recognition lighting her face.

  She whipped her head around, her ponytail bouncing and almost hitting her in the face. I stifled a laugh and turned back to my date.

  It was as I had expected. Megan and I didn’t hit it off. She was amazing, beautiful, fun to talk to, and should be with a man who could appreciate all those things about her. Before our main course had even arrived, I was so wrapped up in the idea of Eve being a few tables down from me that even focusing on Megan was hard.

  I was standing by the valet stand after having walked Megan to her car. She didn’t seem to have noticed my distraction or the guilt I felt for being distracted. I shoved my hand into the pocket of my jacket and pulled out my phone to see the many texts Emily had sent while I was still on the date. I ignored every single one of them.

  The sound of music playing in the restaurant got louder as someone opened the door behind me.

  “Oh, hey, Eve, want me to get your car?”

  I looked over my shoulder just as Eve came to a stand-still next to the valet stand. Her eyes met mine briefly and even though it was dark out, I knew they were a rich, chocolate brown. She blinked rapidly before looking away from me and addressing the valet.

  “Yes, please, Javier. Thank you.”

  Once the valet walked off, Eve came forward and stood next to me, maintaining a careful distance. She cleared her throat, refusing to look in my direction, which I found oddly comical. The night was cool, with a light breeze rustling through the trees. When Eve came to stand next to me, I could smell her perfume. Her scent triggered my olfactory sense and suddenly, all I could think about was the feel of her body pressing against mine just as it had, for a brief moment, when I had bumped into her. I shook my head, directing my thoughts back on track.

  “Hi,” I said.

  Her head whipped around to look at me.

  “Who? Me? Yes. Hi. Hello.”

  She bit her lip as her cheeks colored red. I stifled a laugh because I didn’t want to make her more uncomfortable than she was already.

  “It’s nice to see you again,” I said.

  “What are you doing here?” She asked.

  I turned and looked over my shoulder at the white-washed brick exterior of the restaurant.

  “This structure behind us is popularly known as a restaurant. People come here to eat, drink, and be merry.”

  Eve narrowed her eyes at me. Clearly, my attempt at humor was not appreciated.

  “We agreed we would never see each other again,” she said.

  “How did you think we were going to accomplish that?”

  She opened her mouth, closed it. Then opened it again, making a sound like a dying animal in the back of her throat. I found myself thoroughly entertained.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “You haven’t told anyone what happened, have you?” She asked back. I could see the concern clear on her face.

  “Your secret is safe with me,” I said sincerely. Eve’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t have any reason to believe me, I understood that. But who did she think I was going to tell? People magazine?

  “Are you stalking me?”

  “What?” I asked dumbly. I was so shocked it was the only reply I could think of.

  “You knew who I was when you spilled coffee on me. You’re here tonight. What am I supposed to think?” She crossed her arms, cocked an eyebrow, and jutted out a hip. The picture of sass. If I wasn’t shocked by her accusation, I would have found the whole thing amusing, to say the least. I may have also wanted to kiss her. That last part was unexpected.

  Her mouth just looked so pink and inviting and I couldn’t remember the last time I had wanted to kiss a woman I didn’t even know. Oh, that’s right, I have never wanted something so ludicrous. She already thought I was stalking her, if I told her I wanted to kiss her, she would be filing a restraining order faster than I could say I’m sorry.

  “You make it sound like I spilled coffee on you on purpose when it was an accident. And how was I supposed to know you would be here tonight?” I asked outrageously.

  “Right, like you don’t know this is my brother’s restaurant,” she scoffed. And once again, I was shocked by the revelation.

  “I didn’t know that. My sister made the reservation.”

  “How do I even know you have a sister?”

  That was a good question. “You want to talk to her?”

  Before she could reply, the door of the restaurant opened once again and we both turned to look behind us. The man who was having dinner with Eve came out, tossed one look at me, and then focused on Eve. Apparently, I was not a threat.

  “Javier getting your car?” He asked.

  “Yup.”

  “Why don’t you wait inside?”

  “Because I’m fine here, and Javier should be back any minute.”

  “Are you sure?” I felt his eyes on me. Had she told him about me? Eve waved dismissively. “I’m fine, Elijah.”

  They seemed to have a silent conversation for a moment before the man rolled his eyes and said, “Text me when you get home.” Then he disappeared inside, the door closing behind him and shutting off the music.

  Eve turned back, glancing at me once before looking away.

  “Don’t read anything into Elijah’s worry. He takes his job as my older brother way too seriously.”

