Taking Chances

by Melange Books, LLC

  Shana spent the rest of the day shopping and relaxing. Shopping always used to make her feel good so it was worth a try. She decided to treat herself to a new suit for the luncheon tomorrow. She wanted to look her best, if she was going to spend the afternoon tomorrow being observed by Kal. Why she cared though, she wasn’t sure.

  * * * *

  After leaving Shana standing in the doorway of the luncheon room, Kal literally ran down the stairs. He was breathing heavily as he opened the door to the second floor, then forced himself to walk slowly down the hall to his office. Once in his office he changed back into jeans and sat down at his desk. He turned on his computer and found the hospital’s employee listing. He scrolled down to the marketing department and found the title Events Planner and there was her name, Shana Madden.

  “Damn!” Kal swore. He put his head in his hands with his elbows braced on the desk. “Shit!” What was he going to do? Well, first, he would call it a day. He wasn’t supposed to be here, anyway. He only came for the luncheon. The one of which Shana was in charge.

  “Hell, I’m out of here,” he said as he got up from the chair, grabbed his keys and left. He didn’t know where he was going except he wanted to get out of there before he ran into her again. He needed a plan of some sort. He got in his Corvette and just drove, until he pulled into a shopping mall and eyed the Starbucks. He should get a coffee, sit down and try to relax so he could think this through. Though, as he parked, he knew coffee just wasn’t going to cut it. No, he needed a drink. Yes, a glass of wine would work. That would relax him. So instead of Starbucks, he walked into the Macaroni Grill, got a patio table and sat down. After smelling the delicious aromas from the kitchen, Kal ordered a pasta entrée to go with his wine. He looked out at the beautiful waterfall and garden separating the Macaroni Grill from Starbucks on the end of the next building.

  Kal recalled the unfortunate event at the hospital. He must accept the fact they now both worked at the same hospital. What was he going to do? He couldn’t make her leave, and he didn’t exactly want to leave either. He liked Arizona Memorial Hospital. It was a good place to work and he liked the people there. Nonetheless, they would continue to run into each other and he certainly didn’t want to see her again. Hell, he hadn’t wanted to see her EVER! And that had worked out great.

  He hated her for what she’d tried to do to their baby. No one should do that to an innocent baby. He’d read the files and knew she had a somewhat logical reason for wanting to abort the baby. But my God, it was his daughter. Beautiful Kalsha. Every day he thanked God for placing him at the clinic on that fateful day so he could save her life. Jennifer, his nurse, told him the nurse who took care of Shana on that life-altering night said Shana woke up crying and pleading to stop the abortion because she’d changed her mind. Only it had been too late—the abortion was done. At the time, he really hadn’t given a second thought to that revelation. Seeing her today and knowing about her change of heart, he knew there was a chance, although slight, he might be able to forgive her. After all, if it weren’t for Shana, he wouldn’t have his daughter. Unfortunately, that was something Shana would never find out, because he would never tell her. He would simply have to treat her as an acquaintance and act like nothing had happened between them.

  Against his better judgment, he recalled her free flowing blond hair, her sexy figure, and her lush lips. Lips that begged to be kissed. He remembered touching every luscious curve of her body before joining his body with hers. Hell, he’d tried so hard to forget that night. To forget her. To forget what she’d tried to do, only he couldn’t. Every time he looked at his daughter, he saw Shana’s face, no matter how hard he tried not to. A part of him hated her. The other part knew he could've fallen in love with her. If only he’d been able to find her after their night of raw passionate sex. Yes, that was what it really was. It had been raw, fast and hard. But, oh so good! He’d waited too long to have sex and he’d guess it’d been a while for her, too. The physical attraction and chemistry was strong that night and obviously, it was still strong today.

  Kal finished his wine and set the glass down. The situation was a Hell of a mess. One minute he wanted to pick up where they left off, and the next he wanted to literally wring her neck for what she’d done. Well, almost done. Unfortunately, there was no going back. What he’d done wasn’t really right, either. He should’ve talked to her and maybe they could have worked something out. Maybe if he’d let her know she wasn’t alone in the situation and that he could help. Maybe then, he wouldn’t have had to take their baby away from her. Now was not the time for maybes. It was over and done. They both had to live with the choices they’d made. There was no going back. All he could do was avoid her from now on and hope she would choose to do the same. There was no future for them.

  Kal paid his tab and walked through the main part of the restaurant to the doors leading to the parking lot. As he stepped out, he saw a woman with long blonde hair walking down the parking lot row to her car. When she got to her car, she stopped and turned her face his way to let the wind blow the misplaced strands of hair from her face. For a moment, he saw her face. He was mesmerized. He stared at her. She opened the car door and bent to get in, baring one leg as she pulled her skirt up slightly. He lifted his eyes from her smooth, tanned calf and thigh to her face. Yes, it was Shana. “What the Hell!” He just couldn’t get away from her. The leg shot got a definite response from his body. “Hell!” This was going to be tough. However, he had no choice; he had to do everything possible to avoid her.

  Kal stepped out of the restaurant and let the door close behind him. Shana’s car turned onto the main parking lot lane, which was in front of him. She turned her head his way to look for cars and looked right at him. She regrouped quickly and finished the turn. She’d seen him—he knew it. He couldn’t get away from her.

  * * * *

  Shana managed to leave the mall’s parking lot. But how she wasn’t sure. What was he doing? Was he following her? That was just plain too absurd. Could he possibly have left after their encounter at the hospital, too? This was entirely all too weird that they ended up in the same city even, much less working at the same hospital. And now at the same mall. Odds were it wouldn’t happen again—his showing up at the mall, although it would at the hospital. She could deal with it as long as there were other people around, and if they weren’t alone it would be okay. She would simply have to be sure she was never alone with him.

  God, he looked good standing there in jeans and a golf shirt with the wind blowing his hair. She would not remember their night together. It was so long ago. Yet her body was traitorous and she felt her pulse quicken at the thought. It was over three years ago, and that was the problem right there. It had been too long with no sex. Maybe she needed a man. However, it sure wasn’t going to be Kal. He was the last person with whom she’d have sex. How ironic was that? He was the last person with whom she’d had sex.

  * * * *

  Shana woke up the next morning feeling tired, having tossed and turned most of the night. The hospital today was the last place she wanted to go. Then again, since she liked her job and needed her job, she got up and went through her morning routine. The new, sexy, form fitting black power pantsuit hanging on her bathroom door beckoned her. She took extra care with her make-up and hair this morning. She wanted to look her best, not that it should matter. The reflection in the mirror portrayed a classy, sexy, professional businesswoman. She looked good. If nothing else, she would let Kal know he’d passed up a very hot lady.

  She managed to get to the hospital without running into Kal.

  “Wow! You look great,” Meg said as Shana entered her office.

  “Thanks,” Shana answered.

  “New suit?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, it definitely fits you perfectly.”

  “Do you think so? I wasn’t sure if it was too—”

  “Sexy?” Meg offered.

  “Yes.”

  “It’
s sexy, yet professional. You’re certainly going to turn some heads at the luncheon today.”

  Shana thought that wasn’t really her plan. She only wanted Kal to know what he’d passed up.

  “Is there someone whose attention you’re trying to catch?”

  “No! Of course not. Simply wanted to look my best. So what’s our count for the luncheon?”

  “Here’s the list of attendees. I just printed it.”

  Shana took the list to her desk. Sitting down, she scanned the list of names quickly not realizing she was so tense her breathing wasn’t normal. There it was. Kalvin Paxton. He would be there. She sat back in the chair releasing her breath with a sigh. What had she been hoping? That his name wouldn’t be on the list? Of course it would. Why would he not come? He certainly wouldn’t be afraid to see her, would he? No, of course not. She was the one who was stressed about being in the same room with him.