  I tried to ignore the relief I felt that the man was her brother and not her boyfriend. Which wasn’t to say she couldn’t have a boyfriend, or hell, even a husband. I looked down at her hands and saw no ring on her left hand.

  “I get it, I have three younger sisters. And I could be a stalker,” I said.

  Eve made a sound in th
e back of her throat that sounded almost like she was choking back a laugh. Silence fell between us and I suddenly wished we hadn’t met again. Logistically speaking, Eve Darling wasn’t the sort of woman I would be interested in. She was a creative type and I dated women with Type A personalities. That way, I would have something in common with the woman I was in a relationship with.

  Eve Darling was beautiful, with her flowing blonde hair and clear skin that looked like it would be creamy soft to touch. And I could so clearly picture it. My hands on her body. It wouldn’t lead anywhere, though. Things wouldn’t work out with her any more than they would have with Megan.

  The valets finally brought our cars around and Eve turned to look up at me. “It was nice to see you again?”

  I snorted. “Was it, though?”

  “I guess it’s good to know you’re not stalking me. It had been too much to hope you would move to Utah,” she said with a shrug.

  I laughed, reaching forward to accept my car keys from the valet.

  “I’m planning on sticking around,” I said. “I just moved back here.”

  If I moved away again, my family would disown me. The Reids’ never left California. This was our state and we stuck within its bounds. Sure, some of us moved away for college and work, but once you came back, you stuck around or you were ostracized.

  Eve’s eyes widened. “From Utah?”

  “Chicago.”

  “Oh. It would be freaky if you had moved from Utah.”

  “Why Utah?” I asked. A couple stepped out of the restaurant and the man handed his ticket to the valet. I knew it was time to go, but I was stuck to my spot.

  Eve shook her head. “It was honestly the only place I could think of when I thought of places I wouldn’t want to live in.”

  “Really? Out of 49 other states, you could only think of Utah?”

  Eve twisted her mouth to the side and I had feeling she was trying hard not to smile.

  “Arizona, then.”

  “Makes sense. Hell would be less hot.”

  “Alaska.”

  “The ninth circle of hell.”

  Eve snorted. “This is the strangest conversation I’ve ever had with a virtual stranger.”

  She stepped off the sidewalk and walked around the front of her car to the driver’s side. With a wave over her shoulder, she got in and started the car. She was driving off before I had even moved from my spot.

  I was left there standing, thinking about how I had enjoyed talking to her more than the woman I had been on a date with tonight.

  Chapter 4 – Daniel

  “The interns are here.”

  I looked up from the blood report I was staring at on my computer and saw Dr. Indra Sinha standing at the door of my office. I minimized the reports on my screen, which my mentor Dr. Richard Martin had sent.

  I was certain the reason Dr. Martin kept sending these reports to me was to test my skills. He had told me that working in a hospital would make me “soft”, as opposed to working in the field with him. He was currently located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where an Ebola outbreak was wracking the province. Dr. Martin had sent me patient reports because he thought there may be more than just an Ebola outbreak and we did have the facilities to run more tests, at least better than he did. The blood sample he had sent to me was currently being tested in the lab.

  “How many of them are there, again?” I asked Dr. Sinha. Her light brown eyes followed me to the coat hanger from where I grabbed my suit jacket.

  “Six,” she said. “We’re dividing them. Nothing worse than having seven doctors crowding into a patient’s room.”

  For the next six weeks, we would be overseeing this year’s interns, one of whom was my sister. Dr. Sinha had agreed that it would be better for all if she took Sienna, and I agreed. Nothing would bother us more than if I spent the next six weeks looking over Sienna’s shoulder. She was capable on her own and didn’t need me babysitting her. Still, a part of me—the protective older brother I was told to keep under wraps—wanted to ask Dr. Sinha to go easy on Sienna. I had spent many years protecting my sisters from bullies, and many after that watching them do it themselves.

  “Have you ever had interns before?” She asked.

  “Once before,” I said. After my fellowship with Dr. Martin was over, I had stayed with him for another year before going back to Chicago.

  We left my office and walked out to the reception, where six interns in light blue scrubs waited for us. Sienna was standing a little away from everyone. Much of our personalities had been inherited from our family members, including the fact that we kept our distance from people. My sister had her group of friends, and if she didn’t, I doubt she would attempt friendship with any of her peers. I was the same way. We hated to leave our comfort zones or invite people into them.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Dr. Sinha greeted. “I’m Dr. Sinha, with me is Dr. Reid. I’m assuming this isn’t your first day here, so that’s all the greeting you will get from me.”

  One of the nurses at the reception handed me patient files.

  “We have six cases for you today, which means whichever one of you are left will be assigned lab duty,” I said. “To prevent any bias, Dr. Sinha will be assigning you your patients.”

  “I’m not worried about bias,” Sienna piped in, shrugging lightly.

  “There will be no bias,” Dr. Sinha clarified. “However, we will save ourselves from politics by limiting your interactions with Dr. Reid. That being said, whatever questions or concerns you have will be directed to me.”

  I wanted to mention she really couldn’t overlook or prevent the politics, not when two members of the Reid family sat on the board of trustees for the hospital. My eyes met Sienna and from the twinkle in hers, I could tell she was thinking the same thing. What they didn’t know was our family didn’t support nepotism. If people thought ninety-nine percent of our family being doctors meant we got an easy ride, that wasn’t true. Yes, we didn’t have to struggle to pay off our medical school bills, but that didn’t mean we didn’t work hard.

  “Those of you getting lab duty today won’t be stuck with it. If you’re quick enough, you will get to treat patients tomorrow,” I said.

  “Great,” someone mumbled. “I don’t want to waste the next six weeks in a lab anyway.”

  Dr. Sinha and I exchanged looks. There was always one who thought lab work was beneath them.

  “Whoever said that will stay in the lab for the next two weeks. I don’t have time to deal with tantrums, and neither does Dr. Sinha. You know who you are, so make yourself useful to the lab techs.”

  A woman of average height and short, curly dark hair looked at everyone else, her cheeks coloring. No one came to her support and for a moment it almost seemed that the rest of the interns were going to step away from her like she was contagious.

  “You’re off to a great start. Anyone else thinks being in the lab is a waste of time?” I asked. I looked at each of the interns in turn. I had spent a good amount of time in the lab because it was an important part of my job, of being a good doctor. They hadn’t even begun their training and were already complaining. None of the interns said anything.

  “Good. Let’s get on with our day, shall we?” Dr. Sinha said.

  I completed my rounds and returned to my office an hour and a half later, only to see my sister occupying one of my visitor’s chairs. Not Sienna. The other one. I almost walked right back out of the office, but just as I turned around, Emily looked up.

  “Are you seriously going to leave me in your office?” She asked.

  I sighed, looking down the hallway for someone who could save me. I saw Dr. Sinha talking to a patient’s family member with two of our interns standing next to her. They couldn’t save me. I turned back to Emily.

  “Are you sick?” I asked, entering my office and letting the door close behind me. I took off my white lab coat and hung it up on the coat stand.

  “If I was sick, I have plenty o
f doctors at home. I don’t need to come to San Diego,” she said.

  “I’m afraid to ask what made you come here,” I said. I sat behind my desk, pulling my chair closer and looked at my sister warily. I may have been the oldest of my siblings, but my sisters could take me for a trip.

  “You’ve been ignoring my calls and messages, I just came here to check if you’re still alive,” Emily taunted.

  “You could have called Sienna. You remember that she works here and sees me every day?”

  Emily sniffed, examining her nails. “We’re not talking at the moment.”

  “Don’t tell me about it. I don’t want to be involved and I don’t want to solve whatever issues you’re having,” I said. Whenever Sienna and Emily fought, which was all the time, it was my responsibility to help resolve the matter; I was their mediator. I had no one to fight with because I was the protective brother, so I took out my aggression in other ways.

  “I’m not here for her, I’m here for you,” she said. She pulled a hair tie off her wrist and pulled her dark brown hair into a ponytail.

  “What have I done?” I demanded. Other than ignoring her, I couldn’t recall doing anything to upset her.

  “Why haven’t you called Megan?” Emily asked conversationally. She crossed her arms and legs, settling back fully into the chair.

  I sighed. My date with Megan had been days ago, and honestly, it hadn’t even occurred to me to call her or text her. I had forgotten about her the second Eve exited the restaurant and stood next to me.

  “Just because you keep setting me up with these women, doesn’t mean I have to follow through,” I said.

  “Doesn’t mean I am going to stop,” Em said. She had never given up on anything. When she was fourteen, she had made a PowerPoint presentation on why she should not be a doctor. In our family, it was expected that your first career choice would be in the medical field. That’s why all of us were doctors, except for four of us. And this only counted if you were born a Reid. If you married into the family, it wasn’t such a big deal. Emily won over our dad, grandmother, and great-grandmother and pursued her choice of becoming a Hollywood director. She wasn’t entirely bad at it. Given all the awards she had won, it was the right choice for her.