  Meg appeared in the doorway. “Shana, I’m going to head down to the luncheon room and make sure everything is ready.”

  Shana looked up. “Good, you go ahead, I’ll meet you down there in about an hour. I’m going to finish up some other business first.”

  “Okay, I’ll call you if there are any problems—although there shouldn’t be,” Meg said as she walked out.

  Shana walked over to the window and stared out towards the pond of water with its fountain shooting water upwards from the center. It was beautiful surrounded by perfectly manicured lawns and gardens with rich colors of red and yellows—Tulips and Daffodils. She would’ve preferred to be outside walking on the path surrounding the pond. Some people here actually thought of it as a small lake however coming from Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, one knew what real lakes looked like. Yet on the other hand, being that Phoenix was a desert, the pond was a refreshing sight that brought back memories of Minnesota and its lakes, in the summer that is. It was cold there now and soon the lakes would freeze. Yes, the pond was a welcome sight that beckoned her. Just watching the movement of the water through the window was relaxing. Shana forced herself to take some deep refreshing breaths, and she felt her body relax.

  “Back to work,” she said, sat down at her computer and began tackling her emails.

  There was an email from Tara, her therapist from back home, checking to see how the new job was going, asking if she liked Phoenix. And letting her know it was twenty-five degrees and snowing lightly in Minnesota.

  She would send Tara an email this afternoon. It would be good to tell her about Kal. Tara was the only one who knew her whole story and would understand what she was going through. Simply knowing she could express her feelings about seeing Kal again to Tara made her feel better and decreased her stress level.

  Shana finished checking and answering her emails and checked her voice mail for messages. There were only a couple voice messages so she made the return calls, knowing they wouldn’t take much time.

  Naturally, the phone rang right when she was about to leave. It was the Scottsdale Desert Oasis Golf Course’s clubhouse event coordinator calling to confirm the golf event the hospital had planned for next week. This was a call she needed to take. It ended up being a long call, however she still had plenty of time. It was about eleven when she finally got on the elevator. Everything should be ready to go since Meg hadn’t called with any problems.

  The elevator door opened and she caught herself checking the halls for any sign of Kal. No Kal. She didn’t even know why she was looking for him when the luncheon wasn’t for another hour or so. She really needed to relax and stop thinking about him. There wasn’t even any reason to think she would be personally introduced to him. There wasn’t anything to worry about. She would just do her job and try not to be in the same part of the room he was in. After all, it was a big room.

  The hour went fast and soon the doctors were arriving to check in. Thankfully, Meg was checking them in and handing out the nametags.

  Shana went back into the luncheon room to check with the vendors to be sure there wasn’t anything else they needed. She and Meg had already placed the goodie bags on all the chairs. The Medtronic vendors had a power point presentation and short video to show. After lunch was served, they would give out the prizes. The prizes were amazing and expensive. Ronald Palmer golf clubs, a laptop computer, a new LCD flat screen TV, the latest IPAD and a trip to Las Vegas staying at the Bellagio. It was no wonder the doctors made a point of showing up at these luncheon events.

  Shana glanced out the door toward the check in table where Meg sat. The line was long, so she went out to help her. She began checking off names while Meg handed out the nametags. She was so busy looking for the names that when she looked up finally to see how long the line was, she saw Kal across the table from her. She stared at him and couldn’t make her lips move to speak. “Kalvin Paxton,” he said staring back at her.

  Meg reached towards Kal, handing him his nametag, only he didn’t even look her way simply continued staring at Shana. “Your name tag, Dr. Paxton,” she said looking from Kal to Shana.

  “Thank you,” Kal finally said, looking at Meg and taking his nametag from her extended hand. He turned back to look at Shana, who felt shock setting in. He nodded to her, then turned and entered the room.

  “Shana, everything okay?” Meg asked.

  “Yes ... Yes it is.” Shana helped Meg finish up with the few doctors left in line. What she truly wanted to do was leave. Every fiber in her body wanted to leave. The instinct to flee was overwhelming. Only she knew she couldn’t. The only place she could go was into the luncheon room. Unfortunately, he was in there. Leaving wouldn’t do her any good anyway. This was her job. She had to do this luncheon, regardless of her feelings. What she had to do was forget he was even there and do her job.

  After everyone was checked in, they gathered up their files. Shana stood up. She knew Meg was going to say something about what happened earlier with Kal, however she thought Meg would wait until later. She was wrong.

  “I take it you thought Dr. Paxton was hot?” Meg questioned.

  “Dr. Paxton?” Shana managed to get out. She hadn’t thought this would be Meg’s conclusion about what had happened.

  “Yes.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You were staring at him and not saying a word. That’s why.”

  “Well, yes, of course. Anyone would notice how handsome he is.” What was she saying? She just admitted she found him attractive!

  “He’s considered a prime catch around the hospital,” Meg stated.

  “You don’t say?” Shana asked, knowing it was probably true.

  “I heard he doesn’t date much though,” Meg offered.

  “He’s single then?” Shana couldn’t believe she had asked that.

  “Oh, yes!” Meg stated proudly.

  “Well, he certainly isn’t my type,” Shana said, knowing she had to end this conversation right now.

  “Right. Wouldn’t have guessed that by the way you looked at him. No, let me reword that. The way you two looked at each other.”

  “Enough on that subject, we have work to do,” Shana said as they both closed the doors to the room and made their way over to their table. Shana scanned the room as she sat down. Where was he? She needed to know. Why, she wasn’t sure, but she needed to know. Because if she didn’t know, she wouldn’t be able to watch him to see if he was watching her.

  “Just in case you’re interested, Dr. Paxton is sitting two tables over and has been watching you every minute since we walked in.”

  “Damn!” Shana said as she turned to see where he was seated and looked right into his eyes. He nodded and she turned away. “Why is he doing that?”

  “Maybe he likes what he sees?” Meg answered stating the obvious.

  “Right,” Shana said. He was probably remembering her in bed, but of course, she wouldn’t say that aloud, although it was probably true.

  Just then, servers placed salad bowls in front of them. Shana tried to concentrate o
n eating her salad. She had that odd feeling a person gets when someone is watching them. She knew he was still watching her, but finally shook it off and went to check with the vendors since it was about time to start the presentation. Everything was ready so she returned to her table to sit down. The lights were lowered for the presentation and video. At least then, she wouldn’t be able to see him watching her and he wouldn’t be able to see her.

  Shana got caught up in the video. Medtronics certainly had some cutting edge new technology for the medical field. The lights went up. The video was over and the Medtronics vendors had allowed time for questions. The doctors asked intellectual medical questions which she didn’t understand. Many answers were directed to the portfolio hand out that had been placed on the tables.

  Shana was dreading the next part of the luncheon, which was the prizes, mainly because she and Meg were to assist the vendors.

  They were almost done and so far, no one at Kal’s table had won anything. There was one prize left and she would be handing out the prize. It was the grand prize, the Las Vegas trip. Her chest felt tight and she couldn’t breathe. She knew she was holding her breath, still she couldn’t stop. Finally, the name was announced. She let out her breath when it wasn’t Kal’s name. Unfortunately, the winner was seated at Kal’s table.

  Shana walked to the table hoping she wouldn’t trip since everyone, including Kal, was watching her. She made it to the table and handed the winner the envelope containing the travel information. She looked at the winner and smiled.

  “Congratulations,” she said.

  “Thank you,” he responded.

  Shana nodded and walked to her table, not giving Kal a glance even though she felt his eyes on her. The luncheon was finally over and the doctors were talking and mingling with each other on their way out.

  Shana and Meg talked to the caterers as they began to finish up clearing the tables. The communications department was busy disconnecting the video equipment. She was not going to look for him, however just as she turned around, she almost collided with Kal.